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Summary

International Relations Class 20

## INDIA HAS NOT JOINED ICC (5:27 PM)

- India was initially a member of the panel that negotiated the **Rome Statute.**
- India objects to the omission of crimes such as cross-border terrorism, the use of nuclear weapons, and weapons of mass destruction(WMD) from its jurisdiction.
- As a country, India is prone to insurgency, and militancy and has laws such as AFSPA that give extra-ordinary powers to its military.
- By joining the ICC, India did not want to make its civilian and military personnel vulnerable to international jurisdiction.
- ICC is expected to complement the national judicial system, but India believes that its domestic judicial system is competent enough to try any such individual if and when required.
- On the ground of principle, India decided against joining the ICC.
- The Rome Statute provides extraordinary power to the UNSC to bind non-members to the jurisdiction of the ICC.
- However, the P5 countries are not necessarily bound to ICC's jurisdiction.
- India believes it to be violative of **the Vienna Convention of Laws of Treaties 1969.**
- The convention says that every sovereign nation is free to either join or not join any treaty.

## Challenges faced by ICC:

- The lack of an enforcement mechanism reduces the deterrence value of the ICC.
- Therefore individuals convicted under ICC can overcome its judgement by taking over the government of their own country or by refusing to cooperate.
- Important global powers are not members of the ICC, thereby raising questions about its effectiveness and legitimacy.
- The ICC is often criticized as a tool of Western imperialism.
- Barring some recent years, the ICC has generally investigated crimes by African leaders and their countries.
- The **African Union(AU)** in 2016 endorsed a plan by Kenya for mass withdrawal of the African countries from the Rome Statute.
- The ICC has shied away from taking on Western powers like the USA.
- For instance, the previous attempt to start an investigation against the USA into the war crimes committed by the USA in Afghanistan did not materialize.
- Because the then public prosecutor of the ICC was sanctioned by the Trump government.
- Presently, the public prosecutor wanted to restart the investigation after the Taliban's takeover.
- Because of a lack of resources, his office has chosen to investigate the war crimes by the Taliban alone.
- In 20 years of existence, the IC has convicted only 10 individuals and has acquitted 4.
- This raises questions on whether the time, effort and financial resources invested by the member states are worthwhile.

## VARIOUS MECHANISMS UNDER THE UNO TO OBSERVE PEACE (6:00 PM)

- Collective security.
- Uniting for peace resolution/ Acheson Plan/ UNGA resolution 377 (5)
- Peacekeeping operations.

## Collective Security:

- The theme is "One for all, all for one".
- It calls for military action v/s the aggressor or perpetrator of the war.
- The expectation is that in case of aggression by one country against the other, all the members will come together to punish the aggressor.
- This is a utopian idea in the sense that it is unlikely that countries will forget their own differences for such a common action.
- The right to operationalize collective security is given to the UNSC.
- However, since the very beginning, the UNSC has been stuck in a state of a deadlock.
- It has remained divided between  P2 (China & Russia) & P3 (the USA, The UK & France).
- Collective security could be operationalized during the first Gulf War in 1991.
- In the early 1990's, the USSR had just disintegrated and its successor Russia was too weak to veto a resolution put forth by the USA.

## Acheson Plan:

- It suggests an alternative to operationalize collective security in case of a deadlock in the UNSC.
- Under it, collective security can be operationalized if the UNGA passes a resolution supported by 2/3rd of its member countries.
- However, since it would override the veto power of the P5 countries, the USSR did not support this proposal.
- The USSR had joined the UN only when it was given the veto power.

## UN Peace Keeping Operations:

- It was the brainchild of the second UN Secretary-General **Dag Hammarskjöld.**
- Under it, the peacekeeping forces ( blue helmets) are deployed in the warring zones to bring an end to the ongoing hostilities.

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Peace Keeping Operations | Collective Security |
| Civil action | Military action |
| Aim is ceasefire | The aim is to punish the aggressor |
| Consent of the warring parties is required | No such consent is required. Under it, the UNSC identifies the perpetrator of war |

- The PKOs have been very successful and in fact, they ensure the relevance of the UN.

## CHALLENGES FACED BY THE UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS (6:30 PM)

- **Changing nature of the conflicts:**
- The nature of the global conflicts has changed after the Cold War.
- During the Cold War, inter-state wars were the primary global conflicts.
- With the end of cold-war, intra-state wars have become more prevalent.
- Unlike inter-state wars where the primary actors were nation states, in the case of intra-state wars, non-state actors are involved.
- Therefore,  these operations are becoming increasingly dangerous.
- **Developed v/s developing divide:**
- Developed countries are the primary financers of the PKOs, however, developing countries are the primary troop contributors.
- The decision on the deployment of the UN peacekeeping missions is undertaken by UNSC.
- Countries like India and Bangladesh have raised the demand for effective consultation with the troop-contributing countries.
- **The growing complexity of the operations:**
- The operations have changed from peace-keeping to peace-building.
- From the range of the functions including maintaining ceasefire.
- Local infrastructure building, running medical missions, providing community support and community resilience building, confidence building amongst the groups of people, etc.
- **Lack of resources:**
- UN PKOs face resource constraints like personnel, logistics, funding, etc.
- **Coordination:**
- Peacekeeping missions involve multiple actors including the UNO, regional organizations, and other stakeholders.
- Coordinating amongst them can be a significant challenge.
- **Robust Peacekeeping:**
- It was suggested by the developed nations.
- Under it, if the need arises, the peacekeeping forces can participate in undertaking offensive actions.
- However, such a suggestion was rejected by the developing countries who feared that their troops would be used by developed nations for fighting their wars.
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  | --- |
  | **Note:**  Students are expected to prepare for Indian involvement with the UN Peacekeeping Force from the internet and update current developments, as the portion is very important. |

## MECHANISM TO ENSURE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (7:00 PM)

## Responsibility to Protect (R2P/ R to P).

- It is an international norm that seeks to ensure that the international community never again fails to prevent human rights violations and halt atrocities such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
- Human rights are understood as those rights that every human enjoys by virtue of being a human.
- The R2 P mechanism was used in the 2005 World Summit of all member countries of the UNO.

## It comprises three pillars:

- I. It is the responsibility of the nation-state to protect the human rights of its population.
- II. International community to assist the nation-state.
- III. In case the state manifestly fails to protect its own population, the responsibility is of the international community to protect human rights.
- All the three pillars are of equal importance.
- R2P has been used only once during the **Libyan Conflict in 2011.**
- However, given its gross misuse by developed countries, it has never been used again.

## Reforms of the UNO:

## I. Charter Reforms:

- The language of the UN Charter must be reformed.
- It refers to the Axis Powers in World War II (Germany, Japan, Italy) as **enemy states.**
- Any such reference is against the global character of the UNO.
- These countries are now among the largest financers of the UNO.
- **Article 2(7)** prohibits the UN from interfering in the internal matters of the member countries.
- However, since the end of the Cold War, the dominant nature of global conflict has been intra-state wars.
- This makes UN intervention essential for cases like Myanmar, Mali, etc.

## II. Financial Reforms:

- The general finance budget for the UNO for 2022-2023 totals $3.4 billion.
- The per-capita availability of UN finance is less than 50 cents which is grossly inadequate.
- The UN is also expected to perform a number of including developmental ones.
- Countries tend to delay and default on payments.
- One primary defaulter is the USA.

## SUGGESTIONS FOR FINANCIAL REFORMS (7:30 PM)

- The UN is dependent on assessed contributions such as membership fees, as well as voluntary contributions by the member countries for its development funds and programs like UNDP, UNEP, UN-Habitat, etc.
- The membership fees cannot be increased substantially as it would discourage the global character of the UN by discouraging smaller countries from seeking UN membership.
- In such a case, it is required that the UN is provided with some independent source of funding like imposing a **Tobin Tax.**
- |  |
  | --- |
  | - It was first proposed by James Tobin - It will especially target speculative currency exchange transactions. - It will penalize short-term currency speculation and fast movement of capital across different economies. |
- This will be a tax imposed on international financial transactions.
- **Other suggestions:**
- Timely payment of the membership fees.
- Efficient utilization of the existing funds.

## III. Institutional Reforms:

## (A) Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC):

- Given its wide role in ensuring Sustainable Development for the world, it has become unwieldy as a body.
- It also comprises several programs and funds, often with overlapping mandates.
- ECOSOC has become too bulky as a body.
- A suggestion can be the streamlining of the various functions under ECOSOC.

## (B) Trusteeship Council:

- The mandate of the Trusteeship Council was completed in 1994 when the 11th trust territory Palau gained independence.
- It can either be abolished or given a new mandate, maybe governance of====Global Commons (Outer Space, Antarctica, etc.)

## (C) UN Secretariat:

- Over-representation of the West in its bureaucracy is an issue that has been flagged multiple times.
- There is also the issue of Red-tapism.
- A suggested solution is equal representation of the East, or the developing countries, and efforts to check red-tapism and bureaucratic labyrinth.

## (D) UNSC:

- UNSC is referred to as the Nucleus or the most important office of the UNO. Therefore wide-ranging reforms have been suggested.
- **Membership reforms:**
- Its membership is **anachronistic** in the sense that UNSC membership reflects the post-WW2 world and not the present time where many new powers have risen.
- UNSC has a **skewed geographical representation:**
- Europe is overrepresented by the UK, France, and Russia.
- The biggest continent Asia is underrepresented by China alone.
- Africa and Latin America, where most of the UN Missions are dedicated are not represented at all in the permanent membership of the UNSC.
- It is **grossly unrepresentative of the UN membership.**
- In 1945, when the UN was founded, it comprised 51 member countries, at that time UNSC comprised 5 permanent members and 6 non-permanent members.
- In 1967 the UN comprised 117 member countries, and the UNSC was then expanded to comprise 10 Non-permanent members, while the 5 permanent members remained the same.
- UN today comprises 193 countries; however, UNSC membership has remained the same without any expansion of permanent or non-permanent members.
- Compared to 1945, the UN’s membership has expanded nearly four times, however, the permanent members of the UNSC remained the same.

## The topics for the next class are the countries and groups aspiring for UNSC membership