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The UN and the Disappearing State of the Central African Republic

In Africa, Anticolonialism, Conflict Resolution, Current Events, Democracy, Human Rights, International Justice, The Search for Peace, United Nations, War Crimes, World Law on November 22, 2013 at 10:36 AM

THE UN AND THE DISAPPEARING STATE OF THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

By René Wadlow

In a November 19, 2013 statement to the United Nations (UN) Security Council, the Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, warned that communal violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) was spiraling out of control and backed the possibility of an armed UN peacekeeping force to complement the civilian UN staff, the Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA).

The UN faces a double task in the CAR. There is the immediate problem of violence among tribal-based militias in the absence of a national army or central government security forces. The militias basically pit the north of the country against the south. In addition, there are other militias from the Democratic Republic of the Congo which use the CAR as a “safe haven” and live off the land by looting villages. There are also segments of the Lord’s Resistance Army, largely from the Acholi tribes of northern Uganda who also use the CAR as a safe area looting as they move about.

In the absence of a standing UN peacekeeping force, UN peacekeepers would have to be redeployed from the eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, an area also torn apart by fighting among different militias and an incompetent Congolese national army. Although the UN forces have been in the Congo for a number of years, it is only in the last couple of months that they have had a mandate to be active in a military way and have started to make an impact on the security situation. By deploying UN troops away from the Congo, there is a danger that the security progress made will fade away.

The longer range task of the UN, the peacebuilding effort, is to create a national administration which provides services beyond the capital city, Bangui. This is the aim of the BINUCA, but its work is largely impossible in the light of the ongoing violence. The challenge is “State-building” which was not done during the colonial period by France.

The area covered by the current State had no pre-colonial common history, but was incorporated into French Equatorial Africa when it could have been as easily part of the Belgium Congo or added to Uganda as part of British East Africa.

Oubangui-Chari as it was then known was the poor cousin of French Equatorial Africa (AEF) whose administrative center was Brazzaville, Congo, with Gabon as the natural resource base. The Cameroon, although legally a League of Nations Mandate, was basically part of AEF. Oubangui-Chari was used as an “exile post” for African civil servants considered “trouble makers”. French colonial administrators also considered Oubangui-Chari as a posting in exile, a place to get away from as soon as possible. Schools were few, and secondary school students were sent away to Brazzaville.

There was only one political figure of standing who emerged from Oubangui-Chari, Barthelemy Boganda (1910-1959). He was the first Roman Catholic priest ordained in 1938. After the Second World War, he was elected to serve in the French Parliament as a member of the Catholic-influenced MRP Party, although he was stripped of his priesthood for going into politics and also for marrying his legislative assistant.

Boganda advocated keeping the AEF together as a federation of independent States knowing that Oubangui-Chari was the poorest of the AEF States and most in need of help from its neighbours. Unfortunately, he was killed in a plane crash on the eve of independence, and with him disappeared all enlightened leadership.

However, his stature in the political life of Oubangui-Chari was such that political power passed on to two cousins, David Dacko, first President of the independent Central African Republic and then Jean-Bedel Bokassa in 1965 who changed the name of the country to Central African Empire and ruled (or misruled) as Bokassa 1er. His dreams of being a new Napoleon was ended in 1979 by a French military intervention after Bokassa had too visibly killed young school children who were protesting.

Jean-Bedel Bokassa aka Bokassa the First, the man who would be emperor – even if it meant reigning over scorched earth.

Jean-Bedel Bokassa aka Bokassa the First, the man who would be emperor – even if it meant reigning over scorched earth.

Since Bokassa, all pretext of a unified administration has disappeared. General Kolingba, Ange-Felix Patassé, followed by Francois Bozizé were considered “Head of State”, but the State had no visible administration. Bozizé was overthrown in March 2013 by Michel Djotodia and his Seleka (alliance in the Sango language) militia. The Alliance has now been dissolved by Djotodia but replaced by nothing. A fact-finding mission sent by the UN Human Rights Council concluded that “both the forces of the former government of President Bozizé and the non-State armed group Seleka committed serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law during the conflict”.

Creating order from disorder is a difficult task, especially as the pre-colonial tribal structures no longer function. There were very few inter-tribal mechanisms to settle disputes in any case. The State-building process merits close attention. Somalia remains a good example of the difficulties. The UN faces real challenges in the Central African Republic and requires help from national governments and NGOs.

Politically, Africa has always been a continent of many dramas. Hopefully, if the international community finally decides to take quick, decisive action at last, the Central African Republic will not be just another name on the list.

Politically, Africa has always been a continent of many dramas. Hopefully, if the international community finally decides to take quick, decisive action, the Central African Republic will not be just another name on the list.

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


Is the UN Trying to Legalize Prostitution Worldwide?

In Current Events, Human Rights, International Justice, United Nations, Women's Rights, World Law on October 15, 2013 at 7:13 PM

IS THE UN TRYING TO LEGALIZE PROSTITUTION WORLDWIDE?

By Bernard Henry

In February 2012 Claude Guéant, the then Minister of Interior of France, caused a stir in the country by stating that “Not all civilizations are equal”, adding that one of the yardsticks against which a society could be viewed as “civilized” was “the subservience of women”[i].

For months, Guéant had spoken out almost obsessively against Islam, even branding all of France’s Muslim population “a problem” once. That latest statement was thus just another attack on a community heavily targeted by Guéant’s party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), to attract voters from the anti-Muslim extreme right National Front. Eventually, President Nicolas Sarkozy and the UMP were defeated at the polls in May 2012 by Socialist Party candidate François Hollande. As for the National Front, it scored a historic 17% and was able to deprive Sarkozy of its much-needed support for the second round.

Guéant’s statement was nonsensical in many ways, not least because the subservience of women is anything but a matter of allegedly unequal civilizations. As the Charter of the United Nations has provided from the very start, and as was recalled by the Beijing Conference in 1995, women’s rights are by essence a global issue, never to be rescinded because of cultural or other differences between societies.

Then, just what is to be deducted from the proposal by two United Nations (UN) agencies to simply legalize, throughout the world, prostitution and everything that goes with it?

This is not a joke. In a September 20 appeal to the UN leadership[ii], the New York-based women’s rights organization Equality Now expressed concern about the recommendations contained in the Global Commission on HIV and the Law’s report HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights and Health (2012), published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the report Sex Work and the Law in Asia and the Pacific (2012), backed by the UNDP, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

In these two reports, Equality Now wrote, the UN agencies tell Member States that “in order to support efforts to reduce HIV/AIDS and to promote the human rights of people in prostitution, all aspects of the commercial sex industry should be decriminalized, including pimping, brothel-keeping and the purchase of sex”. The organization denounces these recommendations as being “in direct opposition to international human rights standards,” adding that these “also largely ignore the experiences and views of survivors of prostitution and sex trafficking.”

Direct opposition to human rights standards is right. When it comes to women’s rights, the international legal instrument of reference is the UN’s own Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). And CEDAW’s Article 6 provides, “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women.” Not quite what the two reports suggest, indeed.

Besides the letter of the law, evidence on the ground, too, does not seem to support the UN agencies’ claims. As Equality Now further recalls, “[I]n 2000 Nongovernmental Organizations and sex trafficking survivors worked to ensure that the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (the “UN Trafficking Protocol”) defined trafficking to reflect the wide variety of sex trafficking survivors’ experiences”.

The UN Trafficking Protocol’s definition, Equality Now stresses, was the result of years of discussion and negotiation by countries and reflects a carefully drawn political consensus that should not be challenged by UN agencies. Yet the two reports disturbingly recommend revising and narrowing the definition. Should this recommendation be adopted, many victims would lose all chances of being recognized as victims of sex trafficking and their traffickers would now enjoy legal impunity for their crimes.

Sex trafficking and prostitution – two scourges that would soon be gone if there were no buyers in the first place. So why is the United Nations calling for the removal of domestic laws that make them illegal?

Sex trafficking and prostitution – two scourges that would soon be gone if there were no buyers in the first place. So why is the United Nations calling for the removal of domestic laws against them?

Ironically, in a report issued in September, UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women and UN Volunteers actually established a direct link between rape perpetration and the purchase of commercial sex, noting that both stem from gender inequality. So why are UNDP and UNFPA now advocating the decriminalization of prostitution – and accordingly the inherent decriminalization of rape?

When it comes to protecting the rights of people in prostitution, including the right to health – especially to protection from HIV – safety and freedom from violence and exploitation, throwing in the towel and letting both pimps and customers walk away with their dirty business is obviously not the way.

On September 30 the AWC issued an appeal to the UN, in line with Equality Now’s own recommendations, urging the World organization to clarify its position on the decriminalization of prostitution in all its aspects and ensure that the future development of policies and programs affecting people in the commercial sex industry includes the views of survivors and groups working on the issue.

In the Preamble to the UN Charter, “[T]he peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women”. There can be no equality between human beings when a man can officially buy another man as a slave, all right. Now what kind of equality can there be between a man and a woman when the latter can officially be rented for sex? We would very much like an answer.

Bernard Henry is the External Relations Officer of the Representative Office to the United Nations in Geneva of the Association of World Citizens.

 

[i] Al Jazeera, « Sarkozy ally says all civilisations not equal », February 5, 2012.


New Fires Relight in Eastern Congo

In Africa, Conflict Resolution, Current Events, Human Rights, International Justice, The Search for Peace, United Nations, World Law on August 25, 2013 at 4:25 PM

NEW FIRES RELIGHT IN EASTERN CONGO

By René Wadlow

In a message of August 24, 2013 addressed to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Association of World Citizens (AWC) highlighted that the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern capital of North Kivu Province, Goma, had been shelled for the past three days, including Saturday 24.

The shelling seems to be a continuation of the struggle for power and wealth between heavily-armed rebels, called the March 23 Movement (M23) and the Congolese central government’s army – the Democratic Republic of Congo Armed Forces (FARDC).

This struggle with ever-changing groups began in 1996, two years after the genocide in Rwanda which led to a refugee influx into eastern Congo.  From 1998 to 2003, the area was the scene of fighting between forces of at least six countries – Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.

A fighter with the M23 Movement.

A fighter with the M23 Movement.

Since the end of the international fighting, the area has been divided into what can be called “mafia clans” running protection rackets and trying to make a profit from minerals, timber, food supplies for the UN forces and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations present. A deep and deadly struggle for influence is being played out in the shadows with an ever-changing cast of characters.

The UN has a large and expensive peacekeeping group in the area, the MONUC, but with uneven results.  UN forces are seen by the local population as favorable to the far-away incompetent central government.  The M23 is widely considered to be favored by the government of Rwanda.

UN peacekeeping troops are generally effective when there is peace to keep. However what is required today in eastern Congo is not so much more soldiers under UN command as reconciliation bridge-builders, persons who are able to restore relations among the ethnic groups of the area.  The UN, national governments, and non-governmental organizations need to develop bridge-building teams who can help to strengthen local efforts at conflict resolution and re-establishing community relations.

World Citizens were among those in the early 1950s who stressed the need to create UN peacekeeping forces with soldiers especially trained for such a task.  Today a new type of world civil servant is needed – those who in areas of tension and conflict can undertake the slow but important task of restoring confidence among peoples in conflict, establishing contacts and looking for ways to build upon common interests.

There is only so much the MONUC mission can do to keep the peace and assist the civilian population in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There is only so much the MONUC mission can do to keep the peace and assist the civilian population in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As the militias and “mafia clans” have proliferated, rivalries, particularly over land tenure and use have become a key source of conflict.  With the breakdown of society, there was a parallel breakdown of local, traditional conflict reduction mechanisms.  The precolonial tribal society had been too weakened during the colonial period to return to precolonial forms of governance.  Post-colonial administration had never been put into place, and so the result was a void of social rules and mechanisms for dispute settlement.

In particular, disputes over land became critical.  Land tenure issues have always been complex.  Land is often thought of as belonging to the ethnic community and is given to clans or to individuals for their use, sometimes for a given period, sometimes for several lifetimes if the land is continually cultivated.  The rules of land tenure often differ from one ethnic group to another, even a small distance apart. Traditionally, clan chiefs would be called upon to settle land disputes, often by compromises, so win-win solutions were often found. With the large displacement of people, land disputes have become frequent, and clan chiefs have often disappeared or lost their function as judges.

Many people have left villages near main roads to live in relative safety far from roads. They have had to move several times and to re-clear land for planting.  Local markets have been destroyed.  Social organizations such as churches have been disbanded, and family links, which provide the African “safety net” have been destroyed by death and displacement.  What trust existed between groups has been largely replaced by fear.  A few people are making money from the disorder by plundering natural resources, but economic injustice and deprivation remain the order of the day.

There is a short-term need to bring the current fighting to a negotiated end, but future security is closely linked to the ways in which land tenure and land use issues are settled.

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


Sergio Vieira de Mello, un héros des Droits de l’Homme

In Being a World Citizen, Human Rights, Middle East & North Africa, The Search for Peace, United Nations, World Law on August 18, 2013 at 10:01 PM

SERGIO VIEIRA DE MELLO, UN HEROS DES DROITS DE L’HOMME

Par Bernard Henry

Il y a dix ans jour pour jour, le 19 août 2003, Sergio Vieira de Mello trouvait la mort dans l’attentat contre l’Hôtel Canal à Bagdad.

Citoyen brésilien, francophone de culture, Sergio Vieira de Mello s’était imposé au plus haut du système de l’ONU comme un incontournable des missions de maintien de la paix et de nation-building, dans ces années 1990 qui avaient vu la redistribution des cartes au niveau mondial et l’émergence de nouvelles urgences dans des pays où les conflits gelés par la Guerre Froide avaient repris leurs droits.

Après s’être illustré aux côtés de Bernard Kouchner au Kosovo, Sergio Vieira de Mello avait pris la suite de l’ancienne Présidente irlandaise Mary Robinson au poste de Haut Commissaire des Nations Unies pour les Droits de l’Homme, couronnement d’une carrière consacrée exclusivement à ce domaine dans diverses instances onusiennes, en particulier au sein du Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les Réfugiés.

Devenu Haut Commissaire, Sergio Vieira de Mello n’a pas ménagé ses efforts pour renforcer un Haut Commissariat encore jeune et mal armé pour réagir rapidement aux atteintes aux Droits de l’Homme qui lui étaient signalées. Il aimait le contact et la coopération étroite avec les représentants d’organisations non-gouvernementales, dont l’AWC.

Après que la « coalition » menée par les Etats-Unis a envahi l’Irak en mars 2003, court-circuitant le Conseil de Sécurité de l’ONU et prétendant rechercher des armes de destruction massives qu’aurait détenu le régime de Saddam Hussein, il a bien fallu que Washington et ses alliés admettent deux évidences. D’une part, les fameuses armes de destruction massive qu’une entrée en force en Irak permettrait à coup sûr de trouver, là où les experts internationaux affirmaient pourtant dès 2002 qu’elles n’existaient pas, n’avaient plus été fabriquées en Irak depuis au moins dix ans et n’existaient effectivement pas. D’autre part, malgré sa victoire militaire, la « coalition » sans existence légale qui occupait l’Irak avait balayé l’ONU d’un revers de main un peu rapide et avait maintenant besoin, comble de l’ironie, de l’assistance de l’Organisation mondiale pour rétablir une légitimité de droit dans le pays.

C’est Sergio Vieira de Mello, lauréat de fraîche date du Prix des Droits de l’Homme des Nations Unies, qui fut choisi comme Représentant spécial du Secrétaire Général – à l’époque Kofi Annan – en Irak, tout en conservant, fait exceptionnel, sa charge de Haut Commissaire aux Droits de l’Homme.

Le mardi 19 août 2003, en début d’après-midi, un camion chargé d’explosifs détruit l’Hôtel Canal à Bagdad, devenu siège de la mission des Nations Unies dans le pays. Sergio Vieira de Mello est grièvement touché, et faute par les secours de pouvoir le sortir à temps des débris, il succombe à ses blessures. L’attaque est revendiquée par Abou Moussab al-Zarqaoui, chef d’Al-Qaïda en Irak, dont l’un des lieutenants, Abou Omar al-Kurdi, directement impliqué dans l’attentat, sera arrêté en 2005.

Inhumé le 28 août 2003, Sergio Vieira de Mello repose au Cimetière des Rois à Genève, ville abritant les Hauts Commissariats de l’ONU pour les Réfugiés et aux Droits de l’Homme.

Aucun Défenseur des Droits de l’Homme ne cherche à être un héros, et s’il le fait, il a tort. Certains le deviennent, contre leur gré, sans s’y attendre. Et le premier héros des Droits de l’Homme de ce siècle encore jeune, c’est Sergio Vieira de Mello.

Après la mort de Sergio Vieira de Mello, l'ONU lui a dédié un mémorial, en l'occurrence un buste qui orne l'entrée du siège du Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les Droits de l'Homme.

Après la mort de Sergio Vieira de Mello, l’ONU lui a dédié un mémorial, en l’occurrence un buste qui orne l’entrée du siège du Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les Droits de l’Homme à Genève. Un hommage mérité à ce grand serviteur des Droits de l’Homme et de la paix.

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


World Citizens Call for the Unconditional Respect of the Right to Life, Liberty and Security of Person in Egypt

In Conflict Resolution, Current Events, Democracy, Human Rights, Middle East & North Africa, United Nations, World Law on August 16, 2013 at 1:58 PM

-- AWC-UN Geneva Logo --

WORLD CITIZENS CALL FOR THE UNCONDITIONAL RESPECT OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY AND SECURITY OF PERSON IN EGYPT

Paris & Geneva, August 16, 2013

 

The Association of World Citizens (AWC) is gravely concerned at the serious human rights violations which have been committed in recent weeks by both the security and armed forces and the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt.

Thus, the AWC welcomes the August 15 Appeal of the United Nations Security Council urging both the Egyptian Government and the Muslim Brotherhood to exercise “maximum restraint” with a view to ending the violence which has spread across the country.  The military-police-security forces confronted the predictable resistance of pro-Morsi forces with a brutal show of force designed to instill fear and submission but gave rise instead to a collective display of resolve-until-death and a readiness for martyrdom.

However, the AWC stresses that more than “maximum restraint” is needed. The majority of Egyptians desire a more representative government based on respect for human rights which will provide the basis for a much-needed economic recovery.

The AWC underlines the need for strong civil society institutions and Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs). Both domestic and international NGOs working for freedom of expression, religious freedom and women’s rights have been under unwarranted pressure.

The AWC has protested the recurrent violent attacks carried out by Muslim Brotherhood supporters against the Coptic Christians of Egypt, a community that has been for two and a half years the target of outrageous sectarian violence, including the August 14-15 burning of some 14 Coptic churches in reprisal attacks to the police violence against pro-Morsi sit-in protesters.

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly provides that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person ». This right belongs to everyone, not just to people who think as we do. Democracy and the rule of law should never be a one-way flow.

The AWC therefore calls on the Egyptian Government, including the police and armed forces, to ensure at all times full respect for human rights in the maintenance of public order, and on the Muslim Brotherhood party to refrain from any actions that are not strictly related to the right to peaceful demonstration, and unequivocally condemn any such actions committed by its members.

The AWC further urges that immediate, special protection be given to the Coptic Christian community and any other national, religious or other minorities that may find themselves in harm’s way due to the current unrest in Egypt.

Finally, the AWC is concerned with the consequences of the proclamation of the one-month State of Emergency across the country.  Past States-of-Emergency periods have always opened the door to human rights abuses and to military authoritarianism. Therefore, the AWC calls for a speedy return to civilian rule, new democratic elections, and a new constitution which places human rights as a core value.


Orages d’été sur le printemps arabe

In Current Events, Democracy, Human Rights, Middle East & North Africa on August 14, 2013 at 11:28 PM

ORAGES D’ETE SUR LE PRINTEMPS ARABE

Par Bernard Henry

La lutte pour la liberté n’est pas une suite logique. Elle ne l’a jamais été.

Au début de l’année 2011, le monde entier a été pris de cours par le « printemps arabe », quand les révoltes populaires ont chassé les dictateurs en place de longue date en Tunisie puis en Egypte, celle de Libye ayant en revanche été déviée de sa trajectoire et celle de Syrie s’étant perdue depuis dans les méandres de l’islamisme.

Puis ce fut, quelques mois plus tard, l’ « automne islamiste », avec la victoire de l’Islam politique lors des scrutins démocratiques tunisien et égyptien. Lentement mais sûrement, les anciens persécutés ont pris à leur tour le chemin de l’autoritarisme en y injectant leur idéologie réactionnaire.

Deux ans plus tard, le mois d’août apporte ses « orages d’été » aux révolutions arabes, lorsqu’une violence largement absente des soulèvements populaires du départ s’invite à l’ultime stade de l’exaspération pour venir réclamer son tribut.

L’Egypte, premier pays du printemps arabe à avoir destitué son gouvernement islamiste post-révolutionnaire, entre aujourd’hui dans un état d’urgence né d’affrontements entre forces armées et Frères musulmans, non sans que les partisans du Président déchu Mohamed Morsi se soient livrés entre temps à des actes de barbarie contre les Coptes du pays.

En Tunisie, une population poussée à bout par un pouvoir provisoire entièrement rendu à la volonté d’Ennahda, le parti islamiste qui dirige le gouvernement, et dont les assassinats successifs des dirigeants politiques d’opposition Chokri Belaïd et Mohamed Brahmi ont eu raison de ce qu’il pouvait encore lui rester de patience, paie le prix fort pour son choix de la protestation non-violente, sous les coups des milices islamistes tolérées voire encouragées par les pouvoirs publics.

En Tunisie comme en Egypte, le peuple n'avait qu'un seul mot à dire à ses dictateurs respectifs : "Dégage". Aujourd'hui, tant les islamistes vainqueurs des élections libres ont trahi les espoirs des révolutions dans les deux pays, c'est à eux que ce court et simple slogan révolutionnaire est désormais destiné.

En Tunisie comme en Egypte, le peuple n’avait qu’un seul mot à dire à ses dictateurs respectifs : “Dégage”. Aujourd’hui, tant les islamistes vainqueurs des élections libres ont trahi les espoirs des révolutions dans les deux pays, c’est à eux que ce court et simple slogan révolutionnaire est désormais destiné.

L’iconographie de la lutte victorieuse d’un peuple armé de sa seule détermination pour faire chuter la dictature, contre toute attente et contre les certitudes de politologues vouant le monde arabe à la tyrannie ou à l’islamisme, a vécu. Mais le mythe de l’ « islamo-démocratie », vantée par Moncef Marzouki lors d’une visite à l’Assemblée nationale française et symbolisée aux yeux de certains par l’AKP au pouvoir en Turquie, a vécu lui aussi.

Les partis islamistes ne doivent jamais oublier que, même pris pour cibles sous les régimes Ben Ali et Moubarak, ils ne sont en rien, comme ils le prétendent, les auteurs des révolutions arabes. Ils n’ont fait que récolter a posteriori les fruits des luttes menées par d’autres. Quant aux gouvernants, aujourd’hui égyptiens et peut-être demain tunisiens, issus du rejet de l’islamisme, leur volonté de condamner les atteintes aux Droits de l’Homme même commises à l’encontre de leurs adversaires islamistes montrera (ou non) leur aptitude à se réclamer de cet Etat de droit qu’ils invoquaient hier contre l’islamisme au pouvoir.

Une pétition nationale avait recueilli plus de 22 millions de signatures d’Égyptiens pour le départ du Président élu islamiste Mohamed Morsi, d'où le refus du terme "coup d'Etat" par les militants démocrates égyptiens. Mais aujourd'hui, les forces armées du pays qui avaient dans un premier temps soutenu le mouvement semblent voir les choses tout autrement ...

Une pétition nationale avait recueilli plus de 22 millions de signatures d’Égyptiens pour le départ du Président élu islamiste Mohamed Morsi, d’où le refus du terme “coup d’Etat” par les démocrates égyptiens. Mais aujourd’hui, hélas, les forces armées du pays qui avaient dans un premier temps soutenu le mouvement semblent voir les choses tout autrement …

Etre élu ne donne pas tous les droits et renverser une dictature n’autorise pas à en créer une autre. Quand les uns et les autres accepteront chacun de ces deux principes, et seulement à ce moment-là, cesseront les « orages d’été » du printemps arabe.

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


The Violation of the Human Rights of Persons Considered as “Non-Citizens”

In Current Events, Democracy, Europe, Human Rights, World Law on August 8, 2013 at 11:39 AM

THE VIOLATION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PERSONS CONSIDERED AS “NON-CITIZENS”

By René Wadlow

The Association of World Citizens (AWC) is particularly concerned with the violation by some States of the human rights of ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities by depriving them of citizenship and considering them as “non-citizens”.  This measure deprives such persons of the ability to use avenues of redress open to citizens such as voting, holding public office and often public employment.  Other avenues may also be closed off and forms of discrimination and marginalization can take place.

The AWC has raised with government officials and other non-governmental organizations the issue of non-citizenship of many Kurds in Syria.  Recently some 250,000 Kurds have been granted Syrian citizenship, largely as a measure to gain support by the government in the civil war there.  However, the status and degree of autonomy of the Kurdish population remains an issue in the war.

The AWC has also raised the issue of the non-citizenship status of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, largely of Bengali origin, in Myanmar (Burma). There has been violence against the Rohingya causing many to flee to Bangladesh and elsewhere.  The violence against the Rohingya is an obstacle on the path to greater democracy and the rule of law within Myanmar.

The flag of the Kurdish people, whose rights are largely unrecognized in all four countries of the Middle East where native Kurds can be found, alongside that of the Syrian opposition movement during a March 2013 demonstration in Paris, France.

The flag of the Kurdish people, whose rights are largely ignored in all four countries of the Middle East where native Kurds can be found, alongside that of the Syrian opposition movement during a March 2013 demonstration in Paris, France.

The AWC now wishes to highlight the non-citizen status of persons usually referred to as “Russians” within Latvia. This issue has been addressed previously by European institutions such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe.

However, the AWC believes that the human rights and rule-of-law principles are of a universal character and so deserve a response from world citizens including those outside Europe.  A petition has been created by the Non-Citizen Association of Latvia.  Signing the petition can be a measure of support, and the AWC will study other avenues of action, especially through the United Nations.

During the period when Latvia was incorporated into the USSR, a large number of ethnic Russians as well as Belarusians, Ukrainians, Roma and others migrated to work and live in the Baltic States, including Latvia.

With the Latvia Declaration of independence in May 1990, the Latvian Parliament passed a resolution “On the Renewal of the Rights of Citizens of the Republic of Latvia and Fundamental Principles of Naturalization” which in practice divided the residents of Latvia into two major categories: Latvian citizens, approximately two thirds and Latvian non-citizens, approximately one third.

While a certain amount of resentment against non-Latvians in 1990 could be expected, the resentment has, over 20 years later, hardened into structural discrimination.

The "Non-Citizen Passport" the Republic of Latvia issues to those Latvians whose citizenship rights it arbitrarily refuses to recognize.

The “Non-Citizen Passport” issued by the Republic of Latvia to those Latvians whose citizenship rights it keeps arbitrarily refusing to recognize.

Therefore, Citizens of the World structured in the AWC call upon the Parliament of Latvia to reform its citizenship laws to allow presently “stateless citizens” to participate fully in civic and social society. The petition open for signatures is found on www.noncitizens.eu. I am among the early signers.

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


A World Citizen Passport and Snowden’s Catch 22

In Being a World Citizen, Current Events, Democracy, Human Rights, World Law on July 16, 2013 at 6:58 PM

A WORLD CITIZEN PASSPORT AND SNOWDEN’S CATCH 22

By René Wadlow

The fate of Edward J. Snowden still held, as of this writing, in the transit area of Moscow’s airport has nearly overshadowed the debate on the methods and extent of the National Security Agency’s surveillance and collection of information which Snowden made public. Each day brings more information about the degree of cooperation among the Silicon Valley firms and United States (U. S.) intelligence services and between the U. S. intelligence services and those of other countries such as Germany and England.

Living in the transit area at the airport for several weeks and potentially longer was not Snowden’s plan when he left Hong Kong. As I had been blocked in the same transit area for three days in 1977 under the mistaken impression that I would be given a Soviet visa at the airport, unless things have improved greatly since the end of the USSR, it is not the sort of place where one wants to stay for a long time: a third class motel with an armed guard at each floor.

He thought that he could travel to Moscow and then Havana and on to Ecuador, Nicaragua or Venezuela. However, before Snowden could make a Havana connection, the U. S. Government revoked his passport, and Ecuador withdrew the safe-conduct pass he had used to leave Hong Kong saying it had been issued by a consular official in contravention of Ecuadorean law. Without a travel document or a Russian visa, Snowden has no way to travel outside the transit area even to the Embassies of Ecuador or Nicaragua or Venezuela which are considered by diplomatic convention as being the territory of that particular state.

Edward Snowden, a man whom his country is trying to punish only for telling the truth. © The Guardian/Reuters

Edward Snowden, a man whom his country is trying to punish only for telling the truth. © The Guardian/Reuters

The degree of U. S. pressure was evident when France, Italy, Portugal and Spain refused to allow Bolivian President Evo Morales’ official jet to overfly their territory on its way from Moscow to La Paz after a rumour, no doubt planted by U. S. agents, that Snowden might be aboard. Morales’ plane ultimately landed in Vienna, Austria for 13 hours until Spanish officials were satisfied that Snowden was not aboard. Why it took 13 hours to check all the hiding places on a small jet has not been explained, but the move no doubt discourages any commercial lines no matter what over-flight agreements they have.

Snowden’s presence in the Moscow airport transit area has attracted too much attention for the Russian police to look the other way while Snowden was taken to a Latin American embassy. It is not clear that anyone wants to repeat the experience of Ecuador which has allowed WikiLeaks’ Julien Assange to live in its London Embassy for over a year.

To break out of Snowden’s “Catch 22” situation of no passport-to travel-no travel- no asylum – a world citizen passport has been issued to Snowden by Garry Davis — “World Citizen N° 1” — as he was called in January 1949 when the Registry of World Citizens was created. One of the ironies of the world citizen movement is that it has always used the symbols of a nation-state — a flag, an identity card, a passport — to symbolize a loyalty to the welfare of the Planet. The philosophy behind the identity cards and passports is that of world law — that is, international law as applied to the individual. “All human beings are entitled to the enjoyment of political, civil, economic, and social rights as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various treaties and covenants adopted in furtherance of that declaration.”

In practice, some people have crossed frontiers with world citizen passports and world citizen identity cards and often had the passport stamped with an official stamp. It is not sure that the frontier officials knew what they were stamping or were very aware of cosmopolitan ideals. It is likely that most officials don’t want long lines of people waiting at frontier posts or filling transit areas at airports. Article 13(2) of the Universal Declaration sets out the right to leave and return to one’s country, though it does not speak of the right to travel to other countries.

The World Service Authority (WSA), based in Washington, is the organization that issues World Citizen Passports to applicants. Unlike the name may suggest, the WSA is NOT affiliated with the Association of World Citizens.

The World Service Authority (WSA), based in Washington, is the organization that issues World Citizen Passports to applicants. Unlike the name may suggest, the WSA is NOT affiliated with the Association of World Citizens.

It may be that Vladimir Putin would be happy to have the whole Snowden story go away. While I have never thought of Mr. Putin as a “world citizen” type, let us hope that he allows the airport officials to stamp the world citizen passport as a recognition of the growing cosmopolitan spirit.

The world passport and the pulling by Ecuador of its safe-conduct pass brings to mind an event I knew but had not thought about until a recent New York Times article highlighted the efforts of Aristides de Sousa Mendes who was consul of Portugal in Bordeaux when Germany invaded France in 1940. France already had a good number of refugees from Germany, Central Europe, Republican Spain as well as French, particularly Jews who feared what Nazi policy in France might bring. De Sousa Mendes and his staff working day and night issued 30,000 visas so people could go to Portugal and then beyond.

It took a couple of months before the Fascist government in Lisbon realized what was going on, recalled de Sousa Mendes, fired him and informed the Spanish government of Franco not to recognize the visas issued in France. De Sousa Mendes died in poverty, but his travel documents had saved many lives.

One cannot help but be reminded of the fate met by the character played by Tom Hanks in The Terminal, Steven Spielberg’s 2004 movie. A citizen of the fictional country of Krakozhia, Viktor Navorski finds himself trapped at a terminal in New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport after a civil war breaks out in his home country.

One cannot help but be reminded of the fate met by the character played by Tom Hanks in The Terminal, Steven Spielberg’s 2004 movie. A citizen of the fictional country of Krakozhia, Viktor Navorski finds himself trapped at a terminal in New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport after a civil war breaks out in his home country.

The world citizen passport is not a governmental document the way de Sousa Mendes’ were, but world citizen passports and identity cards are a symbol of a “higher law” than that of States. Let us hope that some Russian officials are in tune with the higher law.

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

Les Citoyens du Monde en appellent au Gouvernement de la Turquie pour le respect du droit des citoyens à manifester pacifiquement

In Conflict Resolution, Current Events, Democracy, Human Rights, Middle East & North Africa on June 4, 2013 at 11:12 PM

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LES CITOYENS DU MONDE EN APPELLENT

AU GOUVERNEMENT DE LA TURQUIE

POUR LE RESPECT DU DROIT DES CITOYENS

A MANIFESTER PACIFIQUEMENT

Paris & Genève, le 4 juin 2013

L’Association of World Citizens (AWC) est gravement préoccupée par les très sérieuses atteintes aux Droits de l’Homme commises ces derniers jours par les forces de sécurité contre les manifestants pacifiques rassemblés au Parc de Taksim Gezi à Istanbul (Turquie), dans un mouvement de protestation dont l’impact s’est entre temps étendu à d’autres parties du pays.

L’AWC est dévouée aux valeurs de respect, de reconnaissance et d’inclusion de toutes les composantes de la société. C’est pourquoi l’AWC appelle le Gouvernement de la Turquie à se montrer attentif aux inquiétudes de celles et ceux qui s’expriment aujourd’hui ainsi qu’à rechercher des solutions permettant d’ouvrir des négociations de bonne foi.

Le droit international des Droits de l’Homme interdit formellement l’utilisation du gaz lacrymogène contre des protestataires pacifiques ainsi que dans des espaces clos où il peut s’avérer extrêmement dangereux, de même que l’usage excessif de la force contre des manifestations non-violentes, l’un et l’autre ayant pourtant été présents dans l’intégralité de la réaction de la police turque aux dernières protestations en date.

Même si le maintien de l’ordre public est une fonction naturelle de tout gouvernement dans une société démocratique, toute décision de disperser un rassemblement doit être prise seulement en ultime recours et toujours en conformité avec les principes de nécessité et de proportionnalité.

Le Code de Conduite des Nations Unies pour les Responsables de l’Application des Lois adopté par l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU en sa Résolution 34/169 du 17 décembre 1979 stipule clairement que « Les responsables de l’application des lois peuvent recourir à la force seulement lorsque cela est strictement nécessaire et dans la mesure exigée par l’accomplissement de leurs fonctions ».

L’AWC appelle donc le Premier Ministre Reçep Tayyip Erdogan à ordonner promptement une enquête indépendante et impartiale sur tout signalement d’utilisation excessive et non nécessaire de la force, à s’assurer que tout responsable de l’application des lois reconnu responsable d’usage arbitraire ou abusif de la force soit promptement traduit en justice et, bien sûr, à garantir pleinement les légitimes droits à la réunion pacifique et à la liberté d’expression pour tous les citoyens de la Turquie.

World Citizens Call on the Government of Turkey to Respect the Right of Citizens to Peaceful Demonstration

In Conflict Resolution, Current Events, Democracy, Human Rights, Middle East & North Africa on June 4, 2013 at 3:36 PM

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WORLD CITIZENS CALL

ON THE GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY

TO RESPECT THE RIGHT OF CITIZENS

TO PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION

Paris & Geneva, June 4, 2013

The Association of World Citizens (AWC) is gravely concerned at the serious human rights violations which have been committed in recent days by the security forces against peaceful demonstrators gathered at Taksim Gezi Park in Istanbul, Turkey, in a movement of protest which has had impact on other parts of the country.

The AWC is devoted to the values of respect, recognition and inclusion of all segments of societies. Thus, the AWC calls upon the Government of Turkey to be attentive to the concerns of those now expressing themselves and to find ways of starting good faith negotiations.

International human rights law strictly prohibits the use of tear gas against peaceful protestors and in confined spaces where it may constitute a serious danger, as well as excessive force against nonviolent demonstrations, as has been seen in both cases throughout the Turkish police’s response to the latest protests.

Even though maintaining public order is a natural function of government in a democratic society, any decision to disperse an assembly should be taken only as a last resort and in line with the principles of necessity and proportionality.

The United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials adopted by the UN General Assembly in its Resolution 34/169 of December 17, 1979 clearly provides that “Law enforcement officials may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty.”

The AWC thus calls upon Prime Minister Reçep Tayyip Erdogan to order a prompt, independent and impartial investigation into all reports of excessive and unnecessary use of force, ensure that any law enforcement officials responsible for arbitrary or abusive use of force are promptly prosecuted and, of course, fully guarantee the legitimate rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression of all citizens of Turkey.