06-27-2020, 07:21 PM
"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people. Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law. Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations. Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge."
Mr President, Mr General Secretary, fellow delegate, those are some of the most critical words ever proclaimed by this institution and the nations assembled, found in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This institution was founded in the wake of one of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind; the rise of Fascism, the execution of the Second World War, and the wholesale slaughter encapsulated in the Holocaust showed us all as human beings that we had to be better and that we had to do better. Today for the first time in my career I have been left speechless and despairing by the failure of the United Nations’ own Security Council to act against a tyrant who has committed egregious violations of common decency, horrific crimes against humanity, and now to add to his charges some very serious war crimes. I call upon this body to act where the Security Council could not to uphold peace and security for the people of Iraq against an inhuman dictator in Saddam Hussein.
Saddam Hussein’s history of human rights violations is as long as it is infamous, since the beginning of the Iraq/Iran War we have managed to identify numerous affronts to human decency and many many crimes against humanity. Let us first consider the persecution of the Feyli Kurds, an ongoing crime which draws many unfavourable comparisons with a genocide. The Kurdish people are being forced from their homes, imprisoned, relocated in ghetto-esque areas, and executed en-masse. At the height of the war there was the Halabja poison gas attack, a chemical weapon attack on a Kurdish town which killed thousands of unarmed civilians, not the first time he used chemical weapons, and sadly not the last. There is Al-Anfal Campaign, a campaign of brutal violence begun in 1988 which has killed tens of thousands such is its brutality. He has in these attacks deliberately targeted women, children, and the elderly leaving mountains of bodies, hundreds of mass graves, and unknown numbers of political prisoners and refugees. Then there are the even more shocking reports of as many as a million Iraqi Kurds being murdered in other attacks, a concentrated and prolonged genocide against a people whom he clearly hates with a passion. Finally we have the events of only a few days ago, the unprovoked use of a chemical weapon of mass destruction on a civilian population. This attack really was outrageous and if it were not for many many mitigating factors it could have proven to be far far more deadly than it turned out to be eventually. Combine that with the deliberate targeting of the British Embassy in Tel-Aviv, a clear breach of international law in its own right, and we clearly have a regime that is not just hell bent on ignoring international rights and norms but is actively seeking to undermine them.
The use of Weapons of Mass Destruction is a terrible but every occasionally necessary evil, using them unprovoked as a first strike is a great, objective, and unsupportable worse, however using them unprovoked as a first strike against a civilian target is barbaric and inhuman. It is an affront to peace, humanity, and security for the whole world but especially the Middle East. Mr President, Mr Secretary General, fellow delegates, this body has a great lineage of peace processes and upholding international law through negotiation, but in words often attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte “Si vis pacem, para bellum”, if you want peace, prepare for war. In the last thirteen years Saddam Hussein has invaded two nations, occupied one, and spent less than 20% of his time at peace with his immediate neighbours. He is a danger to the entire region, to his own civilians, and indeed to the civilians of other nations, he has proven himself capable of and willing to engage in the use of weapons of mass destruction, he has proven himself to be little more than a genocidal warlord, he must be removed from power. I therefore call upon this body to pass a Uniting for Peace resolution so that we may act where the Security Council refuses to.
Mr President, Mr General Secretary, fellow delegate, those are some of the most critical words ever proclaimed by this institution and the nations assembled, found in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This institution was founded in the wake of one of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind; the rise of Fascism, the execution of the Second World War, and the wholesale slaughter encapsulated in the Holocaust showed us all as human beings that we had to be better and that we had to do better. Today for the first time in my career I have been left speechless and despairing by the failure of the United Nations’ own Security Council to act against a tyrant who has committed egregious violations of common decency, horrific crimes against humanity, and now to add to his charges some very serious war crimes. I call upon this body to act where the Security Council could not to uphold peace and security for the people of Iraq against an inhuman dictator in Saddam Hussein.
Saddam Hussein’s history of human rights violations is as long as it is infamous, since the beginning of the Iraq/Iran War we have managed to identify numerous affronts to human decency and many many crimes against humanity. Let us first consider the persecution of the Feyli Kurds, an ongoing crime which draws many unfavourable comparisons with a genocide. The Kurdish people are being forced from their homes, imprisoned, relocated in ghetto-esque areas, and executed en-masse. At the height of the war there was the Halabja poison gas attack, a chemical weapon attack on a Kurdish town which killed thousands of unarmed civilians, not the first time he used chemical weapons, and sadly not the last. There is Al-Anfal Campaign, a campaign of brutal violence begun in 1988 which has killed tens of thousands such is its brutality. He has in these attacks deliberately targeted women, children, and the elderly leaving mountains of bodies, hundreds of mass graves, and unknown numbers of political prisoners and refugees. Then there are the even more shocking reports of as many as a million Iraqi Kurds being murdered in other attacks, a concentrated and prolonged genocide against a people whom he clearly hates with a passion. Finally we have the events of only a few days ago, the unprovoked use of a chemical weapon of mass destruction on a civilian population. This attack really was outrageous and if it were not for many many mitigating factors it could have proven to be far far more deadly than it turned out to be eventually. Combine that with the deliberate targeting of the British Embassy in Tel-Aviv, a clear breach of international law in its own right, and we clearly have a regime that is not just hell bent on ignoring international rights and norms but is actively seeking to undermine them.
The use of Weapons of Mass Destruction is a terrible but every occasionally necessary evil, using them unprovoked as a first strike is a great, objective, and unsupportable worse, however using them unprovoked as a first strike against a civilian target is barbaric and inhuman. It is an affront to peace, humanity, and security for the whole world but especially the Middle East. Mr President, Mr Secretary General, fellow delegates, this body has a great lineage of peace processes and upholding international law through negotiation, but in words often attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte “Si vis pacem, para bellum”, if you want peace, prepare for war. In the last thirteen years Saddam Hussein has invaded two nations, occupied one, and spent less than 20% of his time at peace with his immediate neighbours. He is a danger to the entire region, to his own civilians, and indeed to the civilians of other nations, he has proven himself capable of and willing to engage in the use of weapons of mass destruction, he has proven himself to be little more than a genocidal warlord, he must be removed from power. I therefore call upon this body to pass a Uniting for Peace resolution so that we may act where the Security Council refuses to.