UNITED NATIONS: The Bush administration wants the United Nations to take action on five key reforms before expanding the Security Council, a senior US official said on Wednesday, a position that might set back UN efforts to achieve broad agreement on expansion before a September summit.
“The broader UN reform effort should not be lost within the narrow discussion of Security Council membership,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the policy has not yet been formally announced. “We’d like to move forward on our five key principles first.”
The new US stance helps clarify what Washington wants to see from a revitalized United Nations. Although President Bush has made UN reform a theme of his speeches and the stated reason for nominating UN critic John Bolton to be ambassador to the world body, the White House has not yet publicly articulated its agenda.
On Wednesday, the State Department began to sketch out the details. An official overseeing reform efforts, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns, said that the administration embraces the majority of ideas put forth on Wednesday by a bipartisan Congressional task force on UN reform.
The panel was led by the Republican former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, and former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, a Democrat, and included both staunch critics and supporters of the United Nations. Among other proposals, the panel recommended running the United Nations more like a corporation, with independent oversight, personnel and management review practices. It also urged that nations be put on notice that they cannot use sovereignty as a shield against charges of genocide, and proposed all members designate part of their military to rapidly react to international crises.
Specifically, officials say the administration wants to focus the five following reforms:
—Disband the Human Rights Commission, whose board members often include the very countries it is trying to condemn. Annan has proposed creating a smaller Human Rights Council with a revamped selection system that would keep more human rights violators out.
—Support a Democracy Fund and democracy initiatives.
—Budget, management and administrative reform to make the secretariat that runs the UN system more accountable and transparent. The administration is particularly interested in changing the budget system to allow the United States, the top contributor, to have more of a say in how the UN’s money is spent. The White House also supports greater independent oversight to stem corruption and mismanagement.
—Creation of a peace-building commission. Perhaps one of the most popular of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s proposals, the commission would help post-conflict countries such as Iraq recover and build civil institutions.
—Adoption of a comprehensive convention on terrorism that defines terrorism as harming innocent civilians. A global treaty on terrorism has been stalled by disagreement over whether the definition of terrorism should include action by states, as well as the struggle against occupation.
The White House also said on Wednesday that it opposes a bill by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., scheduled for a House vote on Thursday that would withhold half of the US dues to the United Nations until it achieves 39 specific changes. “We are the founder, host country and leading contributor to the UN. We don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we are withholding 50 per cent of American contributions to the UN system,” said Burns. “We believe that it’s possible to make progress and reform the UN without withdrawing financial support.”
The White House stance appears likely to hinder Annan’s goal for the UN’s member states to decide how to reform the Security Council before a September summit that will help mark the UN’s 60th anniversary.
But linking the reforms to Security Council expansion could also help speed vital changes. UN and US officials worry that squabbling over the high-stakes Security Council seats are distracting attention from other important measures to make the United Nations more accountable and effective.
Japan, the second-highest financial contributor to the United Nations, has warned that if it isn’t rewarded with a permanent seat, it would have to cut back its share of dues. If the new members’ accession depends on the United Nations achieving reforms, the aspiring countries would likely work harder to push the measures through.
Four countries who aspire to permanent seats — Japan, Germany, India and Brazil — have drafted a resolution calling for the addition of six permanent seats without a veto and four rotating seats. African countries that haven’t been determined yet would receive the other two permanent seats under their plan.—Dawn/LAT-WP News Service
