Q&A: U.N. Envoy on Darfur Talks | Newsweek The Council on Foreign Relations

Wrongs Council
9/22/2009 12:00:00 AM
Despite a high-profile effort to reform the world's top human-rights panel, the new U.N. Human Rights Council continues to face the same criticisms that plagued its predecessor, the Commission on Human Rights. Experts say bloc voting, loose membership standards, and bias against Israel are keeping the two-year-old council from living up to expectations as a responsible watchdog over global human-rights norms. It is earning a failing grade from a broad range of groups, including human-rights advocates, international-law experts, and democracy activists. Experts say the council's condemnation of the human-rights situations in Darfur, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are steps in the right direction, and there is also a broad expectation that a new U.S. administration in Washington could change the contentious relationship between the council and the United States, which is not a member. But in a year during which the world body marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, many see the new rights council as a stain on the U.N.'s reputation.
AFRICA
Think Twice on Bashir
3/5/2009 12:00:00 AM
Should the president of Sudan, the notorious Omar al-Bashir, go to jail? This week the International Criminal Court at The Hague issued a warrant to arrest the Sudanese president for his role in the death of 300,000 people and the displacement of millions more during the six-year conflict in Darfur. It is the first time the court has charged a sitting head of state, and given the vile crimes committed in Darfur, a conviction would at last give the victims and their families some measure of justice.
Darfur Peace Talks Stall
10/28/2007 12:00:00 AM
SIRTE, Libya — Crippled by the absence of Darfur rebel leaders, U.N.-brokered peace talks ground to a halt on Sunday, with officials saying there could be no key steps until the fighters decided how to negotiate with the Sudanese government.
Sudan Declares Cease-Fire
10/27/2007 12:00:00 AM
SIRTE, Libya — The Sudanese government committed to an immediate cease-fire in Darfur at the opening of peace talks on Saturday, but the expected announcement was not met by similar pledges from rebels, who largely boycotted the U.N.-brokered negotiations.
THE LAST WORD
Ban Ki-Moon
Richard M. Smith
Since taking over "the world's most impossible job" at the beginning of the year, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has remained determinedly upbeat, despite the usual sniping from all sides. The low-key former South Korean foreign minister is still figuring out where he can make his mark, but he is beginning to look more focused in his efforts to tackle some of the world's most complex problems.
China Learns The Power Play