UNITED
NATIONS, June
15 -- Not only
is the UN
Security
Council
secretive:
even academic
discussions
about it are
cloaked in
secrecy.
For
two days there
has been such
a confab on
Long Island in
New York. In
full
disclosure,
Inner City
Press
petitioned the
sponsor, to
attend
and report
from it. It
was explained
that it is an
invitation-only
scholarly
retreat. So,
no.
But
that's not to
say that it
can't and
shouldn't be
covered.
Alternatively
described as
off the record
or "Chatham
House,"
we will
summarize some
issues without
attributing
them.
As an
initial
thought, in an
age of social
media, Chatham
House ain't what
it used
to be. But
we're going
beyond the
call of duty,
and no even
naming
the sponsor.
It's the
thoughts that
count.
An
easy consensus
was reached
that Security
Council reform
will not
happen any
time soon. It
was diagnosed
that France
and UK favor
some
reform, not
because they
are reformers,
but because
they gain more
from Permanent
membership on
the Council
they others:
the "illusion"
of world power
status.
If
the Council
continues to
lose
legitimacy,
so do they.
For
that reason,
they do most
of the work,
drafting up to
80% of
Security
Council
"products"
like
resolutions
and press
statements.
It is not
clear if the
correlation
between such
"pen-holding"
and former
colonial
status was
raised. If
not, it should
have been.
Likewise
the
failure of UN
Peacekeeping
under Herve
Ladsous to
follow through
on the UN's
announced
Human Rights
Due Diligence
and
conditionality
policies.
When
the 391st and
41st
Battalions of
the Congolese
Army
committed at
least 135
rapes in
Minova in late
November 2012,
first
Ladsous
refused Press
questions,
then
threatened to
withdraw
support.
But this never
happened, and
there have
been very few
prosecutions.
Still
Ladsous
refuses the
question, May
29 video here.
So where is
the Security
Council on
this?
It
was noted that
the Security
Council is
more likely to
get involved
in
civil wars in
Africa, and
for a time in
Europe, than
anywhere else:
read, Asia.
Consider
this: while
40,000
civilians were
killed in Sri
Lanka in May
2009, the
Security
Council did
not have a
single
official
meeting on the
topic, just a
few "informal
informals"
with John
Holmes
and Vijay
Nambiar down
in the
now-closed
basement of
the General
Assembly.
And on June 14
after the acclamation
of John Ashe
as new
President of
the GA, one of
the generals
most
responsible,
Shavendra
Silva, toasted
Ashe on behalf
of the Asia
Pacific Group.
So it goes at
the UN.
Mali,
Cote d'Ivoire,
DRC and Libya
were lumped
together it
seems as
example
of robut
peacekeeping.
But Libya was
simply the
authorization
of a
no-fly zone
which turned
into much more
-- sure to
come up if one
is
requested over
Syria.
Cote
d'Ivoire was,
well, a French
thing, and
DRC to some
degree the
same. And
Mali? Should
UN
Peacekeeping
be
given over as
it has been to
four French
heads of DPKO
in a row?
Some
outside of the
box topics
arose, such as
the place
going forward
of
cyber security
-- Chapter
Seven travel
or surfing
bans against
hackers,
anyone? The
monthly
rotation of
the Council
presidency was
praised but
admitted to
lead to a lack
of continuity.
Inner
City Press
would add,
also a lack of
transparency
and
accountability.
Take for
example the
opaque
decision that
starting with
the June
1
move-back
there would no
longer by a
media
worktable
in front of
the
Council.
Who
decided? Inner
City Press
through the
new Free
UN Coalition
for
Access has
asked
and will
continue to
ask Permanent
members of the
Council. The blame is
shifted to the
UN
Secretariat,
or to certain
Big
Media members
of the UN
Correspondents
Association
board.
Who
will
own up to, or
reverse, this
reduction in
media access?
Watch this
site.
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