Yearly Archives: 2009
Ban Ki Moon on North Korea
From the UN News Center: “The Secretary-General is deeply concerned that this act will negatively affect regional peace and stability as well as the global nuclear non-proliferation regime,” his spokesperson said in a statement.
Mr. Ban “trusts that the Security Council will take up this matter to send out a strong and unified message, conducive to achieving the goal of de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula and peace and security in the region,” the statement added.
Ban, remember, is the former foreign minister of South Korea. He’s seen this movie before.
North Korea Tests Nuke – Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting
NYT:
North Korea announced on Monday that it had successfully conducted its second nuclear test, defying international warnings and dramatically raising the stakes in a global effort to persuade the recalcitrant Communist state to give up its weapons program. …
Russia and Japan said the U.N. Security Council would hold an emergency meeting Monday.
Geological authorities in the United States, Japan and South Korea reported that the test triggered an earth tremor with a magnitude of between 4.5 and 5.3. The tremor emanated from Kilju, the same area where the North Korea carried out a test in October 2006.
Are Deaths From Terrorism Qualitatively/Morally Different?
Cross-posted at Huffington Post
The establishment approach to counter-terrorism is based on an implicit assumption that there is a fundamental difference between the death and destruction caused by terrorist attacks and that caused by crime, hunger, disease and other such threats.
This unspoken assumption is used to justify the suspension of rules and standards that are employed when dealing with other causes of death and injury. And it explains a disproportionate urgency in contending with a single existential threat over others (global warming, environmental degradation, poverty, gun violence, etc.).
Hip-hop ambassador
Meet the UN’s next Goodwill Ambassador: hip-hop legend Russell Simmons. His role is to promote the Permanent Memorial for the victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. And he gets a new hat.
Security Council Finishes Africa Trip in Liberia
Wrapping up a relatively quiet trip to Africa, the UN Security Council toured Liberia, a country that has calmed after years of devastating war, but which still has the potential for instability. Addressing the topic of the UN peacekeeping mission that has operated in the country since 2003, Liberia’s president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, offered this:
Asked when the country would be able to stand on its feet without peacekeepers, Johnson-Sirleaf told Reuters after talks with a Security Council delegation: “Two years after the elections. Then we can ask everybody to leave.”
Four years (elections are scheduled for 2011) may seem like a rather arbitrary timeline, but the Secretary-General and Security Council representatives on the trip — including U.S. ambassador Susan Rice — were inclined to agree with the schedule, as well as with the proposed troop drawdown to come. The UN is currently omnipresent in Liberia, and its peacekeepers play an important role in making sure the country remains safe, stable, and democratic. And as Nick Kristof’s most recent column attests, some problems — one of the worst, in fact — have stuck around even as peace has settled in.
(image of UN vehicles in Monrovia, from Scarlett Lion)
HRC and BKM on Sri Lanka
The UN Human Rights Council is set to hold a special session on Sri Lanka next Monday. While that may not reassure critics of the institution, I think it’s a good sign that the Council is engaged. The more focus on the humanitarian disaster — and its possible escalation — in Sri Lanka, the better. This is what worries me:
Sri Lanka has said it needs to keep people inside the camps long enough to weed out potential Tiger infiltrators, and the United Nations has since said the camps meet international standards aside from the limited freedom of movement.
“Aside from the limited freedom movement” is a rather scary caveat, particularly when the Sri Lankan government is insisting it will be able to resettle the 250,000-plus displaced civilians in just six months. Combined with an ambiguous “weeding-out” program, this could spell danger.
Ban Ki-moon will be in the country tomorrow, and he better make sure that humanitarians and human rights activists have good access to make sure nothing goes wrong in the camps.
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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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