UN Security Council 'unfit for purpose'

24 May 2012

The United Nations Security Council is "tired, out of step and increasingly unfit for purpose", according to a report by Amnesty International.

Amnesty's global human rights report directly criticised permanent security council member Russia for its use of a veto to forestall intervention in Syria, despite thousands of UN-documented civilian deaths and months of human rights abuses in the country.

Amnesty claims that Russia, which counts Syria as a major export customer, was protecting its own interests in repeatedly refusing to join in condemnation of Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"The courage shown by protesters in the past 12 months has been matched by a failure of leadership that makes the UN Security Council seem tired, out of step and increasingly unfit for purpose," Amnesty said in its report.

Salil Shetty, the organisation's secretary general, said politicians had responded to pro-democracy protests with "brutality or indifference".

"Governments must show legitimate leadership and reject injustice by protecting the powerless and restraining the powerful. It is time to put people before corporations and rights before profits," he said

"In the last year it has all too often become clear that opportunistic alliances and financial interests have trumped human rights as global powers jockey for influence in the Middle East and North Africa," he said. "The language of human rights is adopted when it serves political or corporate agendas, and shelved when inconvenient or standing in the way of profit."

Shetty also criticised "emerging powerhouses" such as India, Brazil and South Africa who have been "complicit in their silence".

"There is a clear and compelling case for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation of crimes against humanity. The determination of some UN Security Council members to shield Syria at any cost leaves accountability for these crimes elusive and is a betrayal of the Syrian people," said Shetty.

Political reforms within the Security Council member states, as well the completion of an Arms trade Treaty in July, would be the "acid test" for the UN, the report said.

"Ousting individual leaders – however tyrannical – is not enough to deliver long-term change," Shetty added. "Governments must uphold freedom of expression at home and abroad, take international responsibilities seriously, and invest in systems and structures that ensure justice, freedom and equality before the law."