Friday, September 30, 2005
New UN report on human rights and terrorism   Anne Bayefsky
Last December the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on human rights and terrorism, against the policies of virtually every Western member state, including the United States. The vote was 127 in favor, 50 against and 8 abstentions. In line with the UN art-form of self-perpetuation, the resolution called for a report to the 2005 fall General Assembly, and a new resolution to deal with the report can be expected. The report has just been distributed.

The report is a compilation of testimonies from states who wish to communicate their stellar records and interest in human rights and terrorism. Syria - on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism - was glad of the platform.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005
The UN's Jewish Problem   Anne Bayefsky
A newly-released report to the 2005 General Assembly marks another low in UN-Jewish relations.

Roll back the clock to 1993 when the UN Commission on Human Rights created the role of special "rapporteur" or investigator assigned the permanent job of attacking Israel. For the first time in the history of the Commission, the mandate had no end date. All other rapporteurs had been given yearly assignments and the renewal of their position was dependent upon an assessment of the actual facts. Not so when it came to Israel.

There was one other unique feature of this UN-position – no mission creep was allowed. The mandate was "to investigate Israel's violations of the principles and bases of international law" - Arab human rights violations were not on the agenda.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005
UN's International Atomic Energy Agency Fails Again   Anne Bayefsky
On September 24, 2005 the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) once again failed to reach a decision to refer Iran's non-compliance under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty to the UN Security Council - now.

Working against referral to the Security Council, and for giving this state sponsor of terrorism more time to develop weapons of mass destruction, was UN IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei from Egypt. ElBaradei said, after the failed US and EU attempt to send the issue immediately to the Security Council: "I am encouraged that the issue has not been referred to the Security Council, precisely to give time for diplomacy and negotiation."... "...time is still available for diplomacy to resolve outstanding issues, for Iran to build confidence, and that the question of reporting to the Security Council could only be discussed at a later date."

Monday, September 26, 2005
Consensus: The UN-Suicide Pact   Anne Bayefsky
Consensus is the overriding principle of UN operations. Particularly enjoying consensus are the members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) (115 of 191 UN states), and its largest single bloc the 56-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Consensus gives them a veto power over most every UN product. Western governments are afraid to challenge the principle for fear the other side will substitute voting in its place, leaving them in the minority virtually all of the time.

Friday, September 23, 2005
Al-Kidwa Delivers Hard-line UN Speech   Anne Bayefsky
Nasser Al-Kidwa, Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority, speaking at the opening of the 60th UN General Assembly on September 22, 2005, issued a call for more terrorism. His statement included "reaffirming the right in principle of the Palestinian people to resist occupation."

Thursday, September 22, 2005
UN "Reform" Sham   Anne Bayefsky

The Secretary-General Responds to www.EYEontheUN.org

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's Office has sent a response to my previous Editor's Note with a request that it be made public. It is attached.

In it, the Secretary-General clarified that he characterized the UN Reform Summit document "taken together" as merely "far-reaching", while only some of it is revolutionary. Below is a detailed account supporting my earlier criticism of the Secretary-General's distortion of the Summit's results. But what about the mere proclamation that the Summit Reform was "far-reaching"?

Sunday, September 18, 2005
The Consequences of a Failed Summit   Anne Bayefsky
UN reform is not about the Secretary-General. Though many of its dimensions are driven by the current Secretary-General's desire to rescue his own reputation, the stakes went far beyond the individual. Thus when the Secretary-General attempted in his September 17th address to the General Assembly to delude the world about the consequences of the Summit and the future of the United Nations, the further damage to his credibility is beside the point.

Kofi Annan said the Summit was a "revolution in international affairs"; its Outcome document "made real progress on terrorism, human rights, democracy..."; the detailed language [on the Human Rights Council] developed in the lead-up to the Summit...enjoyed the support of the overwhelming majority of Member States"; and "The Summit contains...an unqualified condemnation by all Member States of terrorism..."

Every one of those statements is false.

Thursday, September 15, 2005
UN-led Multilateralism?   Anne Bayefsky
President Bush delivered his most important message yet to the UN community when he addressed the General Assembly on September 14th: "If member countries want the United Nations to be respected...they should begin by making sure it is worthy of respect."

There is no avoiding, however, that this puts the United States on a collision course with the world body and its sycophants. It is an inevitable development. No freedom-loving country can allow UN-led multilateralism to become an end in itself, without regard to the integrity of the institution.

The reality, of course, is that no other state is interested in multilateralism either – unless it mirrors its perception of its own self interests. And since less than half of UN member states are full-fledged democracies, self-interest tends to be rather narrowly defined - or shall we say, personified. The UN-speak of this week's Summit makes the unilateralism behind the feigned multilateralism abundantly clear.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005
A Deal between Democrats and Despots   Anne Bayefsky
Today is the opening of the UN "reform" summit. Presidents and prime ministers from three-quarters of the globe have already begun to hail a new document, concluded yesterday, as the way forward for the UN in the twenty-first century.

It is being called everything from a "first step" to a seriously new and improved UN. Characteristic of the clarity marking the 177 paragraphs and 36 pages, is U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns' announcement: "This is not the end of the reform effort, it really is the beginning of a permanent reform effort."

In fact, the document is a disturbing testimony to the consensus borne of an institution composed of democrats and dictators.

Monday, September 12, 2005
UN "Reform": The Fine Print   Anne Bayefsky
The UN reform effort is operating around the clock. 170 Presidents and Prime Ministers, who are expected to come to the Summit this week, want something to show for themselves. Right up at the top of the draft now on the table is a list of values and principles. Included is a statement that the role of the major UN conferences is to be recognized and valued.

Obviously the authors of this provision thought the passage of time, the pressure for an outcome document, forty pages of provisions, and the seeming banality of the prose, would let this one slip by.

But remember the Durban World Conference Against Racism?

Friday, September 09, 2005
The UN and Anti-semitism   Anne Bayefsky
The UN will consider a first-ever resolution on the Holocaust at the upcoming fall session of the General Assembly. The UN, and its primordial human rights instrument the1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, rose from the ashes of the Holocaust. Nevertheless, the General Assembly has never adopted a single resolution dedicated to "anti-semitism" in its history. The good news: if this resolution is adopted the UN will have agreed that there was a Holocaust (the draft reads: "Rejects any denial of the Holocaust as an historical event, either in full or in part;"). The bad news: European support was only obtained after deleting any reference to "anti-semitism".