Uganda on UN Security Council?

Should a country convicted of war crimes sit on the UN Security Council?

The UN's General Assembly may vote Uganda onto the UN Security Council in mid-October, despite the war crimes the Ugandan government has committed.

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Uganda Does Not Deserve Seat On UN Security Council, It's Time To Pay Attention

Georgianne Nienaber

There is a critical issue facing the United Nations Security Council in the coming weeks that gives the United States great leverage in Central Africa, but it has not merited a single mention, that we can find, in mainstream international news coverage. An important question to ask the McCain campaign would be whether or not Sarah Palin met with any representatives of Uganda when she shook hands with world leaders at the United Nations. Katie Couric and CBS booted an opportunity to open a dialogue on Africa that has been occult, if it exists at all. The Bush Administration has been very cozy with the leadership of Uganda. Will McCain and Obama follow suit? Should we care?

Last weeks' post here examined positions Barack Obama and John McCain have or have not taken on Africa, especially the volatile and strategically important Great Lakes Region. Several readers suggested that affairs at home should merit more coverage than Africa, because there is nothing we can do for Africans anyway. The African continent is "lost" and we should put our own house in order. There is not enough media time to examine Africa, readers wrote.

However, mainstream media spent dozens of hours this week dissecting Couric's grilling of Sarah Palin on national security issues regarding Russia, while a seemingly over-managed Palin flubbed the question horribly, and Saturday Night Live and Tina Fey had a field day. It was all good sport and great comic relief in a week of financial meltdown that cried for some humor.

Our lack of attention to international issues could become the prelude to more tragedy. In the next week or so, Uganda will be pulling out all stops to gain a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Milton Allimadi of Black Star News succinctly describes the irony.

"Uganda was found liable for massive human rights abuse in Eastern Congo, including genocide and theft, by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2005; separately, the International
Criminal Court (ICC) is also investigating the same alleged crimes for which Uganda was found liable by the ICJ," Allimadi writes.

As if that were not enough, the International Criminal Court, which has been cautiously
supported by both McCain and Obama, indicted Congolese warlord Jean Pierre Bemba. The ICC maintains that Bemba, who is in the Hague awaiting trial, was financed by Uganda.

Today, Friends of the Congo told OffTheBus that Black Star News has it correct, that this is a serious situation, and deserves immediate action by the United States and other voting members of the United Nations who can block this move to seat Uganda on the Security Council."

»Read the article at the Huffington Post