By Onozure Dania

International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law, ISCL&RL, has recommended that if Veto Power must be retained at the United Nations Security Council, UNSC, then single veto power must be eliminated and replaced with collective veto power of the five permanent members.

The group said that in the alternative, Veto Power principle should totally be eliminated at UNSC and replaced with “four-fifths” or “two-thirds” majority votes of the UNSC members as case may be.

United-Nations

It also recommended that membership of UNSC should be expanded, strengthened and attached with universal limited government or democracy benchmarks including member-state’s full compliance with respect for human rights, observance of rule of law, periodic democratic elections including political inclusion and limited tenure of office (i.e. maximum office term of eight or ten years); attainment of economic advancement, regular redemption of contributions to UN and its peace building operations and honoring of international laws obligations.

Intersociety said this in Onitsha, Nigeria, in its special letters to the UN dated October 9, 2018 and the 20 selected foreign missions in Nigeria including Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, dated 23rd October 2018.

The letter, titled: An Agenda for Permanent Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict & a Call for Reforms at UN, was physically  delivered to the four top UN diplomats through our local contacts in New York.

Intersociety also wrote a five-page introductory letter, dated 23rd October 2018 to 18 selected foreign missions and two international Arab and Muslim organizations as democratic universal benchmarks including a member-state’s full compliance with respect for human rights, observance of rule of law, periodic democratic elections including political inclusion and limited tenure of office (i.e. maximum office term of eight or ten years); regular redemption of contributions to UN and its peace building operations and honoring of international laws obligations.

It added that  all dictators and tyrants that have overstayed the universally legitimized office tenures should be banned from attending the UN General Assembly sessions and addressing same; likewise those with large scale rights abuses and other anti democratic policies and conducts hanging around their necks.

It further urged the world body to rise to the occasion by truly ensuring world peace and security including protection and advancement of democracy and human rights all over the world.

Intersociety, while making some recommendations, urged the UN to ensure that the annual General Assembly session of the UN such as the just ended 2018 session is not permanently turned into a talk show or assemblage of the good, the bad and the ugly of the global community or annual gathering for legitimization and escalation of the global tragedies.

The group said that the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian Conflict was identified as the greatest threat to global peace and security since the end of the cold war in 1991 and the world oldest conflict, dating back to 1948.

According to the group the devastating conflict has been responsible for endless armed conflicts such as insurgencies and terrorisms as well as arms race including proliferation of small arms and light weapons and “nuclearization” of the Middle East (i.e. large scale production and possession of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons or threats of possessing them).

It said that the Conflict has further caused havocs, deaths, depopulation, forceful migration, rape and other sexual violence, hunger, diseases, starvation, injuries, fears and under-development as well as generation of intractable religious tensions in the Region. It has as well led to age-long leadership logjam and display of negative or illegitimate power play at the UN.

Intersociety, had in its letter reminded the world body that it is globally measured negatively on account of its inability to resolve the age-long Conflict once and for all.