Mondial (December 2014)

Building a world community

Published in Canada by the World Federalists, a non-profit organization that advocates more just and effective global governance through the application of the principles of democratic federalism to world affairs.

DECEMBER 2014

Alyn Ware Receives WFMC Peace Award Also in this issue:

•• •• •• •• •• •

Canada’s Flawed Cluster Munitions Law 1 for 7 Billion: The Campaign to Find the Best UN Leader The Need to Extend the Globalization of Justice Review: “The Shifts and the Shocks: What we’ve learned - and have still to learn - from the financial crisis” What Canada Should Be Saying at the United Nations Every Casualty of Armed Conflict Counts Prosecuting Sexual and Gender-based Crimes UN’s Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals: a “transformative change”?

Ventotene International Seminar on Federalism Time for a UN Spring ICC Update and Branch News

www.worldfederalistscanada.org

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COVER STORY

Alyn Ware Receives WFMC Peace Award e World Federalist Movement – Canada’s 2014 World Peace Award was presented to Alyn Ware at a ceremony December 2 in Ottawa. e award was presented at the time of the annual meeting of the Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (CNANW).

Alyn Ware is a New Zealand born political analyst, nuclear disarmament expert, peace educator and nuclear abolition campaigner. Currently based in Switzerland, he is co-founder of a number of organizations, networks and initiatives including: Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons – which has grown to include more than 2000 organizations in over 90 countries; World Court Project which achieved a decision from the International Court of Justice in 1996 on the illegality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons; Middle Powers Initiative which has brought together influential governments to advance a nuclear disarmament framework in multilateral forums; Model Nuclear Weapons Convention which has been circulated by the UN Secretary-General as a guide to nuclear disarmament negotiations; Nuclear Abolition Forum, a website and periodical to facilitate dialogue on the process to achieve and sustain a nuclear-weapons-free world; Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament, a global network of influential parliamentarians from around the world, for which Alyn serves as the Global Coordinator; Basel Peace Office, which brings together key international and Swiss organizations to advance the security of a nuclear-weapons-free world.

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e award presentation included approximately 20 Canadian nuclear disarmament activists and World Federalists meeting at an Ottawa hotel, and a skype connection with Alyn Ware in Switzerland. Upon receiving the award his remarks included the following: “Well I’m really floored to be receiving this award.

When I see the names of so many of the previous recipients, so many well-known individuals, it’s a real honour for me to be among this sort of company. I’m very grateful.

I don’t know whether those in the room are aware, but it was the World Federalists that gave me my start in nuclear disarmament activism. In 1988 I was flying back from the Soviet Union, stopped in New York at the UN Church Center where so many NGO offices are located and saw the sign for the World Federalists. I asked for a short interview and met two Canadians, Kit Pineau and Dieter Heinrich, who were staffing the WFM international office at the time. ree hours later they had given me a desk in the corner of the office and off we went. As I’m trained as an educator, I worked on the “Planet in Every Classroom” project, a global education effort targeting schoolteachers. I also did lobbying related to the UN’s Dra Code of Crimes Against Peace discussions, which were just getting underway at that time. e dra code eventually formed part of the legal underpinning for the International Criminal Court.

Over the years my nuclear disarmament work oen criss-crossed with projects the World Federalists were working on. In the 90s, when the nuclear disarmament community was pushing the World Court Project, i.e. getting the International Court of Justice to rule on the illegality of nuclear weapons, Bill Pace had strong connections with governments that were part of the Non-Aligned Movement, working to implement the UN Decade of International Law. Bill was a big help with our work getting a number of NAM governments to join and take part in the case at the ICJ.

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COVER STORY

We also collaborated on the 1999 Hague Appeal for Peace, a massive international conference involving over 10,000 civil society activists from around the world. ese days my work here at the Basel Peace Office mainly involves supporting the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament – and congratulations by the way on the successful meeting earlier today with Canadian parliamentarians. But I’ve also taken out a membership in the Swiss World Federalists, who have been helpful both with our office in Basel and some of our Geneva-based work.

Most recently Bill Pace was a guest speaker at an event we organized at the UN, the launch of the UNFOLD ZERO, a platform to promote UN-focused initiatives leading to nuclear disarmament. We launched the campaign September 26, the new UN Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

As a world federalist, Bill spoke on the UN’s collective security system as a necessary complement to the disarmament process, which is an important part of the vision of a nuclear-free world, but one that many in the disarmament movement neglect.”

Canada’s Flawed Cluster Munitions Law On November 6, the Canadian government’s bill to implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) received royal assent and became law.

Cluster munitions are weapons that release hundreds of bomblets (submunitions) that have a known harmful impact on populations because of their wide explosive footprint upon delivery from aircra or artillery, but especially because of their high failure rate. Unexploded submunitions are scattered broadly, and can be detonated by unknowing civilians who walk by. Children are an estimated one-third of all victims. e treaty is designed to stop all use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of this weapon. However, the new Canadian law includes language that effectively undermines the text and spirit of the treaty. It includes numerous “exceptions” that permit Canadian soldiers to enable and assist in the use of cluster munitions while in combined operations with allies, such as the United States, that have not signed the treaty.

Similar language was not used in Canada’s implementing legislation for the Landmines treaty. e version of the implementing legislation adopted November 6 reflects longstanding divisions between Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of National Defence (DND). In this instance the government sided with legal views presented by DND.

e Cluster Munition Coalition (the international ban coalition), and Mines Action Canada, along with the World Federalist Movement – Canada, have repeatedly encouraged the government to consider amendments to align the law with the treaty language. We were not successful. WFM-C organized two letters signed by international legal experts and former Canadian disarmament ambassadors underscoring the incompatibility of the Canadian legislation with the Convention.

Warren Allmand, President of WFMC, pointed out that “e result is a disappointment.

Canada is setting a bad example internationally. Our precedent will make it easier for other governments to write in similar loopholes. It could seriously undermine the treaty.

Despite this setback, we are encouraged that all the opposition parties opposed the legislation, agreed with international and Canadian critics, and voted against passage.”

Campaigners will press for changes to the legislation at a later date, and when a new Canadian government is able to take a fresh look at the law and remove the problematic sections.

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1 for 7 Billion: The Campaign to Find the Best UN Leader Recently launched, “1 for 7 Billion” is a global campaign supported by organizations and individuals committed to greater transparency in the selection of the next UN Secretary-General (SG). e campaign's informal steering committee is comprised of Avaaz, United Nations Association UK and World Federalist Movement - Institute for Global Policy.

mature and deliberative process between the two principal bodies of the UN. In reality, however, the Security Council simply announces its choice following secret deliberations and then expects the GA automatically to approve it as a formality – an expectation that the GA has, regrettably, fulfilled on each such occasion in the past.

e campaign would like to see the selection process for the next UN SG include principles such as being [...] transparent to both the wider UN membership and civil society.

Interest in the campaign’s objective is high and there has been coverage in the New York Times, the Guardian and other mainstream media outlets. e UN Secretary-General plays a crucial role in tackling global challenges and improving the lives of seven billion people. Currently, procedures are dominated by the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Ban Ki-moon coming to the end of his second 5 year term as Secretary General

In an article for the WFMC “UN and Canada” publication, former Canadian Ambassador to the UN, Allan Rock summarized the problem: “e process for selecting the SG is sadly lacking. ere is no agreed list of qualifications, no search committee to identify prospects, no vetting of potential candidates and little testing of their views and aptitudes – either by the Security Council or the General Assembly – before the final selection is made.” e UN Charter provides for the SG to be elected by the General Assembly (GA) on the recommendation of the Security Council. is seems to suggest a

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Current Secretary-General Ban Kimoon’s term in office will end in December 2016. Discussions regarding possible candidates have already begun.

e campaign would like to see the selection process for the next UN SG include principles such as being based on formal criteria and qualifications, grounded in best practice on equality and diversity, and transparent to both the wider UN membership and civil society.

Alongside the campaign there is a growing movement to select (for the first time) a woman as Secretary-General.

In order to reflect these practices, the 1 for 7 Billion campaign proposes ten achievable and necessary reforms that would not require an amendment to the UN Charter. ese reforms include advertising the position and its qualifications in all countries (and including a closing date for nominations); a formal list of selection criteria; a clear timetable for the process; a published list of candidates at the end of the nomination phase; each candidate would release a document stating their policy priorities; a series of open sessions of the General Assembly so that member states, as well as the public and the media, can examine the candidates; and the term of the Secretary-General should be limited to a single seven year term.

Individuals and organizations are encouraged to support the campaign’s demands for a fair, open and inclusive process by signing up at 1for7billion.org, where the campaign's full platform is also available.

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The Need to Extend the Globalization of Justice Florencia Gor A brief introduction to the Campaign towards the creation of a Latin American Criminal Court against Transnational Organized Crime is past September 43 students vanished from a rural college in the Southern Mexican state of Guerrero. ey were handed by the police to the criminal group “Guerreros Unidos” aer being arrested before a presumed protest in Iguala. Since the disappearances, many clandestine graves have been found in the area. Some members of the drug gang have admitted to the massacre and relatives and citizens all over the country are once more taking to the streets and demanding accountability from their government.

43 is an alarming number, but not compared to the 33,000 people that have gone missing since the “drug war” started in the country approximately 8 years ago (around 22,000 on official lists).

democratization of supranational institutions in the region for over a decade, decided to raise the question: How about advocating for a regional mechanism to judge transnational organized crimes? How about using the example of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court to develop an institution to define and prosecute those crimes that were not included in the Rome Statute?

Florencia Gor is the President of Democracia Global since 2013.

In 2013, during the 5th annual Altiero Spinelli Symposium in Buenos Aires, the idea of this campaign started to grow by hosting a panel of several law academics and civil society leaders involved in human rights campaigns. is was followed by several meetings in Peru, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Argentina (and many more to come in the next months) where NGOs, political

e Court’s main purpose should be to overcome the judicial weaknesses that national systems have demonstrated

And although the state of affairs in Mexico is unsustainable, it is not isolated from what the rest of the continent has been struggling with.

Latin America, already considered the most unequal region in the world, now also holds the title of most violent region, as stated by the United Nations 2013 Global Study on Homicide. According to this research, organized crime and related activity accounts for 30% of all deaths in the region, compared to less than one percent in Asia, Europe and Oceania. In addition, only 24% of reported homicides result in a conviction (half the global average). is, of course, is related to the corruption in basic civic institutions such as police forces.

Organized crime, in an alarming variety of shapes and forms, impacts every aspect of the lives of Latin American citizens. Human, drug and arms trafficking are common practice. Citizens are tired and outraged by what seem to be the only two ways in which governments address these issues: complicity or inaction. ere is a permanent aura of insecurity within society. Latin America needs to address this tremendous problem in a real and powerful way; but above all, in a regional, collaborative way.

A year ago, the Argentine NGO Democracia Global, working towards regional integration and the

leaders, academics and human rights´ activists were called together to dra ideas, suggestions and possibilities towards the creation of the COPLA (Spanish acronym for Latin American Criminal Court against Transnational Organized Crime). A further set of conferences at the 2014 Spinelli Symposium, and the recent support of the World Federalist Movement (passing a resolution on the topic at its 2014 Council) helped shape the project in a broader and stronger way.

COPLA: How would it work? What would it do? e Court’s main purpose should be to overcome the judicial weaknesses that national systems have demonstrated (traditionally focused on prosecuting the weakest members on the criminal pyramid, filling prisons without having any real impact on the alleviation of insecurity). e Court shall instead focus on: 1) International prosecution of the highest members of the criminal groups, usually unpunished or protected by networks of judicial and political complicity.

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2) e confiscation of goods from those organizations: an extraordinarily efficient measure towards the limitation of their resources, previously applied successfully in several countries.

In order to establish itself as an effective agency in the fight against transnational organized crime, the Court would be expected to contribute to: articulation and improvement of national • the legislations on these crimes; creation of mechanisms towards more • the transparent national political systems; collaboration and exchange of information • the between police, armed forces and other agencies;

• international coordination and cooperation; construction of a regionally organized system • the for protecting witnesses and civil society activists, who would otherwise be vulnerable to retaliation; awareness of the importance of this issue • general within society and among leaders. e International Criminal Court can work as a model and a guide for NGOs all across the region to understand how to unite efforts and work together to build a Coalition that can promote and shape a future Court. e success of such a Court to judge transnational crimes would reinforce states’ capacity to exercise local power, currently undermined by criminal networks.

Fortunately, the majority of countries in the region are signatories to the Rome Statute and have

Published by the World Federalist Foundation (WFF) and the World Federalist Movement – Canada (WFMC). e World Federalist Foundation is a Canadian Revenue Agency registered charitable organization (reg. #:123998957RR0001). e World Federalist Movement – Canada is a national non-profit membership organization that advocates more just and effective global governance through the application of the principles of democratic federalism to world affairs. e WFMC President is the Hon. Warren Allmand. WFMC is a member organization of the international World Federalist Movement (WFM), which includes world federalist organizations in 24 countries around the world.

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recognized this and several other norms of international law as part of their national constitutions. In addition, most of them have ratified the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC, Palermo Convention, 2000) and its three supplementary Protocols, which define the core crimes (including the participation in an organized criminal group, money laundering from crime economies, human trafficking, political corruption, and the fabrication and distribution of illegal firearms). All these will serve as valuable precedent for the draing of the COPLA statute.

A regional strategy to confront regionally organized crime is urgently needed. It could have a positive impact on regional integration for confronting other economic, political, and social issues. It could become the decisive element to prevent a future otherwise defined by underdevelopment and criminality in the region. Ultimately, it could also make the case for the creation of an International Court of its type.

From international organizations to political parties, judicial sectors and the academia, think tanks, NGOs, and religious groups - all organizations, governments and democratic citizens of Latin America need to actively engage in its creation.

For questions, suggestions and support please contact info@democraciaglobal.org.ar Florencia Gor, President of Democracia Global since 2013, has recently moved to Winnipeg.

Articles the World Federalist Foundation is responsible for are “e need to extend the globalization of justice,” “Martin Wolf ’s ‘e Shis and the Shocks,” “Every Casualty of Armed Conflict Counts,” “Prosecuting sexual and gender-based crimes,” “Ventotene International Seminar on Federalism” and “UN’s Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals: a ‘transformative change’?”

Material is not copyrighted. Submissions are welcome.

Il nous fera plaisir de publier les articles présentés en français.

ISSN number: 1488-612X Mondial’s editorial working group: Leonard Angel, Robin Collins, Monique Cuillerier, Karen Hamilton, Simon Rosenblum, Fergus Watt World Federalist Movement – Canada 323 Chapel Street, Unit 110 Ottawa, ON K1N 7Z2

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BOOK REVIEW

Martin Wolf’s “The Shifts and the Shocks” Simon Rosenblum Martin Wolf, the longtime chief economic commentator for the Financial Times of London, has written a terribly important new book - a brilliant tour de horizon of the global economy - which I strongly suspect will be required reading in government finance ministries throughout the world. He not only - as others have done - shows how excessive financial liberalization contributed mightily to the 2008 recession. He also demonstrates that financial orthodoxy - thanks to the excessively optimistic Professor Panglosses of the world - has brought the world economy to the brink of global deflation. He argues persuasively that we are far from being out of the woods and without a dramatic reversal of policy may yet risk future and even deeper crises.

Wolf sees the crisis as more than a financial crisis.

(More on that below.) Echoing the views of others, he sees the banking systems of most higher income countries as having been heavily undercapitalized and hence a disaster waiting to happen. Jumping ahead for a moment he acknowledges that the Basel III reforms are now making the financial system more robust but believes that the new capital reserve rules are still insufficient. I contrast his opinion with that of Mark Carney, the head of the Financial Stability Board and Governor of the Bank of England, who believes that the new rules, if taken together and implemented properly, would “substantially complete the job of fixing the fault lines that led to the crash.” I am in no position to adjudicate their difference of opinion.

But Wolf’s concerns go much deeper than the issue of insufficient bank capital. e fundamental drivers of instability he argues are excessive debt creation, global imbalances (evidenced by saving gluts in countries like China and Germany), deepening economic inequality and a poorly designed eurozone monetary union.

Space here does not permit an examination of all these issues but collectively these global mismatches are resulting in a significant gap in the effective economic demand necessary for a sustainable recovery.

To add considerable insult to these injuries the leaders

Simon Rosenblum is a member of the WFMC Executive Committee.

of the major industrialized nations have disastrously misread the crisis and its aermath. e stimulus given to the global economy was cut short way too soon.

From the Toronto Summit of June 2010 the higher income nations shied away from strong countercyclical actions towards austerity. What may have seemed responsible action to address the deficit/debt situation of individual countries was collectively a colossal disaster grinding down the wheels of the global economy.

To his credit Martin Wolf is not shy in proposing solutions to the problems that he identifies. While acknowledging that there are no quick fixes, his prescriptions include:

• Creation of an international reserve currency issued by a supranational bank.

• Making the eurozone into a proper banking union, with a form of fiscal union, issuing eurobonds.

• Reversing austerity economic policies.

• Moving away from a financial system based on

bank-based credit to a one hundred per cent reserve banking system where credit is the responsibility of central banks.

Some of these are heady stuff indeed and not sufficiently explained and explored by Mr Wolf. All deserve a closer look.

Notwithstanding Martin Wolf’s concern about private debt levels, his readers remain very much in his debt for this major contribution to understanding our state of economic affairs. He is not afraid to change his mind from time to time. He has written a powerful indictment of the global economy, accompanied by a call for radical reform. It is a convincing analysis of why we are likely to be on a path towards further trouble. e final words belong to him: Our open world economy could end in the fire…. We will need both more globalization and less - more global regulation and cooperation, and more freedom for individual countries to cra their own responses to the pressures of a globalizing world.

THE SHIFTS AND THE SHOCKS What We’ve Learned - and Have Still to Learn - From the Financial Crisis

By Martin Wolf Illustrated. 466 pp. Penguin Press.

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What Canada Should Be Saying at the United Nations

John Trent is is the chairperson of WFMCanada.

John Trent Until the arrival of the government of Stephen Harper, Canada had played an active, leading role at the United Nations. Since its founding, Canada has been one of the UN’s great champions. A Canadian, Prof. John Humphrey, was the principal architect of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

Canadian diplomacy has supported the broadening of membership in the UN, decolonization, NorthSouth Dialogue, the Rio Summit on Environment and Development, negotiations to halt ozone layer depletion and acid rain, and efforts to end apartheid in South Africa. More recent Canadian initiatives include campaigns to ban land mines and curtail the trade in blood diamonds, the establishment of the International Criminal Court, and orchestrating awareness of the plight of child soldiers.

Canada has done and should be doing at the United Nations.” ese efforts have helped lead to an understanding among Canadians that our role in the world is not what it once was. We should not claim too much, but it is arguable that aer all the media coverage of the World Federalist’s 2013 volume, the Prime Minister did manage to make his way to the UN in 2014.

With the 2014 version of the UN and Canada project we aimed to look ahead, to focus not on the sins of the present administration, but rather what Canada could do to “get back in the game.” Some of the key ideas from the 2014 edition are summarized below.

Elements of a new Canadian agenda at the UN

Starting with first principles, how should Canada understand “the national interest”? If one of a government’s primary responsibilities is to protect its own interests in the world, the current snubbing of the United Nations by Canada is difficult to understand. In a world of globalized economic risk, political and security crises, As a country which requires a peaceful world in which to pursue its trade and interlinked environmental diplomacy Canada, [...] should be taking the lead in using the Responsibility and health effects, along with ongoing humanitarian crises to Protect principles to prevent conflicts as well as to protect populations. and pressing development needs, it has become virtually improve the openness of the Security Council. More impossible for any one government to stand alone if recently, Canada funded the Commission that it wishes to influence global events and decisions. created the idea of the international community’s e Canadian government has fallen into the trap of ‘Responsibility to Protect’ citizens. “R2P” is slowly preaching self-interest in a narrow ‘what’s good for reconstituting notions of sovereignty so that the Canada’ sense. But self-interest properly understood world can get on with modernizing international means appreciating that the self-interest of others – relations. Canada has been an active and successful the global good – is in fact a precondition for one’s player at the UN because of our understanding of own ultimate well-being. diplomacy and of international politics.

But Canada did not just go along with the wave. We have never thought the UN was a perfect institution.

Canadians have always tried to improve and reform the UN. Former Prime Minister Lester Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work introducing peacekeeping to the UN. For years we worked to

is is no longer the case. Too oen the government of Canada is undermining the UN and global cooperation. For the past two years the World Federalists have published a collection of short essays on, “e United Nations and Canada: What December 2014

Canada must work with other countries to protect global human rights. No country or coalition can do it alone. But such protection must start at home and the Harper Government must stop sneering at visiting UN rapporteurs who criticize our record – as they do in all countries.

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In 2015, the leaders of all political parties are summoned to hold a federal leader’s debate on women’s issues to demonstrate their commitment to domestic and international women’s human rights, including sexual and reproductive health, prior to the next election.

A great many issues crucial for the future of the world are currently being debated by the United Nations as it sets a new goals framework for post-2015 Sustainable Development.

But Canada has been late to join this debate. A newly created UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development will be responsible for overseeing implementation of the post-2015 goals. Canada should be heavily engaged to ensure accountability and results for the post-2015 agenda.

Pressure is growing for Canada to overcome its reputation as a climate change pariah. Canada could start by working toward meeting the greenhouse gas reduction targets it agreed to in Copenhagen in 2009. e United Nations has the primary international responsibility for protecting world peace and security. As a country which requires a peaceful world in which to pursue its trade and diplomacy Canada, instead of abandoning its leadership role, should be taking the lead in using the Responsibility to Protect principles to prevent conflicts as well as to protect populations. ere is a growing need for blue helmets. We ought to help the UN meet growing demand by revitalizing the peacekeeping skills of the Canadian Forces. is would provide a sense of renewed pride in our country’s contribution to a more peaceful world. Other NATO countries are re-engaging with UN peacekeeping. Canada should as well.

To help prevent and respond rapidly to armed conflict, a permanent UN Emergency Peace Service would strengthen UN capacities. Intended as a first responder, effectively a multifunctional ‘UN 911’, it would allow the UN to move peacekeepers into the field quickly, in the critical first few months following a Security Council mandate.

In 2010 Canadian parliamentarians adopted an allparty motion to support the UN SecretaryGeneral’s Five-Point Plan for Nuclear Disarmament.

Canada should take this as direction for future government policy.

This article about WFMC's UN and Canada project brings together some of the key recommendations from the book, The United Nations and A challenge for member states is to find ways to Canada: What Canada has strengthen the UN’s response to growing done and should be doing at humanitarian needs. In the summer of 2014, the United Nations (2014 response to United Nations appeals were running at edition). about 39% of requirements.

Finally, it should be remembered that the UN has oen demonstrated its capacity to renew itself.

Canada must invest time and energy in this process.

Brow-beating does not work. Good old diplomacy does. A good example would be reforming the antiquated process for selecting the UN SecretaryGeneral. It requires formal criteria, a search committee and a systematic approach.

The complete book is available for download at unitednationsandcanada.org As well, paper copies are available for purchase ($12) (http://unitednationsandcana da.org/orders/)

But Canada must go further in reforming international institutions. A forward looking government would make rethinking the United Nations a central program of the Department of Foreign Affairs and give it the resources required to find partners for this ambitious global task. If Canada wants a better UN, it should lead the way to reform it.

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Every Casualty of Armed Conflict Counts Robin Collins

Robin Collins is a member of the Executive Committee of WFMC

ere have always been efforts to penetrate the “fog of war,” to determine the numbers of those victimized by war. One prominent tally was the Iraq Body Count project, “the public record of violent deaths following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.” Numbers from different sources ranged widely but Body Count tried to check claims against evidence. e result was a more credible count of civilian and combatant deaths (now 202,000) that was disturbing enough, even if some were missed. e goal was not to identify people by name, but to underline the carnage of the intervention, and war.

Today, the numbers rise in Syria, and have topped 200,000 (the UN estimate). Every number has a face, and perhaps rounding off obscures that. Better to say, “more than 200,001”?

In recent years, authors of the Iraq Body Count project came together with the Oxford Research Group, and began to professionalize the counting of casualties, including by combining data from many separate efforts around the world. ey wanted to build a new norm that highlighted each victimized individual, and thereby raise public awareness.

Human dignity is considered to be the entitlement of everyone, be she or he a civilian or soldier (and there are debates on this), an ally or enemy. But why do this? Part of the motivation is to refocus on the inherent injustice of armed conflict. It is not a great leap from there to advocacy for greater emphasis on conflict reduction and prevention.

A new norm may be emerging, but the Every Casualty group underlines that existing international instruments already provide legal underpinning for the necessity to better document war’s victims.

International Humanitarian Law (IHL), “the laws of war”, and International Human Rights Law require that combatants be distinguished from civilians and that armed forces make every effort to reduce harm and unnecessary suffering. However, without accurate numbers of casualties, putting faces to statistical estimates, how do we know whether states, rebels or armed groups are living up to existing law?

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Susan Breau and Rachel Joyce in their 2011 discussion paper for the Oxford Research Group (“e Legal Obligation to Record Civilians Casualties of Armed Conflict”) disclosed that in all conflicts efforts need to be made to search for the missing, collect all casualties, return remains unspoiled, bury the dead with dignity and not in mass graves, record burial locations and register all graves. By not recording casualties we enable conflicting parties to avoid prosecution. Without closure, grieving and enraged victims’ families and societies are provided fuel for fresh hostility that can prolong or regenerate conflict. e International Criminal Court also needs reliable data about casualties when it prosecutes violators of the Rome Statute.

While the Every Casualty program (as of this year a standalone project separated from the Oxford organization) contributes to the tallying, the responsibility legally lies with the government of respective states involved in armed conflict. States are held to account through a variety of mechanisms that range from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, to the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross’s Study on Customary International Humanitarian Law, to reports of advocacy groups such as the International Commission on Missing Persons, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

A Casualty Recorders Network, coordinated by the program, has been in operation to encourage reporting, and to develop best practices among practitioners. About 60 civil society organizations, including WFM-Canada, have been brought together in support of the Charter for the Recognition of Every Casualty of Armed Violence, launched in 2011. e Charter goals are to record, identify and then publicize the identities of conflict casualties. e four Geneva Conventions are the primary guides (and pertain to the conditions of wounded and sick soldiers in the field and at sea, treatment of prisoners of war, and treatment of civilians during wartime). e associated Additional Protocols deal with protection of victims of conflict, and civilians. And in

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1974 the UN General Assembly called for action to “facilitate the disinterment and the return of remains” if requested by families. e Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in its preamble also recognizes “the inherent dignity and worth of the human person.”

to constitute 98% of cluster munition victims. at study was a piece of what eventually moved policy makers against one group of unreliable weapons. e fact that the world had this conversation at all (and subsequently developed a new treaty) is tangible evidence of change to our normative structures.

Should this body of A new norm may be emerging, but the Every Casualty group underlines that international law and ongoing existing international instruments already provide legal underpinning for the monitoring of casualties be necessity to better document war’s victims. focussed to create a comprehensive single legal instrument? Maybe so. International obligations But it’s not only about the ratio of civilian casualties should at least be set out in military manuals. Civil to combatants; it’s also the idea of acknowledging society groups working in this area also need core each and every casualty, his or her name, a face, a funding. It’s not easy to fact check, browse unique human identity. e Every Casualty program battlefields, and record casualties precisely, but it’s generates capacity to record the human effects of war important. An international instrument would focus at the very basic blood and tissue level, friend or foe. attention and resources on the problem. is is both a challenge to how war is carried out, but also, broadly speaking, to the appropriateness of For example, according to one widely quoted study war itself.

by Handicap International, civilians were estimated

Prosecuting Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes Monique Cuillerier Sexual and gender-based crimes are difficult to prosecute and secure convictions for under any conditions. When they are committed as acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes -- and are dealt with as part of the international justice system -- the situation is even more fraught and complicated. However, the past year has seen positive steps taken toward improving the documentation, investigation, and prosecution of such crimes.

When individual countries lack the capacity to do so, the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and prosecutes sexual and genderbased crimes within the context of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In fact, six of the eight situations currently under investigation at the Court include charges for gender-based crimes. However, there have yet to be any convictions on sexual or gender-based charges. (In fact, there has only been one conviction to date on any charges whatsoever).

A good summary of the gender dimensions of the specific situations and cases at the Court is found in the Gender Report Card on the International Criminal Court produced each year by Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice . e Report Card also addresses issues faced by victims and witnesses, as well as structural and organizational issues within the ICC.

Monique Cuillerier is WFM-Canada’s Membership & Communications Director

e Prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, has recognized the importance of appropriately addressing sexual and gender-based crimes -and the challenges involved in the effective investigation and prosecution of them -- by making it one of the key strategic goals in the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP)'s Strategic Plan for 2012-2015. e Plan’s strategic goal three: "enhance the integration of a gender perspective in all areas of our work and continue to pay particular attention to sexual and gender based crimes and crimes against children."

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In June of this year, Bensouda published a Policy Paper on Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes. e policy paper explicitly acknowledges the gravity of sexual and genderbased crimes and acknowledges the need to apply a gender analysis to all crimes within the Court's jurisdiction. e policy paper is very specific in noting that it wishes to identify how the crimes it investigates are related to inequality between women and men, as well as differential power relationships. ere is also a recognition of the challenges that are particular

ere have been concerns in the past regarding the balance struck between the ICC's push to get cases to trial in a timely manner and pursuing the full range of crimes that may have taken place in a given situation. Too oen, it has been felt, gender-based crimes have not been thoroughly pursued as a result of the difficulties in investigation and evidencegathering peculiar to these types of crimes. It can only be hoped that the best practices of evidence gathering promoted by the Protocol will be more universally adopted -- and thereby improve the ICC’s capacity to successfully prosecute sexual and gender-based crimes. e Policy Paper is also clearly intended to address this, although how much of an effect it will have in practice is still open to debate.

International Criminal Court prosecutor prosecutor Fatou Bensouda addresses the Security Council in October

to such crimes, including under- or nonreporting, the stigma victims face, and limited investigations and the resulting lack of evidence.

Also in June, in London, the UK government convened a Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. At the Summit, an International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, subtitled "Basic Standards of Best Practice on the Documentation of Sexual Violence as a Crime under International Law" was presented. e protocol includes standards for preliminary considerations, planning, identifying survivors and witnesses, interviewing and physical and documentary evidence.

December 2014

is fall, closing arguments were heard in the ICC’s case against Jean-Pierre Bemba, the former Congolese vicepresident, who has faced charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes for events that took place in the Central African Republic. e case is significant both for focusing on rape as a weapon of war and of prosecuting Bemba, not for ordering the mass rapes and sexual assaults, but for not stopping them. (is is the first time the Court has applied this 'command responsibility' concept to charges.)

Brigid Inder, the executive director of the Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice, is quoted in a recent article from Al Jazeera, as saying, "We hope this case will change that record and usher in a new era of accountability for sexual violence before the ICC." A verdict is expected next year.

With the introduction of new tools -- and greater interest and attention on the issue -- we can hope that future prosecutions will arise from a thorough gender analysis combined with improved investigative and evidencegathering techniques.

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Ventotene International Seminar on Federalism Nic Baird Young world federalists are not in zoos or in the private collections of millionaires. I met many this summer on a small Italian island. e 31st International Seminar on Federalism was held this year, as it is every year, on Ventotene. Spanning 300 m by 800 m, it sits off the coast of Gaeta. It was here that Altiero Spinelli, a founding father of the European Union, was imprisoned during the Second World War for the last stint of his 16-year sentence. e irony is that when Spinelli died in 1986, they shipped his corpse back to be interred on the island. I paid a visit to his gravesite with some others, and I thought something very inspired must have happened on this island if they would do that to him. Spinelli, along with fellow inmate Ernesto Rossi, authored the Ventotene Manifesto while fascist Italy built an empire and the world waged war.

Entitled "Per un Europa libera e unita" (For a free and united Europe), the manifesto advocates for a federation of European states which could unite and forge new powers within an international democracy. ough Spinelli is applying this to Europe, he outlines the principles of federalism as tiers of government from regional to supranational.

Like all European federalists I met, he is being practical about the philosophy, starting with Europe, but with the grand vision of a world federalist system. is vision is a lot more credible in an international gathering. I felt gratified to meet thoughtful people who were engaging with the movement. ere is an emotional idea to a global network. Even more so when it concerns itself with international justice, human rights, conflict prevention, climate change, nuclear disarmament and a range of what are very principled, emotional topics. e participants were mostly associated with the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and its youth counterpart, Young European

Federalists (JEF), from about a dozen countries in Europe. ey were young people, who ranged in age from 18 to 30. Besides the Europeans, Ventotene this year also attracted delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, e United States, Argentina, and Israel. ese participants made the group debate a highlight. e main perk of the seminar, and probably its raison d'être, is cycling through a variety of topics with these regionally diverse participants.

Nic Baird is a member of WFMCanada's Board.

Participants of the 31st Many seminar topics addressed the common International Seminar on struggles among European states, and Federalism in Vetotene, Italy therefore, issues of the day, which could be tackled by a stronger European federation. e continent's widespread economic stagnation, regionally disparate levels of employment, and increasingly hostile Western-Russian relations were all recurring topics throughout the program. ese were typical fears and worries of European federalists.

While I adopted many of these fears and worries myself, they did provide a context to discuss the application of a federalist system. A stronger economic and fiscal union could more competently address a pan-European economy.

Having states specialize in certain industries is a federalist strategy to raise employment.

Russia's annexation of Crimea inspired a few

December 2014

page 14

discussions on defense spending. While ramping up European militaries is controversial, research and development is at least cheaper and more efficient when it becomes a supranational responsibility. is examination of the European Union in its current form conveys the solutions and challenges of a federalist model. I valued that most of this analysis could be applied when considering a world federalist model as well. And while the content of the seminars oen had a focus on Europe, there were still several topics for global discourse, including “e Commitment for Global Democracy: e Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.”

All attendees took a photo together for the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) campaign. e accompanying sign read “World Parliament Now!” which indicates the goal of an elected body alongside the General Assembly. Aer we le Ventotene, many of us took another “World Parliament

Now!” photo in our respective cities. e UNPA campaign's photos make up an aroundthe-world collage for democracy.

It was four days aer the Ottawa World Federalists had taken our “World Parliament Now!” photo, when Michael ZehafBibeau crashed through Parliamentary security. Aerwards I received messages from those I'd met who were alarmed by the event. ey asked if I was all right and if everyone was safe. eir concern made me reflect on these transnational friendships. Ventotene had provided me an emotional connection to a world federalist ideology. A world working together for a shared standard of living is reached through empathy. Sometimes I get the sense that at its core, world federalism is an emotional argument. I believe the Ventotene seminar to be worthwhile for connecting the people and the theory into one emotional argument. It was a rewarding six days.

UN’s Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals: a “transformative change”?

Fergus Watt is Executive Director of World Federalist Movement – Canada.

Fergus Watt e United Nations is making steady progress in the development of the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Following the Millennium Summit in 2000 the UN adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), benchmarks that shaped development programming by governments and the UN system for the 2000 to 2015 period. e post-2015 exercise is developing successor goals to the MDGs. e post-2015 discussions have been noteworthy for a number of developments, not least the sheer scale of this global agenda-setting exercise. Consultations involving governments, civil society, UN agencies, the business community and others have taken place regionally and in over 100 countries around the world. A UN Department of Public Information NGO forum in August described the process as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity for transformational change” in the international community’s approach to development. is past year, a UN General Assembly “Open December 2014

Working Group” (OWG) was tasked with synthesizing these many inputs into a dra goals framework. It concluded its work this summer and the OWG’s dra outcome document was adopted by governments in September and includes 17 suggested goals.

Some of the characteristics that distinguish the proposed post-2015 goals from the previous MDGs include (a) greater emphasis on a human rightsbased approach, aligning sustainable development programming more closely with universal human rights obligations; and (b) the universal applicability of the psot-2015 goals. Unlike the MDGs, which involved donor country programs to address development challenges in less wealthy states (the more traditional North-South development lens), the current process will apply to all countries, including developed countries – a recognition that there is inequality and poverty in all states. ese universally adopted goals will be implemented according to nationally determined targets, aligned with each state’s circumstances.

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However, there is still much to be decided in the coming months, prior to the anticipated September 2015 adoption of the new goals framework. By December 2014 or January 2015 the UN Secretary-General will issue a report that will form the basis of General Assembly discussions through the early part of 2015. In addition the President of the General Assembly will convene a number of high-level thematic discussions on means of implementing the post-2015 goals; gender equality and the empowerment of women; peaceful settlement of disputes and coordination with regional organizations; and climate change.

17 goals, or fewer?

In September, when governments adopted the OWG’s 17 goals, there were immediate signs of divisions to come. In statements following the consensus decision, the Group of 77 least developed states and China (G77/China), and the African Group, said the OWG report should not be reopened or renegotiated. Meanwhile, the U.S. called the decision an “important way station on the road to 2015” and “an important point of departure” for the work ahead. In addition to the U.S., Canada, Australia and some European states, particularly the UK, are calling for a fewer number of goals.

Trimming the number of goals (and related targets) is both an editorial and a political process. Some of the goals that may be le off a final list are also those that represent significant improvements on the old MDGs. Analysts point to topics such as sustainable cities and human settlements, sustainable consumption and production, oceans, and ecosystems and biodiversity as likely areas where goals and targets may be scaled back. e most likely of the 17 goals to end up on the cutting room floor is goal 16 on governance, which barely survived the preliminary draing process in the 70-nation General Assembly Open Working Group.

Goal 16 calls on all UN members to: “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.”

e Secretary-General’s synthesis paper may bridge the differences between those wanting fewer goals and targets, and those wanting the package to remain as is. is would avoid opening up the entire process later this year. e General Assembly is already faced with difficult discussions in the spring of 2015 generating guidelines on the means of implementation of the new SDGs, as well as on effective accountability for programs that will give effect to the agreed goals in the 2015-2030 period. e accountability discussions involve both technical accountability, i.e. monitoring, evaluating and measuring progress, as well as political accountability, ensuring that political oversight bodies, civil society and other stakeholders have the means to hold governments and agencies to account to fulfill the commitments made. e newly created High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (replacing the former Commission on Sustainable Development) is intended to serve as a more robust oversight body for SDGs implementation, and ensuring course corrections if necessary. e ird International Financing for Development (FfD) Conference, scheduled for 13 to 16 July in Addis Ababa is expected to set out a new blueprint for financing development programming in the years ahead. e landscape of development finance is changing quite rapidly, with traditional overseas development assistance budgets contracting. Some of the issues that will be on the table at the July FfD meeting include increased reliance on private philanthropy, public-private partnerships, curbing illicit financial flows (e.g. tax avoidance, which costs developing countries billions each year), monetary system reform and terms of trade that allow developing countries policy space to grow export capacity.

All in all, 2015, the UN’s 70th anniversary, will be a consequential year for sustainable development.

Proposed Sustainable Development Goals, as at October, 2014.

The UN’s Open Working Group proposed the following 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These were adopted September 10 by the General Assembly. Each goal has subsidiary targets and indicators.

Goal 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere Goal 2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture Goal 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages Goal 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all Goal 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Goal 6 - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all Goal 7 - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all Goal 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all Goal 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation Goal 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries Goal 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable Goal 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns Goal 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts* Goal 14 - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development Goal 15 - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss Goal 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels Goal 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development * Acknowledging that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change

December 2014

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BRANCH NEWS

Montreal

December 2014

e Marie-Berthe Dion Issues Action Group in Montreal meets monthly to engage in letter writing campaigns, based on initial discussion and background materials. ey cover a range of topics, including recently “Has the World Health Organization Failed Us?” and “Canada’s cluster munitions legislation.” e branch also holds regular informal ‘coffee and discussion’ meetings, usually on the first Tuesday of the month. e annual Montreal Branch Brunch is scheduled for Sunday February 1st, 2015 at the Salon Privé Le Collectionneur, Le Café des Beaux-Arts (Museum of Fine Arts Cafe), 1384 Sherbrooke W, 2nd floor. Longtime civil society leader Nigel Martin, founder of the Forum Internationale de Montreal, will be the guest speaker. For details or to reserve, contact Christine Jacobs or Carol Greene.

“World Parliament Now!” banner on Parliament Hill. A panel discussion on “e United Nations and Canada -- Can We Do Better?,” hosted by WFM-Canada in conjunction with the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) and Centre of International Policy Studies (CIPS), was held in December 4. e panelists were several of the authors featured in the 2014 edition of WFMC’s publication on “e United Nations and Canada: what Canada has done and should be doing at the United Nations.” Speakers included Louise Frechette, Ferry de Kerckhove, Ian Smillie and Alex Neve. e discussion was chaired by GSPIA’s Alexandra Gheciu and introduced by WFM-Canada’s Executive Director Fergus Watt.

Ottawa

Vancouver

Beginning in July, the Ottawa branch has hosted a monthly Global Issues Trivia Night.

Along with general categories, such as geography, current events, and world history, there is a global issues theme each month. To date, special theme topics have included peacekeeping, the United Nations, violence against women, democracy, and international justice. In August, Monique Cuillerier of WFM-Canada’s national office spoke at a Hiroshima Day event. Her remarks focused on the Marshall Islands’ case at the International Court of Justice against the nuclear-weapons possessing states. In October, to celebrate the Global Week for a World Parliament, several local members unfurled a

e Vancouver Branch continues to host a lecture and discussion series, as well as dialogue and planning meetings, on a monthly basis.

Vancouver Branch member Duncan Graham spoke to the branch in September on the topic of UN reform, giving a brief history of the United Nations, how it works (or not), and particularly the need to reform the UN Security Council. In October, Member of Parliament Hedy Fry (Liberal, Vancouver Centre) spoke to the branch on democratizing the United Nations and the proposal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly. Vancouver Branch’s November meeting featured a talk by Langara College political science instructor Peter Prontzos on the topic of “A Global Vision: e Missing Element,” which covered ways to achieve a truly humane and ecological society.

Victoria In October, Branch President Bill Pearce led a discussion on developments in the Israel – Palestine conflict at a public lecture hosted by WFMC – Victoria Branch.

page 17

Time for a UN Spring Duncan Graham “e absolute refusal of the P5 to brook even small reforms seems absurd . . . . I do not know when the Council equivalent of an Arab Spring will emerge to sweep away the legitimacy of the P5 in the global system.

Kishore Mahbubani, former Ambassador of Singapore to the United Nations, in his 2013 book, “e Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World.”

We are at an unprecedented period in our human history with planetary personal communications, a global integrated economy and the evolutionary acceptance in the genome that we are all one species, though a rich mosaic of cultures and ethnicities, the brotherhood and sisterhood of humankind, the Nation of Humanity. Our cosmic identity is underlined with space exploration and now the incredible landing on a comet.

But we are still in Neanderthal mode in our tribal relations, where the buzzwords “international peace and security” of the UN Security Council are a hollow promise for the hundreds of millions of people who go to bed hungry every night. Deaths by violence, malnutrition and easily preventable diseases are an Auschwitz every ten months. And yet world military expenditures (according to SIPRI, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) for 2013 were $1,747 billion and have been over a trillion dollars for ten years. e permanent five members of the UN Security Council, China, France, Russia, UK, USA (i.e. those same parties tasked with “maintaining peace and security”) are responsible for 71% of world arms sales.

How much is $1,747 billion? Ten $100 bills are a thin 1 mm slice. A one-metre slab is a million dollars. A billion dollars is one Km of $100 bills. World military expenditures is 1,747 Kms of packed $100 bills … and yet Malala has to plead for money to educate little girls and boys.

A creative spark? At the World Federalist Movement - Canada’s AGM in Ottawa 25th Oct 2014 a resolution was submitted from the Vancouver Branch. It was introduced in a teleconference call by Vancouver President

Duncan graham is a member of the Board of WFMC Vancouver

Vivian Davidson. e resolution proposed that World Federalists encourage members of the UN General Assembly to consider rescinding Art. 24 of the UN Charter and that the Assembly itself assume responsibilities for international peace and security, as allowed in Art 18 of the Charter, as a first step in creating a political fluidity in the UN structure for the evolution of a democratic World Parliament and Government. It is now history. e resolution passed.

Under Art. 24 of the UN Charter the members (UN General Assembly) confer on the UN Security Council primary responsibility for international peace and security. e resolution would have the Assembly rescind these powers. is would leave responsibility for peace and security in the hands of the General Assembly.

According to Art. 18 of the UN Charter, decisions of the General Assembly on important questions shall be made by a twothirds majority of the members present and voting. ese questions shall include recommendations with respect to the maintenance of international peace and security.

It has become a Vancouver project to propose to the remaining188 members of the UNGA that they need not, should not continue to be subservient to the entrenched interests of the Permanent Five. e mindless carnage of World War One gave political energy to create the League of Nations, (“First Parliament of Mankind,” headlined the Globe, now the Globe and Mail), the International Court of Justice and in 1929 e Pact of Paris or Kellogg-Briand Pact that outlawed war. (“War Outlawed,” headlined e Globe).

World War Two led to the creation of the United Nations with 51 nations in 1945. e major Allies, China, France, Soviet Union, UK, USA who had spent so much blood and treasure against the Axis regimes, were the pioneers, the deliverers of an organization to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” Russia inherited the permanent seat that had been assigned to the USSR in 1991.

December 2014

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In 1945 a world led by these quintuplets seemed to many the natural order of things. e United States, with no domestic destruction and lower than the others in per capita deaths, was the new superpower. France and U.K., though devastated by the conflict, still held political dominion over great swathes of the globe with imperial dominance in Africa and South Asia.

With these provisions, there have been no significant changes to the Security, Council except in 1966, when the number of nonpermanent members was increased from six to 10. ese two-year transients with a chance to posture on the world stage are elected to the UNSC by the General Assembly for their contribution to international peace and security. 2014- 2015 members are Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania, and Nigeria. 2015 – 2016 members are Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain, and Venezuela.

To have the same five permanent members with veto in 2014, with now 193 UN members, is a stagnating anomaly, an anachronism that requires nothing less than the interring of the UN Security Council. e Vancouver, now a WFM-C, resolution could be pulling the plug on a log jam that is imminent in any case. In the July issue of Mondial our Exec.

Director Fergus Watt notes “the growing frustration among members of the General Assembly with the secrecy and failures of the Security Council.” He was referring in this case to “electing” a new Secretary-General by the General Assembly, which in effect rubber-stamps a closed-door decision of the P5.

To give initial stability to these founding 51 nations of the United Nations a Security Council was incorporated in the UN Charter with these five nations having permanent seats and their concurring votes required for resolutions to pass – the so-called veto.

Insidiously, the Permanent Five’s assent is also required for any changes in the Charter itself.

Art 108 on Charter amendments requires 2/3rds members including all the permanent members of the Security Council. Aer 1955 (Art 109) a conference to review the Charter could be held if so decided by a majority of the General Assembly, but any amendments proposed would also require the concurrent support of the P5.

December 2014

e UN General Assembly has been marginalized, and an osmosis of power and authority (by rescinding Art 24) could provide an energizing political fluidity.

Were this to be adopted, it should also be accepted in some fashion that a decision of the UNGA should represent 2/3rds majority of the world’s people, the brotherhood and sisterhood of humankind, as well as (per UN Chapter, Art 18) 2/3rds of member states. e World Federalists can provide the goal, the vision; but the how-to, the means that would allow the UN to better fulfill its purposes in the event these measures are to be implemented, is the work of a broadly based UN preparatory committee process.

Vivian Davidson’s poster says it best: “Don’t Stay Calm. Change the World.”

page 19

I C C U P D AT E

Canada courts controversy ahead of ASP meeting At the end of November, WFM-Canada staff, along with academics and representatives from other NGOs, met with members of Canada’s delegation to the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) of the International Criminal Court. is year’s ASP meetings will take place between December 8th and 17th. e Government of Canada representatives reiterated Canada’s position on the funding of international organizations -- that the ideal situation is a budget with zero nominal growth. is position led to some consternation at last year’s ASP, although Canada did, in the end, back down and agree to the budget presented. Following the November 25 2014 meeting with Canadian officials, WFMC, along with Amnesty International and the Canadian Centre for International Justice, wrote to Foreign Affairs Minister Baird calling for him “to instruct Canadian officials to join with others at this year’s ASP and support a consensus decision to adopt a budget that is in line with the recommendations put forward by the Committee on Budget and Finance.” [ED. NOTE: Weeks later Canada backed away from demands for a zero growth budget and joined other states parties in a consensus decision on the ICC budget.]

Case updates Currently, there are nine situations under investigation (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Central African Republic, Darfur (Sudan), Kenya, Libya, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and Central African Republic. Additionally, preliminary examinations are taking place in Afghanistan, Colombia, Nigeria, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, Iraq, and Ukraine.

Uganda - e case involving the situation in Uganda, against Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen, remains unchanged with the four suspects still at large.

Central African Republic (I) - Closing statements in the case of e Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo were heard in November. e case is significant for being the first time the Court must decide if a commander is responsible for the crimes allegedly committed by troops under his control.

Aside from this, charges have been confirmed against Bemba and several associates regarding witness tampering related to this case.

Central African Republic (II) - Following a preliminary examination, a second investigation in Central African Republic (addressing crimes allegedly committed since 2012) was begun.

Democratic Republic of the Congo - Bosco Ntaganda, who voluntarily surrendered himself to the Court in 2013, had 13 counts of war crimes (including murder, rape, sexual slavery and the enlistment and conscription of child

soldiers) and 5 counts of crimes against humanity (murder and attempted murder; rape; sexual slavery; persecution; forcible transfer of population) confirmed in June. His trial is scheduled to begin in June 2015.

In the case of omas Lubanga Dyilo, who was sentenced to fourteen years (less time spent in ICC custody) in 2012, appeals from both sides were dismissed in early December and the judgment and sentencing confirmed.

Darfur, Sudan - In September, an arrest warrant was issued against Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain, who had previously appeared voluntarily in front of the court (in 2010). e trial date of November of this year, originally scheduled for Banda’s case on previously confirmed charges of war crimes, has been vacated in the meantime.

Kenya - In the case of Uhuru Kenyatta, the current President of Kenya, the commencement of the trial, provisionally set for October of this year, was again delayed. e prosecution issued a notice in September outlining the difficulties that continue to plague the case, namely the lack of evidence they have been able to gather so far and the Government of Kenya’s unwillingness to cooperate in providing documentation that has been formally requested.

Libya - Last October, the case against Abdullah Al-Senussi was declared inadmissible as domestic proceedings in the case were being conducted and Libya was assessed to be capable of carrying out the needed investigation. In July, the appeal of this decision was rejected and the case was again stated to be inadmissible at the ICC. Mali - e situation in Mali remains at the pre-trial stage.

Côte d’Ivoire - In June, four charges of crimes against humanity (murder, rape, other inhumane acts or attempted murder and persecution) were confirmed against Laurent Gbagbo, former president of Côte d’Ivoire.

A confirmation of charges hearing, in the case of Charles Blé Goudé was held at the end of September and beginning of October.

Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression In July, Austria became the 15th country to deposit their country’s instrument of ratification of the Kampala Amendments. Since then, Spain, Latvia, Poland, and San Marino have also deposited instruments of ratification.

Georgia and Switzerland should complete ratification in the coming months. With 19 countries having now ratified the amendments, the goal of 30 ratifications by the end of 2015 -- allowing the amendments to become active in early 2017 -- appears achievable.

December 2014

page 20

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