Donald Trump would be “dangerous from an international point of view” if he is elected President of the United States, the U.N. human rights chief said Wednesday.
Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein says some comments by the Republican nominee are “deeply unsettling and disturbing to me,” particularly on torture and about “vulnerable communities.”
Zeid, a Jordanian prince, also told reporters he doesn’t plan to tone down his recent remarks decrying dangers posed by “populists and demagogues.”
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations has said Zeid shouldn’t criticize foreign heads of state and government.
On the U.S. election, Zeid said: “If Donald Trump is elected, on the basis of what he has said already and unless that changes, I think it’s without any doubt that he would be dangerous from an international point of view.”
“Clearly I am not keen or intent on interfering in any political campaign within any particular country, but where the comments point to a potential — depending on the results of the election — for an increase in, for instance, the use of torture, which is prohibited under the Convention against Torture, or the focus on vulnerable communities in a way that suggests that they may well be deprived of their rights, their human rights, then I think it is incumbent to say so,” Zeid said.
