United Nations: Shaping Global Governance
The United Nations was formed in 1945, after World War 2, as a way to maintain international peace and security, in order to avert any future wars. It was also established to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character; This means the protection of people internationally. In United Nations essay the topic related to this international organization will be considered.
The UN also has subdivisions such as UNICEF and UNESCO, which protect certain groups of people, but also encourage the development of diversity and education, all contribute to the actions carried out by the UN internationally. Not only this, but the UN’s Security Council, which is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, has the power to resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security. They also intervene in wars or weaponry discussions – are basically a military division for the UN. Although the UN has done lots of work in third world countries as well as to prosecute international criminals, it however seems to be ineffective in some areas. For example, the UN ineffectiveness to stop the wars in the Middle East and in Kashmir. These wars have been going on for over a decade and even despite the Security Council, the wars in those areas are just as devastating and ongoing to this day. On top of this the UN has proved to be unreliable on protecting the rights of men, women, and children across the globe. China has had concentration camps set up for Muslims since 2017, and the UN had not responded to this until 2019, but still to this day nothing has been done to end them. However, this may be due to the right for the 5 permanent members of the UN to veto any suggestion or decision made by the UN, one of which is China. This also allows the question to be raised as to if the UN itself as a body is incompetent or the influence of the 5 permanent members makes it incompetent.
There is a huge area of debate as to whether or not the United Nations is an effective institution, making it the reason as to why I have chosen this topic for my EPQ. Throughout my dissertation, I will highlight 3 distinctive cases: the UN Mission in Sierra Leone in 2001, their intervention in the Bosnian War of 1995, and the case of the Uyghur Muslim Crisis. These cases will be explained using my own previous knowledge as a history student as well as various referred texts. From these I shall evaluate if the UN is an effective body or if there needs to be improvements made to make it a better body.
The United Nations Security Council
Firstly, the division of the United Nations I will be focusing on mainly is the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The Security Council was formed along with the establishment of the United Nations, and held its first session in January 1646, to maintain World Peace; what the League of Nations had previously failed to do. It is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN Members to the General Assembly and approving any changes to the UN Charter; The UNSC is the only body that has the authority to issue binding resolutions on the member states. Its powers include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action. The UNSC contains 15 members, 5 of whom are permanent members (i.e., the United Kingdom, United States of America, China, Russia and France) and the 10 remaining members are elected every two years on a regional basis. The UNSC also has a president who oversees any crisis, leads the meetings and sets the agenda. The president changes each month among the members, and they are required to produce a presidential statement and notes so that declarations of intent are established for the rest of the UNSC to pursue.
Power of Veto
The power of “veto” was established at the Yalta Conference of February 1945 but did state that the ‘Big Five’ could not veto the debate of a resolution. Initially due to the Cold War, the UNSC was unable to carry out its duties when dealing with the USSR and USA, as well as their allies, but was able to carry out its duties in unrelated conflicts. This was due to the power of veto, where a permanent member could reject a resolution, which caused many issues during this period as many of the resolutions were “vetoed” due to the USA and USSR being unable to agree on a resolution. It was not till the end of the Cold War was the UNSC able to properly carry out its duties, allowing them to take on more peacekeeping missions. This particular power will be brought up later on in the essay as it is a main reason to some peacekeeping mission failures and the inability to act on an international humanitarian crisis.
United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone, 2001
Details of the Mission
The first mission I am going to discuss is the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone in 2001. The conflict at Sierra Leone initially started in March 1991 due to Revolutionary United Front (RUF) fighters launching a war from the east of the country, near the border with Liberia, in an attempt to overthrow the current government. This attempt was crushed when the Sierra Leone Army, with the support of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Military Observer Group (ECOMOG), defended the government. However, the following year, the Army overthrew the government.
In February 1995, the UN Secretary-General appointed Mr. Dinka, who worked in collaboration either the OAU and ECOWAS, to do two tasks: negotiate a settlement to the conflict and return the country to civilian rule. This led to parliamentary and presidential elections to be held February of the next year – Alhaji Dr. Ahmed Tejan Kabbah won. The RUF did not participate in the elections and refused to acknowledge the results, leading the conflict to continue.
In November 1996, Dinka was able to assist in negotiating the Abidjan Accord, a peace agreement, between the Government and the RUF but the agreement was disrupted due to another coup d’état in May 1997 led by both the RUF and the Army joining forces, forming a ruling junta. President Kabbah and his government went into exile in neighbouring Guinea. Many representatives of the international community tried, and failed, to persuade the junta to step down causing the Security Council in imposing and oil and arms embargo on October 1997 and authorized ECOWAS to ensure its implementation using ECOMOG troops. Due to the continuous discontinuation of discussions and nonexecution of agreements, in June 1998 the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone was established for an initial period of six months.
The conflict continued until July 1999, when all parties to the conflict signed an agreement to end hostilities and form a government of national unity.
Why is this a humanitarian concern?
As of 2018, the news of the discrimination of Uighur Muslims was brought to the attention of the UN Committee. This discrimination, as claimed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “nothing short of a genocide” and that it reaches the “same level as the Nazi’s genocide of Jews and others in the holocaust”, has been ongoing since 2017, when China started to place Muslims into “re-education” camps in the western Xinjiang region . These claims were made by various human right groups, but China has continuously denied all allegations.
The heinous crimes committed by the Chinese government include: forced sterilization; the infringement of their freedoms of religion and belief, freedom of expression and freedom of movement; and finally, the severe deprivation of physical liberty of more than one million innocent civilians, tied with forced labour and the tortured of those detained. Along with all of this, many right groups claim that people in the camps are being forced to learn Mandarin Chinese, swear loyalty to President Xi Jinping, and criticise or renounce their faith, as reported by BBC News.
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region
The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) , where around eight million – predominantly Muslim - Uighurs reside. The XUAR is said to be a strategically important region within China and so in order to maintain its hold over the region, the Chinese government has decided to deal with the threat of destabilization by tolerating the Muslim religious practices in the XUAR. However due to local unrest in the region during the 1980s, the government decided to initiate a crackdown on what they believed to be a local nationalism and separatism sentiments. The violence was said to have escalated in 1997-98, and according to Amnesty International the fight is intensifying in response to the Uighurs’ growing discontent over government discrimination, interference with their religious and cultural rights, official corruption, and the denial of equal economic opportunity. Still, the government’s response continues to be harsh and repressive.
Government Response to the Violent Outbreaks in XUAR
Despite the fact that the Chinese government signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), it continues to perpetrate massive human rights abuses against the Uighur population, directly in violation of its international human rights obligations under these two treaties . A government campaign was launched against “alleged” separatist, subjecting many Uighurs to arbitrary arrest, detention, imprisonment, unfair trials and summary executions.
Human Right Violations
The Uighurs face severe economic, racial, social and cultural discrimination by the Chinese government, with indications that the religious and political organizations are the two primary motivations behind the Chinese administration’s repression of the Uighur Muslims and the human right violations in the XUAR region. Out of fear of Islam feeding ethnic and an outbreak of a separatist movement, the Chinese government began to curtail the practices of the Uighur Muslims in the 1980s and 1990s, causing a huge eruption of violence between the two parties. There were 3 distinctive events that are said to be the main cause of the violence between the Uighurs and the Chinese government: the first was the revival of the meshrep in 1995; the second was the disappearance of Abdul Kayum in 1995; and the third resulted from a series of protests in 1997 in the city of Yining.
Firstly, the meshrep constitutes as the most important cultural carrier for Uighur traditions, and acts as both a court and as a place that teaches one about their traditional customs. An event consists of a collection of traditions and performances, for the people to enjoy and learn from at the same time. In the eyes of the eyes of the Chinese government, the meshrep posed a threat because it is perceived as a political organisation as they attempted to bring back cultural and Islamic traditions to the people. This repression was met with much backlash as the revival of the meshrep was only for the purpose of teaching the younger generation of Uighur’s about their culture and to ensure their traditions were passed down to the new generation. Secondly, Abdul Kayum was an Islamic preacher, who disappeared at a mosque. Abdul Kayum was reported to have been arrested the day before under the presumption that he was interpreting the Quran (i.e., the Islamic Holy Book) by making references to current events and that he had started to refer to women’s rights while interpreting the holy scriptures. His arrest provoked anger and a violent confrontation which soon developed after protesters occupied local government offices located in the compound. This even led to the unlawful arrest of many in and around the Khotan area, under the allegation that they were taking part in “illegal” religious activities. Some of those arrested have been sentenced to “re-education” camps, without charge or trial. Finally, the third incident was the explosion of three bombs in the Urumqi after a series of protests were held by the young Uighurs after the unlawful arrest of some of the meshrep leaders. The protest, of young Uighurs calling for equal treatment, was met with extreme violence from the authorities and it is said that the authorities have since then ferociously targeting who they believe to be Uighur Nationalists, separatists and independent Muslim leaders. All of these incidents have led to a vicious cycle of violence on both sides, with the Chinese government trying to severely repress the Muslim community in the XUAR region.
Since all of these incidents the Chinese government continuously routinely jails those in the XUAR region for their alleged separatist and nationalist views and for exercising their human rights. In many cases it is said that the prisoners are not charged or tried and in others, the prisoners are given an unjustifiable prison sentence to a non-violent activity, such as demonstrating. Not only is the judicial system under legal questioning, but it has been reported that the Uighur Muslims have been often tortured for confessions. Amnesty International reports various forms of torture starting from sleep and food deprivation to using trained dogs to attack prisoners; there are even other methods of torture only exclusively used on the Uighur prisoners, such as inserting wires into the male prisoners’ penises. All of these are numerous human right violations committed by the Chinese Government have gone reported by numerous human right groups and activists and has been bought to the attention of both the UN and the general international public.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and The UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)
Legally speaking, China is bound to respect treaties it has ratified; China has signed both the CAT, which has been ratified it ICCPR but has yet to ratify it. So, under international law, China can only be enforced to respect CAT and not ICCPR, unless the treaty codifies customary international law.
The UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment states that states are required to take measures to prevent torture in any area under its jurisdiction, while also forbidding the transportation of people to countries where it is believed they will be tortured. Under CAT, the definition of “torture” means any act which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on an individual to obtain information, to punish, coerce or intimidate him or a third person or on the basis of discrimination, and does not include pain or suffering arising from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions. China is subjected to all of this after having ratified the CAT in 1988, but yet still continues to torture the Uighur Muslims. There are several reports indicating towards systematic torture in the XUAR region, along with ninety percent of detained prisoners, who have been allowed to appear in court, claim that they have been tortured while in police custody. Now while China is less obligated under the ICCPR due to them having only signed and not ratified it, the act of signing the treaty is significant nonetheless in the terms of state obligations. Still, China is under the legal obligations to refrain from any actions that would go directly against the purpose of the treaty until it has made clear what the state will do in regard to the treaty conditions; therefore, China has a legal obligation to respect the rights guaranteed to its citizens under the ICCPR. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that the rights of all individuals within a state’s territory and subject to its territory, regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, and national or social origin, are guaranteed: the right to life; the right to be free of torture, inhumane or degrading treatment or torture; the right to not be subjected to a arbitrary arrest or detention, and the right to be informed at the time of the arrest the reason for their arrest; the right to be taken before a judge or magistrate; the right to freedom of expression; and the right for the individual to enjoy own culture and practise one’s own religion – these are all also protected under the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights.
China fails to keep its promise to uphold both of these treaties. Now this is because of China’s growing fear of a separatist movement, leading to the Chinese authorities to imprison anyone suspected of political activities – religious activism falls under this as it is considered to be a political activity. It is also believed that religious activities may fuel a movement for political independence. While also repressing what they perceive to be political activities, on February 25th, 2000, the State Department Report on Human Rights Practices in China confirms that the government has increased the repression of any religious activity in the XUAR region (i.e., the building of mosques or religious teaching in the region). In addition to all this, China also fails to conform to its own domestic legal obligations. Under the 1997 amendments to China’s Criminal Procedure Law, suspects were to be given legal council if needed, for their families to be notified of their arrest and detention within 24 hours, and finally, to abolish a regulation allowing for summary trial on certain cases involving the death penalty – all of which have been ignored when dealing with any political activist and religious advocates. Many of these prisoners aren’t even charged with a specific crime.
All of what I have mentioned above clearly shows that the Chinese government is acting illegally, and it should be investigated under the United Nations Security Council. As of yet, counties, along with the UN, have yet to do anything beyond issuing critical statements. Now this is due to a number of reasons, one being that China is very secretive.
