Who rules? The United Nations: Democratic and representative?*

The United Nations as presently constituted is undemocratic, unrepresentative and underfunded, and reform is urgently needed. All countries, not least the United States which owes half the UN debt, must pay their dues, but other sources of funding such as a levy on currency trading should be explored. Reform of the Security Council, though important, will be difficult to achieve, and the immediate priority must be to tackle the social and economic problems and abuses of human rights which underlie most conflict. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank must be returned to UN control and the influence of transnational corporations curbed. The increasing role of Non‐Governmental Organizations is welcome, and a People's Assembly parallel to the General Asembly should be encouraged. The role of the UN in conflict resolution should not be taken over by bodies such as the European Union or NATO; preventive diplomacy under Chapters VI and VIII of the UN Charter should be given priority over peace enforcement under Chapter VII.     

Irresponsible responsibility

The Medical Association for Prevention of War (UK) submitted the following written statement to the Third Special Session on Disarmament of the United Nations General Assembly, which was held at UN headquarters in New York on 31 May‐25 June 1988.     

Indexes

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child grew out of protests against the male‐dominated violence of war, particularly in the Balkans, during two world wars. Many children have been killed, disabled, made homeless, and psychologically traumatized, particularly in intrastate wars, since the Second World War. Recently, large numbers of children have become soldiers, often after violent indoctrination. Several community‐based measures to prevent this abuse of children's rights are proposed.     

Global action to prevent war: A programme for government and Grassroots efforts to stop war,genocide and other forms of deadly conflict

Summary

At the end of history's bloodiest century and the outset of a new millennium, we have an opportunity to fulfil one of humanity's oldest dreams: making the world largely free of war.

Global changes make this goal achievable. Nuclear weapons have shown the folly of war. For the first time, there is no war and no immediate prospect of war among the main military powers. For the first time, many proven measures to prevent armed conflict, distilled in the crucible of this century's wars, are available. If systematically applied, these measures can sharply decrease the frequency and violence of war, genocide, and other forms of deadly conflict.

To seize the opportunity, nations should adopt a comprehensive programme to reduce conventional armaments and armed conflict. This programme will complement and strengthen efforts to eliminate nuclear arms. To assure its ongoing worldwide implementation, the conventional reduction programme should be placed in a treaty framework. We propose a four‐phased process, with three treaties, each lasting five to ten years, to lay the groundwork for the fourth treaty, which will establish a permanent international security system. The main objectives of the treaties are to achieve:

1. A verified commitment to provide full transparency on conventional armed forces and military spending, not to increase forces during negotiations on arms reductions, and to increase the resources allocated to multilateral conflict prevention and peacekeeping.

2. Substantial worldwide cuts in national armed forces and military spending and further strengthening of United Nations and regional peacekeeping and peace‐enforcement capabilities.

3. A trial of a watershed commitment by participating nations, including the major powers, not to deploy their armed forces beyond national borders except in a multilateral action under UN or regional auspices.

4. A permanent transfer to the UN and regional security organizations of the authority and capability for armed intervention to prevent or end war, accompanied by further substantial cuts in national armed forces and increases in UN and regional forces.

This programme offers many valuable features: a global framework for conventional forces that parallels the nuclear Non‐Proliferation Treaty; a verified no‐increase commitment for national armed forces based on full data exchange; a commitment to undertake prescribed confidence‐building measures, including limits on force activities and deployments; a commitment to a specified plan for increased funding of UN and regional peacekeeping capabilities; a commitment to strengthen international legal institutions; and after a trial period, a lasting commitment by each participant not to unilaterally deploy its armed forces beyond its borders, but instead to give the responsibility for peacekeeping and peace enforcement to international institutions.

This programme of phased steps to reduce armed forces and strengthen peacekeeping institutions will make war rare. It will foster the spread of zones of peace like those in North America and Western Europe where, after centuries of violence, international and civil war have given way to the peaceful settlement of disputes.     

The United Nations: the embarrassment of international law

The United Nations should be working towards an international community living in peace under the aegis of international law. Although progress was made in its early years, notably in decolonization, with its membership increased from 50 to 189, major inequalities remain between its nations and their peoples. The Security Council, and in particular its five permanent members (P5), has been guilty of double standards in enforcing international law. Investment should create prosperity and not increase demand for arms. Independent oversight of the UN, and particularly the Security Council, by civil society is needed. If the legitimacy of the UN is to be restored, the Security Council should become more representative, the power of the General Assembly should be restored and the role of the International Court of Justice should be increased. All members of the UN, especially the PS, must respect international law as enshrined in the UN Charter and Conventions.     

The United Nations: The embarrassment of international law

The United Nations should be working towards an international community living in peace under the aegis of international law. Although progress was made in its early years, notably in decolonization, with its membership increased from 50 to 189, major inequalities remain between its nations and their peoples. The Security Council, and in particular its five permanent members (P5), has been guilty of double standards in enforcing international law. Investment should create prosperity and not increase demand for arms. Independent oversight of the UN, and particularly the Security Council, by civil society is needed. If the legitimacy of the UN is to be restored, the Security Council should become more representative, the power of the General Assembly should be restored and the role of the International Court of Justice should be increased. All members of the UN, especially the P5, must respect international law as enshrined in the UN Charter and Conventions.     

An agenda for the ‘people's millennium assembly'∗

UN Secretary‐General Kofi Annan calls for a ‘People's Millennium Assembly’ representing civil society in the UN during the year 2000. Its agenda should urge further disarmament (especially nuclear disarmament, as called for by the International Court of Justice), development aimed at eradicating poverty, enforceable international law, and non‐military common security. Arms spending must be drastically reduced in both developed and developing countries, and eventually war as a means of conflict resolution abolished.     

The Nuclear Threat: When it Hurts to Think

On 8 July 1996, the International Court of Justice gave its Advisory Opinion on the legality of the use or threat of nuclear weapons, in response to a resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations. This paper considers the status of Trident, now the United Kingdom's only nuclear weapon system, in the light of the Opinion. While it cannot be concluded definitively that the threat or use of Trident is illegal, at the very least the legality of the programme is brought into considerable doubt. The continued deployment of Trident raises important legal and military issues, which must be addressed urgently.     

War and the Health of Nations

This paper raises the question whether the Geneva Conventions and Protocols describe in a sufficiently clear and complete manner the obligations and rights of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces, with emphasis on the medical services. After reviewing the formal position of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in former and current UN peacekeeping missions, the Conventions and Protocols are summarized and points of special relevance to the medical services are highlighted. After discussing the interrelationship between IHL and UN peacekeeping missions, the concept of peace enforcement and proposed UN convention protecting UN personnel, it is concluded that there is a need for a document giving a clear definition of the distinct position, obligations and rights of the UN medical services engaged in peace‐promoting missions. Additional tasks in reporting breaches to IHL are also proposed.     

Refugee manifesto 1989 British refugee council

The International Court of Justice is the judicial arm of the United Nations. Its provenance and role in keeping international peace and security is described. Its role in settling disputes between states and giving advice to the UN organs and specialized agencies is illustrated from a series of past cases where it has contributed to the maintenance or restoration of international peace and security. Possible limitations to its contributions, arising from the need for consent to its jurisdiction, and from the process of international law are discussed, and it is concluded that decisions under international law are for realization of values. Finally, its relationship with the UN Security Council is examined.     

If they didn't listen to Einstein or Bohr,they are not going to listen to you

In the 12 years which have elapsed since the United Nations declared 1981 to be the Year of the Disabled, the number of amputees world‐wide has risen alarmingly, continuing the pattern of the past 40 years, which have seen innumerable conflicts, large and small, with ever‐increasing and indiscriminate use of ‘improved’ antipersonnel mines which have been sown in enormous numbers in rural areas. Even after fighting has ceased — as in Vietnam, which currently has some 200,000 amputees — fresh injuries are caused daily, often to children, by the long‐delayed detonation of these weapons.

Much of the research and development in prosthetics since World War II has concentrated on producing artificial limbs suitable for an affluent and industrialized society. These, being made from the most modern materials and incorporating the latest technology, are of necessity expensive even for affluent Americans or Europeans and quite out of reach for the 80 per cent of the world's amputees who live in the developing world and for the vast majority of whom these splendid prostheses may be entirely inappropriate. This article describes a foot and leg specifically designed to fit in with the customs and practices of just such people.     

Violence and alienation: An issue of public mental health

This century has seen more extensive social and political change than ever before. Some, such as antibiotics, has been beneficial, but much has led to alienation and political and cultish ideologies. These in turn have spawned widespread violence. Not all violence is physical; some is inner‐directed and can lead to suicide. Some is inspired by genuine idealism but too often this degenerates into cruelty excused as a struggle with alleged evil. Violence can be nation‐ or even continent‐wide ‐Africa, Latin America, Middle East, Indochina, but also Europe including the former Soviet Union. It is also local, especially in inner cities throughout the world, linked to drugs but also as mindless vandalism.

Solutions must be both at the macro level, through the UN and its agencies; the UN charter must be revised to allow appropriate intervention within national borders. At the local level, underlying causes such as human rights abuses and unemployment can be put right. Much more research is needed but action cannot await the findings. The author's recent personal experience in Osijek in former Yugoslavia shows that the most important factor is the people themselves, but outsiders can provide knowledge, resources and support.     

Humanitarian assistance in UN operations: laboratory and consultative support of a local hospital in Eritrea

The United Nations Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia deployed to monitor a cease-fire in a mutually agreed upon Temporary Security Zone. Support for the United Nations (UN) troops included a Field Dressing Station supplied by the Dutch Navy, augmented by Canadian personnel. As with most missions of this type, the health of the deployed Canadian and Dutch soldiers is such that there is time to provide some medical support to local civilian institutions. This article describes this interaction in Eritrea through the illustration of the diagnosis and management of a specific illness through the cooperative use of high-technology laboratory equipment coupled with what we believe to be common sense. Although there was no specific United Nations Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia humanitarian medical assistance mandate, the expanded use of CIMIC# projects was employed to allow this activity. The guiding principle of sustainability once UN facilities leave is also illustrated in the approach taken to provide this assistance.     

The peace research institute—Dundas

The Peace Research Institute—Dundas is a non‐governmental, non‐profit research organization, primarily involved in peace research and publication.

Over the past 22 years about 168 000 abstracts of peace/war related material have been published in 22 volumes of Peace Research Abstracts Journal. To extend the utility of this journal the Peace Research Reviews Journal was developed to assemble information on specific themes and to develop new ones. The main function of this journal is to provide indexed information for peace researchers.

In terms of research, emphasis has been placed on the development of the Tensiometer, a method used to determine which countries are most likely to be involved in international war, and on analysis of the voting patterns in the United Nations General Assembly. To help with peace education the Institute founded the Canadian Peace Research and Education Association and a Peace Research Summer School.     

Folter

During the past decades international rules against every form of torture have been established based on the United Nations (UN) “Declaration of Human Rights” from 1948. Torture is defined in the “Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: United Nations Convention against Torture” from 1987. Muslim nations also consented to the “Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam” from 2000. In 1999 a manual that came known as the “Istanbul protocol” was submitted to the UN High Commission for Human Rights and contains details on how to perform a thorough physical examination of torture victims taking all body regions into account. Different types of torture are described as well as injuries due to torture and additionally the participation of physicians involved in abuse and torture is dealt with.     

Commission on human rights: China emerges unscathed!

A Science of Violence and Non‐Aggression

Societies at Peace: Anthropological Perspectives Edited by Signe Howell and Roy Willis Routledge, London, 1989, 259 pp., £11.99, ISBN 0–415–01825–0.

The UN System Making Women Matter: The Role of the United Nations By Hikka Pietilä and Jeanne Vickers Zed Books, London, in association with INSTRAW and the UN's Non‐Governmental Liaison Service, 1990, 186pp., £8.95/$15.00, ISBN 0–86232–969–8.

A World in Need of Leadership: Tomorrow's United Nations By Brian Urquhart and Erskine Childers Ford Foundation, New York, and Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Uppsala, 1990, 111 pp.

U Thant in New York 1961–1971: A Portrait of the Third UN Secretary‐General By Ramses Nassif C. Hurst &; Co., London, and St. Martin's Press, New York, 1988, 150 pp., £12.95/$24.95 (hbk), ISBN 0–312–02117–8.

Human and Health Rights

Apartheid Medicine — Health and Human Rights in South Africa A Report to American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Psychiatric Association, American Public Health Association, Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences Science and Human Rights Program, AAAS (1333 H Street NW, Washington DC 20005, 1990, 125 pp., ISBN 0–87/68–366–0.

Starving in Silence: A Report on Famine and Censorship Article 19, London (The International Centre on Censorship, 90 Borough High Street, SE1 ILL), 1990,145pp., £3.95, ISBN 1–870798–46–5.

The Least Developed Countries ‐ Development and Human Rights By Eric Sottas World Organization Against Torture (Case postale 119, 37–39 rue de Vermont, CH‐1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland), 1990,152pp., SFr25.00.

Amnesty International Report 1989 Amnesty International, London (99–109 Rosebery Avenue, ECIR 4RE), 1989, 310pp., £12.00 + £1.80 p&;p, ISBN 0–86210–17–19.

When the State Kills: the death penalty v. human rights Amnesty International Amnesty International Publications, London, 1989, 268pp., £8.75 + £1.75 p&;p, ISBN 0–86210–164–6 (from 1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ).

Other Losses By James Bacque Stoddart Publishing Co., Toronto, 1989, 268pp., $Can 26.95, ISBN0–7737–2269–6.

The Anns Race: The Day before Yesterday

Ways Out of the Arms Race Proceedings of the Second International Scientists’ Congress, Imperial College London, 2–4 December 1988, edited by John Hassard, Tom Kibble and Patricia Lewis World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1989, 373pp., £20.00 (hbk), ISBN 9971–50–863‐X.

Not Just

Just Deterrence: Morality and Deterrence into the Twenty‐First Century Edited by Malcolm McCall and Oliver Ramsbotham Brassey's (UK), London, 1990, 126 pp., £19.95 (hbk), ISBN 0–08–040704–8.

Verifying Disarmament

The Case for a United Nations Verification Agency: Disannament Under Effective International Control By A. Walter Dorn Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security, Ottawa, 1990, Working Paper 26, 40pp., ISBN 0–662–18029–1.

The Environment

Global Warming: the Greenpeace Report Edited by Jeremy Leggett Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1990, SS4pp., £5.95, ISBN 0–19–268119–0.     

Progress in the international protection of human rights

Great progress has been made in the international protection of human rights since 10 December 1948 (when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). Amidst the doom and gloom of the media's reporting of current affairs, it is easy to overlook this progress. This article provides a definition of ‘human rights’ and examines early human rights campaigns. It then considers the areas of progress: human rights are now part of the international political vocabulary, there is a recognition that respect for human rights can assist a country's economic and social development, there has been a growth of human rights treaties and techniques and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) see protecting human rights as a major activity. State sovereignty has been eroded as national governments are being held accountable to the international community for their human rights policies. A new challenge is to ensure respect for human rights by non‐state entities, such as transnational corporations. The growing culture of international protection of human rights is here to stay. This is not a reason for complacency, but it is a sign of hope.     

Nuclear issues as seen from New Zealand

An outline history is given of The Medical Association for Prevention of War, including its role in launching Professions for World Disarmament and Development, the International Network for a UN Second Assembly, and Medicine and War.     

After Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq: what is the future for the UN?

There have been enormous changes in the world order over the last 15 years, which have seen the United States, closely supported by the United Kingdom, become more unilateral in its actions, and in doing so damaging the United Nations. Attempts to create an ethical dimension in foreign policy have failed. The brief consensus after 9/11 has been lost in the war against terror, whilst other more appropriate measures to diminish the risks of terrorism, such as creating greater equity in trade and meeting the UN millennium goals, have been left to one side. Iraq and the ongoing failure to resolve the Palestinian issues have left the world a less safe place. The need for the UN to establish itself as a dominant force for global justice is paramount. To do so there must be reform, particularly of the Security Council.     

Keyword Index

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes the right of the child to the highest attainable standard of health, and to treatment of illness and rehabilitation. There are very great differences in access to health care, including preventive medicine such as immunization, and adequate nutrition, between countries in the developed and developing world. These particularly affect children in war zones and in countries affected by sanctions. Developed countries are not perfect; many children in the United States are not fully immunized, and in Sweden hidden refugees and disabled children receive sub‐standard care.