A CRITIQUE OF THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL IN PROMOTING PEACE AND SECURITY UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
The International community continues to experience human suffering on a scale unparalleled in human history despite all efforts made at international, regional and sub-regional levels. This stems primarily from some complex and often prolonged conflicts which initiatives to address the peace, security and stability challenges by the United Nations (UN), the international community and a range of regional and sub-regional organizations have failed to prove the efficacy of these organizations, which nonetheless, continue the battle to find a lasting solution. The plight of every society nowadays is to attain a reasonable level of economic growth, better standard of living and peace at all cost. No society can achieve these objectives without a reasonable level of peace and security. Peace and Security are virtues that are desired by individuals, families, countries, continents and the world as a whole. A peaceful and secured environment is a safe haven for investors which will definitely trigger economic growth and development. No investor will like to invest his hard earned savings in an unsecured environment. That is why so many countries spend huge resources both financial and human in order to ensure that there is peace and security so as to attract investors.
The cost of maintaining peace and security is far less expensive than halting war or breaches of peace. It is estimated that the United Nations spent about 200 billion dollars on several military interventions in 1990 in Bosnia Herzegovina, Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, Persia Gulf, Cambodia and El Salvador of which a preventive approach would have cost her just the sum of 130 billion dollars.[1]
This is to reiterate the fact that peace and security is gold. These virtues are need edat every level if mankind must sit and ponder of the future. Governments have never stopped at any level to put all their efforts together to ensure that there is peace and security in their countries. That is why there is the police force, the soldiers and private security providers trained in different specialties and fields; all with the aim of providing peace at its highest level. Governments have not stopped at anything to give their security agents proper training, to organize refresher programs for them and to send them to foreign countries for better security
skills.
Despite the efforts made at the national levels to maintain and promote peace and security, the international community has not relented in its efforts to ensure that peace and security is at its maximum level at every corners of this earth. That is why the creation of the League of Nations2 (LON) was so important to foster world peace and security. It failed in the mission for which it was created witnessed by two world wars that led to untold human and material loss. The LON lost credibility in the eyes of the international community. The United Nations Organisation3 (UNO) was then created to replace the LON with the principal objectives being to maintain international peace and security4. The United Nations(UN) through the Security Council5 (SC) has been doing a lot in its bid to maintain and promote peace and security worldwide. Regional organizations too, do help in the maintenance of international peace and security. This was recognized, encouraged and authorized by the founders of the United Nations
Kofi, A. A., (2002) Prevention of Armed Conflict; Report of the Secretary General. UN Publication, New York P. 36 2 Alan, B., (2000) The Unfinished Nation. Mc Graw Hill, Boston Massachusett, 3rd Edn p. 69.
See also Boger, L. W., (1977) Imperialism At Bay; Oxford University Press; Oxford p. 263
See also The league existed from 1920 to 1946. The first meeting was held in Geneva, on November 15, 1920, with 42 nations represented. The last meeting was held on April 8, 1946;
Alan, B.; p 160 op. cit p.2
See also Boger, L. W.; P.864 Op cit p. 2
1(1) UN Charter ;26 June 1945.Available athttp://www.UN.org/aboutun/Charteraccessed on 3/4/ 2013 at 2:03pm
5ibid Art. 24
and the drafters of its charter (UN) and is articulated in Chapter VIII[2]. Some of these regional bodies are the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS),the Southern African Development Community (SADC), North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) made up of an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe, African Union (AU), The Organisation of American States (OAS) etc.
The SC has been taking various measures to arrive at its objectives of maintaining peace and security which is its principal task since it was created[3]. Weapons monitoring and checks have been greatly embarked upon[4], sanctions applied in certain circumstances and military interventions in other circumstances, no fly zone, arms embargo etc. In some instances the SC has intervened in a country‘s territorial jurisdiction with tangible reasons to maintain and promote peace and Securitywhile in others, there has been no tangible and objective reason for intervention or interventions to protect the interest of a member (Libya, Iraq). At some instances, the SC has had a very tough time in getting a general agreement from its permanent members in intervening[5]. The various interventions by the SC or any of the regional or sub regional bodies have been bedeviled by huge financial, material and human loss both at the level of the intervening body and the fighting groups.Mankind‘s efforts to achieve this have been plagued by terrorism, attack of smaller state (weaker) by bigger and more powerful states.
Since the failure of the League of Nations and the creation of the United Nations, the Security Council has always had as task the maintenance of international peace and security.The big issue is that warring situations are still experienced in many parts of the world like Syria,
Central African Republic and South Sudan; terrorism in Mali, Somalia, Nigeria, Kenya etc.
There is the quest and stockpile of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)by some countries like North Korea, Iran, Israel, India, and Pakistan that is further rendering SC efforts in the maintenance of peace and security more difficult.All these situations and events bring to the writer much doubt as to effectiveness of the Security Council of maintaining and promoting world peace and security.These and many other questions are the researcher`s point of focus in the course of this work.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Since the signing of the UN Charter on October 24th 1945, and the assigning of the various task in it to the various bodies, the SC has been at work performing its own task of maintaining peace and security. Due to changing human activities, interests, priorities and time, many concepts, ideologies, philosophies, and norms have also changed. Some international law scholars are of the opinion that the members of the Security Council (SC) are acting on their own interest[6] in pursuing the work assigned to them. According to these scholars, if the SC was doing her job well, the world would not have been in such a chaotic state in which it is today11. To some Scholars the SC is doing the job assigned to her very well. That the aspect of bias is not in any way found in the agenda of this body. The SC is executing the main purpose for which the UN was created. i.e., to maintain world peace and security and thus stop the world from experiencing another scourging war like World War One (WW I), andWorld War Two (WW II).
Since 1945 with the creation of the UN and given the mandate to maintain world peace and security to the SC, the world has experienced so many situations of breach of the peace that has reshaped the reasoning the world powers. The Security Council has been facing a number of challenges in the course of performing its duty of promoting and maintaining world peace. Some challenges like the Israel-Palestine constant unrest and given the number of UN resolutions Israel has ignored or broken, and international laws broken, in addition, the issue of UN Security Council reform and the difficulties encountered, the issue of the veto which is the biggest stumbling block to any kind of agreement on really serious matters, the challenge of Cooperative Security and National Interest also looms among the security members.[7] These issues have caused the researcher to develop some doubt as to the effectiveness of the UNSC in performing its functions as prescribed by the UN Charter.
A CRITIQUE OF THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL IN PROMOTING PEACE AND SECURITY UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW
