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Continuing UN

The UN charter is available on the internet. It starts with a reference to the scourge of war which occurred twice in lifetime of the first delegates in 1945. It reads so beautifully as a set of guidelines for the world to aspire to.

Good example of the UN's dysfunctionality is this (extract from GA Resolution 181, 1947):

1. Citizenship

.... Persons over the age of eighteen years may opt, within one year from the date of recognition of independence of the State in which they reside, for citizenship of the other State. No Arab residing in the area of the proposed Arab State shall have the right to opt for citizenship in the proposed Jewish State and no Jew residing in the proposed Jewish State shall have the right to opt for citizenship in the proposed Arab State. The exercise of this right of option will be taken to include the wives and children under eighteen years of age of persons so opting.

In favour: 33 : Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Byelorussian S.S.R., Canada, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, Liberia, Luxemburg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Ukrainian S.S.R., Union of South Africa, U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Uruguay, Venezuela.

Against: 13 : Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen.

Abstained: 10 : Argentina, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mexico, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia.

Resolution 181 - presupposes that Arabs will go to palestine, and Jews will go to Israel. Interesting to note that the Arab states who voted against resolution 181 acted as though the resolution had NOT been passed. Ie they refused to recognise the Jewish State created by that resolution. But what is particularly interesting is that it says explicitly that those people who move to the Jewish State shall have no right to return to the Palestinian state, and thos who move to the Palestinian State shall have no right of return to the Jewish State.

It seems so utopian. But it isn't.

It is missing some of the attributes of accountability and good governance which we take for granted in Australia

• An opposition party constantly criticising the govt from within
• A press which publicizes what the opposition is saying
• Elections which necessitate competing parties to make promises - notwithstanding that they are often broken, the fact that they make promises at all is very healthy for the society. (The UN makes no promises, and doesn't need to)
• Policies
• A healthy press which draws attention to the broken promises and unimplemented policies
• Directors of public prosecutions which make independent decisions on whether to prosecute.
• Judges (and to a lesser extent lawyers) who hold it extremely important to decide a case on the basis of evidence and the law alone.
• Appeal processes for parties who believe that they have been wrongly treated
• Separation between different arms of governance so that they can all keep checks on each other

In short it does not have the instruments that a modern country like Australia has. This diminishes its authority. No independent court system to keep a check on UNs activities. No appeal process. No Director of Public Prosecutions to make an independent assessment of whether a case should go to trial.

This means that the General Assembly of the UN only pretends to examine and debate an issue before voting on it - they don't arrive at independent assessments.