Democracy & Governance Archives - Page 194 of 362

Fujimori Faces Justice

by Jo-Marie Burt, Coletta Youngers | Jan 29, 2010

On January 3, 2010, the Peruvian Supreme Court handed down its decision to uphold the April 2009 conviction of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) for four cases of human rights violations. “My son must be very content, as I am, with the judges’ ratification [of the verdict],” said a visibly moved Raida Cóndor in a press conference the morning the ruling was made public. Raida’s son, Armando Amaro Cóndor, was one of the nine students that the Colina Group death-squad kidnapped from their dorm rooms at the Cantuta University and brutally killed in July 1992. “God does exist, and it is He who has given us the strength to persist in this struggle.” Gisela Ortiz, whose brother Luis Enrique was also one of the Cantuta victims, reminded her compatriots just how long a struggle it has been: The confirmation of the verdict represents the culmination of nearly two decades of searching for truth and justice by the family members of the victims.

Multilateralism: B-

by Ian Williams | Jan 27, 2010

Understandably preoccupied the economic crisis and health care reform, the Obama administration has failed to deliver on the multilateral front. Still awaiting signatures and ratification are the Law of the Sea (wanted by the Pentagon), the Comprehensive Test Ban treaty (crucial to the administration’s nonproliferation policy), the Conventions on Land Mines and Child Soldiers (both popular with Obama’s base), and, of course, the International Criminal Court (ICC).

UN Report Misleading on Afghanistan

by Erik Leaver, Julien Mercille | Nov 5, 2009

As President Obama and his advisors debate future troop levels for Afghanistan, a new report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) muddies the water on one of the most important issues in the debate — the effects of Afghanistan’s drug production.

Good Moon Rising?

by John Feffer, Ian Williams | Oct 14, 2009

This year’s General Assembly attracted more media attention than the United Nations usually attracts, at least since the feeding frenzy over the "oil for food" controversy. It was not just the recent stand-up routines of Libya’s Qaddafi, Iran’s Ahmadinejad, and Venezuela’s Chavez that won the attention of the large press contingent. This time the organization really was dealing with substantive issues of global importance, and dealing with them rather than evading them with the traditional parade of orotundity. Disarmament and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, climate change, and a fair deal for the poor in the economic crisis were all on the agenda. It may not be coincidental that these issues are hardly calculated to warm a neocon heart.

Response to Chomsky II

by John Feffer, Ian Williams | Sep 8, 2009

I look hard but fail to see a moral or logical compass in Chomsky’s fast and loose recital of dates and deaths. In the end, his argument reduces to two basic principles. If someone other than the United States commits mass murder they did so with American encouragement, and so the guilt is ultimately Washington’s. Or they did it in response to American actions, which either exonerates them or in some way mitigates their crime.

Response to Williams

by Noam Chomsky, John Feffer | Sep 1, 2009

Ian Williams angrily denied that "NATO air raids on Serbia [beginning March 24 1999] actually precipitated the worst atrocities in Kosovo" and charged that it is deeply immoral for me to say so, "like claiming that the British air raids on Germany precipitated the Nazi gas chambers."

UN Reform: Don’t Hold Your Breath

by John Feffer, Ian Williams | Aug 26, 2009

60-Second Expert: Ban Ki Moon and R2P

by Noor Iqbal, Ian Williams | Aug 3, 2009

Under the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, the United Nations General Assembly addresses the international community’s failure to prevent and stop genocides, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing. Adopted at the World Summit in 2005, R2P expands the definition of such crimes against humanity to include those committed by a state within its own borders.

Ban Ki Moon and R2P

by John Feffer, Ian Williams | Aug 3, 2009

Kofi Annan’s greatest achievement as UN secretary general was his deft steering of the UN General Assembly to accept the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine at the 2005 World Summit.

Nuclear Promises

by John Feffer, Zia Mian | Jun 4, 2009

The leaders of the nuclear weapon states, led by President Barack Obama, are promising to abolish nuclear weapons. It is a good sign. But we have been here before. This time the world needs more than promises. To demonstrate that they are serious, nuclear weapon states should announce clear policies to move irreversibly and quickly toward nuclear weapons elimination.