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Published on 1 November 2008
PETITION SUBMITTED TO:
THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE EU MEMBER STATES,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE EU COMMISSION,
THE HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY
POLICY-SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
THE COMMISSIONER FOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS
BY
UNJustice, IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE SIGNATORIES
Your Excellency,
We, the undersigned, are dismayed and outraged by the existing double standard where the standards of justice that are recognized internationally and that the United Nations pursues in its programmatic activities are not met within the Secretariat or the Funds and Programmes themselves.
The background for our grave concern is the long-standing criticism of the half-century-old UN internal justice system.
In 2005, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to form a panel of external and independent experts to consider
redesigning the Organization’s system of administration of justice. The panel has indeed confirmed the perception of an abnormally dysfunctional system, as is clearly stated in their report:
”The Redesign Panel found that the administration of justice in the United Nations is neither professional nor independent. The system of administration of justice as it currently stands is extremely slow, under-resourced, inefficient and, thus, ultimately ineffective. It fails to meet many basic standards of due process established in international human rights instruments…That the administration of justice in the United Nations lags so far behind international human rights standards is a matter of urgent concern requiring immediate, adequate and effective remedial action" *.
Viewed from the outside, the whole UN internal justice system is
difficult to grasp since it is so completely contrary to our own
experiences and expectations of stability and security, as well as being repugnant to our aspirations for human rights. In such a void, another system emerges, an unaccountable self-serving system of rough justice. Anarchy, secrecy, bad faith, retaliation, impunity, disrespect for what John F. Kennedy once defined “the old code of equity law under which we live" and "commands for every wrong a remedy”, are at the core of this ersatz system.
This very antithesis of justice working under the protective cover of the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, is not a partisan issue, but just a tragic nonsense which goes on and on and on. It causes enormous damage to the entire UN organization, to all its Member States,
and undermines the EU's substantial contribution to the development of the
cause of the UN, international law and human rights. If fully known to world public opinion, it would embarrass every ordinary citizen who genuinely believes in the founding principles of universality and fairness that inspired the establishment of the Organization committed to promote the right to be free and equal.
The defence of human rights is a duty and a right which cannot be jeopardized by the principle of non-interference in other countries’ or international organizations’ internal affairs. The European Union is the largest contributor to the UN budget. Thus, it seems to us, Europe has to live up to its special and compelling membership responsibilities, beginning
by not turning away from the unacceptable faults of a system of administration of justice which has for too long denied a fundamental human right such as fair justice that otherwise could propel the UN to achieve its purposes.
In the year which marks the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Europe has vigorously reaffirmed its commitment to defending and promoting inalienable and indivisible human rights throughout the world. We welcome the EU's respect for human rights as a cornerstone of its foreign policy, and we wish to emphasize the tremendous importance of the reform of the administration of justice in the UN system of organizations, especially for the over 100,000 staff and non-staff personnel of the Secretariat, Funds and Programmes who are alone and powerless to act in the face of such dire injustice unless the whole world joins hands.
For these reasons, we, the undersigned, appeal to the Governments of the EU Member States to use their position in the undergoing General Assembly negotiations on the reform of the United Nations justice system to devise a strategy that would ensure that the United Nations will finally have in place the full set of governance and administrative structures necessary to fulfill its obligation to effectively deliver justice in accordance with
the principles of justice and fair play which are stated in the UN Charter, as well as to fully comply with applicable international human rights standards as an expression of universally agreed-upon principles of justice.
With the highest respects,
The Signatories:
UNJustice, Non-profit Independent International Committee for the
Safeguarding of Individual Rights in the United Nations Internal Justice
System (initiator)
* Report of the
Redesign Panel on the United Nations System of Administration of Justice
-United Nations General Assembly A-61-205.
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