UN needs urgent reform to stay relevant
The United Nations needs urgent reform to halt its sliding credibility in protecting human rights and maintaining world peace.
In the light of increasing global conflicts – the war in Syria, possible ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Myanmar, the rise of extremist militant groups such as Islamic State, and the Palestinians’ so-far fruitless 70 years of struggle for independence and peace – the world body has failed in its basic function. It is increasingly viewed as weak and dominated by big powers in the West.
The imbalance began at its very inception in 1945, when the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – were given the power to veto any substantive proposal.
This de facto control by the five governments embodies the UN’s undemocratic character and has also been the major obstacle to international action to prevent crimes against humanity. The ongoing conflict between the Palestinians and the Israeli state has seen extensive use of the veto against resolutions to condemn terror and aggression against Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories.
The impact of the veto power affected Malaysia last year when Russia used it to block a five-nation proposal for an international tribunal to try those responsible for the downing of Flight MH17 on July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine that killed 298 people, including 43 Malaysians. Many nations saw Russia’s move as preventing a legitimate attempt to bring the perpetrators to justice.
That same year, despite repeated appeals by senior UN officials for accountability for crimes being committed in Syria, the Security Council was unable to adopt a resolution that would have referred the situation in the war-torn nation to the International Criminal Court. Again, it was blocked by Security Council vetoes, this time by Russia and China.
These are only a few examples of the abuse of global power handed to the five permanent members, abuse that undermines the UN’s core mandate of keeping world peace. Yet all the objectives set by UN when it was first created could be carried out efficiently and effectively if major reforms are undertaken under its existing charter. All member-nations should be treated equally at all levels. No special treatment, privilege or power should be accorded to any of its members.
Muzaffar Syah Mallow
(The Star/ANN)
