World
Federalist
Movement - Canada
MEDIA ADVISORY
Sept. 21 International Day of Peace:
Promoting Peace and Preventing
Conflict:
UN Needs a Parliamentary Dimension
September 21, 2007 (Ottawa)—"War is too
destructive to serve any longer as a means
of resolving conflict," says Warren Allmand, former Trudeau cabinet
minister and President of the World Federalist Movement - Canada.
"In
the twentieth century, over 150 million people came to violent
ends
through mass killings. There are better ways of governing the
world
and managing its problems - step by step we can extend to the global
level the democratic principles and processes we use nationally to make
and legitimize decisions, to respect human rights, and to maintain law
and order."
Dr. Michael
Byers, Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and
International Law at UBC adds, "A Parliamentary Assembly should be
added to the United Nations to make it more inclusive, more
transparent, more accountable, and more effective. Independent of
national governments and international organisations, UN parliamentary
representatives would act as the 'conscience' of the world, reminding
decision makers of the global interest beyond the national
interest.
They would play a vital role in the development of a more effective and
democratic system of global governance, the development of
international law and justice, the protection of the environment and
the resolution of disputes without recourse to violence. The
Canadian
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs has already endorsed
the concept of a UN
Parliamentary Assembly; the Canadian Government should make
realization of a UN Parliamentary Assembly a key element in our
contribution to promoting world-wide peace and democracy."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Prof. Michael Byers, Academic Director, Liu Institute for the Study of Global
Issues,
(604)
822-3049
[email protected]
His latest book Intent for a Nation
(Douglas & McIntyre)
outlines concrete steps to re-shape Canadian foreign policy in favour
of a global system based on cooperation and the rule of law.
WFM-C BACKGROUNDER
In
2001 the UN proclaimed September 21st as the International Day of Peace
to raise global awareness of peacebuilding work and conflict
prevention. Stories of events taking place around the world on this day
can be found at www.peoplebuildingpeace.org.
The Historical
Development of International Order
Concert
of Europe
After the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, the Great Powers
(Britain,
France, Russia, Germany and Austria) met informally to manage the
balance of power. Though hampered by the forces of nationalism
and
democracy, the peace was kept for many decades, albeit often at the
expense of small countries and colonies.
Hague
Conferences
Nicholas II of Russia proposed the Hague Conferences of 1899 and
1907,
supposedly because Russia was having trouble financing its military
expenditures. For the first time, small powers and extra-European
participants were welcomed. While the conference did little to
limit
the arms build-up, conventions on the laws of war were adopted, and a
Permanent Court of Arbitration was set up which still functions today.
League
of Nations 1919
An arms race, territorial ambitions, ethnic hatreds, alliances,
and
inept rulers were all contributing factors to the breakdown of World
War I when 15 million died, mostly soldiers, followed by another 20
million civilians through deprivation and the spread of
pestilence.
Now for the first time, a formal institution with rules of conduct, the
League of Nations was set up. Unfortunately, it was not a
universal
body - the U.S. never joined; Japan, Italy and Germany walked out, and
in 1939
Russia was expelled. League action required a unanimous
vote by its Council - another
reason for the League's failure.
United Nations 1945
The cataclysm of the second World War - 60 million dead - led to
another attempt at a permanent and now universal international
organization - the United Nations - which is still recognized by most
countries as indispensable for peacekeeping and addressing the world's
economic and social problems. According to the Human Security Report
issued in 2005, the number of genocides and violent conflicts dropped
rapidly after the Cold War, a decline which could be attributed to an unprecedented
upsurge in international activism, spearheaded by
the UN, that sought to stop ongoing wars, help negotiate peace
settlements, support post–conflict reconstruction, and prevent old wars
from recurring.
International
Criminal Court
On 1 July 2002, the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court
(ICC) entered into force, triggering the jurisdiction and deterrence
factor of the first permanent and independent court capable of trying
individuals, including political and military leaders, accused of the
most serious violations of international humanitarian law, namely:
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. While the ICC,
a
treaty-based organization, is not
directly part of the UN system, the Security Council can refer
matters
to the ICC, as has been done in the case of Darfur.
European Union (EU)
The international landscape has been
dramatically altered since WWII by
the growth of regional supranational organizations such as the European
Union. As
part of EU governance, a
European Parliament elected by 492 million Europeans
helps the continent manage its common
interests and transcend the violent inter-state European
conflicts
that marked the twentieth century.
Proposed
United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA)
The United Nations
remains one of the few government organizations
above the national level which does not have a parliamentary
dimension. The Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations
Parliamentary Assembly expects that a UNPA, once established, would
develop from a mere consultative body to a world parliament with
genuine rights of information, participation and control,
integratrating civil society more effectively into the shaping of
globalization and the search for peace.
In 1993, The
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Canadian
House of Commons
recommended that Canada support the creation of a UN
Parliamentary Assembly and offer to host an organizing
conference. In
2007 the Committee reaffirmed
its support for the UNPA as a means to
bring about a reformed and strengthened UN, capable of promoting
democracy and keeping the global peace.
FOR
MORE INFORMATION:
Fergus
Watt, WFM-C Executive Director, (613) 232-0647
______________________________________________________________
WORLD FEDERALIST
MOVEMENT - CANADA
Working for global
human rights through global laws and institutions
The World Federalist Movement - Canada
(WFM-C), founded in 1951, is a
branch of the international World Federalist
Movement (WFM) which is headquartered in New York City across from
the UN, where it is an accredited NGO.
World federalists believe the best
guarantee
of universal human rights
is a global community based on the rule of law and democratically
accountable international institutions, and that governments, civil society, and international institutions have a fundamental responsibility to protect
civilians
at risk.
During the
1990s, WFM
coordinated the vast coalition of NGOs that successfully helped create
the International Criminal Court where
human rights violators – from soldiers and civilians to generals and
heads of state – can be brought to justice. Today WFM campaigns
for
the
ratification of the ICC by all countries.
In the 2000s,
WFM leads a new
coalition
lobbying for the global adoption of “The Responsibility to
Protect” (R2P)
as a new norm for the prevention of crimes against humanity and for
multilateral military intervention as a last resort when gross and
systematic violations occur.
WFM-C is the Canadian partner in the Campaign for the
Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA), a
growing global network of parliamentarians and non-governmental
organizations advocating citizen's representation at the United Nations.
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: (613)
232-0647
Fax:
(613) 563-0017
http://www.worldfederalistscanada.org