“The top United Nations humanitarian official today briefed the press at Headquarters on the situations in Yemen, Philippines, Indonesia and Uganda after his recent visits to those countries….” 29 October 2009: Press Conference by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
take a look!
Relief work of any kind takes place at the discretion of the host government- President Al-Bashir of Sudan’s decision to expel multiple aid agencies from his country in March of 2009 was a sharp reminder of this reality. Often, the international community plays a key role in how open or closed host governments are to humanitarian action on their soil.
Recently, the New York Times ran an Editorial discussing these issues- Backsliding on Human Rights. It ultimately argues that:
“The current disputes over human rights will crystallize over the next two years, as 2011 will see an inter-governmental review of the Human Rights Council. China, Russia and other illiberal powers may try to set further limits on the U.N.’s human rights role.The European Union, the United States and their remaining allies on human rights (such as the Latin American democracies) should form a high-level working group to prepare for the review. They should also talk directly to Moscow and Beijing about how to stop power politics in the Security Council from undercutting humanitarian aid, as it did over Sri Lanka. There is no point in celebrating America’s return to the U.N. if the U.N. cannot help the vulnerable.”
Meeting this past week, the Security Council was able to avoid a stalemate over issues such as Iranian nuclear power: some are breathing a sigh of relief. However, Turkey– a member of the Security Council for 2009/2010– is preparing to raise the issue of potential war crimes committed by both Israelis and Palestinians during the recent war in the Gaza Strip. Turkey would like “accountability” for war crimes committed- but the US has insisted that this is an issue to be addressed by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, not the Security Council and may veto the issue. (Glance at Turkey Wants UN body to discuss Gaza ‘war crimes’ for a fuller discussion of the situation).
If the US uses its veto power to stop a discussion of the independent Gladstone Report covering war crimes by both sides, the issue may well be forced to the Human Rights Council, of which the US is a new member (the Human Rights Council was boycotted under President George W. Bush). Either way, the handling of this issue will further define the parameters by which Human Rights violations can and cannot be addressed in today’s world– this directly impacts the Humanitarian community at large. Stay tuned.
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