Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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What Was New What's New
Week of May 5 - 9, 2008
Iraq Security Council Empire? Social and Economic Policy NGOs Nations and States
Iraq
The "Surge" of Iraqi Prisoners (May 7, 2008)
Global Policy Forum’s Ciara Gilmartin states that “US forces hold nearly all detainees indefinitely without charge, an arrest warrant or the opportunity to defend themselves.” Human rights monitors, including the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), are denied access to detention centers in Iraq by US officials. This lack of oversight not only increases the likelihood of detainee abuse, but also violates international human rights law. (Foreign Policy in Focus)In Sadr City, Basic Services Are Faltering (April 22, 2008)
In Sadr City, Muqtada Al-Sadr’s stronghold in Baghdad, US forces struggle to gain support from Iraqi citizens, yet deprive residents of essential needs such as water and electricity. Piles of sewage and trash line the streets causing Iraqis to further condemn the US occupation. Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army, however, “has long used the delivery of aid and basic services as a means of building political influence.” (New York Times)Iraqis See Red As US Opens World's Biggest Embassy (April 24, 2008)
According to this Christian Science Monitor article, the US embassy, a complex of 21 buildings on 104 acres, will open in May 2008. Surpassing the limitations for cost and completion, the US embassy exceeded the budget allotted for construction by US$140 million. The magnitude of the world’s largest embassy is “…a reflection of the size of the designs [the occupying forces] have for Iraq and the Middle East.”Security Council
Haitian Food Riots Unnerving but Not Surprising (April 25, 2008)
Rioters attack UN peacekeepers (MINUSTAH) in Haiti, as a majority of the population believes the force represents US national interests, according to the Centre for International Policy. MINUSTAH entered Haiti in 2004, following a US supported coup against the elected leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Rather than renewing the mandate for MINUSTAH, the author suggests that UN member states cancel Haiti’s outstanding national debt and increase financial aid to the government.Report of the Secretary General on Sierra Leone (April 31, 2008)
Ban Ki-moon commends UN peacekeepers (UNIOSIL) for the significant progress made towards consolidating peace in Sierra Leone. UNIOSIL helped the government of Sierra Leone to professionalize the army, train national police officers and build the capacity of the National Electoral Commission. Due to the success of the mission, Ban recommends that the peacekeepers withdraw from Sierra Leone in September 2008, and that the Security Council mandate a smaller UN Peacebuilding office within the country.Routinely Targeted: Attacks on Civilians in Somalia (May 6, 2008)
The Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Ethiopian military forces commit extrajudicial killings, torture, rape and arbitrary detention in Somalia, says Amnesty International. The TFG, aided by Ethiopia and the US, overthrew the Somali ruling government in 2007. The report urges the UN Security Council to condemn violations of international human rights law by the TFG and Ethiopia, strengthen a UN Arms Embargo against Somalia, and encourage the UN peacekeeping force in Somalia (AMISOM) to protect the lives of civilians.The Judicial Arm of the Occupation: The Israeli Military Courts in the Occupied Territories (June 2007)
The Israeli government uses military tribunals to judge civilian cases in the Palestinian occupied territories, according to the International Review of the Red Cross. In the tribunals, a single judge can impose 10-year prison sentences on Palestinian suspects accused of undermining Israeli security. The author argues that the use of military tribunals in the occupied territories is unlawful under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and that Israel uses the courts to extend “judicial domination” over the Palestinian people.The Chad Conflict, United Nations (MINURCAT) and the European Union (EUFOR) (March 10, 2008)
Unequal distribution of oil revenues as well as a lack of democratic reform by President Idriss Deby leads to armed opposition against the Chadian government says Real Instituto Elcano. In response to this opposition, multinational oil corporations Chevron and Petronas provide the Chadian government with funding to buy military weapons. The author recommends that rather than a military solution, the UN should persuade Idriss Deby to open power-sharing talks with opposition groups, and share oil resources equally.Security Council Resolution 1813 on Western Sahara (April 30, 2008)
Although there has been a lack of progress in negotiations between pro-independence Polasario Front and Morocco on the future of Western Sahara, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1813 extending the UN referendum mission (MINURSO) until April 30, 2009. The Resolution reiterates the Secretary General’s demand that the two sides negotiate “without precondition and in good faith” to implement an independence poll for the people of Western Sahara.Empire?
Rwanda and the War on Terrorism (February 21, 2008)
This article argues that the Bush administration fuels conflict in the Central African Great Lakes Region so that US companies can access coltan, an ore used in computers. Though the US claims to facilitate peace talks between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it has also provided the Rwandan army with US$7.2 million in arms and training. This military aid prolongs Rwanda’s involvement in the DRC conflict and secures US material interests. (Foreign Policy in Focus)The RAND Corporation: America's University of Imperialism (April 30, 2008)
RAND Corporation made a “peculiar contribution to the modern world” by manufacturing “the Cold War American empire,” argues Chalmers Johnson. The private think tank grew out of the US Air Force, employed Nobel Laureate economists, and invented reconnaissance satellites, missile defense and the internet. RAND made terrible but predictable analytical errors. The Corporation overestimated the Soviet military threat, and stoked the Cold War. Johnson fears RAND’s graduate school trains today a new generation of researchers to support militarism and aggression. (TomDispatch)Famous Are the Flowers: Hawaiian Resistance Then – and Now (April 8, 2008)
The Nation questions why the US has not returned sovereignty to Hawaii after a group of “American businessmen” overthrew the constitutional government in 1893. Congress annexed Hawaii by a resolution rather than a treaty, which set the mark for future US relations with the Pacific Islands. A hundred years apart, Presidents Cleveland and Clinton apologized for this event which remains fresh in the minds of indigenous Hawaiians.Social and Economic Policy
UN Sets Up Food Crisis Task Force (April 29, 2008)
In the face of “widespread hunger, malnutrition and social unrest on an unprecedented scale,” the United Nations is setting up a task force. The task force, chaired by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and made up of heads of UN agencies and the World Bank, aims to financially support farmers and assist countries with a food deficit in buying seeds. The World Bank pledges to double lending for agriculture in Africa and to provide quicker and more flexible financing to poor countries. It is not clear how, and if, this task force will address long-term threats to international food security such as the distorting EU agricultural subsidies or climate change. (BBC)Europe: Subsidies Feed Food Scarcity (April 25, 2008)
European subsidies for agriculture are contributing to rapidly rising food prices and the destruction of small-scale farming. These massive subsidies artificially cheapen EU products, making it impossible for small-scale farmers in poorer countries to compete. Critics have long protested the way in which these subsidies distort global agriculture and trade. In light of the 2008 food crisis, the EU subsidies are under heavy fire, from poor countries who suffer most, but also from within, by EU politicians and policymakers. (Inter Press Service)Artificial Foods and Corporate Crops: Can We Escape the “Frankenstate”? (May 2, 2008)
This article criticizes the effect of industrial agriculture on global food security. The author points out that a few large corporations have patented or genetically modified most of the plants humans rely on for their basic needs. These corporations use chemical and genetic technologies to “dominate agricultural production from seed to stomach and to profit from every bite.” In addition, industrial food production exhausts Earth’s basic biological support systems, and makes the planet more vulnerable to climate change. (AlterNet)Liberians Drop Rice for Spaghetti (April 22, 2008)
In the first half of 2008, the price of rice more than doubled, making it unaffordable for many Liberians, who have switched from rice to cheaper staple foods like spaghetti. Liberia depends almost completely on foreign imports of rice from the US and Asia. While the Liberian Minister for Agriculture optimistically notes that this might be an opportunity for Liberians to diversify their diets, this example shows how vulnerable poor, net food importing countries are to price shocks on the global market. (BBC)Time for an International Renewable Energy Agency? (April 23, 2008)
In April 2008, representatives from more than 60 countries met in Berlin to discuss the establishment of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). IRENA aims to promote the “socially desirable” options of renewable energy and to take a stand against conventional energy sources like fossil fuels and their powerful lobbyists. IRENA differs from the existing International Energy Agency (IEA) by aiming to adapt energy markets to decentralized, renewable energy sources rather than focus on central, large-scale energy supply. (Renewable Energy World)NGOs
Quid Pro Quo: A Journalistic Look at NGO-Media Interaction in Africa (2005)
This paper shows how NGOs in Africa use the media as a powerful advocacy tool. Where governments disseminate misinformation, NGOs can inform communities through the media about problems like HIV/AIDS. Some NGOs also support news networks, which cannot afford journalists with a scientific education, by providing expert statements on health issues. The author concludes from case studies in Kenya and South Africa that NGOs and the media “cannot serve the public effectively without assistance and support from the other.” (Brown Journal of World Affairs)Wangari Maathai: Nobel Lecture (December 10, 2004)
Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai argues that NGOs lead change in societies that face poverty and political corruption by mobilizing a critical mass of citizens to build social justice. Maathai describes how the Green Belt Movement in Kenya taught rural communities how to drive development rather than rely on “outside” solutions to their problems. Under President Daniel arap Moi’s corrupt rule, Green Belt participants built community relationships and aided peaceful transition to democracy in Kenya. (Nobelprize.org)Nations and States
Catalonia’s Bill Comes Due for Madrid: It’s More Autonomy (March 10, 1994)
Catalonia, one of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions, possesses the economic strength and the population to stand on its own. But are the Catalans willing to go that far? Jordi Pujol, the Catalan leader heading the regional government, says the region only wants more self-government and respect for Spain’s “multi-ethnic character.” Critics argue that Pujol deliberately tries to stir up tensions with his campaign to promote the Catalan language. (New York Times)The Slow Birth of a Nation (April 24, 2008)
Kosovo, the self-proclaimed European nation, has one of the world’s worst trade balances and suffers from 75 percent youth unemployment. The problematic economic situation slows down the building of the new country but does not constitute the only factor hampering its development. The author warns that the clan-based political structure and corrupt political leaders endanger the establishment of a constitutional nation. (Der Spiegel)Sinking Without Trace: Australia’s Climate Change Victims (May 5, 2008)
Serious floods caused by climate change are threatening the existence of the Island of Murray and several other islands in the Torres Strait. The Torres islands constitute the most vulnerable area of Australia, but the government has not included the region in its action plan to challenge global warming. Some islanders are asking for relocation but others are determined to stay despite the uncertainty of their future. They fear that moving away may endanger their local culture. (Independent)French Basques Dream of Autonomy (February 14, 1997)
After Franco’s death, Spanish Basques gained some autonomy and local authority over education, taxes and security issues. But on the other side of the border, their French counterparts are still longing for some form of independence. Jakes Abeberry, Deputy Mayor of Biarritz, states optimistically that the Basque country will soon come together and achieve autonomy, as national borders within the European Union seem to fade. (New York Times)Europe: Tax Havens Cheating the Poor (April 30, 2008)
According to Tax Justice Network, in 2002, tax authorities lost five times the amount of money needed to reach the Millennium Development Goals on poverty reduction as a result of world wide tax evasion. This article criticizes the “slightly schizophrenic” policy of the European Union on tax avoidance. While the EU has installed a code of conduct on taxation of corporations, most of the notorious tax havens are located within the EU or in overseas territories belonging to its member states. Eurodad, the European Network for Debt and Development, urges France to bring the issue back on the agenda during its EU’s presidency in the second half of 2008. (Inter Press Service)
