Peace & Justice

Photo: G20 Hangzhou Summit. Source: Official Website

The G-20 Fiddles While Rome Burns

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) - The G-20 Summit in China took place when our world is more divided than ever before, and multi-millions suffer from wars and other calamities.

One showpiece of the Summit – even before it started – was the decision by United States President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping to ratify the Paris Agreement of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, a significant achievement considering the fact that U.S. and China are world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters that cause global warming.

: Somar Wijayadasa; THE WORLD; 13 September 2016

Photo: A bombshell deco in Northern Laos. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS

Obama’s Final Asian Tour ‘Unpivots’ US War Crimes in Asia

Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the tenth in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

BANGKOK (IDN | Lotus News Features) - President Barack Obama’s ‘pivot to Asia’ policy that realigned U.S. relationship to Asia, is largely regarded favourably in this region. Yet, his farewell visit to Asia ‘unpivoted’ a darker side of America’s involvement in Asia – of horrendous war crimes committed by the U.S. in Laos in the 1960s and 1970s for which Washington is yet to be held accountable.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 11 September 2016

Photo: Wide view of the General Assembly High-level Forum on the Culture of Peace. UN Photo/JC McIlwaine

'Culture of Peace' and SDGs Two Sides of the Same Coin

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) - In the face of violence and terrorism affecting many parts of the world, the United Nations and its members are faced with a challenge, the challenge of building a culture of peace and non-violence, outgoing General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft told a high-level forum on the 'Culture of Peace' at UN Headquarters on September 1.

“The UN is both a reflection of the world as it is and as we want it to be,” he said, calling on stakeholders to discuss and identify concrete ways to strengthen intercultural and interreligious dialogue and the role that the UN can play to that effect.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 02 September 2016

Image credit: Cinema for Peace Foundation.

Light Installation and Cinema for Peace Screenings in Rio

By Courtesy of Cinema for Peace Foundation

RIO DE JANEIRO (IDN-INPS) - The Olympics should have been a time of peace, but the world was at war. There were 19 wars and 16 war-like conflicts in the world during the Olympic Games. Overall, there are 409 conflicts, of which 223 are violent.

To shine a light on conflicts and to endorse the peaceful ideals of Olympic Games the initiative Sports for Peace, who hosted at the London Olympics Muhammad Ali's farewell, presented the 'Olympic Ideal of Peace' light installation in the Santa Marta Favela in Rio.

: Global Cooperation Council; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 21 August 2016

Europe Must Protect Europeans and Palestinian Civil Society

Viewpoint by Dr. Saeb Erekat*

JERICHO (IDN | PNN) - Israeli government officials have announced further measures against nonviolent actions by civil society. During the First Intifada, the Israeli occupation authorities deported non-violent activists and tried to prevent any peaceful demonstration against the imposed and oppressive policies.

Nowadays, Israel, with some international support, is trying to quash a growing solidarity movement with the Palestinian cause for freedom and independence.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 21 August 2016

Photo: Federal and Regional leaders of Somalia after the conclusion of the National Leadership Forum held in Mogadishu on 12 April 2016, which dealt with the 2016 electoral process, among other issues. UN Photo/Omar Abdisalan.

Somalia Urged to Follow Timeline for Democratic Governance

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) - As the ancient proverb goes, "there is many a slip between the cup and the lip", but if Somalia – often described as a 'failed state' – abides by the postponed timeline for this year's parliamentary and presidential elections, the United Nations would have reason to record success in a long-winded process.

The United Nations Security Council's 15 members in their meeting on August 19 adopted the Presidential Statement applauding the progress under way for the last four years, and underscored "the need to maintain the momentum towards democratic governance, with an inclusive, transparent and credible electoral process in 2016 as a stepping stone to universal suffrage elections in 2020".

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 20 August 2016

Photo: Security Council votes to authorize a 4,000-strong regional protection force within the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). UN Photo/Manuel Elias

UN Security Council's South Sudan Resolution Faulted

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) - Two of the five veto wielding members of the Security Council, China and Russia, and two from among the ten non-permanent ones, Egypt and Venezuela, abstained from the resolution renewing on August 12 the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until June 30, 2017, authorizing the expansion of peacekeeping forces and stressing the priority of civilian protection in its mandate.

The Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution that also threatened to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan if the government blocks the deployment of a robust force of 4,000 troops.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 14 August 2016

Photo: Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheik Ahmed. UN Photo/Elma Ocik

Peace Uncertain When Yemen Talks Resume in September

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) - Yemen, an Arab country in Western Asia, has been undergoing a civil war since 2015 causing huge suffering. The United Nations has been at pains to encourage the conflicting parties to come to a lasting agreement in talks that have been hosted by Kuwait for the past three months.

In a statement announcing one-month break in negotiations – between a Yemeni Government delegation and a delegation of the General People's Congress and Ansar Allah – on August 6, UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed assured that the process will enter a “new phase,” during which “the focus will be on working with each side separately to crystalize precise technical details”.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 10 August 2016

Photo: The Colombo World Trade Center in Colombo. Presidential Secretariat, Bank of Ceylon and Galadhari Hotel. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Sri Lanka: Multiculturalism May Hinder Reconciliation

Viewpoint by Shenali Waduge *

COLOMBO (IDN-INPS) - Since the fall of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in January 2015, reconciliation has propelled to the top of the political agenda with Western governments pushing Sri Lanka to be accountable for alleged war crimes committed at the end of the 30-year war with terror group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The new government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been currying favour with its new allies in the West and has been uncritically entertaining their demands for accountability, even to the extent of possibly allowing foreign (i.e. Western) judges to sit in judgement of war crime cases that may be brought against Sri Lanka’s war heroes in the army and the former government.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 07 August 2016

Photo: Scenes from UNMISS Tomping POC Site, Juba. Credit: UN Photo/Isaac Billy.

UN in Desperate Need of Contributions to Peacebuilding Fund

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is concerned about the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) facing "a desperate funding shortfall" and has asked Governments to help achieve a funding target of $300 million at its pledging conference in September.

The Fund was established in 2005 through resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council to stand alongside the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and "support activities, actions, programmes and organizations that seek to build a lasting peace in countries emerging from conflict".