International Law

IT IS THE TIME TO RESTRUCTURE THE UNITED NATIONS

By: Supardan Mansyur

Back-Garound

United Nations was established since the fear on the war scourage,[1] namely World War I and World War II.[2] It is the permanent international organization with the membership open to all countries in the world. Its purposes are to maintain security and peace. This purposes although as Henry Cabot Lodge Jr stated did not create to bring all of the earth populations into heaven but at least this organization give hope to perevent them from going to hell.[3]

In performing its mission to enforce peace and security the UN Charter stress the need to use peaceful means in solving dispute taken place between states, although give possibility to take collective action (punishement) to the state considered threaten the peace and security.[4] And, the decision on this circumstances is decided by the Security council where the five countries of the UN members are the permanent members. The fifth countries are United States, France, England, Russia and China, known as the Big Five, or the Permanent Five (P-5) of the UN Security Council.[5] They have perivelege right, namely the veto right. In practice this right is often misused by US, France and England to spread their policies and interest, often by threatening the other countries, even by military action. Beside this, Charter give the great power to the Big Five (this will be discussed in the next days). The position as the permanent members with their vetos, and the great power given to them, often cause human scourage in the history arena of the UN.

Why the UN must be restructured

In performing its mission and functions, United Nations do many errs or mistakes. It often treat their members unfair, injustice. Many examples show this unfair or injustice treatment.[6] As a consequence, what UN do, doing and will do dissappoint many countries that belong to the members of it. These violations are caused by the unfair or injustice both in the structure of the UN and the great power given to the Big Five compare to the other members.

Among the violations of the United Nations mission and function are what the US did, doing and will do in the future, namely:

- Instaead avoid human generation from the war scourage, it together with its alliens have hobby to make war, like what they do aginst Grenada, Panama, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya;

- Instead maintain security and peace, US and its allies hire a group or more peoples of one country or more to rebel against their government, train, arming, hire the mercenaries, armed gang to a country that deny their policy or interest to overthrow the government of this country;

- Instead safe mankind, their war machine kill millions people in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya;

- Instead as the symbol, and organier of International justice, UN practises International injustice to its members;

- Instead prevent one state or more to do arbitrary action, UN let US and its allies to threaten and use force to the other countries, even support them by the UN Resolutions.

Closing Remark

Misuse, injustice, and violations of international law by US and its allies taken place in the long time. These must be prevented if may no be removed. And, I think this is not difficult to be done in view of the countries without veto right and has been treated unfairly much more than the countries with the perivelege rights. If these countries may unite their afforts to make the UN as the fair and justice institution, their hope will be the reality.

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[1]the preamble recalls the determination of "the peoples of the United Nations" to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.

[2]The total of the death victims in the World War II are between 62,171,600 to 78,041,700, most of the are civilian (37,583,300 to 54,594,000), the rest are military (22,426,600 to 25,487,500). The death victims in World War I are lower than in the World War II, namely: total, 16.536.868, include: 9.722.620 (military), 948, 248 (direct civilian death), 5.839.000 (exess civilian death).

[3]Accurateley Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., the U.S. ambassador to the UN from 1953 to 1960,As Lodge succinctly in 1954 said that: ‘‘This organization is created to prevent you from going to hell. It isn’t created to take you to heaven.’’ Jussi M. Hanhima¨ki, The United Nations, A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 14

[4]Compare to Franz Cede and Lilly Sucharipa-Behrmann (Ed.), The United Nations Law and Practice, Kluwer Law International, The Hague / London / Boston, 1999, p. 8-9.

[5]See Jussi M. Hanhima¨ki, The United Nations, A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 14

[6]The violations of International Law, and UN Resolutions by Israel forexmple are left without punishement, while violations by the other countries as soon as possible respond, often followed by the sanction.