Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Elections for the UN Security Council
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday elected Germany, India, South Africa and Colombia to two-year seats on the U.N. Security Council, while Canada and Portugal went to a second round of voting.
Either Canada or Portugal will join the other four countries to serve two-year terms beginning in January 2011 and ending in December 2012 as non-veto-holding members of the 15-nation body, the powerhouse of the United Nations with the authority to impose sanctions and deploy peacekeeping forces.
The results of the second-round vote to decide whether Canada, which has served six terms on the council and never lost a bid for a seat, or Portugal, which has been on the council twice, has received the requisite two-thirds majority in the 192-nation General Assembly will be known shortly.
In the first round of voting, only Germany managed to cross the 127-vote threshold in the category known as "Western Europe and Others." India, South Africa and Colombia were all uncontested in their respective geographic groups.
There are five veto-holding permanent members of the Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, the victors of World War Two -- and 10 temporary elected members without vetoes.
But the elected members have some power because a council resolution needs nine votes in favor as well as no vetoes.
The five rotating members serving on the council until the end of 2011 are Bosnia, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria. The five nations leaving the council at the end of this year are Austria, Turkey, Mexico, Japan and Uganda.
Germany is one of the top contributors to the United Nations and one of several countries, along with India, Japan and Brazil, that are considered prime candidates for permanent seats on the council if U.N. member states can ever agree on a formula for expanding it.
Over a decade of talks on a possible expansion of the Security Council to better reflect the nature of the world have failed to yield a consensus.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Iran to resume uranium enrichment despite Turkey deal
(CNN) -- Iran will continue to enrich uranium to 20 percent, it said Monday, despite agreeing to ship its low-enriched uranium to Turkey.
Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told the Islamic Republic News Agency that Iran will not stop making the highly enriched uranium, which is a source of consternation among many Western nations.
Iran said it needs to enrich uranium from its current 3.5 percent to 20 percent because a research reactor that produces isotopes for cancer patients is running out of fuel.
But 20-percent enriched uranium is the threshold for uranium capable of setting off a nuclear reaction. And Western leaders have alleged that Iran is trying to create nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian energy program.
On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced he was heading to Iran to join nuclear talks in Tehran involving Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The meeting in Tehran sought to reach a breakthrough in the showdown over Iran's nuclear program, according to Erdogan.
The last-minute trip followed a "signal" from the talks, which are intended to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear energy program, Erdogan told reporters before departing. Erdogan indicated the signal involved Iran's agreement to swap its low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, CNN Turk reported.
Erdogan said he hoped an agreement in Tehran would stop the U.N. Security Council from its negotiations on tougher sanctions on Iran.
"The Security Council was contemplating a step in the direction of sanctions as of yesterday," Erdogan said. "As a part of our talks, this has been postponed. Now with this step we are going to take, I hope that we will have the opportunity to overcome these problems."
Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency made no mention of the nuclear issue in reporting earlier that Lula was sitting down with Ahmadinejad. But French President Nicolas Sarkozy and President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia both have said they back Lula's efforts to resolve the long-running, high-stakes stalemate.
"This could be the last chance before the U.N. Security Council makes the already known decisions," Medvedev said, referring to the U.N. decision on imposing sanctions against Iran.
Sarkozy said earlier that he had spoken with Lula by phone to assure him that Paris supports his efforts to resolve the impasse.
The United States and many other countries believe that Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu left for Tehran to join the Iran-Brazil talks. Erdogan said Sunday the anticipated signal from Iran was received and he was changing his schedule to travel to Tehran, postponing a planned visit to Azerbaijan.
Erdogan's statement indicated an agreement in which Iran would send most of its low-enriched uranium to be turned into fuel rods suitable for Turkey's nuclear power reactor that makes medical isotopes.
"After our high-level meeting in Tehran, I believe we will have the opportunity to start the process regarding the swap," Erdogan said. "We said that we will go to Tehran if the swap takes place in Turkey, and we received news that the text includes a reference to this. That's why we are going. Otherwise we wouldn't have gone."
Turkey and Brazil have been working on a joint offer based on the nuclear swap deal offered previously to Tehran. Both countries are temporary members of the U.N. Security Council and have been working toward a diplomatic solution that does not involve sanctions.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Diplomatic rephrasing
Iran "could be making nuclear warhead". A small change, but still a change in the UN usual phraseology, when it comes to Iran.
From the very technical point of view, you do not need too many sentences and diplomatic words to identify how much enriched uranium do you need in order to produce atomic bombs. From the political point of view, you do not need to many imagination to conclude how such a capability could be used by a non-democratic country.
Read my lips? And nothing than my lips?
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Obama Addressed a More Popular United Nations
Ratings of the U.N. Improved the Most in the United States
September 21
While the opening session of the U.N. General Assembly has frequently produced controversy, the United Nations remains a quite popular institution throughout much of the world. A 25-nation Pew Global Attitudes survey, conducted in May and June of this year, found largely positive views toward the U.N. with majorities or pluralities in 19 of the 25 countries expressing a positive opinion. Moreover, ratings of the U.N. have grown more positive since 2007 in 12 of the 25 nations. In no country, though, have ratings improved as much as in the U.S. Two years ago, 48% of Americans held a favorable view of the U.N., compared with 61% today, the highest U.S. rating the U.N. has received since 2001.
Read the full commentary at: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1348/united-nations-global-opinion-more-popular
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Misreading the Iranian Situation
George Friedman
September 15
The Iranians have now agreed to talks with the P-5+1, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (the
Obviously, negotiations are not to begin prior to the U.N. General Assembly meeting as previously had been stipulated. The talks are now expected to begin Oct. 1, a week later. This gives the Iranians their first (symbolic) victory: They have defied the P-5+1 on the demand that talks be under way by the time the General Assembly meets. Inevitably, the Iranians would delay, and the P-5+1 would not make a big deal of it.
Talks About Talks and the Sanctions Challenge
Now, we get down to the heart of the matter: The Iranians have officially indicated that they are prepared to discuss a range of strategic and economic issues but are not prepared to discuss the nuclear program — which, of course, is the reason for the talks in the first place. On Sept. 14, they hinted that they might consider talking about the nuclear program if progress were made on other issues, but made no guarantees.
So far, the Iranians are playing their traditional hand. They are making the question of whether there would be talks about nuclear weapons the center of diplomacy. Where the West wanted a commitment to end uranium enrichment, the Iranians are trying to shift the discussions to whether they will talk at all. After spending many rounds of discussions on this subject, they expect everyone to go away exhausted. If pressure is coming down on them, they will agree to discussions, acting as if the mere act of talking represents a massive concession. The members of the P-5+1 that don’t want a confrontation with Iran will use Tehran’s agreement merely to talk (absent any guarantees of an outcome) to get themselves off the hook on which they found themselves back in April — namely, of having to impose sanctions if the Iranians don’t change their position on their nuclear program.
To this end,
In discussing crippling sanctions, the sole obvious move would be blocking gasoline exports to
There is, however, a dimension that indicates that this crisis might take a different course.
The Israeli Dimension
After the last round of meetings between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama, the Israelis announced that the United States had agreed that in the event of a failure in negotiations, the United States would demand — and get — crippling sanctions against Iran, code for a gasoline cutoff. In return, the Israelis indicated that any plans for a unilateral Israeli strike on
Our view always has been that the Iranians are far from acquiring nuclear weapons. This is, we believe, the Israeli point of view. But the Israeli point of view also is that, however distant, the Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons represents a mortal danger to Israel — and that, therefore, Israel would have to use military force if diplomacy and sanctions don’t work.
For
Obama’s assurances notwithstanding, there accordingly is no evidence of any force or process that would cause the Iranians to change their minds about their nuclear program. With that, the advantage to
And the question of the quality of intelligence must always be taken into account: The Iranians may be closer to a weapon than is believed. The value of risking delays disappears if nothing is likely to happen in the intervening period that would make a strike unnecessary.
Moreover, the Israelis have Obama in a box. Obama promised them that if
The calm assumptions in major capitals that this is merely another round in interminable talks with
Netanyahu appears to have made a secret trip to
As mentioned, the chances of the Russians imposing effective sanctions on
Ramifications of an Israeli Strike
An Israeli airstrike would involve the
Some have pointed out that the Iranians would be hurting themselves as much as the West, as this would cripple their energy exports. And it must be remembered that 40 percent of globally traded oil exports pass through Hormuz. The effect of mining the
Given the foregoing, the
When we speak to people in
It isn’t clear that Obama can do that, however. The Israelis don’t trust him, and
It should also be remembered that Obama reads intelligence reports from
We are reminded of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis only in this sense: We get the sense that everyone is misreading everyone else. In the run-up to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Americans didn’t believe the Soviets would take the risks they did and the Soviets didn’t believe the Americans would react as they did. In this case, the Iranians believe the
The current situation is not as dangerous as the Cuban Missile Crisis was, but it has this in common: Everyone thinks we are on a known roadmap, when in reality, one of the players —
Monday, September 14, 2009
EU and the UN, the battle for influence
The EU's ongoing loss of influence at the UN is putting lives at risk, a new paper from the European Council on Foreign Relations argues.
As world leaders gather in New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, the paper - The EU and human rights at the UN: 2009 annual review - by ECFR's UN experts Richard Gowan and Franziska Brantner MEP warns that the EU is losing its ability to push the UN to respond to humanitarian crises.
Earlier this year, the EU was repeatedly thwarted in its efforts to use the UN to pressure the Sri Lankan government to allow humanitarian aid in during its assault on Tamil areas, which led to tens of thousands of civilian casualties. China and Russia blocked EU attempts to force Colombo's hand in the Security Council, and the EU found itself outmanoeuvred and outvoted in the Human Rights Council.
The paper - the authors' follow-up to their report last year on the EU's performance in human rights debates at the UN - also reveals that the number of states most fiercely opposed to the EU's human rights positions at the UN has swollen to 40 this year from 19 last year. Since the late 1990s when the EU enjoyed the support of over 70% of the UN General Assembly in human rights votes, support of the EU's human rights position has haemorrhaged: the EU has lost the backing of 13 former allies on human rights votes in the last year - 117 of the UN's 192 members now typically vote against the EU.
Gowan and Brantner argue that while the Obama administration's decision to re-engage with the UN following the obstructionism of the previous administration has generated a new spirit of optimism, European governments have failed to capitalise on this new mood and are increasingly allowing their opponents to set the agenda and dominate human rights debates and effectively endorse human rights abuses.
Richard Gowan says:
Obama's enthusiastic engagement with the UN gives Europeans a new sense of hope after Bush. But the EU must avoid the temptation to hang back and hope the US will fix everything - American diplomats want to see that the EU can deliver.
Tragically, EU and US efforts to contain the Sri Lanka crisis through the UN failed due to opposition from China, India and Russia. Up to 10,000 civilians died. The basic value of saving lives is falling victim to power politics in the Security Council.
The paper is the first of a series of annual updates mapping the EU's performance in human rights debates at the UN, based on the authors' groundbreaking Audit of European Power at the UN, which revealed a massive decline in European power at the UN over 10 years.
As world leaders gather in New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, the paper - The EU and human rights at the UN: 2009 annual review - by ECFR's UN experts Richard Gowan and Franziska Brantner MEP warns that the EU is losing its ability to push the UN to respond to humanitarian crises.
Earlier this year, the EU was repeatedly thwarted in its efforts to use the UN to pressure the Sri Lankan government to allow humanitarian aid in during its assault on Tamil areas, which led to tens of thousands of civilian casualties. China and Russia blocked EU attempts to force Colombo's hand in the Security Council, and the EU found itself outmanoeuvred and outvoted in the Human Rights Council.
The paper - the authors' follow-up to their report last year on the EU's performance in human rights debates at the UN - also reveals that the number of states most fiercely opposed to the EU's human rights positions at the UN has swollen to 40 this year from 19 last year. Since the late 1990s when the EU enjoyed the support of over 70% of the UN General Assembly in human rights votes, support of the EU's human rights position has haemorrhaged: the EU has lost the backing of 13 former allies on human rights votes in the last year - 117 of the UN's 192 members now typically vote against the EU.
Gowan and Brantner argue that while the Obama administration's decision to re-engage with the UN following the obstructionism of the previous administration has generated a new spirit of optimism, European governments have failed to capitalise on this new mood and are increasingly allowing their opponents to set the agenda and dominate human rights debates and effectively endorse human rights abuses.
Richard Gowan says:
Obama's enthusiastic engagement with the UN gives Europeans a new sense of hope after Bush. But the EU must avoid the temptation to hang back and hope the US will fix everything - American diplomats want to see that the EU can deliver.
Tragically, EU and US efforts to contain the Sri Lanka crisis through the UN failed due to opposition from China, India and Russia. Up to 10,000 civilians died. The basic value of saving lives is falling victim to power politics in the Security Council.
The paper is the first of a series of annual updates mapping the EU's performance in human rights debates at the UN, based on the authors' groundbreaking Audit of European Power at the UN, which revealed a massive decline in European power at the UN over 10 years.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS:
The EU needs to use "tough diplomacy" to deal with the power politics played by China and Russia - and advocate a new Security Council agreement on protecting humanitarian access during major crises.
The EU and the US should set up a working group to co-ordinate human rights positions at the UN - and expand it to include other liberal states.
To regain the initiative at the UN, the EU should use next year's Millennium Development Goals conference to address unfinished UN reforms by tabling agenda proposals now.
The European Commission should raise economic rights issues at the UN instead of waiting for G8 and G20 meetings to improve relations with the developing world during the recession.
The EU and the US should set up a working group to co-ordinate human rights positions at the UN - and expand it to include other liberal states.
To regain the initiative at the UN, the EU should use next year's Millennium Development Goals conference to address unfinished UN reforms by tabling agenda proposals now.
The European Commission should raise economic rights issues at the UN instead of waiting for G8 and G20 meetings to improve relations with the developing world during the recession.
FOR THE FULL TEXT OF THE PAPER: http://ecfr.eu/page/m2/3560dda0/5135bcdf/32ef4984/34af2b99/3259004495/VEsD/
NOTES TO EDITORS
Richard Gowan is a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and is based in New York City. He can be contacted at Richard.gowan@ecfr.eu, or on +1 917 975 6629.
Franziska Brantner is an MEP (Green Group), where she sits on the Foreign Affairs committee. She can be contacted on matters relating to this report at franziska.brantner@gmx.de.
This memo, like all ECFR publications, represents the views of its authors, not the collective position of ECFR or its Council Members. It does not reflect the official view of the Green Group in the European Parliament, or other parties and institutions with which the authors are involved.
For all media enquiries please email press@ecfr.eu or telephone +44 20 7031 1623.
Richard Gowan is a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and is based in New York City. He can be contacted at Richard.gowan@ecfr.eu, or on +1 917 975 6629.
Franziska Brantner is an MEP (Green Group), where she sits on the Foreign Affairs committee. She can be contacted on matters relating to this report at franziska.brantner@gmx.de.
This memo, like all ECFR publications, represents the views of its authors, not the collective position of ECFR or its Council Members. It does not reflect the official view of the Green Group in the European Parliament, or other parties and institutions with which the authors are involved.
For all media enquiries please email press@ecfr.eu or telephone +44 20 7031 1623.
The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is the first pan-European think-tank. Launched in October 2007, its objective is to conduct research and promote informed debate across Europe on the development of coherent and effective European values based foreign policy. http://ecfr.eu/page/m2/3560dda0/5135bcdf/32ef4984/34af2b9c/3259004495/VEsA/
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Lockerbie bomber, possible release?
For the moment, there are only the splits between US and Britain, regarding a possible release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the terrorist behind Lockerbie bombing.
Libya - country profile
Friday, June 12, 2009
Highlights of North Korea Resolution
AP
A look at some key points in the U.N. Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions on North Korea for its second nuclear test in defiance of an earlier ban.
The resolution:
_ "Condemns in the strongest terms" North Korea's second nuclear test on May 25 "in violation and flagrant disregard of its relevant resolutions."
_ Demands that North Korea "not conduct any further nuclear test or any launch using ballistic missile technology."
_ Orders North Korea to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program and re-establish a moratorium on missile launches.
_ Demands that North Korea immediately retract its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and return "at an early date" to the International Atomic Energy Agency's nuclear safeguards regime.
_ Orders North Korea to "abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner."
_ Calls on North Korea "to return immediately to the six-party talks without precondition."
_ Bans North Korea from exporting all arms and weapons-related material and providing technical training, advice, services or financial assistance related to such arms and material.
_ Bans countries from selling or supplying arms and weapons-related material to North Korea except for small arms and light weapons, and orders states to notify the U.N. committee monitoring sanctions at least five days before any transfer.
_ Calls on all states to inspect, consistent with national and international law, all cargo to and from North Korea at their airports, seaports and on land if the state has "information that provides reasonable grounds to believe the cargo contains" banned items.
_ Calls on all states to inspect vessels on the high seas, with consent of the country whose flag the vessel is flying, if there are reasonable grounds to believe the cargo contains banned items.
_ Orders member states to prohibit the supply of bunkering services such as providing fuel or supplies to North Korean vessels if there are reasonable grounds to believe they are carrying banned items.
A look at some key points in the U.N. Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions on North Korea for its second nuclear test in defiance of an earlier ban.
The resolution:
_ "Condemns in the strongest terms" North Korea's second nuclear test on May 25 "in violation and flagrant disregard of its relevant resolutions."
_ Demands that North Korea "not conduct any further nuclear test or any launch using ballistic missile technology."
_ Orders North Korea to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program and re-establish a moratorium on missile launches.
_ Demands that North Korea immediately retract its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and return "at an early date" to the International Atomic Energy Agency's nuclear safeguards regime.
_ Orders North Korea to "abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner."
_ Calls on North Korea "to return immediately to the six-party talks without precondition."
_ Bans North Korea from exporting all arms and weapons-related material and providing technical training, advice, services or financial assistance related to such arms and material.
_ Bans countries from selling or supplying arms and weapons-related material to North Korea except for small arms and light weapons, and orders states to notify the U.N. committee monitoring sanctions at least five days before any transfer.
_ Calls on all states to inspect, consistent with national and international law, all cargo to and from North Korea at their airports, seaports and on land if the state has "information that provides reasonable grounds to believe the cargo contains" banned items.
_ Calls on all states to inspect vessels on the high seas, with consent of the country whose flag the vessel is flying, if there are reasonable grounds to believe the cargo contains banned items.
_ Orders member states to prohibit the supply of bunkering services such as providing fuel or supplies to North Korean vessels if there are reasonable grounds to believe they are carrying banned items.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Israel discussing withdrawal from Lebanese village
May 7
Israel's deputy foreign minister indicated Thursday that his government is considering withdrawing from part of a contentious village under Israeli control though a U.N. border puts part of it in Lebanon.
A border drawn by the U.N. after Israel withdrew its army from southern Lebanon in 2000 split the village of Ghajar between Lebanon and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. In keeping with pledges made in 2000 and 2006, Israel has pulled its forces behind the border, except in Ghajar.
Lebanon has demanded that Israel pull out of the Lebanese part of Ghajar.
On Thursday, Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, met with Alain LeRoy, the U.N. official in charge of peacekeeping operations. The U.N. has a force in southern Lebanon.
Ayalon said they discussed the issue of Ghajar. "We are looking into all the issues involved and will announce the decision as soon as it is made," Ayalon said in a statement. A Security Cabinet discussion of the issue set for Wednesday was canceled without explanation.
On Wednesday the U.N. said Israeli officials discussed a U.N. withdrawal plan, and an Israeli defense official confirmed that Israel was looking for a way to pull out without endangering its security.
The 1,800 Ghajar villagers are Alawite Muslims, like the ruling sect in Syria. After Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war, they took Israeli citizenship, a rare move among the Arabs in the territory.
Ghajar residents built a new neighborhood north of the village after Israel took control. That is the part that lies across the boundary drawn by the U.N.
Residents say they oppose division of the village. They say they eventually want to return to Syrian control, though maps show that some of their land is clearly in Lebanon.
After a bloody 34-day war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006, Israel agreed to pull its troops behind the border, but gave no time frame for withdrawing from the northern part of Ghajar.
Israel is concerned that turning over part of the village to Lebanon could facilitate Hezbollah attacks as well as arms and drug smuggling.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Cause for optimism over Somalia?
It is rare to hear optimistic talk about Somalia.
But at the international donors' conference - which has just pledged more funding than expected to boost the country's security - the meeting itself was described as "historic".
Some spoke of Somalia as being at a turning point at long last.
The man who has been Somalia's leader since January could hardly have anticipated receiving more public support from some of the highest dignitaries of the United Nations, the European Union and other institutions represented at the gathering.
All this at the very time Somalia is making headlines around the world as the source of some of the most persistent and brazen piracy of modern times.
This week more international aid workers joined the list of those held on land by militants.
Hundreds of thousands of Somalis continue to be forced to live in conditions that have been called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
To an extent, clearly, the organisers of the Brussels meeting had an interest in trying to generate a confidence that better times could be ahead in Somalia.
Alliances sought
They needed to convince donors that it was worth providing the funds to keep African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu, equip them better and enable them to expand towards the target of a force of 8,000.
They also needed to convince them to help the Somali government build up its own security institutions.
Some senior UN officials have long argued that one of the obstacles to turning this archetypal failed state around is that too many people believe that things cannot improve.
The expressions at this conference of confidence in the moderate Islamist President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed tended to gloss over the reality of how little of the country he actually controls by any conventional definition of power.
What the president is seeking to do in the complex world of Somali clan politics is strike up alliances.
He has appealed to factions that have been involved in armed opposition to his government to join in what he hopes will establish itself as the mainstream political process.
In Brussels, this was welcomed - at least in the opening statements of the conference, intended for public consumption - as the best shot at forging a meaningful government in years.
Tests ahead
If things really are going to be different the new president clearly has to win the confidence of the majority of the Somali public for his ambitions, and perhaps in particular for the security forces the government intends to develop.
And there is a difficult path ahead - one example being the potentially fraught vetting and recruitment of any existing militia members who might be drawn into the new security forces.
There are Somalia-watchers who would certainly describe the country as being at a cross-roads, poised between the possibility that the president will succeed in consolidating his position and his government's chances and the alternative scenario that the country now could face a period of more feuding between different Islamist factions.
There is also a broader reconstruction conference to come - another test of how enthusiastic the international community is about investing in Somalia and its new president.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Darfur Envoy Says ICC Indictment has Compromised Political Solution
| Voice of America March 26 |
Besheer report - Download (MP3) 
Besheer report - Listen (MP3)
The chief African Union-United Nations mediator for Darfur says the indictment of Sudan's president for atrocities committed in Darfur has likely "significantly slowed and even compromised" efforts to find a political solution to the conflict.
Besheer report - Listen (MP3)
 |
| Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir (file photo) |
Mediator Djibril Bassolé said efforts to bring the government of Sudan and rebel groups together at the negotiation table is blocked, following the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir earlier this month.
Bassolé briefed the Security Council in a private session Thursday. In a copy of his remarks obtained by VOA, the former Burkina Faso foreign minister said the court's decision has "had a significant impact on the various actors in the crisis."
He cited the announcement by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the main rebel group, that it would capture the president and turn him over to the court, and its recent decision to suspend its participation in peace talks in Qatar.
French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said Bassolé asked the Security Council to take into consideration the position of the African Union on the court's indictment. "We took the message and we said to him we would take it duly into account, the position of the African Union," he said.
The African Union, along with some other regional organizations, has asked the Security Council to use its authority to defer the charges against President Bashir for one year. The council is split on this issue and no action has been taken. Ambassador Ripert's remarks highlight the division in the council over this issue.
"We respect the position of the African Union, of course, and we listen to the African Union, and we understand what they mean, it does not mean we have to share the same position. Obviously there is some disagreement on this question of the ICC," he said.
During the closed meeting, the council was also updated on the humanitarian situation in Darfur in a briefing by U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes.
In a statement following the meeting, the 15-member Security Council reaffirmed its support for the mediation process and stressed the importance of continuing the peace process, urging the parties to engage actively in negotiations. The council also expressed its support to the Qatari government for its efforts to bring together the government of Sudan and the rebels.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Central America in "crossfire" of drug war: U.N.
Central American states are "caught in the crossfire" of the drug war affecting Mexico and the United States, the top U.N. crimefighter said on Wednesday and he called for regional moves to halt the violence.
Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), praised U.S. steps taken Tuesday to tighten security on the U.S.-Mexico frontier to try to stem cross-border flows of drugs, arms and cash.
But he urged more regional cooperation to confront drug gang violence which killed more than 6,000 people in Mexico last year and has also hiked murder rates in Central American countries along the drug routes north to the United States.
"These are countries which are caught in a crossfire -- between the major drug producing countries in the south, in the Andean region, and the major drug-consuming countries in North America," said Costa, speaking in a phone interview from Guatemala. He visited Panama this week and will also go to El Salvador to seek support for a regional anti-drug initiative.
Costa's Central American trip coincided with a visit to Mexico by U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, who said an "insatiable" appetite in the United States for illegal drugs was to blame for much of the violence ripping through its southern neighbor.
Clinton said the United States also shared "co-responsibility" through its inability to prevent weapons from being smuggled across the border to arm members of Mexican drug gangs, who have carried out killings and beheadings.
"I applaud what Mrs. Clinton said," Costa told Reuters, adding that he hoped to see the tougher U.S. anti-narcotics measures extended to the Central American region.
"Obviously, what needs to be done within the region is crucial," said Costa, whose U.N. anti-crime agency is organizing a ministerial conference in Nicaragua in mid-May to adopt a regional action plan against drug-trafficking.
"Foot soldiers" of drug war
Costa said the small, impoverished Central American states were all the more vulnerable to attack by Mexican drug cartels because they were underdeveloped, had weak judicial systems and had often emerged from conflict, so were awash with weapons.
"All of these are conditions for violence and chaos, and in some instances even loss of control of territory, and so traffickers are aware of that and they always look for the path of least resistance," the U.N. official said.
Costa said "war-grade weapons" such as high-powered automatic rifles were flowing into Mexico and its smaller Central American neighbors, and these were being increasingly used by young urban street gang members known as "maras".
"We are talking about an arms-trafficking situation that is as bad as the drug-trafficking situation," he said.
Costa said there were about 60,000-70,000 "maras" alone in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras and they had become part of the drug-smuggling problem and its related violence.
"They are the foot soldiers of organized crime, they are poor, they are trigger-happy, they are very violent," he said.
He added that any efforts to deal with the problem should include not only law enforcement, but also development measures to reintegrate the young gang members back into society.
The U.N. official said these "foot soldiers" of the drug-trafficking cartels were increasingly being paid in drugs, rather than money, which was creating a problem of addiction, as well as violence, in the Central American countries.
"These states are suffering, we would like to help them," Costa said, adding his agency was ready to contribute to both regional and national anti-narcotics initiatives.
The UNODC has already encouraged regional government cooperation in West Africa to try to stop powerful Latin American cocaine cartels from using the region as a staging post for shipments of drugs to Europe.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
"Killing Fields" lawyers clash over torture jail film
This Duch asked for forgiveness to the victims, as a fully born-again Christian.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Lebanon marks fourth Hariri murder anniversary
AFP
February 13
Lebanon on Saturday commemorated the fourth anniversary of ex-premier Rafik Hariri's assassination as final preparations are underway for the international tribunal set up to bring his killers to justice.
The Western-backed parliamentary majority has urged supporters to show up in force at Martyr's Square in central Beirut to demand justice for Hariri and other anti-Syrian figures killed in Lebanon in the last four years.
"They died so that the nation can rise again. The international tribunal will render justice for everyone," according to placards posted throughout the city ahead of the rally.
Hariri died in a massive car bombing in February 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement.
The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war, and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops after a 29-year presence.
The UN tribunal to try Hariri's alleged killers is due to open its doors on March 1, housed in the former headquarters of the Dutch intelligence service on the outskirts of The Hague.
The tribunal will also try those presumed responsible for a series of attacks on other Lebanese political and media figures.
US President Barack Obama on Thursday vowed to support UN moves to bring to justice Hariri's killers.
"As we share our grief with the Lebanese people over the loss of prime minister Hariri, we also share our conviction that his sacrifice will not be in vain," Obama said in a statement
"The United States fully supports the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, whose work will begin in a few weeks, to bring those responsible for this horrific crime and those that followed to justice."
MP Moustapha Allouch, a member of the parliamentary bloc headed by the slain ex-premier's son and political heir, Saad Hariri, said he had no doubt that the tribunal will serve its purpose.
"There are those who had doubts about the tribunal and thought it was a political instrument but it has now become a reality," Allouch told AFP.
Seven suspects have been arrested in connection with Hariri's assassination. Among them are four generals, including the former head of Lebanese state security.
The UN probe has also implicated senior officials from Syria but Damascus has strongly denied any connection with Hariri's death and accuses Washington of using the tribunal as a political weapon.
The Hezbollah-led alliance in Lebanon, which is backed by Syria and Iran, for its part is demanding full transparency as far as the UN probe and tribunal.
"We don't want the ongoing investigation and the tribunal to be politicized because any such move would affect credibility," Hezbollah MP Hassan Hoballah told AFP.
Meanwhile the alliance led by the militant group has accused the parliamentary majority of using Saturday's commemoration to rally voters ahead of legislative elections in June.
Christian leader Michel Aoun, who is allied with Hezbollah, said earlier this week that Hariri's death was "paying off electorally" for the majority.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia name talks resume at UN
Personal Envoy Matthew Nimetz
UN News Center
11 February 2009 – Representatives of Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia held talks today on the name of the latter country in what a United Nations envoy called a “good, solid discussion.”
Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis of Greece and Ambassador Zoran Jolevski of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia met at the initiative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Personal Envoy Matthew Nimetz.
Today’s encounter was considered an exploratory meeting as it was the first with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s new negotiator. The parties spoke about major issues and how progress could be made. Mr. Nimetz stressed the need to create a positive atmosphere and to avoid creating irritations between the parties. The two sides decided to meet again on a date yet to be agreed. No new proposals were aired during today’s meeting.
The meeting was the first since the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia instituted proceedings against Greece in November at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, alleging that Greece blocked its application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in violation of an agreement between the two countries.
When their representatives last met in New York in October, Mr. Nimetz presented a new set of ideas to both sides for their consideration. In the past, the Special Envoy has proposed several compromise names but the two sides remain far apart on what they consider to be a satisfactory name for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
The Interim Accord of 13 September 1995, which was brokered by the UN, details the difference between the two countries on the issue. It also obliges the two sides to continue negotiations under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General to try to reach agreement.
Name Deal Depends on Greece Too- Macedonia
Balkan Insight
February 10
President Branko Crvenkovski
Macedonia is ready to look for a solution to the “name” row with Greece, but cannot accept Athens calling all the shots and not compromising, Macedonia’s President Branko Crvenkovski said on Tuesday.
Crvenkovski spoke during a visit to the Bulgarian capital Sofia, a day before a fresh round of UN sponsored talks between the two countries is due to take place in New York after several months on hiatus.
"The name dispute is the sole obstacle to Macedonia's accession into NATO and the EU. If Macedonia wants to become a member of the Euro-Atlantic community, it's logical that it has to find a compromise with Greece”, Crvenkovski said. “It's up to Greece as well, because it takes two to make a compromise”, he said as quoted by the Makfax news agency.
Dnevnik daily cited unnamed Macedonian diplomats as saying they expected nothing new from the talks except a technical meeting to determine the future course of negotiations. They expect both sides to stick to their previous positions at least until fall, due to the local and presidential polls in Macedonia slated for March and the European Parliament elections in Greece set for June.
Skopje is expected to continue insisting on the so called double name formula including one name for international use and another for bilateral relations with Athens. Greece on the other hand wants Macedonia to change its name and use the new name everywhere, arguing that the use of 'Macedonia' implies territorial claims over its own northern province that is called the same.
Relations between the two neighbours reached a low recently since last April, when Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO accession pending a solution to the row, then threatened to do the same in the EU, while in November Macedonia took Greece to the International Court of Justice in Hague over the NATO blockade. Observers feared this could practically freeze if not completely end the UN talks since the focus will be shifted on the suit instead.
Meanwhile Greek daily Kathimerini in a comment piece yesterday saying that the fresh round of talks marks a new era in the dispute. With George. W. Bush’s presidency over, Macedonia lost its biggest supporter on the international scene, the daily added.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Georgia separatists warn may block U.N. monitors
Christian Lowe and Conor Sweeney
Reuters
February 10
Georgia's separatist Abkhazia region said on Tuesday it will not allow United Nations ceasefire monitors to continue working in its territory unless the mission's name is changed to reflect separatists' desire for independence'
But, Western diplomats in Moscow said Russia and not Abkhazia would have the decisive say in whether the mandate for the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) is renewed. Abkhazia objects to the reference to Georgia.
Separatist foreign minister Sergei Shamba said the new mandate -- to replace one which expires on February 15 -- must change the mission's name to reflect the separatists' assertion that Abkhazia is an independent state.
"If it (the new mandate) does not correspond to our proposals we will not allow them in. We will not allow the U.N. mission in Georgia into Abkhazia," Shamba told Reuters in a telephone interview.
In New York, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters a group of key countries had drafted a resolution extending the mandate for four months. The Security Council was expected to pass it later this week, he said.
Western governments say the U.N. mission plays a central role in preventing new hostilities between separatist and Georgian forces, who are locked in a tense standoff after Abkhaz forces drove out Tbilisi's troops in fighting in the 1990s.
This week's dealings at U.N. headquarters in New York over the mandate are seen by many observers as a test of Russia's willingness to work with the international community after it angered many Western states with its war with Georgia last year.
Georgia said it wanted the mandate left unchanged and would not accept a mission that undermined its territorial integrity.
"In my opinion, Abkhazia is bluffing," Georgian Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister on Reintegration Temur Iakobashvili told Reuters.
Uncertain future
For years there has been consensus on the need for the U.N. observer mission but last year's war -- and Russia's subsequent recognition of Abkhazia and the second breakaway region of South Ossetia as independent -- have made its status more precarious.
Russia last year blocked the renewal of the mandate for an Organization for Security and Cooperation observer mission in South Ossetia, saying the mandate had to be changed to acknowledge the region's statehood.
The final deadline to agree on the OSCE mission's mandate falls on February 18. The OSCE said on Tuesday two of its monitors were briefly detained in South Ossetia.
But one Western diplomat in Moscow who is familiar with the talks said the U.N. mission was different.
"For Russia, it will be more difficult to boot out the U.N., when it also says the U.N. should be the core forum where international disputes should be handled," he said.
Russia and Nicaragua are the only states to have recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent.
See also:
OSCE - Concerns over the detaining of unarmed monitors
RFE/RL - A Day in the Life of Russia's Collective Unconscious
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