[Note: Update 2 – September 12 – There is now a website for the Concerned Africans Open Letter along with a list of the signatures to the letter thus far. The website url for the Open Letter is http://www.concernedafricans.co.za/ As of today, there are over 300 names of concerned Africans listed in support of the letter. In addition there are 5 organizational listings. For updates on the names of those in support of the letter, see the website url http://www.concernedafricans.co.za/index.php/support -R]

[Note: Update 1 – August 25, 2011 – I promised to post an update if there were further developments about the Statement of Concerned Africans. A press conference was held in Johannesburg yesterday, Wednesday, August 24. The letter with over 140 signatures was to be released to the press along with statements by some of the signatories. Among those signing the letter were former president of… weiter lesen

Part I – Journalists Question Security Council Support for Rebel Group

At the April 4 press conference marking the beginning of the Colombian Presidency of the Security Council for April, Nestor Osorio, the Colombian Ambassador to the United Nations was asked what on the surface would seem an unusual question by one of the journalists. The journalist said (1):

“In the wake of Security Council Resolution 1973 [authorizing military action against Libya–ed] are we to expect a more aggressive and proactive posture on the part of the Security Council in supporting rebel groups?”

The journalist gave several examples of such rebel groups as the IRA in the UK, ETA in Spain and perhaps the Corsican rebels in France. Another journalist added the example of the FARC in Colombia.

The question referred to the fact that with SC Resolution 1973, the UN Security Council had taken on to support… weiter lesen

Sneaky declarations bypass Congress to take US to war

Source: Global Times
[19:25 May 09 2011]

By Ronda Hauben

The Korean War ended in 1953, but its legacy still lingers in American war-making policy today.

At a recent conference on “The Unending Korean War” at New York University, the keynote speaker, Bruce Cumings, a history professor at the University of Chicago, explained that the UN provided the means for the then US President Harry S. Truman to bypass the US Congress in intervening in the Korean War.

Under Article 1 Section 8 of the US Constitution, the power to declare war is vested in the Congress. But in June 1950, Truman did not go to Congress for a declaration of war.

Instead, Cumings explained, “The UN was the legislature that the US knew they would get a majority vote in.” At the time, the Soviet Union was refusing… weiter lesen

‘You are the sixteenth member of the Security Council.”
China’s UN Ambassador Li BaoDong speaking to the international media

In March, China took over the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month. As is the practice at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, on March 2, the 2nd day of his presidency, Li Baodong, China’s Ambassador to the UN, held a press conference for journalists at the UN.(1) At the beginning of the press conference, he welcomed the media, saying that the media is the “sixteenth member of the Security Council.” (There are 15 member nations on the UN Security Council.)

Thinking of the international media in such a way recognizes its influence on the actions of the UN Security Council. This presents an interesting phenomenon which it is important to understand. The international media does indeed play a role in how the Security Council… weiter lesen

[Note: The following is a draft resolution Libya has submitted to the UN Security Council concerning the Israeli military strikes on UN facilities and people in Gaza during the Israeli attacks on Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had established an enquiry into the attacks on the UN facilities and operations. The report produced, however, has been kept secret with only a summary from the Secretary General being made available. The following draft resolution by Libya submitted to the Security Council is the first sign of any response by the Security Council to the results of the report. There has not yet been any public response from the Security Council on this draft resolution.]

11 May 2009

Draft Resolution

The Security Council,

Reaffirming all of its relevant resolutions, including resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003), 1850 (2008), and 1860 (2009),

Reaffirming… weiter lesen