Libya: The Case for United Nations Security Council Reform

Libyan leader of the revolution Muammar Gaddafi hosting the 2010 Arab League Summit in Tripoli., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Caesar Zvayi: Libya: Case for UN Security Council reform

Tuesday, 22 March 2011 23:03
Courtesy of the Zimbabwe Herald

There could be no greater call for the reform of the UN system than the West's flagrant violation of international laws in Libya . . . The irony of the rushed involvement in Libya and the blind eye that is turned to the excesses of the Zionist regime in Israel could not be more apparent.

MANY years ago, during the days of slavery and colonial conquest, white settler brigands were a law unto themselves.

An indigene could be accused of any crime and promptly lynched by mobs that paid scant regard to due process or human decency.
I need some convincing that this era is really over judging by the West's barbaric bombardment of Libya in clear violation of international law and constructive engagement.

It was evident from the start that the westerners wanted to get into Libya so bad they were just looking for a way to justify their planned lynching of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his people.

They did not have to look further than the United Nations Security Council - their private club - to which lesser mortals are welcome as short-term visitors without much of a say in the deliberations by virtue of lacking the muscle called the veto.

With the notable exception of China and Russia; the other veto-wielding countries Britain, France and the US - the sabre-rattling trio - were eager to taste Libyan blood.

They sought support for a UN Security Council resolution calling for the setting up of a no-fly zone over Libya and hoodwinked the other members of the Security Council that they were only after a no-fly zone to safeguard the lives of civilians they claimed were at the mercy of Gaddafi's war machine.

The resolution, UNSC Resolution 1973 specifically welcomed the appointment of the UN special envoy Abdel-Elah Mohamed Al-Khatib and called for a ceasefire, stressed the need to find a solution to the conflict through the UN envoy, and demanded that the Libyan government fulfil its obligations respecting humanitarian law.

All of which tallied with the position taken by the African Union, through its Peace and Security Council that met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which proposed the setting up of a panel of African leaders to evaluate the situation in Libya and specifically eschewed western intervention.

Where it mentions the no-fly zone, the UN resolution is quite clear that the secretary general must inform the Security Council of any actions taken in support of the no-fly zone.

The rest of the resolution covers the arms embargo, the asset freeze and the appointment of a panel of experts to monitor the implementation of the resolution and implications for international law.
Nowhere is there a provision for the bombing of Libya.

Armed with that resolution which they intentionally over-extended the three musketeers - Barack Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy - mobilised their airforces to bomb Libya with Ban ki-Moon, the UN secretary general out at sea without a compass so to speak.

What was clear here was that the westerners were determined to venture into Libya at all costs and did not care whether it was with or without a UN-mandate.

They feel they are in charge of the UN and can pretty much do whatever they want as the UN is just a paper tiger they can twist into all kinds of shapes.

There could be no greater call for the reform of the UN system than the West's flagrant violation of international law in Libya. The double standards are quite shocking to say the least.

The westerners felt duty-bound to intervene in Libya on the back of their media reports that Gaddafi was using warplanes on civilians, reports that were probably concocted given the synergy between the western media's editorial policies and Anglo-Saxon foreign policies.

The irony of the rushed involvement in Libya and the blind eye that is turned to the excesses of the Zionist regime in Israel could not be more apparent.

Palestinians have been killed like flies since the Zionist State was established in 1948, ironically the same year the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was made and apartheid was declared in occupied South Africa.

No no-fly zone was proposed over Israel when the Zionist regime blockaded Gaza, a blockade that exists to this day at the cost of thousands of lives since 2007.

No no-fly zone was proposed when Israel bombed innocent civilians in Gaza with banned weapons like cluster and phosphorous bombs killing well over 1 000 civilians in 2009.

No no-fly zone was proposed when the Israelis pummelled Gaza and Lebanon despite the fact that the blockade - that covers land, air, and sea - has been criticised by the UN Secretary-General, the UN Human Rights Council and other human rights organisations. The reason is simple, the blockade was officially supported by the US and no one dares stare the bully in the eye because the West controls the levers of noise and power in the UN system which they manipulate for their selfish ends.

If there is one thing the Libyan debacle has shown us it is the urgent need to reform the UN Security Council that is currently used as a private club by the victorious allies of the second Anglo-Saxon war, the so-called World War II.

The only way to stop the abuse of the weak by the militarily strong is to democratise the UN so that all nations great and small become trully equal as espoused by the UN Charter.

Uncle Sam, given his wanton aggression against the weak, has shown that he is not a suitable host for an organisation like the UN sworn to ‘‘saving the world from the scourge of war''.

There is need to move the headquarters to a neutral country like Switzerland that does not even have a standing army.

The developing world needs seats in the Security Council complete with veto powers to checkmate the depredations of the traditional warmongers.

The same goes for the cowardly African Union, the founding fathers of the Organisation of African Unity must be turning in their graves.

When will this organisation justify its existence? It risks going the way of the cowardly Arab League the longer it leaves Libya at the mercy of western warmongers.