Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, and speakers from the Heritage Foundation and the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) launched a new book today which calls the current UN system “broken”.

The book, “ConUNdrum: The Limits of the United Nations and the Search for Alternatives,” underscores that billions of US tax dollars are invested in the UN yearly and produce little effect. The authors, including Bolton, offer new ideas to make the UN system viable including switching from the current mandatory assessment of dues to a system where monies would generate on a voluntary basis.

“In its current state, the UN system is broken,” said Austin Ruse, President of C-FAM.

The Ambassador of Fiji, who hosted the event, said “For those of us who come from small populations, it is quite frightening when you listen to some of the debates in the General assembly. There has been a great loss of family values.”

John Bolton said there must be a closer examination of the Mitchell-Gingrich report of 2005, a bi-partisan effort which attempts to illustrate the “right” approach to UN reform including a revamp of the Human Rights Council, peacekeeping efforts, and a simplification of UN funding and financing of programs.

Bolton also emphasized there is still no clear agreement on how the Security Council should be reformed. Many skeptics believe the five members (US, UK, France,  Russia and China) hold too much power and want to increase membership to African and Middle Eastern nations.

“To change the membership to reflect increased numbers  like ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council), well, then I don’t see any possibility for change at all. The Security Council was originally set up post WWII and the powers were given to the victors,” added Bolton.

Bolton outlined the Goldstone report of the Human Rights Council, criticizing Israel of human rights abuses in Gaza, has “undercut” peace efforts in the region.

He also said the Obama Administration is making a big mistake in “halting the UN reform effort.”

Little was mentioned of the restrictions imposed by the Bush Administration to investigate US human rights abuses in Guantanamo and Iraq and the elimination of massive amounts of funding to developing countries which administered family planning programs through the WHO and UNICEF, and on induced abortions if the woman/girl was raped or too young to deliver a healthy baby.

More women die in childbirth than in wars, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). And every minute, a woman dies in childbirth. This adds up to some 500,000 deaths across the globe per year.

This week, UNFPA organized a high level meeting of over 150 health ministers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to bring together decision makers to take the urgent action needed to tackle maternal mortality. In Ethiopia, there is only one midwife per 20,000 women of child bearing age. Most women in rural areas have to walk some 300 kilometers while in labor to get to the health center. Most die on the way, or face serious complications like obstetric fistula.

UNFPA hopes the Meeting will provide the opportunity for ministers to share best practices and lessons learned in reproductive health. UNFPA estimates by 2015, between $5.5 billion and $6.1 billion in additional funding will be needed from domestic and international sources to accomplish Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 to improve maternal health.

Results from the meeting will be shared with parliamentarians from across the globe at the International Conference for Population and Development (ICPD/15) which will take place in Addis Ababa later this week.

The global press freedom group Reporters Without Borders released its annual World Press Freedom Ranking today moving the United States up to number 20 from 40 last year. Barack Obama’s election as president was cited for the increase.

The group said at a press conference held at the Overseas Press Club in New York today, “The President has a less hawkish approach than his predecessor.”  The Bush Administration’s First Amendment and global press freedom violations following the September 11th attacks were highlighted by the group and include: the US Patriot Act, attacks on the confidentiality of sources, the federal shield law, phone tapping, jailing of journalists in Iraq and Afghanistan and the detention in the US of both foreign and national correspondents.

“Journalists do not get put in jail as they used to in the national security era under George Bush” said Clothilde de Coz, Washington Director of Reporters Without Borders.”But it was still a big year for US reporters, as five were held in foreign countries.”

The list of the five held include Stephen Farrell and David Rhodes from the New York Times, Laura Ling and Euna Lee from Current Television, and Roxana Saberi from NPR and Fox news.

The highest profile cases of US detention of national correspondents include the jailing of Judith Miller from the New York Times and Matthew Cooper from Time magazine in 2005. Miller and Cooper were held for refusing to comply with subpoenas requiring them to testify in the federal investigation into the source of the leak that “outed” CIA operative Valerie Plame. Both journalists later identified White House Adviser to Karl Rove,  Lewis “Scooter” Libby as the “source,” but only after Miller spent 85 days behind bars. She resigned from the Times a month later.

Representatives from Reporters Without Borders said the countries ranking among the poorest globally for muzzling the press include China, Iran and North Korea. “China is the world’s biggest prison for journalists.”

The Iranian government was blamed for the massive detention of both foreign and national reporters during the election coup in the country this past June. Many journalists still remain behind bars–but the total rounded up during the elections include reporters from Newsweek, BBC, the Washington Times and over 30 journalists from Iranian press. Many are believed to have been subjected to serious methods of torture while in detention.

John Solomon, Executive Editor at the Washington Times said he had to recently negotiate the release of one of his reporters in Iran. Solomon was also interrogated under the Bush Administration when officials seized his mail in 2001 in response to some of his critical news reports of the administration.

“We still need to test Obama’s commitment to transparency–there are still great challenges ahead of us.”

Angela Kocherga, a journalist with the Latin American news station Belo said Mexico should not be ignored either for its violations. Fifty-five journalists have been murdered in the country to date. Many of these reporters died while covering drug cartels and trafficking over the United States border.

John R. Macarthur, President of Harper’s Magazine and moderator of the press conference, said “Mexico now seems more dangerous than being in Iraq.”

Ali Alnaemi, former newsroom manager for the New York Times in Baghdad said there has been some change in terms of press freedom in the country. With Facebook and other online social networking sites, Iraqis are slowly opening up to the press in the country.

“When the American media used to interview Iraqis, most thought they were part of the CIA or US military. Now they understand they are independent of their government,” Alnaemi added. “But we still have a long way ahead of us.”

For a full copy of the World Press Freedom Index, go to: http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html

The global press freedom group Reporters Without Borders released its annual World Press Freedom Ranking today moving the United States up to number 20 from 40 last year. Barack Obama’s election as president was cited for the increase.

The group said at a press conference held at the Overseas Press Club in New York today, “The President has a less hawkish approach than his predecessor.”  The Bush Administration’s First Amendment and global press freedom violations following the September 11th attacks were highlighted by the group and include: the US Patriot Act, attacks on the confidentiality of sources, the federal shield law, phone tapping, jailing of journalists in Iraq and Afghanistan and the detention in the US of both foreign and national correspondents.

“Journalists do not get put in jail as they used to in the national security era under George Bush” said Clothilde de Coz, Washington Director of Reporters Without Borders.”But it was still a big year for US reporters, as five were held in foreign countries.”

The list of the five held include Stephen Farrell and David Rhodes from the New York Times, Laura Ling and Euna Lee from Current Television, and Roxana Saberi from NPR and Fox news.

The highest profile cases of US detention of national correspondents include the jailing of Judith Miller from the New York Times and Matthew Cooper from Time magazine in 2005. Miller and Cooper were held for refusing to comply with subpoenas requiring them to testify in the federal investigation into the source of the leak that “outed” CIA operative Valerie Plame. Both journalists later identified White House Adviser to Karl Rove,  Lewis “Scooter” Libby as the “source,” but only after Miller spent 85 days behind bars. She resigned from the Times a month later.

Representatives from Reporters Without Borders said the countries ranking among the poorest globally for muzzling the press include China, Iran and North Korea. “China is the world’s biggest prison for journalists.”

The Iranian government was blamed for the massive detention of both foreign and national reporters during the election coup in the country this past June. Many journalists still remain behind bars–but the total rounded up during the elections include reporters from Newsweek, BBC, the Washington Times and over 30 journalists from Iranian press. Many are believed to have been subjected to serious methods of torture while in detention.

John Solomon, Executive Editor at the Washington Times said he had to recently negotiate the release of one of his reporters in Iran. Solomon was also interrogated under the Bush Administration when officials seized his mail in 2001 in response to some of his critical news reports of the administration.

“We still need to test Obama’s commitment to transparency–there are still great challenges ahead of us.”

Angela Kocherga, a journalist with the Latin American news station Belo said Mexico should not be ignored either for its violations. Fifty-five journalists have been murdered in the country to date. Many of these reporters died while covering drug cartels and trafficking over the United States border.

John R. Macarthur, President of Harper’s Magazine and moderator of the press conference, said “Mexico now seems more dangerous than being in Iraq.”

Ali Alnaemi, former newsroom manager for the New York Times in Baghdad said there has been some change in terms of press freedom in the country. With Facebook and other online social networking sites, Iraqis are slowly opening up to the press in the country.

“When the American media used to interview Iraqis, most thought they were part of the CIA or US military. Now they understand they are independent of their government,” Alnaemi added. “But we still have a long way ahead of us.”

For a full copy of the World Press Freedom Index, go to: http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html

The Council of Europe and the United Nations joined forces today to call for an international convention to combat organ trafficking across the globe.  Trafficking in OTC (organs, tissues and cells) is a worldwide phenomena, and the group urged, very different to traditional human trafficking.

The report launched today points to the possibility of a high number of unreported cases due to the high price for victims. The report also highlights that trafficking in OTC is “transplant tourism” where wealthier nations acquire organs in countries where there are little or no measures to prevent the crime or to protect victims.

Countries ranked among the highest in OTC victims include China, Moldova, India, Pakistan, Mozambique and Kosovo, to name a few. Most often, these organs are trafficked into Western Europe, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Rachel Mayanja, Special Advisor to the UN on the Advancement of Women added:

“We see that women are statistically always the largest number of victims in trafficking–prostitution and trafficking for labor. It is still difficult to find out whether women are the biggest victims for organs as compared to men. But we are continuing our search.”

The authors of the report responded to a TRNS question about the famous “Body” exhibit–where body parts were proven to come from unwilling Chinese political prisoners in order to fulfill the mandate for bodies by the global exhibit organizers. Authors called this “ethical trouble”.

Victims report being drugged, then waking up naked in a bath tub full of ice with their kidneys removed. Many others are murdered for their kidneys, heart, lungs, liver and small bowel. Most of the victims come from developing nations and from a climate of poverty.

Five to ten percent of kidney transplants performed across the world are the result of trafficking.

Representatives of the Council of Europe said the international legislation in trafficking of human beings but does not cover OTC—and the goal is to increase the legal basis for tissues and cells as well. Organs can be from a living and dead donor–but for tissues and cells it is only possible to obtain from a dead donor.

The UN report calls for greater international cooperation for the protection of victims and the timely prosecution of traffickers:

“No financial gain should be used to steal and sell organs and most people who sell their organs do not escape poverty.”

Further attacks on the Indian embassy in Afghanistan today left seventeen people dead and dozens injured in a car bomb that detonated inside Kabul–a once secure area.  The attacks have spawned further debate on the government’s poor handling of security and whether officials will be able to mitigate the massive growth of insurgent groups throughout the country. This is the fourth such blast in the past eight weeks.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for both attacks this month—the UN World Food Program was attacked earlier this week which left five people dead in that suicide bomb blast.

In an interview this morning, Peter Galbraith, top American UN envoy who was sacked earlier this month after what he believes was “a cover-up” of fraud in the Afghan election, said the Taliban have gained complete control of the countryside and Afghanistan’s second largest city-Kandahar. He also added the north of the country is increasingly being controlled by pro-Taliban groups.

“People committed fraud on a massive scale…and selfish interests were ahead of national interests.”

Some polling stations were closed but reported receiving ballots–and many skeptics of the current leader, Hamid Karzai believe he is to blame for the election coup.

Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, announced that he dismissed Mr. Galbraith “in the best interest of the mission”.

“I think it’s astonishing that the United Nations would dismiss an official because he was concerned about fraud in a UN-funded and UN-supported election, Galbraith said earlier this month.

The increase in lawlessness throughout the country is being directly linked to the election fraud. Galbraith believes that the only way to mitigate the violence is to  support a runoff at the end of the month between Karzai and his opponent Abdullah Abdullah.

TRNS asked Secretary General spokesperson Michele Montas-on the SG’s position on a runoff:

“At this point we are waiting for the Afghan electoral commission and we have enough guarantees to know the independent electoral commission can complete the work.”

Galbraith called the independent electoral commission pro-Karzai and not neutral and said the Afghan electoral commission was corrupt as it was being led by Karzai’s government.

“Aside from my personal views, it is quite disturbing that a UN official was removed for expressing his views to his boss. This clearly undermines the credibility of the UN mission” he added.

With the horrific deaths of five of its staff members in Islamabad earlier this week, the UN’s World Food Program has a lot of explaining to do. Just how did a bomber swiftly pass through what was believed to be a topnotch security system?

The UN offices throughout Pakistan now remain closed pending an investigation- the Taliban have now claimed responsibility for the acts. Many outside the UN system are questioning the overall effectiveness of UN global security measures in dangerous or potential conflict zones. The World Food Program provides over 10 million people in Pakistan with food aid.

UN Secretary-General spokeswoman Michele Montas stated in response to a call for a full investigation:

“We are at a phase of assessment to see how vulnerable our offices are. Islamabad was one of the best protected UN centers in Pakistan.”

Some 50-80 personnel were believed to be inside the building. Footage from a UN security camera revealed the bomber walking through a door into the main entry hall while carrying a half-metre long cylindrical object.

Dozens of UN offices have been victim to attacks by opposition and insurgent groups in recent years including in Somalia, Iraq and Algeria– to name a few.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said the bombing was a “terrible tragedy,” leaving many of skeptics wondering if this rhetoric is assurance enough to stop a growing and increasingly violent Taliban force inside Pakistan.

Mr. Manouchehr Mottaki, Foreign Minister of Iran, spoke with United Nations correspondents today about the current crisis in his country and on the nuclear debate.  He was questioned on his recent trip to Washington to meet with officials to discuss opening up dialogue.

“Enjoyment of a peaceful nuclear program is the right of all member states. All of these issues (nuclear, economic sanctions) require comprehensive dialogue. Naturally, such dialogue is important among countries that play a leading role in the international scene. Therefore we are not going to lose any opportunity to address these issues. And we are trying to find holistic solutions. ” Mottaki said.

The Head of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) made strong statements this week regarding Iran’s failure to disclose the new nuclear facilities that are under construction. Mr. Mottaki responded that there is still no sufficient evidence to show that Iran has not respected its obligations to the IAEA.

A Geneva Summit which took place today with the 5 permanent members plus one (Germany) and representatives from Iran, drew a mixed response from the members (United States, France, Untied Kingdom, Russia and China) and put increasing pressure on the Iranians to respect the recommendations of the IAEA and to show transparency in its nuclear producing interests.

Mottaki underlined that Iran has been a member of NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) for 40 years and  a committed member of the IAEA. He outlined Iran’s action to inform the IAEA has taken place for over a year and a half.

“Iran announced nuclear sites and facilities 18 months earlier that it needed based on IAEA regulations” he said.

Mottaki added Iran has the right to defend itself and is doing everything in compliance of the United Nations Charter and IAEA regulations.

“In the talks I had with foreign ministers from the P-5 countries, it was clear expectations should not be high about this October 1st meeting and the hope was for the continuation of such talks. Iran supports this will.”

 

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Secretary of State Hilary Clinton chaired a Security Council meeting today to adopt a resolution to combat sexual violence of women and children in armed conflict. The resolution 1888 of 2009, drafted by the United States, outlines actions the UN and Member States can take to help prevent conflict-related sexual violence and end impunity.

The Security Council’s action to adopt this resolution is part of the Obama Administration’s work to protect women and children in conflict situations.

Resolution 1888 states that “ending impunity is essential if a society in conflict or recovering from conflict is to come to terms with past abuses committed against civilians affected by armed conflict and to prevent future such abuses.”

The new resolution takes from lessons learned in previous Security Council resolutions, 1820 and 1325, which were central to raising the issue of sexual violence in conflict regions. More specifically, it calls for among others– the appointment of a Special Representative to lead efforts to end conflict-related sexual violence against women and children, and demands action from the Secretary-General to submit annual reports on the implementation of both resolution 1888 and 1820, as well as for more systematic reporting on conflict-related sexual violence.

The United States mission to the Untied Nations states:

“Conflict-related sexual violence against women and children continues in many areas around the world.  Many of the survivors of sexual violence are children, particularly girls.  In the Democratic Republic of Congo approximately 1,100 rapes are being reported each month, with an average of 36 women and girls raped every day.  In addition to these rapes and gang rapes, of which there have been hundreds of thousands over the duration of the conflict, the perpetrators frequently mutilate the women in the course of the attacks.”

President Obama issued a statement in support of the adoption of the resolution:

“I am pleased that the Security Council, chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, unanimously approved a US-sponsored resolution that will increase the protection of women and children in conflict. In particular, the resolution focuses on one of the most abhorrent features of modern war: the use of rape as a weapon, and other forms of sexual violence against women and children.”