Monthly Archives: June 2006
Somalia War Could Spread, UN warns
CNN: “The takeover of Somalia’s capital by Islamic militias could lead to a regional conflict unless the international community resolves Somalia’s 15-year-old civil war, the top U.N. envoy to the country warned Monday…. U.N. officials are concerned that the increased fighting could create a new humanitarian crisis, and the United States fears the country could become a new haven for the al Qaeda terror network.”
Oh Really? (On Claudia Rosett’s Diatribe)
In the midst of a long-winded diatribe against Secretary General Kofi Annan, Claudia Rosett manages to assert that no reforms have followed in the wake of the oil-for-food scandal. “Last year, the general hope, and Annan’s promise, was that the exposure of Oil-for-Food corruption, and a host of other U.N. scandals … would lead to genuine U.N. reform,” writes Rosett in the National Review Online. “The scandals are still with us. But there has been no major reform.” No reform? Please.
Time Running Out to Curb Effects of Deep Sea Pollution
Damage to the once pristine habitats of the deep oceans by pollution, litter and overfishing is running out of control, the United Nations warned yesterday. In a report that indicates that time is running out to save them, the UN said humankind’s exploitation of the the deep seas and oceans was “rapidly passing the point of no return”.
UN Launches Drive to Cut Child Deaths in Disasters
Blog Roundup #108
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Air America Radio notes renewed calls for Guantanamo’s closure.
CJR Daily discusses the “Elephant in the Newsroom” known as Guantanamo: “A quick Lexis-Nexis search for “Guantanamo” proves just how inadequate newspapers have been to the task of telling this story. Nearly every article that appears is a breaking news story about a new hunger strike, a court battle over forced feeding, or an organization like the UN voicing concern about the detainees.”
Coalition for Darfur links to an AP piece describing “thousands of civilian deaths” documented in Darfur.
Joshua Landis writes: “The new UN investigation into Rafiq Al Hariri’s murder is expected to indict Syrian leaders.”
Paper Chase says that “UN rights experts call on Egypt to preserve independent judiciary.”
Prosecutor Sees Multiple Darfur Prosecutions
Given the scale of killings, rape, looting and destruction of villages in Darfur, Sudan the Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations-backed criminal court said today he anticipates the prosecution of a sequence of cases, rather than a single case, of possible war crimes in the conflict between the Khartoum Government, allied militia and rebels.
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The SC; HRC; DPRK; South Sudan
The SC: The Security Council today held its last consultations under the Council Presidency of ROK. Tomorrow, Russia will take over the rotating Presidency of the Security Council for March under Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
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The SG; Mali; Middle East; Palestine
The SG: At the Fifth Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna, Austria today, the SG emphasized the role of youth in ensuring a “prosperous, equitable and peaceful future.”
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The SG; DRC; HRC; Palestinian Prisoner
The SG: In Ethiopia over the weekend, the SG is now in the United Arab Emirates. Today he met with Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, where the two discussed developments in the region, including Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, and in the Middle East Peace Process.
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