How US and Britain make mockery of UN Charter: UN lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR March 26 - A United Nations lawyer spoke Wednesday of how the United States and Britain, the original architects of the UN Charter, have made a mockery of the Charter by invading Iraq.

Datuk Param Cumaraswamy said the UN Charter contains these high-sounding preamble: " to save the succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our life time has brought untold sorrow to mankind..."

But both the US and Britain had failed the international community by going outside the UN Security Council by invading Iraq, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers said in a statement here.

Param, a senior practising Malaysian lawyer before taking up his UN appointment in 1994, also pointed out that the UN Secretary General only had very limited powers over the maintenance of international peace and security.

" The Charter expressly provides that the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security rests with the Security Council. In the Security Council, the Secretary General neither has a vote nor veto powers," he said.

Param said the Secretary-General is the chief administrative officer of the UN and he and his staff are independent and impartial in carrying out their duties.

" They should not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the organisation. This is not only expressed in the Charter but also implied from the oath or declaration they subscribe to on assuming office".

He said the Charter vests on the Secretary-General only the power "to bring to the attention of the Security Council" any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenence of international peace and security.

" This power no doubt entitles the Secretary-General to take the political initiative in the maintenance of international peace and security", he said.

Param said given such limited powers, it was "unfair" to call on Secretary General Kofi Annan to resign over his handling of the Iraq conflict in the UN.

He also said it would be a futile exercise if Annan were to go back to the Security Council now and express an opinion that the conduct of the US and Britain threatened international peace and security.

" Where would that lead to? A further debate in the Security Council where the US and Britain could exercise their veto powers? Such a course, to my mind, would be an exercise in futily," he said.