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CounterPunch
February
28, 2003
The United Nations
Tool for Peace
or Tool for War?
By KARIMA BENNOUME
Sometimes I think the televangelists are right.
We are living in the End Times. Last night, I was invited to
a reception at the United Nations in New York City to fete the
release of an important book about how to use the UN human rights
treaty body system. I set foot on UN grounds near the eloquent
bronze sculpture donated in 1988 by Luxembourg. Reuterswark's
piece depicts a gun tied into a knot so that its barrel is shunted
upwards, rendering it a useless metal pretzel. It serves as an
evocative reminder of the UN's basic purpose, as elaborated in
the opening sentence of its Charter: "to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war... "
When I reached the police checkpoint
just inside the main building, I was stopped by a UN officer.
He told me that I could not enter the hallowed hall wearing the
small "No War" button affixed to the lapel of the winter
coat which covered my suit. I could, he explained, remove the
badge, leave it with security and proceed to drink wine in the
UN dining hall celebrating the human rights book's release. As
much out of astonishment as principle, I refused. The police
officer indicated that if I did not take off the peace pin, I
would have to leave. Dumbfounded, I blurted out a few exasperated
words to the effect that I was a citizen of a free country and
could express myself freely. This, he admonished me correctly,
was not my country, but was the United Nations. Actually, all
the more reason for me to wear my button, I argued.
But there is a stern sign posted on the
way in to the world body now. I do not remember seeing it before.
It says that no demonstrations are permitted on UN grounds. The
officer reminded me of this fact. How ironic, that the rights
to peaceful assembly, to freedom of opinion, thought, expression
and conscience, all of which are guaranteed by UN human rights
treaties (the very ones illuminated in the book whose launch
I had come to commemorate), cannot be enjoyed on the territory
controlled by the United Nations, itself. And I had not even
come to protest, merely to hobnob with human rights lawyers.
I have worn my No War button consistently since mid-January.
It is simply a quixotic part of my daily law professor attire.
The standoff at the UN corral lasted
a few minutes during which I demanded the officer speak with
the organizers of the reception, The Consultative Council of
Jewish Organizations, and explain to them why one of their guests,
a professor of international law at Rutgers University, would
not be in attendance. He refused. Then, I insisted on seeing
a supervisor. Dutifully, the officer got on the phone to someone
and explained that I was giving him "a hard time."
At last, an African UN policeman arrived and sized up my offending
button. It is little more than an inch in diameter. He got on
the phone to the supervisor and explained that it was too small
to be a problem. Finally, I was allowed through. However, the
table knife and fork which accompanied my lunch bag were removed
and put into an envelope for safe keeping until my exit. We are
living in a time when a tiny No War badge is a threat, when great
nations fear that a marauding academic may run amok in the UN
building or attack Ambassador Negroponte with a fork. I made
it up to the reception but felt too demoralized to celebrate
much.
Honestly, I do not blame the United Nations
itself, an organization which I revere in many ways and about
which I teach my students. For better or for worse, the UN is
the one place where everyone is at the table (even if their chairs
come in different sizes). And the institution has done much great
work in human rights, development, promulgation of international
law and peacekeeping, for example. But I do think the UN appears
to be drifting off course at the behest of certain powerful states.
This process will only worsen should the Security Council adopt
a resolution which purports to authorize the use of force against
Iraq, a country which the United Nations has absurdly been starving
through sanctions and simultaneously struggling to feed through
aid in the last decade. If this new Hiroshima (we are told the
voltage will be even higher, though probably not nuclear) occurs
with real or apparent UN blessing, we should simply remove the
knot from Reuterswark's thwarted pistol. We will also have to
edit the UN Charter, effacing the offending preambular language
cited above, just as Picasso's masterful Guernica has been covered
so as not to force diplomats to appear in front of its embarrassing
brush strokes. In the meantime, I challenge the mostly male diplomats
in the Security Council (and I may be willing to provide an exemption
to the rep of Angola) to spend one night with their children
under aerial bombardment from "smart weapons" before
deciding whether the UN should be a tool for peace or a tool
for war.
Karima Bennoune
is a human rights lawyer and professor of International Law at
Rutgers University. She can be reached at: Kbennoune@kinoy.rutgers.edu
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February 22
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