Peace & Justice

Photo: A view of the SCO Summit. Credit: SCO

Astana Summit Favours UN Security Council Reform and a Polycentric World Order

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the third in a series of articles from Kazakhstan which being geographically located both in Asia and Europe, considers itself a Eurasian country. The articles are based on information gathered during a visit from June 7 to June 15 on the occasion of the opening of EXPO 2017 in Astana. Video clips accompany the articles in this series. – The Editor

ASTANA (IDN) – Kazakhstan, which is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018, played a crucial role in the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), chaired by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, on June 8-9 in Astana.

The United Nations drew much of the focus of the SCO heads of state gathered in the Kazakh capital city. But they also underlined the importance of the Organisation's further consolidation as an effective full-fledged regional platform aimed at active participation in building a more equitable, polycentric model of the world order.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 14 June 2017

Photo: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had a brief interaction with his India counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of a meeting of the Heads of State Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Astana. Credit: The Nation, Pakistan.

What SCO Summit in Kazakhstan Means for India-Pak Ties

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the second in a series of articles from Kazakhstan which being geographically located both in Asia and Europe, considers itself a Eurasian country. The articles are based on information gathered during a visit from June 7 to June 15 on the occasion of the opening of EXPO 2017 in Astana. Video clips accompany the articles in this series. - The Editor

ASTANA (IDN) – Within days of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit and opening of the 'EXPO 2017: Future Energy', Roman Vassilenko, Kazakhstan's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, proudly refers to "25 achievements of Kazakhstan's diplomacy in 25 years" and speaks of a "truly historic moment" in the country's "modern history".

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 13 June 2017

Across Latin America, thousands of girls under the age of 15 suffer from sexual violence and are forced to become mothers against their wishes. Credit: YouTube

Where Forced Child Pregnancy is Not Fiction

By Phil Harris

ROME (IDN) - She is 10-years-old when she is raped by her mother’s companion and becomes pregnant. Extremely ill, undernourished and underweight during her pregnancy, her mother requests an abortion and although the law permits termination of a pregnancy if authorities deem the carrier’s health is in danger, the request is denied by the State.

The girl’s mother is arrested and temporarily imprisoned for failing in her duty of care to her daughter, despite having previously reported the abuse to the police, who did not act.

Meanwhile, the State sends the girl to an institution against her wishes, where she is made to stay until the birth of her child. She is not allowed any visitors, apart from an aunt who is allowed to come once a week for two hours.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 09 June 2017

Image: Uluru rock in Central Australia. Indigenous Australians met in a historic summit overlooking it on May 24-26. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Aboriginal Australians Press For Constitutional Recognition

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) - In 1967, in a historic referendum, some 92 percent of Australians voted for the original inhabitants to be recognized as “people” to be counted in the census.

Exactly 50 years later, over 250 Indigenous Australians met in a historic summit overlooking the sacred Uluru rock in Central Australia May 24-26 and called upon the Australian government to change the constitution to give them a voice in parliament and a treaty to recognize their relationship to the land.

Australian Aborigines have come a long way since the 1967 referendum that allowed them to be considered as people like the rest of the Australians.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 31 May 2017

Photo: Indian delegation headed by Mukul Rohatgi, Attorney General, at the human rights review of India. Credit: UN Human Rights Council.

UN Finds Fault With India’s Human Rights Record

By Ravi Kanth Devarakonda

GENEVA (IDN) - India says it implements universal human rights as it reckons the world is one family – “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” – in which it is imperative to comply with the existing international rules governing civil, political, economic, and social rights.

But reports prepared by several special rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council and civil society groups paint a grim picture of continued violations of the fundamental human rights that India had agreed to in various international conventions and treaties.During the recent third cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of India under the auspices of the Council on May 4, 2017, these two clashing narratives came under scrutiny, according to several participants in the meeting.

: Ravi Kanth Devarakonda; UN INSIDER; 20 May 2017

Photo: Dr. Daisaku Ikeda. Credit: Seikyo Shimbun.

Strengthening the UN and its Creative Evolution into the Future

Interview with Soka Gakkai International (SGI) President Dr. Daisaku Ikeda

BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN-INPS) – Why is it important to highlight the role of young people in ushering in a New Era of Hope? Will the landmark UN Conference to negotiate “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination” succeed? How can UN Secretary-General António Guterres ensure sufficient support from the international community for implementing the SDGs and the Paris Climate Change Agreement?

Ramesh Jaura, Editor-in-Chief and International Correspondent of IDN, flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate group, asked SGI President Dr. Daisaku Ikeda these and related questions in an e-mail interview. Read the Q&A in full:

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 15 May 2017

Photo: CTBTO Executive Secretary, Lassina Zerbo addressing PrepCom on May 2, 2017.

Conference Highlights Significance of Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

This is the first in a series of three articles on the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference from May 2-12 in Vienna. - The Editor

By Ramesh Jaura

VIENNA (IDN) - "The urgent importance of bringing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) into force, as a core element of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime," was a highlight of the first session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2020 NPT Review Conference from May 2-12 in the capital of Austria.

The PrepCom's Chair Henk Cor van der Kwast noted in his factual summary: "The intrinsic link between the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the goals and objectives of the Treaty was stressed." 111 States parties to NPT, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons participated in the work of the Committee at its first session.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 14 May 2017

Photo: People watching first Iranian 2017 presidential debate in Tehran on 28 April 2017. Credit: Wikiedia Commons.

Suspense Abounds in Iran's Presidential Elections

By Mortezagholi Raissi

BONN | TEHRAN (IDN) - In the run-up to the Presidential elections in Iran on May 19, all but six of the 1600 women and men who were registered as presidential candidates for the twelfth poll since the 'Islamic Revolution' that resulted in the toppling of the monarchy on April 1, 1979, have been axed.

The spokesman of the powerful 'Guardian Council' announced in an interview with the Iranian television on April 26 that only the six approved candidates fulfilled the requirements for standing for elections to the office of the President.

The Guardian Council consists of 12 persons, 6 of whom are scholars appointed directly by Ayatollah Khamenei, the country's Supreme Leader, and the other 6 are jurists, who need to be confirmed by the Parliament. However, the chairman of the Council is a confidant of the leader. But all candidates are requited to be local to the regime.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 05 May 2017

Photo: Fourth Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development. Credit: ESCAP.

Exercising Power Fairly More Important SDG Yardstick than Democratic Accountability

By Kalinga Seneviratne

BANGKOK (IDN) – In its 2017 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, the Bangkok-based UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) makes an interesting argument in regards to achieving the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in seemingly downplaying the importance of democratic accountability and emphasising that how power is exercised is more important.

“In the Survey for 2017 political dimensions, such as democratic accountability, are avoided, and governance is framed in terms of how power is exercised instead of how it is acquired,” the report says in its executive summary.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; UN INSIDER; 03 May 2017

Photo: The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, commonly called the Atomic Bomb Dome or A-Bomb Dome is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Credit: Tim Wright.

Preparing for 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – The States party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) convene every five years to review the implementation of this nuclear disarmament regime in three sessions. In run-up to the 2020 NPT Review Conference, the first session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) will meet from May 2-12 in Vienna.

The Austrian capital, which serves as the associate headquarters of the UN, has come to play a historic role in the world body's efforts for a legal treaty aimed at ushering in a nuclear-weapons-free world. In December 2014, it was the venue of the third Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons – after Nayarit (Mexico) in February 2014 and Oslo in March 2013 – which paved the path to the 'Austrian Pledge', also known as the 'Humanitarian Pledge', to "stigmatize, prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons".