United Nations history
The history of the United Nations goes back to the First Hague Peace Conference in 1899. Since then, the international organization has developed into a 193- nation alliance for securing world peace and promoting international cooperation.
prehistory
After the final failure of the League of Nations with the outbreak of the Second World War , new ways to an international peace order had to be found.
Under the impression of the rigorous and illegal acts of war of the Third Reich , there was rapprochement between the USSR and the USA . US President Franklin D. Roosevelt had already explained his concept of the “ four freedoms ” in a congressional speech on January 6, 1941 , in which he described Hitler's action against international democracy as a “tyranny” that must be resolutely countered. The German attack on the USSR on June 22, 1941 paved the way for an anti-war coalition against Germany, in which Great Britain also participated. The Atlantic Charter published on August 14, 1941 became the basis of the United Nations declaration of January 1, 1942. Since the USSR was not present at their deliberations, another meeting of the Allies with the participation of the Republic of China took place in Moscow . At the Moscow Foreign Ministers' Conference in 1943, the future victorious powers spoke out in favor of the establishment of an “international organization for securing peace”. This goal was confirmed by Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill on December 1, 1943 at the Tehran Conference .
After the basic features of a global monetary and economic system and its future institutions ( IMF and World Bank ) had been laid down at the Bretton Woods Conference in July 1944 , the Allies discussed the statutes at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference until October 7, 1944 and the structure of a future world organization. France was also included as the fifth power in the later Security Council . Only the Yalta Conference in February 1945 brought an agreement of the great powers on the establishment of the UN , on the subsequent conference in San Francisco in June 1945 with the signing of the Charter of the United Nations by the representatives of 50 States (see. Member States of the United Nations ) that were involved in the Second World War on the Allied side was sealed. After Poland, the 51st state , had deposited its instrument of ratification , the UN Charter finally entered into force on October 24, 1945. This date is considered United Nations Day .
In the same year the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNESCO , the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were founded.
1946 to 1950
On January 10, 1946, the first UN General Assembly took place in London . The UN Economic and Social Council was constituted . Shortly thereafter, the UN Commission on Human Rights , the UN Security Council and the UN Secretariat were established. Eventually, the International Court of Justice began its work as the “main judicial organ” of the United Nations.
Since, according to the statutes, a compatriot from the five victorious powers USA, USSR , England , Republic of China and France was out of the question, an agreement was reached on February 1, 1946 on the Norwegian Trygve Lie as the first UN Secretary General . He stayed in office for seven years. The first World Health Summit took place in New York in the summer of 1946 . The World Health Organization was founded two years later . In December 1946 UNICEF was founded and the International Labor Organization was implemented as a UN specialized agency. In addition, the General Assembly endeavored to organize the repatriation of refugees and displaced persons from the Second World War. On December 14, 1946, the General Assembly decided to take the organization's permanent seat in New York City .
With the aim of gradually releasing the former colonies into independence, the UN Trust Council was founded in 1947 as the fourth main body. In the same year, the GATT agreements are signed in Geneva .
According to Article 109 of the Statute ( UN Charter ), a “general conference of the members of the United Nations” should originally meet “before the tenth annual session of the General Assembly”, which should establish the comprehensive security system defined in the Statute “in accordance with their constitutional law”. However, such a conference did not take place and has not yet taken place; as a result, the United Nations security system did not come into effect. In anticipation of collective security ( collective security ), however, the UN Security Council decided in 1948 to send an observer mission and a peacekeeping force for the first time. The UNTSO peacekeeping mission was sent in August 1948 to monitor the ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israel . To settle the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan , the first troops of the UNMOGIP observer mission were transferred there in 1949 .
On December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the General Assembly. As a result of the increasing influx of refugees during the First Palestinian War , the General Assembly decided on December 8, 1949 to found the refugee agency for Palestine refugees UNRWA , as the Arab states refused to accept the Palestinians. Work began on May 1st, 1950.
On September 13, 1949, the Soviet Union vetoed the acceptance of further candidate countries. This affected Ceylon , Finland , Ireland , Italy , Jordan , Austria and Portugal .
The outbreak of the Korean War and the resulting Cold War between the Western and Eastern powers put the UN's ability to act to the test for the first time. The USSR demanded that a police action by the United Nations would only be justified if Article 106 of the UN Charter were initially applied. Without invoking Article 106, the Security Council was not empowered to "begin exercising the responsibilities assigned to it." (Article 106) Since this did not happen, the Soviet Union boycotted the UN and others. a. also because they did not accept the Chinese delegation from Taiwan in the Security Council. The Security Council then declared North Korea an "attacker" in the absence of the USSR. In order to circumvent a later Soviet veto , at the urging of America, contrary to the spirit of the UN Charter, the General Assembly was authorized to recommend measures to keep and enforce peace to the member states. This resolution "Uniting for Peace" (No. 377) made the defense of South Korea possible .
Resolution "Uniting for peace (377)"
The resolution "Uniting for Peace" of November 3, 1950 enables, among other things, that in all cases in which there appears to be a threat or a breach of the peace or an act of aggression and in which the United Nations Security Council does not agree to any Result comes, the General Assembly of the United Nations deals with the matter, if necessary in an immediate special session. In the event of a breach of peace or an act of aggression, the General Assembly can recommend collective measures that also include the use of armed force. In contrast to resolutions of the Security Council, resolutions of the General Assembly are only recommendations without any legally binding effect.
Choice of headquarters
In 1946 it was decided in London to relocate the UN headquarters. Several options were up for debate, including Tangier , which was then internationally administered . The decision was made to go to the USA, but initially it was not clear to which city. In addition to New York, Boston , Philadelphia and San Francisco were discussed. When the choice finally fell on New York, the exact location was unclear. A committee of dignitaries, including Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller , the founding father's grandson and later Vice President of the United States, proposed the site of Flushing Meadows in Queens , where the 1930 World's Fair had taken place and which is now one of the most famous tennis courts in the world lies. And the UN General Assembly actually met there from 1946 to 1949. But that was not a permanent solution and the mood was increasingly moving to Philadelphia. The Rockefeller family tried to prevent this from happening. Nelson Rockefeller was able to persuade his father to provide $ 8.5 million for the purchase of suitable land on the East River .
In January 1947, ten architects set to work to design the architecture for this major international organization. Very different functions had to be combined here. The site had to be outside of American jurisdiction, it had to be 'international' - after all, the 180 member countries are not guests of the USA, but sovereign equals. The 170,000 m² site is an international zone with its own executive and post office, so it also issues its own stamps.
Then several large meeting rooms had to be created, which also enable the events to be broadcast worldwide. Office space had to be created for countless parties who were not necessarily sympathetic to each other, so an extremely high level of shielding and security had to be made possible in order not to allow attacks with international consequences.
Combining all of this in one building did not seem possible, nor was it necessary. Since the Rockefeller Center it was known that one could also think in groups of buildings. The UN ensemble mainly consists of three separate and very different looking buildings. The chief architect was the American Wallace Harrison , who worked with an international group of architects, including the famous Franco-Swiss Le Corbusier and the Brazilian Oscar Niemeyer , who would later plan the newly founded capital Brasília .
This first "glass skyscraper" was created from 1947, as the grand masters of European architecture, including Mies van der Rohe , had in mind as a vision of modernism in the 1920s: a 39-storey, disc-shaped building without any interruptions or recesses huge glass facades are bordered by two narrow marble sides. In a certain way, the old zoning resolution for New York City of 1916 was thereby repealed, even if it was not valid on the extra-territorial site anyway. The four floors with the technical facilities for the air conditioning can be seen on the facade. The glass surface, which has been darkened to green due to the strong sunlight, reflects the sky and the neighboring buildings in a way that is characteristic of this building.
When it was completed in 1950, this building was considered the incarnation of modernity. Buildings that looked very similar followed, first the Lever House in 1952 and the famous Seagram Building by Mies van der Rohe in 1958 .
1951 to 1960
On January 1, 1951, the first “High Commissioner for Refugees” ( UNHCR ) Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart took up his work. On July 28 of the same year, the Convention on the Status of Refugees (Geneva Refugee Convention) was passed, which forms the actual legal basis for the work of the UNHCR. The office replaced the refugee organization from 1946. The Swede Dag Hammarskjöld was elected on April 10, 1953 as the successor to Trygve Lie as the new UN Secretary General . In 1957 he was used for a second term. He initiated the blue helmets as a new instrument of peace-keeping operation .
In December 1955 the former "enemy states" Romania , Bulgaria , Hungary , Finland , Italy and Austria (allied with the German Reich) as well as Ireland , Portugal and Spain , which were neutral during World War II , were admitted to the UN. However , the UN remained powerless against the suppression of the Hungarian uprising in 1956 by Soviet troops. On October 26, 1956, the Atomic Energy Agency IAEA was founded in Vienna .
After the end of the Suez crisis , the General Assembly decided in November 1956 to send the UN peacekeeping force UNEF I to the Sinai Peninsula . Due to a veto by France and Great Britain in the Security Council, the “Uniting for Peace Resolution” was used again. Dag Hammarskjöld, who was now responsible, then devised a new concept: From now on, one should differentiate between the need for " peace-making " ( peace-making with armed force) and " peace-keeping " ( peace-keeping limited to self-protection) missions. In this way, future decisions based on consensus and cooperation should remain in the designated Security Council. This also includes the right of all those involved to withdraw their consent during an ongoing peacekeeping operation. Egypt made use of this right in 1967: the troops were withdrawn and a little later the Six Day War broke out.
The new peace concept also had its weaknesses. Nevertheless, the differentiation between peace-keeping and peace-making made a minimal consensus possible and allowed the UN to remain able to act. After the independence of the Congo , the ONUC mission began in July 1960 . Here the UN let itself be drawn into a civil war. The situation worsened when many states refused to continue providing financial support to the mission. This led to the United Nations' first financial crisis.
With the majority acceptance of the “Decolonization Charter” ( declaration on guaranteeing independence for colonial countries and peoples ) by the General Assembly on December 14, 1960, the African and Asian states concerned were able to establish their “right to self-determination”. In the decades that followed, the colonial areas were given independence by the UN Trusteeship Council and accepted into the UN as new member states.
1961 to 1970
During the Civil War , in which the province of Katanga from the Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo wanted to solve), Dag Hammarskjold personally tried to settle the civil war. He died on September 18, 1961 when his plane crashed. His successor was Sithu U Thant from Burma (now Myanmar ).
Since the late 1950s, reports of famine in Third World countries increased. Thereupon the UN declared the 1960s as the “first development decade ”. The United Nations became the most important actor in international development policy. About 80% of the funds and staff were used to develop solutions. With a “catch-up strategy”, the countries should be quickly brought up to the standard of living of the industrialized countries . The 1969 Pearson Report submitted by the World Bank made it clear, however, that the gap between rich and poor countries will persist for a long time.
In 1963 the UNITAR training and research institute was founded. In the spring of 1964, the first UNCTAD world trade conference took place in Geneva and was implemented a little later as a special body of the United Nations. In the following two years the UNDP development program as well as the UNCDF and UNFPA were added as special funds. At the same time, UNIDO was incorporated into the UN as a specialized organization for the development of industry. In 1969, UNDP presented the Jackson Development Aid Cooperation Report , which became its valid basis for business.
The most important military arena in the 1960s was the Vietnam War . However, since the great powers were involved in this conflict and neither North nor South Vietnam were represented in the UN, the United Nations did not take action in the search for a peaceful solution. New peacekeepers were deployed to New Guinea ( UNSF ) in 1962 and Cyprus ( UNFICYP ) in 1964 . The troops in the Congo and New Guinea were withdrawn again in 1964. In 1966, the first UN sanction was passed against the white minority government in southern Rhodesia as a new instrument to enforce peace interests and humanitarian demands even without armed force . It included a far-reaching economic embargo that was not lifted until 1979.
Progress was made in the 1960s, particularly on human rights issues. On November 20, 1963, the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination condemned policies of persecution, segregation and apartheid within the international community. On December 19, 1966, the human rights pacts drawn up by the Human Rights Commission ( UN Social Pact and UN Civil Pact ) were adopted with a large majority. However, they did not come into force until 1976. On October 24, 1970, to mark its 25th anniversary, the UN read out its declaration on the principles of international law . With this she underlined her demands for the observance of human rights and for the release of the colonial states into their independence. In addition, in view of the growing “north-south divide”, the decision was made to follow the first with a “second decade of development”.
1971 to 1980
On October 25, 1971, the General Assembly resolved with resolution 2758 to recognize the People's Republic of China as the sole legal representative of the Chinese people and to exchange its representatives in the UN organs for those of the "national Chinese". In terms of arguments, this was not a matter of the statutory exclusion of Taiwan (Republic of China), which is only provided for in the event of a “persistent violation of the principles of the UN Charter”, but only an exchange of representatives. However, Taiwan has not been represented in the UN since then. A renewed membership is given little chance due to the expected Chinese veto.
On December 22, 1971, Kurt Waldheim from Austria was elected fourth UN Secretary General. Only a few weeks after taking office, on the recommendation of the Security Council, he contacted the government of South Africa to mediate in their conflict with Namibia . South Africa's presence in Namibia has been declared illegal by the UN. When the apartheid policy of the white minority government finally intensified, a number of measures were taken. In 1974 South Africa was excluded from meetings and votes in the General Assembly, and in 1977 an arms embargo came into force. Both decisions were not overturned until 1994.
With the signing of the Basic Treaty of 1972 between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic , the West German claim to sole representation in the event of UN membership of both states was finally given up. The sole application of West Germany would have failed because of the Soviet veto. Due to the waiver of sole representation, the separately submitted applications ultimately led to success. On September 18, 1973, both states became the 133rd and 134th member of the UN. The reunified Germany has been represented under the name "Germany" since October 3, 1990.
The growing number of independent African and Asian UN states led to a predominance of votes in the developing countries in the General Assembly. As early as the 1960s, they formed the group of 77 , which, with the support of China and the Soviet Union, was able to raise its profile. According to her, the worsening of poverty and exploitation was attributed to a clear advantage of industrialized countries in the financial flows of free world trade: falling raw material prices here, overpriced industrial goods and loans from there. Their demand for a New World Economic Order led in 1974, against the votes of the western industrialized countries, to the adoption of the Charter of Economic Rights and Obligations of States to reduce the dependence of the South and to distribute wealth fairly . The problem was also discussed at the subsequent UNCTAD conferences .
The initiatives for equal rights for women also gained in importance in the 1970s. The first World Women's Summit in Mexico City in the summer of 1975 marked the beginning of the “UN Women's Decade”. A year later the UNIFEM women's development fund was set up. The 1966 human rights pacts also came into force in 1976. In 1979 the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was adopted.
Peace missions were sent to the Sinai in 1973 ( UNEF II ), in 1974 to the Golan UNDOF and in 1978 UNIFIL to Lebanon . Because of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus , the UNFICYP mission was expanded in 1974 to monitor the 180 km long buffer zone (“Green Line”).
1981 to 1990
The worsening east-west conflict as a result of the arms race between the superpowers, as well as their involvement in the First Gulf War and other theaters of war ( Afghanistan , Cambodia and Nicaragua ) once again paralyzed the Security Council. The fifth general secretary, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar , who was newly elected in December 1981 and came from Peru, already at the beginning of his first term of office brought up the subsequent problem: the members' unwillingness to intervene in international conflicts, as well as unilateral conflict resolution and agreements outside the organization UN to a questionable forum for credible peace negotiations. In addition, the growing indebtedness of developing countries and the refusal of many member states to make their mandatory contributions in full and on time led to the worst financial crisis in UN history. The USA in particular, as the most important financier, was hardly able to meet its financial obligations towards the United Nations due to its high war costs .
The then Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme headed an independent UN commission on disarmament and international security issues from 1980 to 1982 . His report, the Palme Report , contained, among other things, the recommendation to build a “nuclear weapons-free corridor” in Central Europe, which should effectively reduce the risk of nuclear warfare. This proposal has spawned many new international peace movements since 1982 , which have kept disarmament on the agenda ever since. But it was not until Mikhail Gorbachev's attempt to fundamentally reshape international relations and to abandon “bloc thinking” that the UN Security Council was seriously revived as a peacemaking organ from 1987 onwards.
UN Resolution 598 of July 1987, in which a binding peace plan to end the First Gulf War was adopted, is considered a historic turning point. In 1988 the Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan and a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Iraq occurred almost simultaneously . The UNIIMOG peacekeeping force was deployed to monitor the ceasefire . As a result, numerous other open regional conflicts were taken up and brought to a solution, which until then seemed insoluble. The missions UNGOMAP in the Afghan-Pakistani border area, ONUCA in Central America, UNAVEM I in Angola and UNTAG in Namibia began in 1988 and 1989 . The newly won hopes for a feasible world peace were demonstrated in 1988 when the blue helmet soldiers were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize .
The test for the new kind of solidarity came with the outbreak of the Second Gulf War on August 2, 1990. The reactions to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait took place with a speed and determination that had never been seen before. Just a few hours after the report, the Security Council met and unanimously condemned the attack as a “breach of world peace”. Just four days later, a global trade embargo came into force, which was gradually tightened with a sea and air blockade. With the implementation of peace enforcement measures after the withdrawal period for Iraq had expired, “all member states were empowered” to use all necessary means to enforce the resolutions. In doing so, however, the UN gave the course of the war out of hand. Only with the armistice did the initiative return to the Security Council.
Significant steps forward have also been taken on environmental issues. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol on the Protection of the Ozone Layer was the first global environmental protection agreement. The simultaneous Brundtland report ( Our Common Future ), which was entrusted with the prospect of a long-term and sustainable environmental policy of the United Nations, was discussed at length and ultimately led to the first World Environment Summit in 1992. The report was significant because it was the first time the concept of a " sustainable Development "was designed. The Commission understood this to mean a development which corresponds to the needs of the present generation without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and choose their lifestyle.
1991 to 2000
The 1990s were marked by the collapse of the Eastern bloc states and a worldwide increase in ethnic conflicts, some of which resulted in systematic human rights violations. So far, the United Nations' peace policy has been limited to resolving interstate conflicts in accordance with its Charter. In view of the size and public pressure, the UN was now forced to relativize its principle of "non-interference in domestic affairs". The large influx of Kurds in northern Iraq, the civil war in Somalia, accompanied by a famine, and the “ ethnic cleansing ” in former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Rwanda are just a few examples that made “humanitarian intervention” unavoidable. However, numerous internal UN problems led to a disappointing conclusion : insufficient prior knowledge of the ethnic characteristics, logistical and again financial overstrains as well as international differences over the effectiveness and legitimation of such peace operations led to numerous mishaps and personnel losses. Overall, the newly won public trust in the United Nations has been shaken.
During the 1990s there were 35 new - mostly short-term - missions, 16 of them in Africa , 6 in Central America , 4 in Asia and 9 in Europe . The previously strained budget situation with outstanding debts of around 750 million US dollars rose to 2.2 billion by the end of 1996, of which 1.6 billion were accounted for by the peace missions alone. This also explains the limited ability to act of the largely voluntarily financed organizations in the economic and social sectors.
In December 1991, Boutros Boutros-Ghali was elected the sixth UN Secretary General. Six months later, with the Agenda for Peace, he brought a number of action-oriented ideas for reforming peace and security policy on the scene, which were initially received very positively. In a re-evaluation in 1995, however, misjudgments and unrealistic demands were recognized, which Boutros-Ghali attributed to the unwillingness to cooperate, especially among the influential member states. In this context, he referred to the Chinese saying that it is easier to collect for a coffin than for medicine. Nonetheless, his ideas about a new kind of “preventive diplomacy” were carried on. Another idea was the establishment of a rapid intervention system in which the member states were asked to keep military and civilian personnel "at all times" within their means. For the management of this “stand-by arrangement”, the international register UNSAS was set up in 1994 by the Main Department for Peace Operations DPKO .
In view of the intertwining of peace and development policy, it was also logical to have the peace agenda followed by an agenda for development . The efforts, however, remained in the sand as in previous decades. Critics see the main cause - besides the permanent financial crisis - in a proliferation of organizations and programs that are characterized by duplication of work and unclear responsibilities. The “fourth decade of development” also had to be classified as unsuccessful. The gap between rich and poor had widened.
The only positive signals during this period are the inauguration of the first High Commissioner for Human Rights ( UNHCHR ) and the establishment of ad hoc criminal courts to prosecute human rights violations in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. With the establishment of these UN tribunals, a number of convictions soon arose, which found approval in the global public and especially among the ethnic groups concerned. The deterrent effect of this new legal territory for the UN should also effectively support the new prevention concept in peacekeeping. As repressive measures, a number of oil and arms embargoes as well as some diplomatic sanctions were implemented around the world in the 1990s, some of which were considerably expanded.
Rwanda crisis
In 1994, one of the worst crimes in history was committed in Rwanda . 800,000 members of the Hutu and Tutsi tribes were killed in an outbreak of violence . Intervention by the UN blue helmet soldiers was not possible due to a lack of a mandate from the UN and the insufficient number of soldiers. According to Kofi Annan, this event is considered to be the greatest failure of the UN.
Bosnia crisis
At the end of May 1995, following NATO air raids on an ammunition depot of the Bosnian Serbs in Pale , UN soldiers were taken hostage in Bosnia and Herzegovina . As a result of the air strikes, designated NATO protection zones were attacked by Bosnian Serbs, UN soldiers were taken hostage, chained to tactical positions and displayed.
Revision of the peacekeeping concept
In December 1996, Kofi Annan became the new General Secretary. In March 2000 he commissioned a commission of experts with a critical study of the effectiveness of the peacekeeping concept. Above all, reasons for the "failure" in the operations in Somalia, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia should be disclosed. The Brahimi report presented a few months later called for the expansion of UNSAS and the cementing of a "permanent reaction force" of all member states. Above all, the UN must say goodbye to the ideal of non-violence in its missions. The UN troops would need a “ robust mandate ” in order to be able to effectively deter and gain respect.
2001
Security Policy and Peace Operations
- In December the Security Council decided to deploy a UN protection force ISAF in Afghanistan .
- on October 12th, Kofi Annan and the United Nations received the Nobel Peace Prize in equal shares .
- On September 28, UN member states were obliged in resolution 1373 to initiate extensive measures against terrorism and its support and to report regularly to an anti-terrorism committee set up to monitor it (see resolution 1373 and the Counter Terrorism Committee ).
- On September 12, one day after the terrorist attacks in the United States , the UN Security Council classified the acts as a threat to world peace and referred to the right to individual and collective self-defense (UN Resolution 1368).
Human rights policy
- An anti-racism conference was held in Durban , South Africa, from August 31 to September 8 . The conference was overshadowed by the Middle East conflict. The Arab countries wanted to equate Zionism and racism . Therefore, the US and Israel left the conference prematurely. The final declaration recognized the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent state. There was also talk of the “right to security of all states in the region, including Israel”. An explicit condemnation of Israel was waived.
Environmental policy
- The 7th World Climate Summit took place in Marrakech from October 29th to November 9th . The states agreed on a set of legal regulations for the reduction of climate-damaging greenhouse gases according to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997. The agreement created the prerequisites for the protocol to come into force without the USA.
- On May 23, in Stockholm, more than 120 member states of the UN signed an agreement for a worldwide ban on twelve long-lived and particularly dangerous organic toxins . The substances included DDT , PCB and dioxins , among others . The Stockholm Convention banned the manufacture, use and sale of the substances.
2002
Security Policy and Peace Operations
- With the beginning of the independence of East Timor on May 20, the UNMISET peace mission began . It was supposed to help the new government establish a civil administration.
Human rights policy
- In July, the International Criminal Court began its work in The Hague. This is intended to hold individuals accountable for war crimes , crimes against humanity , genocide and the crime of aggression (not yet defined, definition to be given at a later date).
2003
Security Policy and Peace Operations
- The UNMIL peacekeeping mission in Liberia began in September .
- On August 19, a serious attack was carried out on the UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing 22 people, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sérgio Vieira de Mello .
- The MINUCI political mission began on May 13th in Côte d'Ivoire . It was replaced on April 4, 2004 by the UNOCI peacekeeping mission .
2004
Security Policy and Peace Operations
- On June 24, the United States withdrew its application to exempt its citizens from prosecution by the ICC . In the previous two years, such a motion had been passed.
- On May 20, 14 of the 15 current members of the UN Security Council approved a resolution condemning the actions of the Israeli army against civilians in the Gaza Strip. With the US abstaining, the resolution was passed. In recent years, the US has generally vetoed draft resolutions against Israel .
- On April 30, it was decided to send an 8,000-man peacekeeping force to Haiti . The mandate was effective from June 1 and was initially limited to six months.
- On April 17, 2004, an incident that was previously unique in the UN took place: UN police officers stationed in Kosovo shot at each other. Three people were killed and eleven others injured. The dead were two US citizens and one Jordanian .
- The UNOCI peacekeeping mission in Côte d'Ivoire began on April 4th .
- At the end of March 2004, UN security chief Tun Myat was sacked. He has been accused of not doing enough to keep people safe and secure.
Human rights policy
- At its annual meeting on April 23, the UN Human Rights Commission did not condemn Sudan for the human rights violations in the Darfur conflict , contrary to a motion by the USA . However, she shared UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's fears that human rights violations had reached worrying proportions. The Human Rights Commission asked the government in Khartoum to enter Darfur in order to be able to provide humanitarian aid.
Philatelic
With the initial issue date June 4, 2020 was the German Post AG to the United Nations 75th anniversary a special stamp in the denomination out from 170 euro cents. The design comes from the graphic designer Angela Kühn from Hamburg.
See also
literature
- From the League of Nations to the UN , in: Le Monde diplomatique (ed.): Atlas der Globalisierung special. The 20th century. 2nd edition, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-937683-32-4 , pp. 72-73.
- Maurice Bertrand: UN - history and balance sheet. 1995, ISBN 3-596-12812-9 .
- Sven Gareis, Johannes Varwick: The United Nations. 2003, ISBN 3-89331-488-1 ( Federal Agency for Political Education )
- Peter J. Opitz: The United Nations - History, Structure, Perspectives. 2002, ISBN 3-8252-2283-7 .
- Peter J. Opitz (ed.): World problems in the 21st century. 2001, ISBN 3-8252-2209-8 .
- Günther Unser: The UN - Tasks, Structures, Politics. 2004, ISBN 3-423-05254-6 .
- Johannes Varwick (ed.): The reform of the United Nations - balance sheet and perspectives. 2006, ISBN 3-428-12266-6 .
- Helmut Volger: History of the United Nations. 2nd, updated and expanded edition. Munich 2008, ISBN 3-486-58230-5 .
Web links
- Pages of the German Society for the United Nations on the history of the UN
- Online series of the star
- Website on the history of the UN
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stephan Hobe, Otto Kimminich: Introduction to International Law. 9th edition. Narr, Tübingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8252-0469-3 , p. 129, accessed on December 10, 2011
- ^ Veto List ( English ) Dag Hammarskjöld Library. Retrieved October 5, 2016.