LISBON, Portugal, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The International Association of Lawyers, or UAI, is calling for an overhaul of the charter of the United Nations.
During the group's 47th congress in Lisbon, officials said the U.N. charter is outdated and unable to respond to the challenges of the 21st century, the BBC reported Sunday.
And more
China's number two leader calls for new global order based on equality
MANILA Sept 1 - China's number two leader Wu Bangguo called Monday for a new global political and economic order to replace what he termed a ``unfair and unjust'' system.
At a meeting of Asian parliamentarians here, the Chinese official also sought a new international security concept ``featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation.''
Wu said that while pursing the goal of a new international order, efforts should be made to protect the role of the United Nations and make it more efficient in maintaining world peace.
China is the only Asian state among five countries with veto powers at the UN Security Council - the others being the United States, Russia, Britain and France.
Wu suggested that Asia spearhead moves to establish the new international order ``that is fair and equitable'' and ``reflects the common interests of the majority of countries and people.''
``It is incumbent on us to gradually adjust and reform what is unfair and unjust in the existing order and push for democracy in international relations,'' said Wu, the chairman of China's parliament, National People's Congress.
In his speech, Wu said the new order should require countries to respect and consult one another and seek common goals in the economic front.
``It is an order under which all countries enjoy mutual trust and peace in the area of security and learn from one another and work for common prosperity culturally,'' he said.
Without referring to the US-British invasion of Iraq, which was not specifically authorised by the UN, the Chinese leader said that ``in spite of the new situation, the purpose and principles of the UN Charter remain an important legal base for the maintenance of world peace.''
``The use of force brings no genuine peace,'' he said, calling on countries to ``settle disputes and conflicts peacefully through negotiations and prevent war and conflicts.''
Wu gave an assurance that China would not pursue aggression despite its growing economic clout.
``In the future, no matter how the international situation may change and how strong China's economy will become, we will unswervingly pursue our foreign policy of maintaining world peace and promoting common development,'' he said.
He said China, spearheading efforts to resolve the nuclear crisis in the Korean peninsula stemming from Pyongyang's nuclear programme, ``cannot develop without peace and stability in Asia.''
He warned that Asia's peace was ``under challenge,'' citing the threat posed by terrorism, separatism and extremism as well as infectious diseases, cross-border crimes and ecological disasters.
Wu is here to launch the fourth general assembly of the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP), a group of 37 regional parliaments.
The assembly's theme is ``towards one hundred years of peace in Asia.''
Wu, who is the outgoing AAPP president, has given his support in principle for a feasibility study on the group's eventual evolution into an Asian parliamentary assembly on the model of the already-established European, Latin American and African parliaments, officials said.
``I believe fervently that such an assembly of Asia's parliamentarians - from Tokyo to Istanbul - can have the same long-term catalytic effect on the Asian community as the formation of the 45-nation parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe in 1949 had on the European Union,'' said incoming AAPP president Jose de Venecia, speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives.
Kobasak Chutikul, the deputy leader of Thailand's Chart Thai party, said an Asian parliament based on the European model could not be achieved in the foreseeable future.
``This is because of the enormous expanse of Asia and the diversity and number of the countries involved,'' he said.
MEANWHILE, in LISBON, the International Association of Lawyers proposed on Saturday the United Nations' charter should be overhauled and that its headquarters should be moved from New York, in a call for reform after the Iraq crisis.
Failure to reform could lead to a ``total marginalisation of this body in the fight for peace and international security in the 21st century'', the association's president, Antoine Akl, said in an address at its annual congress.
The Paris-based association, grouping almost two million lawyers from 110 countries, said it planned to submit its proposals to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an effort to strengthen the United Nations.
US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair ordered their forces to go to war in Iraq earlier this year to oust Saddam Hussein despite failing to win a new mandate from the UN Security Council for force to be used.
The proposals include ending the right to veto held by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia.
Akl, a Lebanese lawyer, told Reuters the UN headquarters should be moved from New York to a ``neutral site'' to be determined by the UN General Assembly. - Reuters
http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2003&dt=0902&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=World&pg=wo_10.htm
"Amen" to moving to another country. Should never have been here in the first place.
Great! I think they should move every ten years, to the poorest nation on the planet as selected by majority vote. It wouldn't take the UN long to improve the new host country's economy and living conditions. Then they could move on and improve another country. We could use the UN to promote democracy around the world, since that is the only form of government that can sustain a viable, self-supporting ecomony.
We could use the UN to promote democracy around the world, since that is the only form of government that can sustain a viable, self-supporting ecomony.
< /sarcasm>