It appears that the UN Security Council is opposed to terroristic acts. The Council has issued a statement. Oh, that will certainly dissuade others of such a thing. Truly, a statement reaffirming and "condemn[ing] in the strongest terms" the terrorist attacks in Norway.
I am glad that "they" are opposed to terrorism and condemn acts of this sort.Who are "they"? Do these countries really have a history, in any part, of opposing or being actively engaged in positive action against terror?
The permanent members of the UNSC are the Nuclear 5. This includes the U.S, the U.K., France, China, and the Russian Federation. The non-permanent members are currently Colombia, Lebanon, Gabon, Nigeria, Germany, India, Portugal, South Africa, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, and Lebanon. These countries form one of the principal bodies of the UN, The council's mission is to maintain international peace, establish peacekeeping operations, establish sanctions, and authorize military action. This, in short, is the mission of the UNSC yet they appear to have nothing for enforcing consequences against those parties or countries that violate those sanctions. The permanent 5 members are, perhaps ironically (or not, in some cases) are also the five largest arms exporting countries.
In this series I am not going to droll on about the well known and overlooked (ignored) crimes against humanity that have been committed by UN Peacekeepers, or the ineptitude and criminal acts of UN Police. I just want to look at what is going on inside or in connection with the governing bodies who sit on the UNSC.
First to be briefly looked at is China. Human Rights Watch (http://www.humanrightswatch.org/) reports that since "pro-democracy movements in North Africa and in the Middle East" that dozens of lawyers, civil society activists, and bloggers have been detained, arreseted, or forcibly disappeared. Under International Human Rights Law, this happens when a person is secretly (and presumably without regard to any of what the United States holds as Due Process and/or a warranted arrest) abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization, or carried out by third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate and whereabouts, with the intent of placing the victim outside the protection of the law. This sort of thing happens in Iran, Morocco, Russian Federation/Soviet Union, Turkey, Syria, and Thailand to name a few. Intereesting thing to point out is that these nations are part of the UN and have sworn to defend against these sorts of acts. Hypocrritical, to say the least.
At any rate, China appears to be taking a stronger stance in defense of human rights. Wang Chen, who serves as both the head of the State Council Information Office and th edirecotr of the Chinese Communist Party's External Propoganda Department, recently issued the statement that "all kinds of human rights are interdependent and inseparable." Certainly, this statement is to be backed up with action, right?: Chen? Chen? Chen? Apparently, one of the men who helped to design the OlympicStadium for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is also a political activist and cultural critic.
On 3 April, Ai was arrested , or disappeared. He was later released in June due to his good attitude towards admitting his crimes, good behavior, and paying unidentified taxes. Wow. Even in Communist China, where the Government gives you all that you need you still have to give some of it back in taxes. Ouch.
People in villages in Henan, Yunnan, Shannxi, and Hunan provinces are living in villages that are contaminated with lead. China produces batteries in these areas and, with a strong disregard for human safety as well as the environment, have not enacted any of the safety measures that similar manufacturing in the United States would undergo. Lead is tosic to many organs, including the heart, kidneys, and the nervous system.
Wow. China, UN Member since 1945. Currently ranked number 5 on the list of Oil Producing Countries. Permanent member of the UNSC. Poisoning its people. Arresting those who say that this is flat wrong. They oppose the terroristic acts in Norway last week.
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