Overview of the United Nations Security Council - Essay Example

? Contrast the role and power of the United Nations Security Council With that of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council. Do you think any reform of the Security Council should take into account the framework of the Peace and Security Council? Introduction It is an innate feature of human beings to wage war against their fellow beings no matter what destruction and calamity it might cause. As a matter of fact, thousands of battles have been fought based on this human characteristic although the suffering was solely borne by the helpless people and this thing has continued for generations. This feature is largely identified as a tendency to exhibit supremacy and control over one another. Whether it is the war that used to be fought between the kings during the ancient ages with traditional weapons or the current warfare involving modern armaments, peace is nothing more than a maxim or a dictum. In the modern age, war has surpassed the strain of physical battle and political issues and conflicts are constantly revealed by different nations across the world. To take care of such conflicting situations, various national, international and regional organisations have been set up by various nations across the world. One of the most prominent organisations in this arena is the United Nations Security Council. Overview of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) The UNSC or United Nations Security Council is a body of the United Nations, which is responsible for restoration of peace across the globe and set up about 65 years ago amidst violence and extreme human suffering (UN Security Council – Profile, 2013). A world that was already shattered and badly ravaged by the World War II and recovering from its impact strongly aspired for global peace, found it as the greatest opportunity to eliminate the bane of armed conflict with the formation of UNSC. The Security Council comprises of five member states including China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States that represents the Council permanently. Alongside, these member states, the existence of non-member states intends to establish stability across different regions of globe. Accordingly, there are two non-members from Africa and Asia, two Latin African members, one and two members from East and West Europe respectively. These non-members are elected by the General Assembly for a period of two years (Edward C. Luck, 2006, P. 3-5) The United Nations Security Council is one of the six key organs of the United Nations and is responsible for the maintenance of global peace and security. It has the power to issue mandatory resolutions to member states regarding the launch of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international permissions and the authorization of military action through its resolutions. After World War II, the Security Council was founded to address the shortcomings of the League of Nations in preserving world peace. In its early years, activities of the UNSC were largely constrained by the Cold War between the US and USSR. With the breakdown of the Soviet Union, the peacekeeping work by UN increased vividly, and the Security Council approved major military and peacekeeping missions in Kuwait, Namibia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and Congo with wavering amounts of success. (Shaw, 2008) Composition of the UNSC The Security Council presently consists of fifteen members, of which five are permanent and ten are non-permanent. The great powers that were the winners of World War II, namely China, France, Russia, the UK and the US, function as the five permanent members of the UNSC. These permanent members can exercise veto power regarding any basic Security Council resolutions, comprising those on the admission of new member states or nomination of candidates for the position of Secretary-General. The Council also has ten non-permanent members, chosen on a regional basis to work for a term of two years. The resolutions passed by the Security Council are usually enforced by the UN peacekeepers. These are military forces willingly provided by the member states and funded independently by the UN budget. As of 2013, more than 116,000 peacekeeping soldiers and other staffs are arrayed on fifteen missions across the world. Responses regarding the Security Council's efficacy are mixed. There have been recurrent calls for its reform ever since the UN’s first meeting, but no significant consensus could yet be reached on how its structure should be transformed. Role and Powers of the UNSC The creation of the Security Council and the bid for becoming members of this body has given several nations to enjoy the stature and reputation that is generally associated with the Security Council and its members. In short, the member countries of UNSC also get an opportunity to bring their regional issues of conflict into the forefront and make them national issues. It is not surprising therefore that the process of becoming a member of the United Nations is in itself an issue that is enough to raise an alarm. The right of Veto is one of the primary aspects of the Security Council (UN Security Council –Profile, 2013). According to this right, the member countries are allowed to cast their vote in favour or against a resolution which is to be adopted by the Council. For instance, one of the members can exercise their veto power and cast their vote against a resolution even if the rest of the members have provided their consent. At the same time, a member may decide not to cast any vote at all; under such circumstances, a resolution can be passed without any impediment. There are lots of reviews and opinions about the power of veto and its necessity of the same that has been put forth from different quarters (Fenton N., 2004, P.1) Functions and Operations of the UNSC Whether it is the coup of Haiti or the civil wars that devastated several countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Guatemala or El Salvador during the past 20 years, the effort of the international community to end such disasters remains vague. In other words, a few of the efforts of the Security Council have led to massive success (Doyle W. M and Sambanis N, 2006, P. 1-2). On the other hand, a few of these efforts have failed miserably. After the completion of Cold War, the members of the United Nations decided to enlarge the scope of operations of the Security Council. Thus, during the entire period of Cold War, the Security Council adopted the terms of UN charter, Chapter VII which contained all matters related to the implementation of peace and security. In the due course, when the member states of the Council tried to follow the same trajectory, civil wars began in different parts of the world. However, the way in which these issues were managed during the Cold War owing to the terms of the Charter led to more confusion. For instance, In Rwanda, the intervention of the Security Council along with the provisions of enforcement resulted in genocides in which more than 700,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died since there were no peace agreements. The UNSC has the right to impose military action in severe cases or sanctions. The status of the permanent members has remained unchanged on the day of the first meeting of the Council. Although, there are several nations that have been trying for the status of permanent membership, little efforts or progress can be noted in this respect. According to the recent announcement of President Barack Obama, the United States may support the decision of India for attaining permanent membership of the Security Council. However, there is a genuine need to set up reforms or it might just weaken the status of this Council to a great extent (UN Security Council – Profile, 2013) Membership Reforms of the UNSC Suggestions to reform the Security Council arose with the conference that laid down the UN Charter and have continued to the present times. As British historian Paul Kennedy concludes, "Everyone agrees that the present structure is flawed. But consensus on how to fix it remains out of reach." (Kennedy, 2006)There has been contemplation on increasing the number of permanent members. The nations who are the strongest contenders in this race for permanent seats are Brazil, Germany, India and Japan. Japan and Germany are the UN's second- and third-largest funders respectively. Brazil and India are two of the largest contributors of military troops to UN’s peace-keeping missions. However this proposal has found strong disapproval in a set of countries collectively called Uniting for Consensus. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had asked a team of advisers to suggest recommendations for restructuring the United Nations by the end of 2004. One suggested measure was to increase the number of permanent members from five to ten. The new members, most probably, would include the G4 nations- Brazil, Germany, India and Japan, and one seat from Africa (most probably out of Egypt, Nigeria or South Africa) and/or one seat from the Arab League. (Voice of America, 2006) In 2004, the G4 nations issued a joint declaration mutually supporting each other's claim to permanent status. The permanent members, each holding the power of veto, had declared their positions on Security Council reform. The United Kingdom and France fundamentally supported the G4 position and the extension of permanent and non-permanent members. They were in favour of conferring permanent member status to Germany, Brazil, India and Japan as well as increasing the presence by African countries on the Council. The United States had explicitly supported the permanent membership of Japan and had advanced its support to India. China, however, had staunchly opposed the inclusion of Japan and rather supported the stronger representation of developing countries. (The Guardian, 2010) Overview of the Peace and Security Council: African Union Similarly, The Peace and Security Council is another body of the African Union that maintains peace and security across this continent. In one of the introductory meetings of the African Union, the member states signed what was referred to as the “Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the AU” which became effective from December 26, 2003 (Peace and Security Council (PCS), 2013). Thereafter, in March 2004, the first meeting of this Council was held for discussing the Rules of Procedure thereby marking the official operation of the Peace and Security Council. On the 25th day of May, 2004, PSC was inaugurated in the presence of the Heads of State and Government. The Peace and Security Council constitutes 15 members and all of them are elected by the Executive Council of the African Union or AU. Thus, there are three members belonging to Central Africa, two from North Africa, three from East Africa along with three and four from South and West Africa respectively (Murithi T., 2005, P.1-2) Composition of the AUPSC The Peace and Security Council is the organ of the African Union that is responsible for implementing the union’s decisions. It is modelled somewhat on the United Nations Security Council. It deals with issues such as combating of terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal proliferation of arms, conflict resolution, security reforms, reconstruction and peace building. The council is composed of fifteen member countries. Of these, five are elected for three-year terms, and ten for two-year terms. The African Standby Force is an allied military programme of the council. Its members are elected by the Assembly of the African Union which aims at preserving regional balance within Africa. This includes a variety of other criteria such as the political will and the capacity to contribute militarily and financially to the union, and a strong diplomatic presence at Addis Ababa. Role and Powers of the AUPSC The use of veto started becoming bleak towards the end of the Cold War and the power of making decisions in favour of peace became more prominent. Ideally, the aim of this Council is to prevent the eruption of armed conflicts in different parts of the world. However, when circumstances go out of control, the issues are approached with a diplomatic point of view. Similarly, the objectives of The Peace and Security Council of the African Union are meant to carry the message of peace. In such areas, where war or armed conflicts have already emerged, the function of AU is to establish efforts of restoring peace or the members can take resolutions for starting the procedure of such efforts. In such areas, where conflicts or armed struggle cannot be prevented, the function of AU is to make peace or take such resolutions that may lead to restoration of peace. The difference between the functioning of the UNSC and AU is that the former is related with peace keeping efforts across the world whereas the operations of AU are restricted within the continent of Africa. The other functions of the Peace and Security Council of AU is to prevent re-emergence of violence in those places that have already been destroyed by conflicts, promotion of democratic system and good methods in ascendancy. Additionally, this body is also engaged with the establishment of human rights and enabling people in understanding their basic freedom (Peace and Security Council (PCS), 2013) Functions and Operations of the AUPSC The Peace and Security Council operates in a different manner than the UNSC. The former peace-making organization is required to arrange at least two meetings during a month and the schedule of such meetings are based on the armed conflicts that are already in existence or any other crisis situation in any region of Africa. The evaluation of the situation commences under the leadership of the Commissioner of this Council. According to the Rule of Procedure, these temporary meetings and the agenda therein may not be necessarily opposed by any member state. Generally, such meetings emphasize different issues that conform to the Rules of Procedure. For instance, closed meetings, in which the participating members may be invited without exercising the right to vote. Besides this, the members of AU who are not included in Peace and Security Council may also be called upon if the interests of the member states are injured or in the process of being hurt (Makinda M. Samuel Okumu F. Wafula, 2008, P. 88-90) and Under such circumstances, when a Member state highlights the attention of the Council towards a situation of conflict that may affect the peace of a particular region. Additionally, civil society organizations or any other international organizations that are involved or likely to involve in conflicts may also be called upon to discuss such matters that are under the consideration of the Peace and Security Council. In fact, all the member states of AU that are not members of PSC may submit their draft of resolution when invited in such meetings (Peace and Security Council (PCS), 2013). Discords between the UNSC and the AUPSC Against the backdrop of increased pace of regionalisation in Africa and beyond, the validity and authority of the United Nations Security Council has turned into a controversial zone within the domain of public international law. Argumentative issues,concerninga few legal frameworks of regional associations and their latent effectiveness and efficiency, have become a hot topic of debate across the various divisions of the African Union and the United Nations. Ever since the dawn of the UN, the role and power of the AU has been subject to the legal and operational restraints imposed upon it by the Charter of the UN.Moreover, theratification of certain articles of the UN Charter by the AU member states has often hampered their ability to fulfil their responsibilities and duties towards the AU. (Snyman, 2010)Despite the repeated assertions of the AU regarding their attempts to place greater emphasis on improving the strategic partnership between the AU and the UN, the tension between the two bodiesstill persists. There are mainly two areas where this discord has been intensifiedrecently. Primarily, it is the incompatible and often coinciding provisions of the Constitutive Act of the AU and the Charter of the UN within the field of intervention in African states.And secondly, it is due to the long-spoiltties between the AU, the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court. (ISS Seminar Report, 2012) Impact of the Discords The persistent tensions between the AU and the UN Security Council have had an overreaching impact on overall international law in general and international criminal law in particular. The UN Charter’s rigid and lopsided laws regarding intervention have had a paradoxical effect on the AU-UNSC relationship. (Wood, 2006)  Moreover, the UN Security Council’s indifference to the genuine AU concerns has led to the propagation and institutionalization of AU-centric conceptions of justice.The legal disposition within which the AU is bound has led tocontinual tensions between the AU and the UNSC and this has affected the conduct of state and regional associations. This AU-UNSC tension has consistently been leading to a decline in the UN Security Council’s acceptability from the standpoint of the AUand many other regional institutions. This can be owed to the permanent members of the UN Security Council who have been incessantly placing their mean strategic and political interests above the AU’s welfare and security. This politicisation of the UN Security Council appears to be in incongruity with article 2(1) of the UN Charter, which guarantees sovereign equality of all UN member states. Furthermore, the legitimisation of ex post facto authorisation by the AU through the Constitutive Act could lead to the development of law in the form of a regular international statute, which could essentially lead to the weakening of UN Security Council’s authority and control over the AU and other regional organisations. (Abass, 2002) The developments in the field of international criminal law have also been responsible for augmenting the tension between the AU and the UN Security Council. It can be attributed to the UN Security Council’s participation in the workings of the International Criminal Court and its ensuing unresponsiveness to AU recommendations. The outcomes of such tension involve several critical factors which have begun to influence international criminal law. Firstly, the AU has begun to extend encouragement to its member states to strike a balance between ICC interests and the interests of the AU, by making use of article 98(1) of the Rome Statute which permits the States to settle bi-lateral agreements concerning the liberties of senior state officials. This has effectively led to a decline in AU-ICC collaboration, increase in AU protectionism and a growing immunity of African senior state officials. (Amnesty International, 2013) Secondly, the AU, in response to the UN Security Council tensions, has begun to provoke its member states to collectively support the initiative for an active and functioning African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR) and simultaneously petitioning for UN Security Council reform aimed toward confirming permanent African representation on the Security Council. (Schulman, 2013) Such advances could eventually lead to a hierarchical clash between the ICC and the ACJHR and perhaps reduce the ICC to an obsolete stature within the African context. (The East African, 2013) Remedies and Recommendations The impacts that have evolved as a natural response to the tensions between the AU and the UNSC could be mitigated by conforming to the principle of complementarity within the realm of intervention. This would require the AU to embrace primary responsibility over the peace and security of its member states, while the UN Security Council would offer intervention or assistance to the AU in matters where the AU is either not willing to interfere, or lacks the capability to do so. This solution is mainly based on the principle of veto power held by each permanent member of the UN Security Council. The UN Security Council, and the UN itself, would be rendered ineffective if any permanent member decides to exercise their veto power, which is time and again based on their strategic or political drives.     However, an alternative and apt legal and organized response to the above mentioned tensions require two steps. Firstly, the AU and its member states,by virtue of their UN and ICC membership, should demand the UN General Assembly to create a closer relationship with the ICC and subsequently discuss articles 13 and 16 of the Rome Statute with the UN General Assembly instead of the UN Security Council. (Lundell, 2013) Secondly, the ICC, being a judicial and not an enforcement body, is dependent on the cooperation of member states. Hence the AU and the African partiesto the Rome Statute should aim at increasing the AU-ICC cooperation, analysis and research development.It can be done by establishing AU-ICC liaison offices in Africa’s comparatively stable democracies. This would ensure Africa’sinvolvement in the hearing or impeachment of Africans and apprise the ICC agents regarding the complexity and instability of peace and security in Africa. Even though the AUPSC is modelled on the example of the UNSC, there are some features in the framework of AUPSC which the UNSC may take into consideration while making any reforms to its structure or functioning. Firstly, there is no veto right for any member state of the AUPSC. Secondly, the parties involved in any sort of conflict are deliberately excluded from the discussion, which is another distinguishing feature of the AUPSC. All the decisions are to be taken by consensus wherein the required majority is two-thirds. However in matters where consensus cannot be reached or more flexibility is required, the decisions are implemented by a simple majority. This mechanism helps to avoid a state of paralysis which has been a significant problem in the case of UNSC. In addition to the norm of unbiased regional representation, the member states are evaluated according to the enumerated criteria on agreement with the aims and requirements of the AUPSC.Thus the region-specific feature of the AUPSC corresponds to the cultural diversities of the region. This ensures greater representation and transparency in an otherwise complex structure. (Winther, 2013) Conclusion The current global scenario reflects an intense struggle for legitimacy by regional organisations and thus a weakening of the UN Security Council’s monopoly over international law. Unfortunately, the AU has shared a somewhat clumsy and overwrought rapport with the UN Security Council since its foundation a decade ago. This is chiefly due to the legal rigidity of the UN Charter and the partialway with which it is employed and summoned by the UN Security Council. Although the AU has been disparaged for moving from a position of ineffectiveness to a stance of indifference, one cannot deny the authority and legitimacy which the AU has gained over the years. Not only has it codified laws and drafted declarations and resolutions in keeping with the Charter of the UN, but also sought to improve international public law, especially international criminal law, in a manner which is in conformity withthe concerns and contexts of a developing country. Although there has been an air of unrestin between the AU, ICC and UNSC, the multifarious tensions havehelped in the evolution of a dynamic mechanism of corrective outcomes. Such outcomeshave benefitted the AU and similar regional organisations bypropelling regional organisation concerns to the forefront of the international legal framework. Sooner or later, the UN Security Council must bring together itself to the fact that its Charter does not reflect congruity with the emerging international trends. Hence it is essential that any further amendments or resolutions should be passed keeping in mind the African concerns, and not just those of a lobbied and biased UN Security Council. REFERENCES 1. Edward C. Luck, 2006, UN Security Council: Practice and Promise, Abingdon, Oxon 2. Murithi T., 2005, The African Union: Pan-Africanism, Peacebuilding and Development, Hampshire, England 3. Doyle W. Michael, 2006, Making War and Building Peace, Princeton University Press, Oxfordshire. 4. Fenton N., 2004, Understanding the UN Security Council, Hampshire England. 5. Makinda M. Samuel and Okumu F. Wafula, 2008, The African Union: Challenges of Globalization, Abingdon. 6. Peace and Security Council (PCS) (2013) Retrieved on December 28, 2013 from: http://www.peaceau.org/en/page/38-peace-and-security-council 7. UN Security Council – Profile (2013) Retrieved on December 28, 2013 from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11712448 8. 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Retrieved on January 30, 2013 from:http://www.un.org/law/icc 20. ‘Kenya: African Union’s request for the United Nations Security Council to defer the trials of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto’ (2013), Amnesty International.Retrieved on January 30, 2013 from:http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR32/010/2013/en 21. ‘UN Security Council rejects AU bid for suspension of Kenyan ICC trial’ (2013), The East African News. Retrieved on January 30, 2013 from: http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/United-Nations-Security-Council-Vote-ICC-Cases/-/2558/2074848/-/ajw7pfz/-/index.html 22. Winther, D. (2013) Regional Maintenance of Peace and Security under International Law, Routledge Read More