de René Wadlow

esperantigite de Bernard Henry

La Ĝenerala Asembleo de Unuiĝintaj Nacioj (UN), en ĝia Rezolucio A/RES/64/136, konsekris 2012 kiel Internacia Jaro por Kooperativoj, celante antaŭenmeti la larĝan rolon kiun kooperativoj ludas en ekologiema disvolvo kaj malapliigo de malriĉeco. Kiel diris UN-Ĝeneralsekretario Ban Ki-moon, “Kooperativoj estas rememorigilo al la internacia komunumo, ke eblas ja celi al kaj ekonomia kaj sociala respondeco”. La kooperativa movado ludas larĝan rolon en ambaŭ la produkado kaj la disdono de komercaĵoj kaj servoj tra la mondo. Kvankam malpli videblaj ol private posedataj, transnaciaj korporacioj (kiuj havas larĝajn reklambuĝetojn kaj tiel igas siajn komercaĵojn neĉirkaŭpaseblaj), kooperativoj estas grava parto de la monda ekonomio kaj meritas la atenton kiun la UN-jaro kapablas alporti (1).

Tamen, malantaŭ kooperativoj de produkado kaj disdono, loĝas unuavice “Kunlabora Spirito” kiu elmontriĝas laŭ multegaj manieroj, kiuj estas ĉiuj bazitaj sur kunlaboro sed ne ĉiuj nomiĝas “kooperativo”. Kunlabora Spirito substrekas renoviĝon, kunlaboron, mutualan helpon, kaj komunecon kiel “tagordo” je la surloka, nacia, kaj monda niveloj. Kunlaboro estas nepra neceso por la venontaj paŝoj en homa evoluo.

Kunlabora Spirito aperas en multaj formoj. Homoj tra la mondo pli kaj pli ekkonscias, ke ĉiuj el ni estas interligitaj kun aliaj personoj, per la aero kiujn ni spiras kaj akvosistemoj, la grundo kaj ĉiuj vivoformoj. Ju pli ni povas plipovigi unu la alian por ekflori sen noci al aliaj, des pli ni kreas mondan kunlaboran socion. Tial ĉiu ago de la individuo – aŭ neago – povas havi forserĉajn konsekvencojn ambaŭ por ĉiuj homoj en la mondo kaj por la naturmedio je kiu ni ĉiuj dependas.

Kunlabora Spirito evidentiĝas en la kreskaj zorgoj de Verda – ekologiema – Ekonomio. Eŭropo subtenas komercan kaj kunlaboran disvolvon de karbonmalpliigaj teknologioj kun miksaĵo de registara investado, impostosenpezoj, pruntedonoj kaj leĝoj. Ekzistas agnoskata neceso ŝirmi la naturmedion, investi en puran energion kaj krei daŭripovajn laborpostenojn, sed multo restas por fari en la tuta mondo.

Tra la mondo, ni ĉiuj estas enirantaj periodon de ŝanĝiĝo por kiu estas neniaj antaŭplanoj. Tial nepras ke ni scipovu kunan laboron. La formoj de kunlabora agado fontas el historiaj cirkonstancoj, surloka kulturo, kaj ekologiaj kondiĉoj. Tamen ekzistas komuna zorgo pri kunlabora uzo de naturvivrimedoj, komercaĵoj kaj servoj. Kunlabora agado loĝas en la koro de la ekonomia kaj politika alturno al mondnivela disvolvo de vivrimedoj kaj pli bona vivokvalito.

Ekzistas multaj formoj tradiciaj de kunlaboro, de mutuala helpo en periodoj de manko. 2012 devas utili kiel ŝanco alrigardi la multajn manierojn laŭ kiuj Kunlabora Spirito elmontriĝas en la mondo. Tial 2012 devas esti nia ĉefa interesocentro koncerne al la plifortigo de la konvinkoforto de Kunlabora Spirito.

(1)  Bv vidi la UN-retejon pri la Jaro: http://social.un.org/coopyear

Prof. René Wadlow estas Prezidanto kaj Ĉefreprezentanto ĉe UN en Ĝenevo de la Asocio de la Mondcivitanoj.

Bernard Henry estas la Oficisto pri Eksteraj Rilatoj de la Oficejo ĉe UN en Ĝenevo kaj la Ĝenerala Direktoro de la Esperanto-sekcio de la Asocio de la Mondcivitanoj.

By René Wadlow

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly in Resolution A/RES/64/136 has designated 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives in order to highlight the large role that cooperatives can play in ecologically-sound development and poverty reduction.  As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said “Cooperatives are a reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility.”  The cooperative movement plays a large role in both the production and the distribution of goods and services worldwide.  Although less visible than privately-owned trans-national corporations (which have large advertising budgets so their products become household names) cooperatives are an important part of the world economy and merit the attention that the UN Year may provide (1)

However, behind production and distribution cooperatives, there is first a “Cooperative Spirit”, and it manifests itself in a multitude of ways, all of which are based on cooperation but not all are called “cooperatives”. The Cooperative Spirit stresses renewal, cooperation, mutual help, and community as the ‘order of the day’ at the local, national, and world levels.  Cooperation is an absolute necessity for the next steps in human evolution.

The Cooperative Spirit takes many forms. People throughout the world are increasingly realizing that each of us is interconnected with every other person through the air we breathe and the systems of water, soils and life in all its forms.  The more we can empower one another to flourish without harming others, the more we create a cooperative world society. Therefore every action taken by an individual — or not taken — can have far-reaching consequences both for all the people of the world and upon the environment on which we all depend.

This Cooperative Spirit manifests itself in the growing concerns with a Green — ecologically-sound — Economy.  Europe has encouraged commercial and cooperative development of carbon-reducing technologies with a mix of government investment, tax facilities, loans and laws.  There is a recognized need to protect the environment, to invest in clean energy and to create lasting jobs, but much more needs to be done worldwide.

Throughout the world, we are all entering a period of change for which there is no blueprint.  Therefore it is essential that we learn to work together cooperatively.  Cooperative action takes its forms due to historical circumstances, local culture, and ecological conditions.  However, there is a common concern with the cooperative use of resources, goods and services.  Cooperative action is at the heart of an economic and political shift toward a worldwide development of livelihoods and greater quality of life.

There are many traditional forms of cooperation, of mutual help in times of need. 2012 should serve as an opportunity to look at the many ways in which the Cooperative Spirit manifests itself in the world. Thus 2012 can be our focus to strengthen the impact of the Cooperative Spirit.

(1)   See the UN website for the Year: http://social.un.org/coopyear

René Wadlow is President and Chief Representative to the United Nations, Geneva, of the Association of World Citizens.

 By René Wadlow

January 11 was in some countries a “National Day of Awareness on Human Trafficking”. While ‘awareness’ is always a first step, it is action that is needed as was underlined by the Association of World Citizens in a message to the Chairman of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council. The recent increase in the scope, intensity and sophistication of trafficking of human beings around the world threatens the safety of citizens everywhere and hinders countries in their social, economic, and cultural development.

The smuggling of migrants and the trafficking of human beings for prostitution and slave labor have become two of the fastest growing worldwide problems of recent years.  From Himalayan villages to Eastern European cities — especially women and girls — are attracted by the prospects of a well-paid job as a domestic servant, waitress or factory worker. Traffickers recruit victims through fake advertisements, mail-order bride catalogues, casual acquaintances, and even family members.

However, trafficking in human beings is not confined to the “sex industry”.  Children are trafficked to work in sweatshops and men to work in the “three Ds jobs” — dirty, difficult, and dangerous.  The lack of economic, political and social structures providing women with equal job opportunities has also contributed to the feminization of poverty, which in turn has given rise to the feminization of migration, as women leave their homes to look for viable economic solutions. In addition, political instability, militarism, civil unrest, internal armed conflicts and natural catastrophes increase women’s vulnerability and can contribute to the development of trafficking.

Trafficking impacts the lives of millions of people — those trafficked and their family members — especially from poorer countries or the poor sections of countries.  Trafficking of persons has become a multi-billion dollar business and ranks right after the trade in drugs and guns. Trafficking is often an activity of organized crime.  In some cases, it is the same organization which deals in drugs, guns and people.  In other cases, there is a “division of labor”, but the groups are usually in contact.

Thus drugs, guns, illegal immigration — these form a nightmare vision of the dark side of globalization with untold human costs. Human trafficking affects women, men and children in their deepest being. It strikes at what is most precious in them: their dignity and their value as individuals.  Trafficked persons experience painful and traumatizing situations which can be with them for the rest of their lives. From recruitment to exploitation, they lose their identity and desperately struggle against a situation that reduces them to objects.

The Association of World Citizens stresses that the fight against human trafficking must be waged in a global and multidimensional way by the UN, regional intergovernmental organizations, by national governments and by non-governmental organizations so that countries of origin, transit and destination develop cooperative strategies and practical action against trade in human beings.  One of the foundations of cooperation is mutual trust. When mutual trust is established, cooperation becomes a natural way to act.

As trafficking in people is more often tolerated by the law enforcement agencies than drugs or guns, there has been a shift of criminal organizations toward trafficking in people.  116 governments have signed a UN-promoted 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking, Especially Women and Children which entered into force in December 2003. However, trafficking in persons is often not a priority for national governments.  Some countries which are important links in the trade of persons such as India, Pakistan, and Japan have not yet signed.

For many governments, trafficking is considered a question of illegal migration, and there is relatively little (in some cases no) consideration of the problems of the individual being trafficked.  Human concern for those caught in the web is a prime contribution of non-governmental organizations.  Concern for physical and mental health is crucial.  There is also an obvious need to deal with the issues which have created these pools of people from which traffickers can draw.  The large number of refugees from Iraq — over two million in Jordan and Syria — await better political and economic conditions in Iraq so they can return home.

Thus, one of the aspects of trafficking in which non-governmental organizations can play a crucial role is the psychological healing of the victims. Unfortunately, the victim’s psychological health is often ignored by governments.  Victims often suffer a strong psychological shock that disrupts their psychological integrity.  The result is a lack of self-esteem after having experienced such traumatizing events.

Within the Association of World Citizens we must not underestimate the difficulties and dangers which exist in the struggle against trafficking in persons nor the hard efforts which are needed for the psychological healing of victims.  However, as World Citizens, we have the opportunity of dealing with a crucial world issue.

René Wadlow is President and Chief Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva of the Association of World Citizens.

WITH THE WORLDS INSIDE, TURNING EXHILARATING LIFE …

By Lida Sherafatmand

AWC Artist for Peace

As the worlds turn inside,

The world of hell,

Where we want to die,

The world of hunger,

Where we don’t get enough,

The world of animality,

Where we fear

The stronger ones who bully,

The jungle of animals,

The world of anger,

Where we fight for supremacy

With aggression we move,

The world of tranquility,

Where we laze passive,

The world heaven,

Where we enjoy desires satisfied,

Our houses bought, our jobs given,

The world of learning,

Where we search meanings,

Knowledge to learn and discover,

But we get lonely there,

The world of realization,

Where we find wisdom

Reach insights,

But we get lost in intellect,

The world of compassion

Where we feel the pain of others,

Do all to help,

But lose energy and sink with those who suffer,

The world of holiness,

Where we feel freedom inside,

Happiness in the realities

Of daily life,

A flow of pure life force or consciousness;

When in leadership

The holiness world

Leads the right sides of the other worlds:

In the world of hell,

We understand the pains

And sufferance of people;

In the world hunger,

We drive for a better the world;

In the world of animality,

We strife to protect the weak;

In the world of anger,

We fight for justice;

In the world of tranquillity,

We regain our energies;

In the world of heaven,

We exhilarate being alive;

In the world of learning,

We learn from everyone;

In the world of realization

We digest our experiences;

In the world of compassion,

We devote ourselves

For the happiness of all,

In the world of holiness

We reach the core of life,

That harmony and force

Which keeps us alive,

Brings together the other nine worlds inside,

To lead and to live…

In the ten worlds inside,

What travel we do,

What turnings we lead,

In the ten worlds inside,

Let’s keep the holy world

The leader of all inside,

For all the ten worlds, to turn alive

Exhilarating happiness

Exhilarating life…

With the worlds inside,

Turning exhilarating happiness,

Exhilarating life…

Lida Sherafatmand

June 2011

Par Bernard Henry

« La première chose à faire, c’est de tuer tous les avocats ! »

C’est le conseil que donnait un sinistre personnage du nom de Dick le Boucher, dans la pièce de Shakespeare Henri VI[i] (en fait la seconde partie, supposément écrite en 1591), à un autre personnage de la pièce, Jack Cade, qui se rêvait en tyran d’Angleterre. Ayant réellement existé, Jack Cade fut en réalité le meneur d’une révolte populaire dans le Kent en 1450, alors que régnait en Angleterre le fameux roi dont le nom donne son titre à la pièce.

En tout cas, si le Jack Cade que nous dépeint le Barde reçoit ce sinistre conseil de Dick le Boucher, c’est que ce dernier entend lui indiquer la meilleure manière de tuer dans l’œuf toute tentative de contestation et, surtout, toute persistance d’idées subversives dans l’Angleterre sur laquelle Jack Cade régnerait en maître absolu. Dans certaines parties de l’Empire britannique tel qu’il a existé après la mort de Shakespeare, c’est un conseil que d’aucuns auraient peut-être aimé suivre, s’ils n’avaient pas eu tant à craindre de la réaction de leur propre peuple et, à coup sûr, d’un reste du monde indigné.

Dans l’Inde britannique des lendemains de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, c’est ainsi un Mohandas Gandhi, avocat qui avait fait ses premières armes dans l’Afrique du Sud également britannique de l’époque, qui a conduit à la victoire le mouvement non-violent pour l’indépendance. En l’occurrence, sa mort fut le fait non des Britanniques mais d’un extrémiste hindou, qui jugeait le Mahatma, la « grande âme » en sanskrit, trop conciliant envers les Musulmans indiens qui, emmenés par Ali Jinnah, revendiquaient un Etat indépendant portant le nom de Pakistan.

Pour l’ « Union sud-africaine » britannique, lorsque les politiques d’apartheid, terme afrikaans signifiant « développement séparé », furent mises en place en 1948 sous le gouvernement du Premier Ministre Daniel Malan, l’indépendance en 1961 signifia également le départ du Commonwealth, où la politique raciste de Prétoria était réprouvée de manière unanime. Là encore, c’est un avocat qui devint le symbole international de la résistance. Il se nommait Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.

Condamné le 12 juin 1964 à la prison à vie, Nelson Mandela fut libéré en février 1990 à l’initiative du Président Frederik Willem de Klerk. Après la légalisation de son parti, le Congrès national africain (African National Congress, ANC), il continua la lutte jusqu’à débarrasser définitivement l’Afrique du Sud de l’apartheid avec la disparition en 1992 des dernières lois de ségrégation. En 1993, Nelson Mandela et Frederik Willem de Klerk reçurent conjointement le Prix Nobel de la Paix, et le 10 mai 1994, lors des toutes premières élections démocratiques et multiraciales en Afrique du Sud, Mandela devint le premier Président noir du pays.

Si le conseil de Dick le Boucher avait été suivi par Lord Mountbatten lorsqu’il était vice-roi et gouverneur général des Indes, ou par Charles Robberts Swart, le premier Président de l’Afrique du Sud indépendante, l’histoire des deux pays, ainsi que celle du monde, en eût été bouleversée …

Mohandas Gandhi, le futur Mahatma, et Nelson Mandela, premier Président noir de l'Afrique du Sud. Deux avocats de profession qui se sont faits ceux de leurs peuples opprimés et qui, contre toute attente, les ont libérés.

C’est sans doute aussi l’avis des dirigeants de la République populaire de Chine, le plus grand pays au monde à conserver de nos jours une structure de gouvernement communiste, ayant dans le même temps adopté, à l’instar de ses « petits frères » cubain et vietnamien, l’économie capitaliste et le commerce avec les pays occidentaux, seule la Corée du Nord de Kim jong-il conservant un pur système stalinien digne des pires heures du vingtième siècle.

En faisant passer, de 1978 à 1989, son économie planifiée de type soviétique à un « socialisme de marché », Beijing a su éviter le piège dans lequel était tombée l’Union soviétique, son vieux rival à l’intérieur du monde communiste, en s’excluant durablement des grands contrats internationaux, même la perestroika mise en œuvre par Mikhaïl Gorbatchev à son accession au pouvoir en 1985 n’ayant pu enrayer le déclin du pays fondateur du « socialisme scientifique » et sa disparition pure et simple en 1991.

Ayant survécu en tant qu’Etat socialiste, fût-ce au prix de l’évolution de son système économique vers ce capitalisme qu’elle maudissait sous l’ère Mao, la Chine est ainsi devenue la deuxième puissance économique au monde, étant depuis 2001 membre de l’Organisation mondiale du Commerce. Pour autant, elle est loin d’être devenue le deuxième pays le plus libre du monde, le Parti communiste chinois gardant la haute main sur la société, fort de ses quatre-vingt millions de membres qui font de lui la plus grande organisation politique de toute la planète, et surtout, l’absence totale de droits liés au travail, garante des coûts de production ridiculement bas qui ont fait de la Chine la destination vedette de la délocalisation à partir des années 1990, allant de pair avec le mépris le plus complet des droits civils et politiques. Et comme l’on peut s’y attendre, les avocats chinois en savent quelque chose.

Après la victoire dans la guerre civile chinoise, à l’issue de vingt ans de combats, des communistes de Mao Zedong contre les nationalistes de Tchang Kaï-chek qui devaient ne garder, sous protection américaine, que l’île de Taiwan, la profession d’avocat fut l’une des victimes du raidissement du régime, échaudé par le soulèvement hongrois contre l’occupation soviétique en 1956. L’année suivante, le barreau fut purement et simplement supprimé, avant d’être reconstitué peu à peu dans les années qui suivirent, même si les avocats chinois durent attendre la fin de l’avènement du « socialisme de marché » pour retrouver un statut tant soit peu comparable à celui de leurs confrères du reste du monde, à travers une loi promulguée en 1989 par le Ministère de la Justice chinois en ce sens[ii].

Shanghai, mégapole de plus de 23 millions d'habitants, symbole par excellence d'une Chine qui s'est ouverte au capitalisme occidental tout en conservant un système politique répressif hérité des dictatures communistes du vingtième siècle.

Aujourd’hui, un niveau d’études de droit supérieur à trois ans suffit pour être avocat en Chine. Un concours national unique a été institué en 2002, à l’issue duquel le candidat chanceux doit demander et obtenir du Ministère de la Justice, une première fois puis chaque année, une « licence d’exercice » de la profession d’avocat.

Mais attention. Quand on est avocat en Chine, l’on n’a pas seulement pour mission, aux termes de la loi, « la protection des intérêts légaux de ses clients, la protection de l’application de la loi et la protection de la justice et de l’équité sociales », aux termes mêmes d’un avocat chinois[iii]. L’on est aussi tenu, « à travers l’exercice de sa profession, de participer à la marche vers la réalisation de l’Etat de droit socialiste et de protéger la justice sociale ». Autrement dit, pour l’avocat qui entreprend de défendre une notion du droit autre que celle officielle voulue par l’Etat, gare …

Comme le rappelait Amnesty International le 30 juin dernier[iv], à l’instar du soulèvement de Budapest qui avait poussé Mao à « tuer tous les avocats » au pur plan administratif, le régime chinois d’aujourd’hui, craignant une « Révolution du Jasmin » à la manière de celle de janvier dernier en Tunisie, a bien fait comprendre à tous ceux qui contestent tant soit peu dans le pays, avocats compris, qu’il ne fallait pas y compter.

L’organisation précise ainsi, en ce qui concerne la « licence d’exercice » que tout avocat doit solliciter puis obtenir du Gouvernement chaque année, que celle-ci repose sur une « évaluation annuelle » sans véritable fondement juridique, laquelle est effectuée par les autorités locales, les avocats exerçant à titre individuel étant quant à eux « évalués » par des « associations d’avocats » se prétendant indépendantes et ayant en réalité bien peu à voir en la matière avec les barreaux des pays occidentaux. Sans surprise, les rares avocats, parmi les deux cent quatre mille que compte la Chine, qui osent prendre des affaires dites « sensibles », à savoir, défendre des Défenseurs des Droits de l’Homme (DDH) ou l’être eux-mêmes, échouent largement plus que la moyenne à cette « évaluation » et voient leur licence révoquée ou au mieux suspendue. Quand bien même un avocat passe outre et continue de défendre de tels dossiers, ce sont les autorités qui passent outre les normes internationales de Droits de l’Homme …  Et la loi chinoise proprement dite.

Toute l'horreur de la peine de mort en Chine, l'Etat qui exécute le plus au monde.

Avant même que l’onde de choc du départ de Zine el Abidine Ben Ali n’ait atteint Beijing, la Chine avait d’ores et déjà introduit, au cours des deux dernières années, des réglementations interdisant aux avocats d’accepter certains types de dossiers, de faire quelque commentaire que ce soit auprès des médias sur leurs dossiers en cours ou, plus impensable encore, de contester des irrégularités commises par les tribunaux. Même si de telles réglementations sont on ne peut plus contraires aux Principes de Base des Nations Unies relatifs au Rôle du Barreau, dont l’Article 18 dispose que « les avocats ne doivent pas être assimilés à leurs clients ou à la cause de leurs clients du fait de l’exercice de leurs fonctions », l’avocat chinois qui s’avise de préférer ce droit international insolent à l’ordre du « droit socialiste » est voué à le payer cher.

Pour les membres de groupes religieux non officiels, tels que le mouvement spirituel Falun Gong, ou encore les protestataires dans les régions autonomes bouddhiste du Tibet et musulmane du Ouighour, il n’a jamais été aussi difficile d’être défendu en justice, de même que pour ceux qui se prennent à dire publiquement qu’ils trouvent insuffisante ou inadaptée la réaction des autorités aux récentes catastrophes naturelles ou aux questions liées à la sécurité alimentaire. Pour d’autres, déjà vulnérables de manière traditionnelle, la défense est devenue tout simplement un mot vide de tout sens. Ainsi des citoyens emprisonnés de manière arbitraire, voire soumis à la torture en détention, et de ceux qui, dans ce pays qui exécute à tour de bras, risquent la peine de mort, souvent sur la base d’aveux arrachés par la torture en amont.

Amnesty International cite ainsi les cas de cinq avocats DDH particulièrement visés.

Gao Zhisheng, qui défendait des membres de Falun Gong et traitait des dossiers de peine de mort, a « disparu » depuis plus d’un an. Auparavant, il avait déjà été détenu « au secret » et torturé plus d’une fois depuis 2006.

Tang Jingling, exerçant à Guangdong, province du sud frontalière de Hong Kong, a « disparu » quant à lui le 22 février dernier. Ses amis pensant qu’il se trouve dans un centre gouvernemental de formation à Panyu, l’un de ses confrères tenta de s’en assurer ; mais il fut menacé, passé à tabac et finalement contraint d’y renoncer. Tang Jingling défendait des travailleurs emprisonnés pour avoir protesté contre leurs conditions de travail déplorables, et en dépit du refus des autorités de lui renouveler sa licence, il prodiguait des conseils juridiques aux personnes vulnérables, en particulier aux travailleurs migrants.

Liu Shihui, avocat exerçant à Guangzhou, ville jadis connue sous le nom de Canton, également dans le Guangdong, et travaillant sur des dossiers de tortures et de décès en garde à vue, fut sévèrement battu le 20 février dernier alors qu’il se rendait à une manifestation de protestation inspirée par la Révolution du Jasmin en Tunisie. Le 25, il « disparut », puis il fut en fin de compte amené de force le 12 juin par les autorités à sa résidence située dans la Région autonome de Mongolie intérieure, où il demeure à ce jour assigné à résidence.

Tang Jitian est, depuis le 5 mars dernier, lui aussi assigné à résidence après avoir « disparu » le 16 février. En 2009, lui et d’autres avocats de Beijing avaient mis en cause publiquement la légalité de l’ « évaluation annuelle », et en mai 2010, après qu’il avait défendu un adepte de Falun Gong, sa licence lui avait été retirée de manière permanente.

Ni Yulan a été à plusieurs reprises arrêtée et torturée pour avoir défendu des résidents de Beijing expulsés de force de leurs maisons en vue des Jeux Olympiques de Beijing en 2008. Sa propre maison a été détruite et elle a été radiée du Barreau, elle qui déjà, en 2002, avait été torturée de manière si violente en détention qu’elle utilise désormais un fauteuil roulant.

Avant même la parution du rapport d’Amnesty, le Bureau de Représentation auprès de l’Office des Nations Unies à Genève de l’Association of World Citizens avait interpellé les autorités chinoises sur le cas d’un avocat DDH, en situation de handicap comme l’est Ni Yulan mais qui n’est pas pour autant, loin de là, privé de ses facultés d’homme de loi.

Non-voyant, Chen Guangcheng est un juriste autodidacte qui a appris le droit en braille. Persécuté de longue date par les autorités de Linyi, dans la province orientale du Shandong – pour la petite histoire, patrie de Confucius –, pour avoir défendu la cause des femmes que le Gouvernement force à avorter, que ce soit en vertu de la politique traditionnelle chinoise de l’enfant unique ou pour empêcher la naissance de filles au profit de bébés de sexe masculin, il avait été incarcéré quatre années durant avant d’être libéré le 9 septembre 2010. Mais c’était pour être placé, ainsi que sa famille, sous un strict régime d’assignation à résidence.

Une vidéo tournée clandestinement, quelques dix semaines après le début de son assignation à résidence, puis sortie de Chine et mise en ligne le 9 février dernier par l’organisation China Aid, basée aux Etats-Unis, montre Chen Guangcheng relatant en détail les mauvais traitements dont lui et sa famille sont victimes au quotidien. « Je suis sorti d’une petite prison, mais c’était pour entrer dans une encore plus grande », confie l’avocat, désormais cantonné à une maison qu’il décrit comme observée vingt-quatre heures sur vingt-quatre par trois équipes de vingt-deux personnes en tout, qui espionnent sa famille et empêchent quiconque de quitter les lieux. Seule la mère de Chen Guangcheng, qui est âgée, peut sortir pour aller faire les courses. Pas de ligne téléphonique fixe, et un brouilleur empêche tout appel entrant ou sortant sur téléphone portable. Que l’on ne tente pas pour autant d’aller voir Chen Guangcheng en personne, car sitôt que l’on entre dans le village où se trouve la maison qui lui sert désormais de geôle, l’on se voit sommé de rebrousser chemin, puis molesté si l’on s’obstine.

De même que Gao Zhisheng, Chen Guangcheng est un pilier du mouvement des « avocats aux pieds nus » qui entreprennent de défendre des victimes d’atteintes aux Droits de l’Homme en se référant à la loi chinoise même – le suprême affront à un système où un avocat est censé être, tout au contraire, un militant politique aux ordres du parti dirigeant. C’est dans ce même mouvement que s’inscrit Hu Jia, avocat converti au bouddhisme tibétain depuis les événements de Tienanmen en 1989, militant écologiste et de la lutte contre le SIDA depuis le début des années 1990 et lauréat en 2008 du Prix Sakharov pour les Droits de l’Homme décerné par le Parlement européen.

Hu Jia, Gao Zhisheng et Chen Guangcheng, les trois figures de proue du mouvement des "avocats aux pieds nus". Bravant chaque jour la dictature, ils luttent pour que le mot "droit", au singulier comme au pluriel, prenne en Chine tout son sens.

On n’en est pas si loin, du « tuer tous les avocats » que préconisait Dick le Boucher sous la plume de Shakespeare. De la part d’un Etat qui frappe ainsi ses avocats jusque dans leur chair, l’on pense toutefois moins, s’agissant d’une œuvre de Shakespeare, à Henri VI qu’à La Tempête, pièce dans laquelle Miranda, fille de Prospero, le duc de Milan, emploie l’expression « brave new world » dont Aldous Huxley fera au vingtième siècle le titre original anglais de son Meilleur des mondes. Dans l’« Etat mondial » que le roman d’Huxley a pour cadre, un Etat futuriste aseptisé et totalitaire, idolâtrant Henry Ford et la production industrielle, et où le bonheur quotidien se crée par la consommation d’un sorbet euphorisant, il n’y a pas de conflits, ni militaires ni juridiques, car tout simplement pas de libertés publiques au départ. Dès lors, quel besoin d’avocats ? C’est bien à cela que Hu Jintao et ses proches semblent aujourd’hui rêver pour leur pays, trop heureux qu’ils sont de voir les crises économiques successives dans les démocraties occidentales leur permettre de vanter leur modèle, car ayant racheté pour partie les dettes publiques des Etats concernés et s’offrant ainsi le luxe de faire la leçon y compris aux Etats-Unis, démocratie dépensière à bout de souffle mais qui, au moins, respecte un principe aussi fondamental pour l’état de droit que l’est l’indépendance des avocats, fondamentale à l’état de droit, et plus encore, à la démocratie.

Défendre un justiciable, c’est toujours remettre en question l’application d’une loi écrite, tout en s’appuyant soi-même, ce qui n’est pas la moindre des ironies, sur une autre loi écrite. Dans une « société démocratique » aux termes de la Déclaration universelle des Droits de l’Homme, le travail de l’avocat, par la création de la jurisprudence, nourrit le droit et l’enrichit, contribuant ainsi à son évolution dont il est indispensable qu’elle suive celle de la société. Avant que le Ministre de la Justice français Robert Badinter ne demande à l’Assemblée nationale « l’abolition de la peine de mort en France » le 17 septembre 1981, l’avocat Robert Badinter n’avait pas été sans plaider dans le procès de Claude Buffet et Roger Bontems, alors que ces deux hommes encouraient la peine de mort pour avoir effectué une prise d’otages dans une prison où ils étaient détenus. Et ils furent en effet exécutés en 1972.

En Chine, l’avocat, censé être un auxiliaire de justice, ne doit être pour les autorités qu’un auxiliaire politique et commercial, politique car il doit mettre en œuvre le « droit socialiste » voulu par Beijing, et commercial car les seuls clients honorables pour lui sont les hommes d’affaires, chinois et étrangers, qui assurent la réussite d’un système où politique et économie se contredisent en permanence.

L’avocate française Gisèle Halimi déclarait récemment : « Dans notre profession, on considère qu’il n’y a pas d’indéfendable ». Le Gouvernement chinois a pourtant instauré ce principe dans son droit interne. Tant qu’il laissera ces dispositions perdurer, aux yeux des avocats de Chine et du monde entier, il se rendra, ainsi que son système politico-économique schizophrène, indéfendable.

Bernard Henry est Officier de Presse du Bureau de Représentation auprès de l’Office des Nations Unies à Genève de l’Association of World Citizens.

By René Wadlow

Only a crisis — actual or perceived — produces real change.  When the crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.  That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, and to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.

– Milton Friedman

Heavy fighting started again on July 28, 2011 in Mogadishu, the capital of what was once Somalia, in a battle between the African Union peacekeeping force (Amisom) and the Islamic insurgency al-Shahab. The fighting prevents aid from reaching the tens of thousands of refugees who have arrived in Mogadishu fleeing famine. The United Nations (UN) World Food Program says it cannot reach some two million people in need in areas controlled by al-Shahab which had expelled Western nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) who were providing relief.

The Horn of Africa, in particular Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, faces a deep crisis, a combination of refugee flows, famine in part linked to drought, and persistent conflicts.  There is a broad consensus in the UN system that radical measures are needed to deal with the Horn of Africa crisis and that these measures will have to be taken in a holistic way with actions going from the local level of the individual farmer to the national level with new government policies, to measures to be undertaken by the African Union and the UN system, in particular the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome.

Combatants with Somalia's al-Shabab Islamist militia.

Today, cooperation is needed among the UN family of agencies, national governments, NGOs, and the millions of food producers. There is a need for swift, short-term measures to help people now suffering from lack of food, inadequate distribution and situations of violence. Such short-term action requires additional funding for the UN World Food Program and the release of national food stocks. However, it is the longer-range and structural issues on which world citizens have focused their attention. The world requires a World Food Policy and a clear Plan of Action.

While constant improvements in technology, mechanization, plant breeding and farm chemicals have steadily increased food production per acre in much of the world, African food production per acre has stagnated, and in some areas has gone down. Likewise, the portion of development assistance in Africa dedicated to agriculture has declined from 15 per cent in the 1980s to 4 per cent in 2006.

As a July 11, 2011 UNCTAD study Economic Development in Africa stresses “One of the major challenges which African countries currently face is to generate productive jobs and livelihoods for the 7-10 million young people entering the labor force each year. This is difficult to achieve simply through commodity exports but rather requires a complementary process of agricultural productivity growth and development of non-agricultural employment opportunities in both industry and services.”

Carcasses of dead sheep and goats in the drought-stricken region of Waridaad, Somaliland.

Thus, the first need in Africa is to develop the local economies: currently, poverty, lack of adapted technology, population pressure on ecologically fragile areas, a growth of urban slums due to rapid rural to urban migration is the lot of many Sub-Saharan African countries.

Increased action to improve rural life needs to be taken quickly.  As the recent UN-sponsored Millennium Ecosystem Assessment warns “Human activity is putting such strains on the natural function of Earth that the ability of the planet’s ecosystem to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted. It is becoming ever more apparent that human society has a rapidly shrinking window of opportunity to alter its path.”

The Horn of Africa is an extreme case. The Horn possesses all the resources needed to make it one of Africa’s major economic centers, and yet there seems to be no halting the environmental decay and political insecurity it engenders. In fact, when one looks at the Horn’s problems, one must conclude that urgent and well-directed international action is needed to prevent a mega-disaster. Due to an often unenlightened management of the environment, its willful mismanagement to extract short-term economic gain, and confrontational rather than conciliatory policies, the squandering of the region’s resources has gathered speed.

A map of the ongoing famine in the Horn of Africa. The facts speak for themselves.

Environmental degradation is part of a cycle that upsets the traditional balance between people, their habitat and the socio-economic systems by which they live. Insecurity leads to strife; strife results in inter-clan feuding, civil war, cross-border raiding and military confrontation. Environmental degradation and insecurity continue to interact, swinging back and forth like a pendulum of destruction. A shrinking resource base breeds insecurity; insecurity spreads conflict, and conflict causes environmental destruction.

It is hard to know how to improve the situation. There is a long-term need for people to modify their living patterns to bring about a better quality of life, with increased security.  There is a need to break the cycle of chaos so that people can transform insecurity into confidence. Yet social change is slow, and the necessary limiting of the birth rate can take generations. Agricultural patterns also change slowly. There is no political leadership within the area, and there is no cooperation among the states of the Horn. The African Union’s conflict management structures do not function, and the UN has hoped that the African Union could take the lead in the area’s conflict resolution. This was a hope based on an unwillingness to get involved rather than a realistic evaluation of the situation.

The cycle of chaos is likely to speed up, and more refugees will be on the move.  However, as Milton Friedman noted only a crisis produces real change. Just as the “Arab Spring” brought a new generation of leadership into action — though not yet into power — the Horn of Africa might see a new generation of non-governmental leadership coming to the fore. The older political and clanic leadership has failed and is discredited. However, they have guns and plan to stay in control. Yet what is politically impossible today in the Horn may become politically inevitable.

René Wadlow is Senior Vice President and Chief Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva of the Association of World Citizens.

See also Somalia: Signs of Danger (http://awcungeneva.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/somalia-signs-of-danger/)

By René Wadlow

On July 9, 2011, South Sudan became an independent State, six months after the January referendum in which the south Sudan population voted overwhelmingly for independence. However, Sudan is not really structured to be divided in two. There are no natural dividing lines, neither physical nor social. During much of the English colonial period, southern Sudan was administered from Uganda as road communications were easier than from Khartoum, the capital in the north of the country. In fact, ‘administered’ is too strong a term. South Sudan had no real crops for export or minerals to mine, and so there was very little administration. In place of any government development activities, the Colonial Office encouraged Christian missionaries, mostly Church of England and Roman Catholic to set up schools and clinics. Thus south Sudan was ‘Christianized’ in that the educated had gone to church schools and been treated in Christian clinics. However, most people continued also to practice traditional rituals as these were considered as part of tribal life and not as the rituals of a particular religion. Thus when considering Sudan, the often-used terms of ‘Muslim’, ‘Christian’, and ‘Animist’ cover a more complex reality.

In December 2010, no less than 98.83% of South Sudanese voters chose independence at the polls.

Complexity is a term which is true for all Sudanese life — political, economic, and geographic. The failure to deal creatively with complexity has led to fighting for nearly all of its history as an independent State since 1956. On the eve of Independence, with the makeup of a new national army being the spark which set the fire, civil war broke out, basically on a North-South basis. There have been two phases to the Sudan Civil War. The first phase (1954-1972) had ended with negotiations facilitated by the All-African Conference of Churches with back up help from the World Council of Churches in Geneva.

The 1972-1982 decade was one of relative peace, but it was not used to heal the divisions or to work out forms of government, administration, and legal systems that would be acceptable to all segments of Sudanese society. International attention on Sudan had diminished once the 1972 peace agreement was signed. The warning signals that all was not well were ignored internationally. Thus in 1982, southern soldiers who had been integrated into the national army revolted, and the second phase of the civil war continued from 1983 until the end of 2004.

As a North-South peace agreement was nearly set, groups in Darfur, western Sudan, who had not been part of the North-South conflict decided that violence was the only way to get attention and to get a ‘piece of the pie’ of the natural resources, especially the oil revenue. They hoped for a short war after which they would be invited to participate in the North-South negotiations. In practice, the Darfur conflict has not been short — starting in 2003 and continuing still today, and the Darfur factions have not been invited to the North-South negotiations.

The flag of the Republic of South Sudan, originally the flag of the Sudanese People's Army/Movement (SPLAM).

Darfur (the home of the Fur) was always marginal to the politics of modern Sudan. In the 19^th century, Darfur, about the size of France, was an independent Sultanate loosely related to the Ottoman Empire. It was on a major trade route from West Africa to Egypt and so populations from what is now northern Nigeria, Niger, Mali and Chad joined the older ethnic groups of the area: the Fur, Masalit, Zaghawa and the Birgit. Nomads from Libya also moved south into Darfur. As the population density was low, a style of life with mutual interaction between pastoral herdsmen and settled agriculturalists with some livestock developed. Increasingly, however, there was ever-greater competition for water and forage made scarce by environmental degradation and the spread of the desert.

France and England left Darfur as a buffer zone between the French colonial holdings — what is now Chad — and the Anglo-Egyptian controlled Sudan. French-English rivalry in West Africa had nearly led earlier to a war — the Fashoda crisis of 1898. Thus a desert buffer was of more use than its low agricultural and livestock production would provide to either European colonial power. It was only in 1916 during the First World War when French-English colonial rivalry in Africa paled in front of the common German enemy that the English annexed Darfur to the Sudan without asking anyone in Darfur or the Sudan if such a ‘marriage’ was desirable.

Darfur continued its existence as an environmentally fragile area of Sudan. It was marginal in economics but largely self-sufficient. Once Sudan was granted its independence in 1956, Darfur became politically as well as economically marginal. Darfur’s people have received less education, less health care, less development assistance and fewer government posts than any other region.

The seal of the government of the new sovereign nation.

In 2000, Darfur’s political leadership had met and wrote the Black Book which detailed the region’s systematic under-representation in national government since independence. However, at the level of the central government, the Black Book led to no steps to increase the political and economic position of Darfur. This lack of reaction convinced some in Darfur that only violent action would bring recognition and compromise as the war with the South had done.

An armed insurgency began in 2003 led by the more secular but tribal Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Islamist-leaning Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). Since then, there have been splits in the JEM and the SLA largely along tribal lines. These splits make negotiations with the government of Sudan all the more difficult. The interests of many people in Darfur are not represented by either the government or the insurgencies, but it is nearly impossible for other voices to be heard.

In Darfur, there is a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping mission (UNAMID), but there is no peace to keep. Although the peacekeeping force has a mission to protect populations, it is unable to do so. As Mohammed Otham noted in his UN report (A/HRC/14/41) “In Darfur, notwithstanding the general improvement in the security situation, banditry, criminal activities and intermittent military activities by the parties to the conflict have continued. In some areas, aerial bombardment and troop mobilization by the Sudanese Armed Forces have been reported. In the context of this ongoing violence, United Nations and humanitarian personnel face significant risks to their lives. A significant number of UNAMID and humanitarian staff were deliberately attacked; some were abducted and held in captivity for long periods.” The level of suffering in Darfur — people killed and displaced, the agricultural infrastructure destroyed — has been very high. The reconciliation and reconstruction of Darfur will be difficult. We must be on the lookout for possibilities to help.

This is what the new country will look like in political and administrative terms. The AWC wishes South Sudan well and looks forward to working with its government toward the protection and promotion of world law.

The UN has had Special Representatives in Darfur responsible for facilitating negotiations, but they have made little progress. Darfur will continue as part of North Sudan and should be a priority of concern.

As there are no sharp natural or cultural dividing lines between North and South Sudan, there will be non-Muslim populations left in the North and Muslim populations in the South. We must hope that there will not be the massive transfer of populations as at the independence of India and Pakistan. There are possibilities of continued conflict in the northern non-Muslim areas such as the Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan provinces. There is also a mixed population on the frontier between North and South in Abyei. It is less the fact that the population is mixed than that the area is oil-rich that has attracted international attention. The UN Security Council in resolution 1990 of 29 June 2011 decided to establish the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

Thus, the United Nations is present as the Fairy Godmother at the birth of South Sudan. As in the folk tales, the Fairy Godmother has some presents for the newly born as well as certain conditions and demands. The UN brings few material goods, and peacekeeping forces have been largely unable to bring peace. However, the UN has brought the present of world attention, a willingness to help and high international standards to meet. We will have to watch closely as the newborn grows.

René Wadlow is Senior Vice President and Chief Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva of the Association of World Citizens.

By René Wadlow

Hope has never trickled down. It has always sprung up.

Studs Terkel

The situation in Syria seems to have reached a critical turning point. There is a possibility that popular protests continue as they have since mid-March and that they continue to be met by military and police violence in violation of the spirit and letter of humanitarian international law. The Syrian army and militias have responded to unarmed nonviolent demonstrations with disproportionate force. Humanitarian international law has as its base the Martens Clause named after the legal advisor of the Russian Czar at the time of the Hague Peace Conferences. The clause is included in the Preamble to the 1899 Hague Convention. It is taken up again in Article 3, common to the four Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949. The Martens Clause states that “the means that can be used to injure an enemy are not unlimited” but must meet the test of ‘proportionality’ meaning that every resort to armed force be limited to what is necessary for meeting military objectives. The shooting of unarmed demonstrators does not meet the test of proportionality.

For several months, the Syrian people have been sending a clear message to President Bashar al-Assad: The time has come for him to step aside.

However, there seems to be a real possibility of negotiations between the government led by President Bashar al-Assad and members of different opposition groups. President Assad, after two months of silence during which time demonstrations spread and repression increased on June 20 has called for a “national dialog” that could usher in changes. However, there were few specifics as to what topics such a national dialog would cover.

Many opposition leaders consider the proposal as a bid for more time during which arrests continue and over 1,000 persons have been killed in response to non-violent demonstrations. Moreover, it is not clear that the leaders of the longstanding but divided leadership of opposition groups are in control of the demonstrators. As in Tunisia and Egypt, Syrian demonstrators are young, come from an increasingly educated middle class and are influenced by the spirit of the ‘Arab Spring’ rather than by the ideology of the historic opposition groups.

As a sign that the proposal for a national dialog was real, the government allowed a meeting on June 27 in Damascus of some opposition figures. Those who met stressed that they did not claim to speak for all the demonstrators, and not all open opposition figures attended. In addition there are opposition figures in exile, and those in hiding fearful of arrest. There are also, no doubt, those who are waiting to see which way the wind blows. President Assad has spoken of starting the national dialog on July 12, but it is not clear who will attend and how representative they will be.

The savagery of the Damascus regime in suppressing dissent knows no boundaries. President Assad will resort even to heavy military force to silence his own people.

Civil society participation — religious, education, labor, women, cultural and media — is crucial to build public support for a real national dialog and to broaden constituencies for peace. A national dialog is merely the beginning of a deep reordering of the political and economic structures and relationships among elements of the society. There is a need for continual adjustments to adapt to new developments. There also needs to be quick post-agreement benefits to give people a stake in the readjustment process and to reduce the capacity of spoilers.

In some conflict situations, external mediators from the United Nations, national governments or nongovernmental organizations have played a useful role. Currently, the situation seems to have reached a stalemate when neither the government nor the protesters can resolve the crisis on their own terms. There are few signs that the government is open to external mediators, but with refugees from Syria going to Turkey, there is a real danger that the conflict will take on trans-frontier dimensions. A real national dialog could set out a framework for reforms which have been promised in the past but which never came to birth. As a result, sentiments have hardened, and trust has been lost. As external but concerned parties, we should encourage a broadly-based national dialog as a first important step on the road to reform.

René Wadlow is Senior Vice President and Chief Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva of the Association of World Citizens.

By René Wadlow

There is a good deal of discussion in the halls of the United Nations (UN), both in New York and Geneva, concerning a possible application of full membership in the UN by the Palestinian Authority. The discussions reflect similar discussions within Foreign Ministries in the hope that there can be an agreed-upon program of action (or non-action) by September when the new General Assembly meets. Currently Palestine has observer status at the UN from a time when liberation movements were given observer status — two organizations for South Africa, one for South West Africa as Namibia was then, and for the PLO. With the changes in South Africa and Namibia, the liberation movement observer status was dropped for the three, and only the PLO remained.

In practice, there is little effective difference between observer status and full membership. Observers cannot vote, but voting in the UN has been largely replaced by ‘consensus making’. Effectiveness for all countries except for a small number of Great Powers depends on the skills of the diplomats which represent them. The Vatican has only observer status but a good deal of influence due to an effective diplomatic team. The Palestinian diplomats in Geneva have been weak, in New York somewhat stronger. The Palestinian diplomats have always been in the shadows of the representatives of the Arab States who want to play ‘Big Brother’, but with the exception of Egypt which has always had a strong core of diplomats, the Arab diplomats have rarely been more competent than the Palestinians.

Being overshadowed by the larger Arab States would probably not change even if full membership is granted, but full membership would be a symbolic victory of legitimacy and open the door to the independent use of the World Court. As Mahmoud Abbas has written “Palestine’s admission to the United Nations would pave the way for the internationalization of the conflict as a legal matter, not only a political one. It would also pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights treaty bodies and the International Court of Justice.”

The Middle East came this close to peace when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands on the White House lawn on September 13, 1993.

As of now, there are a number of variations being discussed around three possible approaches:

1)      The first approach favored by the USA, some of the Western European members of the European Union, in particular Germany, and a few others including Israel is that the issue should go away. It is felt that there are enough problems in the world, especially in the Middle East not to have a complicated procedural battle in September. This has been the ‘advice’ given to the Palestinians by the US, Canada, and some Western European States. It may be also what some of the Arab States are saying more privately. To reinforce their arguments, the US and the Western European governments have a strong card — they can cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority. The pretext would be the Hamas support or participation in a ‘unity government’ even if such a government is made of ‘non-political technocrats’. Hamas is still listed by the USA and the European Union as a ‘terrorist organization’ and so cannot receive funds from the US or EU governments. The Palestinian Authority depends largely on external financing; thus cutting off financing is an argument that carries weight — even if it is called ‘blackmail’ in other settings.

In exchange for dropping the full membership application, there would be some sort of short Israel-Palestine meeting where each side would speak of a ‘peace process’ through September when the membership issue has gone by. Such a sleight of hand will not advance real negotiations but may ‘buy time’ which is what many governments now want.

2)      There is, however, a real possibility that the Palestinian Authority will ask for full membership in September. This will depend in part on discussions among the Palestinian leadership and the views of the three key States concerning the Middle East: Egypt, Turkey, and Iran. Iran which is one of the Vice Presidents of the upcoming General Assembly will be particularly influential in procedural matters. The UN Charter states that the admission of new members “will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council”. The Council makes its membership recommendation through a resolution; thus it must be approved by at least nine of the Council’s 15 members and not be vetoed by the one of the five permanent members. If the USA abstains — abstentions are not considered a veto — it is likely that there would be at least nine positive votes for Palestinian membership in the Security Council. Then it is most likely that the General Assembly would follow the Security Council recommendation as it has always done in the past. Thus current discussions turn around what could convince the US to abstain rather than veto. We will return to this key issue after a consideration of a third possibility.

3)      The third possibility in the case of a US veto is to move the issue to the General Assembly under what is known now as the “Uniting for Peace” mechanism. UN General Assembly resolution 377(V) of November 3, 1950, first known as ‘the Acheson Plan’ from the name of the US Secretary of State who proposed it and later renamed Uniting for Peace states that in cases where the UN Security Council fails to act to maintain international peace and security, owing to disagreement among the five permanent members, the matter shall be discussed immediately by the General Assembly. If the General Assembly is not in session, an Emergency Special Session can be called. This procedure has been used 10 times since its 1950 start. (1) As from September to December, the General Assembly will be in session, a Special Session will not have to be called. For a resolution to pass under the Uniting for Peace mechanism, there must be a 2/3 majority, meaning now 135 States if all are present and voting. However, not being present is a ‘diplomatic’ way of not having to be seen making a choice. Currently, 112 UN members recognize a Palestinian State within the pre-1967 frontiers. What cannot be analyzed is how hard the USA and some of its allies would work to prevent the 135 positive voters.

To turn back to the Security Council procedure, we can ask could there be a ‘deal’ that would satisfy no one completely but not dissatisfy any of the five permanent powers to the extent of their casting a veto. Here we can turn to precedent because at the UN everything functions by precedent. If something has been done once, one can argue that it can be done again. If it has never been done, it takes an exceptional situation and a few highly skilled diplomats to get any innovation.

A picture of the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin after he was shot dead on November 4, 1995 by an Israeli nationalist named Yigal Amir.

Thus we can turn to the 1954 period and the breaking of the ‘logjam’ on membership. During the first ‘hot round’ of the Cold War — the June 1950 to July 1953 Korean War — the Soviet Union and the USA blocked each other’s potential allies from UN membership. At the end of the Korean War, there was a host of pending membership applications on which no progress had been made. There seemed to be little possibility of moving things forward.

The 1954 membership issue was my start at looking closely at diplomatic negotiations around procedural issues at the UN. At a time when I should have spent my time chasing girls, I was a university student representative on the Executive Committee of what was then the United World Federalists in the USA. In 1955, the issue of a review conference on the UN Charter was to be placed automatically on the agenda of the General Assembly. During the 1945 negotiations that led to the creation of the UN Charter, a review conference on the Charter after 10 years was to be placed on the agenda. This was a demand of some of the smaller States at San Francisco, in particular Australia. It was expected in 1945 that such a review conference would be held and that was still the expectation in the period 1953-1954. There was a good deal of reflection on how to improve and strengthen the Charter during such a Review Conference. Universal membership was one of the demands of UN reformers, both some diplomats and activists such as those in the United World Federalists who had taken a lead on the Charter Review issue.

However, both the USA and the USSR opposed holding a Charter Review conference and brought most of their allies along with them. The result was that when the Charter Review conference came upon on the agenda, it was swept under the rug, and there has never been a review. Nevertheless, the diplomats of the USA and the USSR felt that some of the ‘steam’ for a Review Conference had to be lowered and this could be done by getting rid of ‘universal membership’ as an issue. Negotiations to break the logjam on pending applications started with the aim of making as close-to-possible balance between pro-USA, pro-USSR and neutral States entering the UN. The negotiations were carried out in 1954 and in 1955, before the debate on Charter Review, the membership logjam broke and Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka entered the UN. Japan should have been part of the group, but there was still the “enemy states” clause in the Charter which took more negotiations concerning Japan. Japan only came in the next year, 1956.

Dean Acheson, the U. S. Secretary of State who fathered the Uniting for Peace procedure at the United Nations.

Can there be something comparable in September? In an article “Coming in from the Cold: UN Membership Needed for the Phantom Republics”, I suggested at the time of the Georgia-Abkhazia-South Ossetia conflict that Abkhazia, Chechnya, Kosovo, Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and Transnistra be given UN membership as a necessary first step for security and a lessening of tensions. I had stressed that “to find mutually acceptable forms of government in these conflicts will require political creativity (breaking out of thinking in fixed patterns) and then new forms of constitutional order such as renewed forms of federal-confederal types of government, greater popular participation in decision-making and new forms of protection of minorities. Flexibility, compromise and cooperation are the hallmarks of success when it comes to resolving such conflicts concerning independence and autonomy. There is a need for a healing of past animosities and a growth of wider loyalties and cooperation.”

Both diplomats and members of the UN secretariat as well as secretariat of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe where I had also floated the idea explained in detail why such a joint membership procedure would not happen. None the less, if we added upgrading the status of Palestine in the UN, another membership logjam might be broken. The point I have repeatedly made is that membership does not solve difficulties; it just provides a framework where serious negotiations might be carried out. The 1955 access to membership of Cambodia and Laos did not ‘solve’ the Indochina conflict. The French-led war in Vietnam was still going on, to be followed a decade later by the US-led war.

Thus, I think that a world citizen position is that full Palestinian membership in the UN will not ‘solve’ all the Israel-Palestine issues, and certainly not the issues of the wider Middle East. However UN membership will allow the Palestinians to come out from the shadows of the Arab States and to negotiate with the Israelis as equals. Such is a very modest step forward but it is worth taking.

(1)   For a useful discussion of the background to the Uniting for Peace procedure see Dean Acheson Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department (New York: W. W. Norton, 1969, chapters 47-51)

René Wadlow is Senior Vice President and Chief Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva of the Association of World Citizens.

WORLD CITIZENS CALL FOR A HALT TO ARMED VIOLENCE AGAINST THE KACHIN AND TO FACILITATE THE RETURN OF KACHIN REFUGEES FROM CHINA TO BURMA

On June 20, the United Nations-designated World Day for Refugees, the Association of World Citizens appealed to the Government of Myanmar (Burma) to halt the new round of violence against the Kachin national minority.  The fighting erupted on June 9, 2011 and has already led to thousands of persons being displaced and others fleeing as refugees into China. Such a halt would be in keeping with President Thein Sein’s March 2011 inaugural address to the newly elected Parliament where he said that the door for peace is open.

In a separate Appeal to the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, René Wadlow, Senior Vice President and Chief Representative to the United Nations (UN), Geneva of the Association of World Citizens, called upon China to help in mediating the conflict between the Myanmar military and the armed insurgency, the Kachin Independence Army.  Until calm and security is re-established in the Kachin and Northern Shan States of Myanmar, refugees should be granted refuge in China.

China, after many years of support for the communist-led Kachin insurgency, stopped its aid at some point in the 1980s, cutting off the supply lines through China.  The communist leadership of the Kachin was then replaced by less ideological and more ethnic-nationalist leaders. The Chinese government saw its interest in supporting the Myanmar government, and China has become the chief trading partner of Myanmar. Thus China is well placed to play a mediation role.

The Kachin are originally from Tibet and have migrated into Burma and the Yunnan Province of China over the last 200 years.  Thus the Kachin have fellow ethnic members who care for them when they cross the frontier into Yunnan.  However, the Chinese government does not like refugees, having less control over them.  Thus it would be in the interest of China to help restore security in Kachin State which since March has its own State Parliament.

There have been on-and-off cease-fire agreements between the Myanmar government and most of the national minority armed insurgencies.  The most recent cease-fire agreement with the Kachin dates from 1994, and thus world citizens can call for the application of the 1994 accord.

The reasons for the current outbreak of armed violence are unclear.  As Edith Mirante wrote in her account of the insurgencies in Burma “This was a terrible, filthy war.  There was nothing cool or little about it.  There was no rationale, no justification for its having gone on for so long.  Apparently wars didn’t have expiration dates like milk cartons.  Sometimes they just didn’t end.” (Edith Mirante, Burmese Looking Glass (New York: Grove Press, 1993, p116).

Myanmar faces two basic and related issues: the installation of democratic government and a constitutional system which allows autonomy to the national minorities.  Both tasks are difficult.  There is little democratic tradition or ethos upon which to structure a democratic government.  The majority of the seats in the newly-elected national Parliament is held by serving military officers or by officers who “retired” so they could run for Parliament as civilians.  Likewise there is little “national vision” or pluralistic leadership among the national minorities. What leadership exists both in the national government and among the ethnic minorities is often motivated by personal and clanic interests, and leaders recruit allies similarly motivated. Only peace will allow new leadership to emerge with broader motivations and allow all citizens to participate freely in a renewed political process.

Therefore, there needs to be an immediate cessation of hostilities and then efforts to strengthen the processes of the newly created Kachin Parliament.

The Ambassadors of Myanmar and China were assured that the Association of World Citizens will continue to follow the situation closely and was ready to help in whatever way a non-governmental organization could be of use.