Bosnia

Plan that could prevent future Rwandas and Bosnias

THE LIGHT PARTY
An Enlightened Political Party Dedicated to "Health, Peace and Freedom for All"
20 Sunnyside Avenue, Suite A-156
Mill Valley, CA 94941
Tel: (415) 381-2357 -- Fax: (415) 381-2645
Dear Editor:

Greetings! The catastrophes in Rwanda and Bosnia have demonstrated the inability of the UN system to prevent genocide and war. Now Burundi is on the brink of a bloodbath, as is Nigeria, and again the international response is all too feeble.

Perhaps in this 50th anniversary year of the United Nations it is time to put in place better systems for prevention of violent conflict.

A high-level commission of 28 distinguished women and men called the Commission on Global Governance, co-chaired by Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson of Sweden and former Commonwealth Secretary-General Shridath Ramphal, has come forward with a plan that could prevent future Rwandas and Bosnias:

The UN would have an early warning system to identify conflicts that could lead to bloodshed.

Teams of UN mediators and "preventive diplomats" would be dispatched immediately to help find negotiated solutions before the killing begins.

If negotiation fails, a UN armed force of 10,000 highly-trained volunteers would be ready for immediate deployment. Like any police force, they would have the power to arrest anyone engaged in violence, rape or murder.

An International Criminal Court would issue arrest warrants and give a fair trial to anyone - including political leaders - responsible for genocide or war crimes.

The UN Security Council, which is responsible for keeping the peace, would be reformed to make it more effective and representative, with the great-power veto phased out. Citizen groups would have a "Right of Petition" to bring issues directly to the Security Council.

A small tax on international currency transfers would generate funds to pay for these institutions, and to attack the poverty and environmental degradation that are so often the root causes of conflict.

Our government should initiate concrete proposals, at this year's 50th anniversary session of the UN General Assembly, for the urgent implementation of the Commission's recommendations. The bureaucratic resistance in some national governments may be strong. But if these ideas aren't implemented, then before long, somewhere else in the world, Rwanda will happen again. And again we'll watch in horror, with no effective way to respond, while families are torn apart and children are butchered.

In Health, Peace and Freedom...

DaVid, M.D.
Founder
THE LIGHT PARTY