Sudan: Govt, Militias Have Committed Attrocities

[struggle4progress]

Government forces and their proxy militias have slaughtered civilians in villages in the Darfur region of Sudan, a United Nations human rights expert said yesterday after completing a 13-day tour of Sudan. Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, told a press briefing in Khartoum that she was “disturbed and alarmed by the gravity of the human rights abuses perpetrated” in Africa’s largest country.

Ms. Jahangir said she had also received reports of mass killings by Government-sponsored militias in the Malakal region of southern Sudan.

But her greatest concerns were saved for Darfur, where two rebel groups have been fighting the Sudanese Government since early last year and aid agencies say a humanitarian crisis is unfolding.

UN agencies and relief organizations estimate that at least one million people have fled their homes and become internally displaced since fighting broke out, while another 150,000 refugees have escaped across the border into Chad.
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http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0406/S00160.htm

[geek tragedy]

1. The UN is so damn worthless

The UN Commission refused to criticize the Sudan for this and then elected it to sit on the commission.

The Devil is a busy man.

[struggle4progress]

2. This woman works full time on human rights and you say she's worthless?

[geek tragedy]

3. She's not

but the institution is. She reports to the Commission which includes Sudan and which refused to criticize Sudan.

I'm sure she is a woman of great credibility, but her employer has none.

[struggle4progress]

4. The UN is a collection of people, working together ...

in the context of international politics. I have met several people who worked for the UN, and every single one of them has impressed me.

There are a number of different political and diplomatic styles, some of which require enormous energy and skill. In diplomatic circles, for example, people often express criticism behind the scenes and allow people to save face in public, on the theory that embarrassing people won't result in cooperation.

I share your frustration about the situation in the Sudan, but a blanket condemnation of the UN seems inappropriate. And although the right-wing is always trying to sabotage the UN, there's really no credible alternative to the UN as an international forum.

[geek tragedy]

5. The UN has a lot of good people working for it

but institutionally it needs big-time reform. I view the UN as simply a body that states exploit for their own purposes. The US exploits it to justify its swaggering and bullying. The Arab and Muslim states exploit it in their campaign to delegitimize Israel. Human rights abusers exploit it to stifle debate about human rights.

It serves a purpose in fostering dialogue, but as an independent actor it's at a moment of crisis.

[struggle4progress]

7. Well, that's politics.

I view Congress, for example, as simply a body that corporations exploit for their own purposes. That doesn't suggest to me that Congress should be abolished.

With large institutions, the need for reform will ALWAYS be with us.

[gottaB]

8. Criticism is warranted, but you're overstating it

I was just reading a piece about Canadian frustrations with the UN, UN failing victims of war, Canada says, (caveat lector, the National Post is known to be right leaning). Here's some of that:

Allan Rock, Canada's ambassador to the UN, said the council shies away from many "sensitive and politically challenging" problems, but must become "more creative" if it hopes to fulfill its December, 2003, pledge to entrench civilian protection as a "central commitment."

His blunt message reflects Ottawa's frustration with the UN, which has long been a central conduit for expressing Canadian foreign policy but has been slow to adopt Canadian-endorsed ideas for protecting civilians caught up in wars.

The Security Council, the UN's foremost body charged with ensuring international peace and security, invited non-member states such as Canada to speak in yesterday's open debate on the topic.

"Today's debate affords the first opportunity to measure the council's actions against pledge," Mr. Rock said. "We can only conclude that a significant gap remains between Council commitments and concrete action."

Okay, the UN is an instrument of foreign policy. (So is the state from a certain point of view, but that's another matter.) Nevertheless, there seem to be many, many cases where states share similar interests. After all, what national interest does Canada have in protecting civilians caught up in wars? I don't recall Canada having been militarily attacked in my lifetime. And yet the fact remains that Canada has a general and abiding interest in preventing international conflicts and promoting peace. Every member state has that in their interests, more or less. The UN remains the preeminent international body for discussing and promoting shared policy interests in the peaceful coexistence of nations.

It's possible that the crisis moment you are noticing reflects difficulty coping with an actual increase in violent conflicts, rather than a complete breakdown of the institution. I agree with you that reforms are needed and that there is room for criticism of UN leadership, and also the way member states have abused or manipulated the UN. That doesn't ammount to an institutional crisis, utter aesthenia or zero credibility.

My 2¢

[Darranar]

6. Well, what's new? n/t