The UN torture investigator has been denied entry to Zimbabwe, despite being invited by the country's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the UN says.
Manfred Nowak said he was stopped by immigration officials after landing at Harare airport on Wednesday evening.
Read the rest of the story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8329984.stm
Elsewhere on the blog we read about the UN bringing to account other world leaders who have committed 'crimes against humanity'. Yet here is a story that reveals the problems the UN faces; the reality is unless the major world powers actually want to support the UN it is the equivalent of a 'toothless watchdog', just like it's predecessor The League of Nations. As you know I am not cynical in any way, yet how can the UN justify intervention in the affairs of the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan, yet not intervene in Zimbabwe.
What do you think? It would be useful to get some comments on this - is the UN just another tool for US foreign policy objectives?
1 comment:
Does the UN justify intervention in Iraq?
You make a good point though, some continuity in policy would be nice, although the only way to achieve this would surely be to have a revamp of the UN's rules, making it easier for the UN:
a) to get the support needed to intervene quickly and easily, without support from the USA being necessary
b) to be able to intervene on moral grounds.
The headquarters of the UN should be moved from America to distance the relationship between the USA and UN, and there should be a similar military arrangement like in NATO, where all member states' military units are interchangable, allowing for more cooperation at an effective level.
Security Council 'Vetoes' should also be removed, removing the possibility of the national interests of the 'Permanent 5' difinitively defining specific policy.
The amount of difinitive UN definitions for international terms must also be reviewed, with "Terrorism" and "Genocide" both needing more clear guidelines.
That will allow the UN to become more streamlined in making descisions on intervention.
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