Tag: UNSC

UNSC fails to adopt resolution on Israel-Palestine conflict after veto by U.S.

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The UN Security Council on Wednesday failed to adopt a Brazil-led draft resolution that would have called for humanitarian pauses in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict to allow full access for aid to the Gaza strip after the U.S. vetoed the text.

The U.S., a permanent member of the UNSC and a close ally of Israel, said it is disappointed the resolution makes no mention of Israel’s rights of self-defence.

The 15-nation Council met to vote on the draft resolution that was proposed by Council President Brazil.

While 12 Council members voted in favour of the resolution, Russia and Britain abstained. The resolution could not be adopted because of a veto cast by the U.S.

This was the second time in two days that the Council failed to adopt a resolution on the situation in the Middle East.

On Monday, the Security Council rejected a draft resolution proposed by Russia on the situation in Gaza that would have called for a humanitarian ceasefire but did not mention the militant group Hamas which launched an audacious attack against Israel on October 7.

The Brazil-led resolution would have firmly condemned all violence and hostilities against civilians and all acts of terrorism, and unequivocally rejected and condemned the heinous terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7.

The resolution would have also called for humanitarian pauses to allow full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners, and encouraged the establishment of humanitarian corridors and other initiatives for the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians.

It would have also called for the rescission of the order by Israel for civilians and UN staff to evacuate all areas in Gaza north of the Wadi Gaza and relocate in the southern part of the strip.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in her explanation of the vote, said that the Council is meeting at a time when President Joe Biden is in Israel.

His trip is a “clear demonstration of the fact that the United States is actively engaging at the highest levels: to secure the release of hostages; to prevent the conflict from spreading; to stress the need to protect civilian lives; to address the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians in Gaza; and to demonstrate to the Israeli people that the United States stands with them in their time of sorrow and need.”

She said the U.S. is “disappointed” that the Brazil-led resolution made no mention of Israel’s rights of self-defence.

“Like every nation in the world, Israel has the inherent right of self-defence, as reflected in Article 51 of the UN Charter. Following previous terrorist attacks by groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS, this Council reaffirmed that right. This text should have done the same,” she said.

She asserted that when the U.S. talks about the protection of civilians, it means all civilians.

She said the U.S. is “horrified and saddened” by Tuesday’s “explosion” at the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds. “We mourn this tragic, tragic loss of life.

On the humanitarian front, we’re working with Israel, its neighbours, the United Nations and other partners to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” she said.

“Let’s be clear: Hamas’ own actions have brought this on – this severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. And Hamas has caused so much needless suffering, death, and destruction. Every Member State should condemn Hamas’ terrorism and cruelty. And every Member State should call on Hamas to cease its endless barrage of rockets against Israel. This is not complicated. It’s not controversial. This is the bare minimum,” she said.

The U.S. envoy added that Washington is on the ground doing the hard work of diplomacy and while the U.S. recognises Brazil’s desire to move the text forward, “we believe we need to let that diplomacy play out”, especially when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and regional actors are “engaged in intensive dialogue on the very issues we are deliberating on today.”

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said the Council has witnessed once again the “hypocrisy and the double standards” of the U.S. and Washington really did not want that any solution should be arrived at in the Council.

Following the vote, Brazil’s Permanent Representative at the UN Sérgio França Danese voiced deep regret over the failure of the Council to act and adopt the resolution to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

He said the Security Council’s paralysis in the face of a humanitarian catastrophe is not in the interest of the international community.

“Sadly, very sadly, the Council was yet again unable to adopt a resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Again, silence and inaction prevailed, to no one’s true long-term interest. While we deeply regret that collective action is made impossible in the Security Council, we do hope that efforts by other actors will yield positive results.

They must be prompt, effective and substantial,” the Brazilian envoy said, adding that hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza cannot wait any longer. “Actually they have waited for far too long, to no avail.”

U.K.’s Permanent Representative Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the draft resolution needed to be clearer on Israel’s inherent right to self-defence in line with the UN Charter after Hamas’ attacks killed over 1400 people and took almost 200 people hostage.

“The draft resolution also ignored the fact that Hamas is using innocent Palestinian civilians as human shields. They have embedded themselves in civilian communities and made the Palestinian people their victims too. For these reasons, the United Kingdom abstained on this resolution,” Woodward said.

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Watch criticised the move by the U.S.

Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, said once again, the U.S. cynically used their veto to prevent the UN Security Council from acting on Israel and Palestine at a time of unprecedented carnage.

“In so doing, they blocked the very demands they so often insist upon in other contexts: all parties to comply with international humanitarian law and ensure that vital humanitarian aid and essential services reach people in need. They also blocked condemnation of the Hamas-led October 7 attack and demand for the release of the hostages. In light of the council’s deadlock, UN member countries should ask the General Assembly to take urgent action to protect civilians and prevent large-scale atrocities and further loss of life,” Charbonneau said.

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Azerbaijan claims full control of breakaway region; holds initial talks with ethnic Armenians

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Azerbaijan regained control of its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in a deadly two-day military offensive and held initial talks with representatives of its ethnic Armenian population on reintegrating the area into the mainly Muslim country, Azerbaijan’s top diplomat told the UN Security Council on September 21.

Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov reaffirmed Azerbaijan’s determination to guarantee Nagorno-Karabakh residents “all rights and freedoms” in line with the country’s constitution and international human rights obligations, including safeguards for ethnic minorities. He said the talks with Nagorno-Karabakh in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh will continue.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev declared victory in a televised address. Mr. Bayramov said there is now “a historic opportunity” to seek better relations with Armenia after 30 years of conflict.

Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. Armenian forces also took control of substantial territory around the Azerbaijani region.

Azerbaijan regained control of the surrounding territory in a six-week war with Armenia in 2020. A Russia-brokered armistice ended the war, and a contingent of 2,000 Russian peacekeepers was sent to the region to monitor it.

The agreement left the region’s capital, Stepanakert, connected to Armenia only by the Lachin Corridor, along which Russian peacekeepers were supposed to ensure free movement. But a blockade by Azerbaijan deprived Nagorno-Karabakh of basic supplies for the last 10 months, until Monday, when the International Committee of the Red Cross was able to make a delivery through another route.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who called for the emergency meeting of the Security Council along with France, accused Azerbaijan of an “unprovoked and well-planned military attack,” launched to coincide with this week’s annual meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly.

“Literally the whole territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,” including Stepanakert and other cities and settlements, came under attack from intense and indiscriminate shelling, missiles, heavy artillery, banned cluster munitions, combat drones and other aircraft,” he said.

Mr. Mirzoyan said the offensive targeted critical infrastructure such as electricity stations, telephone cables and internet equipment, killed more than 200 people and wounded 400 others, including women and children. “More than 10,000 people fled their homes to escape the offensive,” he said.

“Electricity and phone services were knocked out, leaving people unable to contact each other, and “Azerbaijani troops control main roads in Nagorno-Karabakh, which makes it impossible to visit and get information on the ground,” he said.

“The Azerbaijani social media is full of calls to find the missing children and women, to rape them, dismember them and feed them to dogs,” Mr. Mirzoyan told the council.

He said the “barbarity” of Azerbaijan’s aggression and deliberate targeting of the civilian population “was the final act of this tragedy aimed at the forced exodus of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.” What Armenia has seen, Mr. Mirzoyan said, “is not an intent anymore but clear and irrefutable evidence of a policy of ethnic cleansing and mass atrocities.” Mr. Bayramov strongly denied the allegations of ethnic cleansing. He said representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh asked during Thursday’s talks for humanitarian aid, including food and fuel for schools, hospitals and other facilities that government agencies will provide soon.

Russia’s Deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, told the council: “We need to develop a gradual roadmap to integrate the population of Nagorno-Karabakh into the constitutional order of Azerbaijan, with clear guarantees over their rights and security,” “Russia’s peacekeepers will support these efforts,” he said, adding that “the security and rights of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians are of key importance.” The quick capitulation by Nagorno-Karabakh separatists reflected their weakness from the blockade.

“The local forces, they were never strong. The Azerbaijani Army is much better prepared, much better equipped. … So it was quite obvious, you know, that any military action that was to take place in that area, it would lead to the defeat of the local Armenian side,” Olesya Vartanyan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, told The Associated Press.

Mr. Bayramov said Armenia kept more than 10,000 “armed formations” and heavy military equipment in Nagorno-Karabakh after the 2020 agreement. “During the operation that started on Tuesday, more than 90 of their outposts were taken, along with substantial military equipment,” he said. He held up photos of equipment he claimed was seized.

Mr. Mirzoyan urged the Security Council to demand protection for civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh; to immediately deploy a UN mission to monitor the human rights, humanitarian and security situation; to seek return of prisoners of war; and to consider deploying a UN peacekeeping force to the region.

Azerbaijan’s move to reclaim control over Nagorno-Karabakh raised concerns that a full-scale war in the region could resume. The 2020 war killed over 6,700 people.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was “deeply concerned” about Azerbaijan’s military actions and was closely watching the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In a phone call on Thursday with Mr. Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin also urged that the rights and security of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh should be guaranteed, according to the Tass news agency.

“Mr. Aliyev apologised to Mr. Putin during the call for the deaths of Russian peacekeepers in the region on Wednesday,” the Kremlin said. Azerbaijan’s prosecutor-general’s office later said five Russian peacekeepers were shot and killed on Wednesday by Azerbaijani troops who mistook them amid fog and rain for Armenian forces. One other Russian was killed by Armenian fighters.

Meanwhile, protesters rallied in the Armenian capital of Yerevan for a third day on Thursday, demanding that authorities defend Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and calling for the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. “At least 46 people were arrested in a large protest outside the main government building in the city centre,” police said.

The conflict has long drawn powerful regional players, including Russia and Turkiye. While Russia took on a mediating role, Turkiye threw its weight behind long-time ally Azerbaijan.

Russia has been Armenia’s main economic partner and ally since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and has a military base in the country.

Mr. Pashinyan, however, has been increasingly critical of Moscow’s role, emphasising its failure to protect Nagorno-Karabakh and arguing that Armenia needs to turn to the West to ensure its security. Moscow, in turn, has expressed dismay about Mr. Pashinyan’s pro-Western tilt.

While many in Armenia blamed Russia for the defeat of the separatists, Moscow pointed to Mr. Pashinyan’s own recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.

“Undoubtedly, Karabakh is Azerbaijan’s internal business,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Azerbaijan is acting on its own territory, which was recognised by the leadership of Armenia.” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna condemned Azerbaijan’s offensive and said it is essential that the ceasefire announced on Wednesday is respected.

What is at stake, Ms. Colonna said, is whether the ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh can continue living there with their rights and culture respected by Azerbaijan. “Today, they have the responsibility for the fate of the population,” she said.

If Azerbaijan wants a peaceful and negotiated solution, Ms. Colonna said, “it must here and now provide tangible guarantees” and commit to discussions and to not using or threatening the use of force.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also condemned Azerbaijan’s military assault, which she said was launched despite the government’s assurances to refrain from the use of force.

She called for a complete cessation of violence and lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan that “can only be achieved at the negotiating table.” Ms. Baerbock urged both countries to return to European Union-mediated talks.

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UN Security Council does not reflect today’s realities, is paralysed: UNGA President

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The UN Security Council does not reflect today’s realities, is paralysed and unable to discharge its basic function of maintaining international peace and security when one of its permanent members has attacked its neighbour, UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi has said.

Mr. Korosi, a Hungarian diplomat currently serving as President of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, said that there is a push from a growing membership to reform the powerful UN organ.

“The Security Council which has been created back then” and given the primary responsibility of maintaining “international peace and security and preventing wars now is paralysed,” he told PTI ahead of his visit to India.

Mr. Korosi will arrive in India on Sunday on a three-day visit at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. It is his first bilateral visit to any country since he assumed his role as President of the UN General Assembly in September 2022.

“The Security Council cannot discharge its basic function for a very simple reason. One of the permanent members of the Security Council attacked its neighbour. The Security Council should be the body to take action against the aggression. But because of the veto power, the Security Council cannot act,” he said, in a reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr. Korosi said this was a “very serious lesson learnt” for the future when talking about how to improve functioning of global organisations.

He said that the issue of UNSC reform is both “burning” and “compelling” since the composition of the Security Council reflects “the outcome of the Second World War”.

India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserved a place as a permanent member in the United Nations.

Currently, the UNSC has five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the U.K. and the US. Only a permanent member has the power to veto any substantive resolution.

In the 77-year-old history of the UN, the composition of the Security Council has been altered only once – in 1963 when the General Assembly decided to expand the Council from 11 to 15 members, with the addition of four non-permanent seats.

“Since then, the world has changed. The geopolitical relations in the world altered, the economic responsibilities in the world in some countries, including in India, including some other very strongly developing countries, actually changed,” Mr. Korosi said.

“So, the composition of the Security Council does not reflect today’s realities,” he said adding that not to mention “a whole continent with 50 plus countries, Africa,” is not in (the Council) in terms of permanent members.

In response to a question on whether he has hope for any forward movement in the long-pending UNSC reform, Mr. Korosi replied in the affirmative.

“Yes, I do have hope,” he said, noting that reform of the United Nations entails several areas and Security Council is “a very important” part of it.

Mr. Korosi stressed the reason for hope of the UNSC reforms is that the issue has been on the agenda for decades and negotiations have been going on for several years.

“But this particular issue, the urgency and concrete steps to be achieved in the reform of Security Council” has been mentioned and urged for by over 70 leaders of the world during the high-level UN General Assembly session last September.

“More than one-third of the UN membership directly addressed this question. So, there’s very clearly a push (from) the membership. I do have hopes,” he said.

Mr. Korosi has previously noted that during the high-level week in September 2022, one-third of world leaders underscored the urgent need to reform the Council – more than double the number in 2021.

Mr. Korosi has appointed Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the United Nations Michal Mlynar and Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait Tareq M.A.M. Albanai as co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on UNSC reform.

He said he has asked them to do their best to try and convince the UN membership that it is their responsibility and a membership-driven process to achieve UNSC reforms.

“But if they really want to achieve results, they may think in little bit different terms, in terms of whether or not they could make compromises, negotiations. If they don’t do that, the chances will be very small. But I do have hopes,” he said.

Mr. Korosi said nations around the world would like to see the United Nations, an organisation they finance, cater to their needs, help them navigate the multifold crises, ease conflicts in the world, and bring wars to an end.

“If this organisation fails because of the Security Council, because of any other part, the whole organisation fails,” he said, adding that the credibility of the UN is at stake.

Last week, the G4 countries of India, Brazil, Japan and Germany told a meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council reform that “we have been meeting in this informal format for 15 years now, with nothing concrete to show for our efforts.”

“We do not even have a zero-draft consolidating the attributed positions of interested stakeholders, to base our discussions on. We do not have a single factual account or record of the IGN proceedings,” they said.

The G4 has said that expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories of UNSC membership is “by far the one that garners the most support from Member States and is the only way to make the Council more representative, effective, transparent and legitimate.”

Mr. Korosi’s visit coincides with the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination on January 31, observed as Martyrs’ Day.

Mr. Korosi will lay a wreath at Raj Ghat to mark the anniversary of Gandhi’s death. Mr. Jaishankar, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Korosi jointly unveiled the bust of Gandhi at the expansive North Lawns in the UN headquarters last month.

Mr. Korosi said he will be “very proud” to be able to lay a wreath at the Raj Ghat.

He described Gandhi as “one of my prophets” in terms of political philosophy, solutions through peace, traditions, cooperation and building on cultural values.

These are the issues he offered to the global community and “these values are still ours, and they’re still very valid,” Mr. Korosi said.

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