When world leaders, numbering over 150, make their annual political pilgrimage to address the General Assembly in the third week of September, the security at the world body is exceptionally tight. And this year is no exception. After two years of on-again and off-again lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the UN
Author: Thalif Deen, IPS
World leaders, mostly autocrats, plan to skip upcoming UN sessions
When the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly sessions begin September 20, the official list of speakers include 92 heads of state (HS) and 56 heads of government (HG). But the “usual suspects,” mostly leaders of authoritarian regimes, are missing, including Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China, Kim
Will the diplomat, accused of rape, be prosecuted at home?
When UN diplomats are charged with civil or criminal offenses – from traffic violations to sexual abuse — they avoid prosecution and civil law suits under cover of diplomatic immunity. It’s a privilege exercised by diplomats worldwide—including US diplomats in overseas postings. In the 1970s and 80s, there were diplomats from several
A safe haven for ousted political leaders escaping executions
When world political leaders, mostly presidents and prime ministers, are ousted from power following military coups or street demonstrations, they flee to “safe havens” to avoid being jailed, executed by firing squads or hanged in public. Perhaps one of the secure “safe havens”—and a popular “political retirement home”– is Saudi Arabia,
The Politics of the Hangman’s Noose: Judge, Jury & Executioner
A spike in state-sanctioned executions worldwide – including in Iran, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and more recently Myanmar – has triggered strong condemnations from the United Nations and several civil rights and human rights organizations. As Covid-19 restrictions that had previously delayed judicial processes were steadily lifted in many parts of the
Unprecedented threats against ‘Right to Protest’ on the rise world-wide
The French writer and philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778), once famously remarked: “I disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend unto death, your right to utter them.” But that political axiom hardly applies to multiple governments in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America—including Greece, UK, Thailand, Hong Kong, India,
The battle for Covid-19 vaccines: the rich prevail over the poor
The 164-member World Trade Organization (WTO) has implicitly rubber-stamped a widely-condemned policy of “vaccine apartheid” which has discriminated the world’s poorer nations, mostly in Africa and Asia, depriving them of any wide-ranging intellectual property rights. As Max Lawson, Co-Chair of the People’s Vaccine Alliance and Head of Inequality Policy at Oxfam,
Has the UN transformed itself into a vast humanitarian relief organization?
The United Nations, which has failed to help resolve some of the world’s ongoing and longstanding civil wars and military conflicts—including Palestine, Afghanistan, Yemen, Western Sahara, Myanmar, Syria, and most recently, Ukraine—was rightfully challenged by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his riveting address to the Security Council last April. “Where is
UN deeply troubled by impending development aid cuts by rich nations
The four-month-old Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has triggered a hefty increase in military spending among Western nations and a rise in humanitarian and military assistance to the beleaguered country, is now threatening to undermine the flow of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the world’s poorer nations. In an advance warning
