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Call to back UN genocide reform

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  • Call to back UN genocide reform

    Call to back UN genocide reform

    Oxfam has urged the US, Russia, India and Brazil to support a UN
    reform that would require the organisation to act quickly to prevent
    genocide. The international charity accuses the four countries of
    blocking UN plans designed to stop atrocities such as the 1994 Rwanda
    genocide happening again. Oxfam says the proposal would oblige the
    international community to take action if governments failed to do so.

    Its statement comes ahead of a UN summit next month to discuss
    reforms. Oxfam says that while US officials publicly back the planned
    reform, in principle they are seeking to water it down.

    Other countries opposing the move include Syria, Iran, Cuba, Pakistan,
    Egypt and Algeria, the charity said.

    'New standard'

    The current draft statement says the UN has a "shared responsibility
    to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner" to "help
    protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and
    crimes against humanity".

    Oxfam says it is essential the agreement remains this strongly worded,
    if UN members are to prevent future genocides happening.

    Such a reform would establish a new standard, the charity says, and
    oblige the international community to act when required.

    Oxfam's spokeswoman in New York, Nicola Reindorp, said: "We've taken
    the step of exposing the governments blocking the agreement so people
    around the world can call on them to change their minds.

    "We urge these governments to urgently reconsider their position and
    agree to protect civilians from mass murder and atrocities.

    "The international community must never again allow genocide or mass
    murder to go unchecked."

    Governments supporting the call for strong language in the draft
    statement include Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya,
    Chile, Peru, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea,
    Singapore, Canada and the EU.

    However, opposition from the would-be blockers could still dilute the
    commitment and so make it meaningless, Oxfam warned.

    "Those supporting the responsibility of states to protect civilians
    must stick to their principles and those opposing it must think
    again," Ms Reindorp said.

    "Brazil, India, Russia and the US must play their part in helping to
    stop the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians."

    Story from BBC NEWS:
    BBC, News, BBC News, news online, world, uk, international, foreign, british, online, service
    "All truth passes through three stages:
    First, it is ridiculed;
    Second, it is violently opposed; and
    Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

    Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

  • #2
    Short attention span Another day, another genocide

    EDITORIALS Short attention span Another day, another genocide

    Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock)
    August 8, 2005 Monday

    THERE'S ONE thing you can always count on when the subject of genocide
    comes up: Nobody gets too worked up about it. The dead are certainly
    beyond caring. Survivors might be interested, especially surviving
    family and friends. But in general the living, most of us anyway,
    have other things on our minds.

    A short news item out of Rwanda once again brings to mind how easily
    the deaths of hundreds of thousands can become nothing more than
    a footnote in the bloody pages of history. It seems the Rwandan
    government has okayed the release of 36,000 prisoners, most of whom
    have confessed to participating in the genocide in that country more
    than 10 years ago. End of story.

    What genocide? Well, over a period of about 100 days in 1994,
    800,000 Rwandans were murdered by their countrymen. The massacres
    arose out of tension between the majority Hutu and the minority
    Tutsi. Most of the deaths were among the Tutsis, although Hutus also
    were slaughtered. Sometimes by fellow Hutus who thought they were
    soft on the Tutsis. It will all sound familiar to students of 20th
    Century Europe.

    The prisoners being released now were mostly foot soldiers in the reign
    of terror, rather than leaders and organizers. Rwanda's government
    says the ex-prisoners will go back to their homes in the villages
    where they committed their acts of violence. There they are supposed
    to face local tribunals set up to allow for reconciliation-confession
    and forgiveness. Not a bad idea, and it's about as much justice as
    can be mustered in Rwanda right now.

    There's a case to be made for the release of the prisoners. Rwandan
    prisons are known for their horrific conditions. They were built to
    hold about 30,000, but until this release there were more than 80,000
    inmates crowded together. Food and shelter are lacking. Disease is
    rampant. Some of the prisoners have been held for 10 years or more,
    with no prospect for trials any time soon. Many have already served
    longer sentences than they would probably have received if tried.
    Many were minors when they participated in the killings. Others are
    elderly. Many are sick.

    >>From the point of view of the survivors, though, such humanitarian
    concerns are misplaced. A massive release of prisoners puts them
    back among the same people they once terrorized. One survivor voiced
    her fear of what would happen, even with the prospect of village
    tribunals. The released prisoners, she warned, will stick together
    and hide the truth. And the survivors will rightly fear further
    retaliation.

    Those scholars who keep up with the world's genocides tend to have the
    same concern. The worry is that mixing the perpetrators and the victims
    could re-open old wounds and lead to yet another round of mass murder
    in that Central African country. And they suspect that the huge number
    of prisoners being released will overload the reconciliation process,
    meaning many never have to acknowledge their crimes. In short, the
    release could create more problems than it solves. But it's hard to
    get the world to care.

    Even in 1994, when the killings were known to be happening, nobody on
    the outside showed much concern. Reaction from the United Nations was
    feeble. Elsewhere, the reaction was non-existent. Another outbreak of
    violence in Rwanda is likely to draw the same immense lack of interest.

    Besides, Rwanda is so yesterday. Today's genocide is happening in the
    Darfur region of the Sudan, but few know the details, and fewer still
    are trying to stop it. Rwanda is joining the long list of genocides
    that escaped attention while they were occurring, then slipped from
    human memory.

    "Who remembers the Armenians?" as Hitler was supposed to have asked
    when making his own genocidal plans. For that matter, who now remembers
    the Bosnians or the Cambodians? Even the 20th Century's most notorious
    genocide, the Holocaust, has produced its deniers. How long, after all,
    can one be exposed to tales of horror before the mind grows numb? The
    Rwandans must now compete for attention on an always crowded list of
    mass atrocities. And always we will have those who would minimize,
    euphemize, or even excuse genocides, setting the stage for more. (One
    Japanese textbook now refers to the Rape of Nanking-a weeks-long binge
    of absolute horror-as the Nanking "incident.") There will always be
    those who say it's time to move on. But often enough, that advice
    comes from those who joined in the mass murders. Forgive and forget,
    they say. Don't dwell on the past. But attention must be paid if
    humanity is ever to move beyond this bloody stage. The thankless
    job of recording these enormities must go on. Lest we forget, and
    repeat the Killing Fields of Cambodia, the slaughters of Rwanda,
    the massacre at Srebrenica . . . .

    All must be recorded in history, none whitewashed. No, remembering
    won't do much for the victims or maybe even for the survivors, but
    somewhere, sometime maybe attention will be paid. And the future will
    be better than the still echoing crimes of a terrible past.
    "All truth passes through three stages:
    First, it is ridiculed;
    Second, it is violently opposed; and
    Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

    Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

    Comment


    • #3
      Armenia For Un Reformation

      ARMENIA FOR UN REFORMATION



      YEREVAN, 31.08.05. The 60-th Session of the UN General Assembly will take place in New York in mid September. The Armenian delegations will be held by RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan. Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, who also serves on the delegation, is expected to address the session.

      According to the report of the RA MFA press center, Armenia is for UN reformation including enlargement of the UN Security Council.

      To remind, in December 1993, the UN General Assembly formed a working group with an open composition for the discussion of the Security Council expansion issue. Presently the member-states have not achieved consent on the number, composition and some other issues.

      A1plus
      2005-08-31 10:22:00
      "All truth passes through three stages:
      First, it is ridiculed;
      Second, it is violently opposed; and
      Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

      Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

      Comment

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