Keyword: United Nations

The UN's Culture of Cover-Ups: The Rape of Nine-Year-Olds in the Central African Republic

Picture: The United Nations Building in New York courtesy Knowsphotos/flickr Alexander O'Riordan - Once again the mask has dropped and we have a glimpse of how the United Nations’ (UN) senior management actively supports and covers up abuse. In 2014, a rare principled UN employee, Anders Kompass found and reported credible evidence that French peacekeepers raped starving, homeless, young boys as young as nine-years-old. Instead of reacting with a sense of urgency the UN’s senior management decided to sit on the report denying any possibility of justice or redress for the...

Chomsky: US To Veto Palestinian Statehood Bid Despite 'Overwhelming International Consensus'

Video President Obama publicly confirmed Monday that the United States will oppose any attempt by the Palestinians to achieve statehood at the United Nations, but Palestinians leaders are still vowing to move ahead with their bid for statehood this week. What will the ramifications of a U.S. veto be? For more, Democracy Now speak with Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Emeritus, Noam Chomsky. “If the Palestinians do bring the issue to the Security Council and the US vetoes it,...

The United Nations has Failed

One of the reasons the United Nations (UN) hasn't worked is that some of its most influential and powerful members do not apply the principles contained in the UN charter to themselves. "In fact, they defend and apply the law of the jungle -- might makes right," says former UN General Assembly President, Miguel d'Escoto who has just completed a one-year tenure at the helm of the assembly. The UN has not achieved the fundamental goals for which it was created. These are twofold: 1)...

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Demands Torture Accountability

Friday, 3 July 2009, was International Day of Support for Victims of Torture. In light of the occasion, the Real News Network asked, "Just how is the Obama administration holding accountable, people who tortured?" Paul Jay interviews Michael Ratner, President of America's Centre for Constitutional Rights, to answer the question. Ratner says that the Obama administration's scorecard on holding people accountable for torture is very bad. The administration has performed poorly on...

On Shaky Ground: Countries That Joined US, Israel Boycott of UN Racism Conference

Picture: www.gayrightschange.org Democracy Now - A number of Western countries are joining the United States and Israel in boycotting the United Nations (UN) World Conference on Racism, which hosted by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, opened in Geneva, Switzerland on 20 April 2009. Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand all announced they would boycott the conference soon after the US announced its formal decision not to attend Saturday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the opening session he was...

Time to End the War on Drugs

Produced by an Oscar-winning studio for the Global Drug Policy Program of the Open Society Institute, the International Drug Policy: Animated Report 2009 highlights some of the disastrous effects of drug policy in recent years. This short film seeks to show that pursuing a "drug-free world" can lead to more harm than good. Ten years ago the United Nations (UN), thought they could free the world from drugs. By 2008, they aimed to wipe out the use of drugs.  However, given...