Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to the United Nations Security Council Tuesday. The address was a direct outcome of Russian atrocities committed in Ukraine, not just the torture, summary execution, if not casual killing of Ukrainian civilians in the Kiev suburb of Bucha (see The Ukrainian Army Liberates Territory From Russian Invaders and Discovers Murdered Civilians; Shocking Evidence of Mass-Scale Russian War Crimes Raises the Stakes in Ukraine, and Russian Torture Chamber Discovered in Liberated Ukraine Town as the Russian Army Continues to Do What It Is Good at Doing)However, the Russian tactic of attacking civilian infrastructure and buildings as part of terror campaigns was a good example. Perhaps the Security Council got more than they bargained.
Speaking via video link to the U.N. Security Council, he compared Russian forces to the Islamic State, called for a Nuremberg-like war crimes tribunal and vented his bitter frustration, knowing that the council — where Russia is one of five permanent members with veto power — would do nothing but talk.
“Where is the security that the Security Council needs to guarantee?” Mr. Zelensky said, raising the question of whether Russia deserved to keep its seat on the council. “Are you ready to close the U.N.? Is international law dead? If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately.”
The chamber fell silent as a short video provided by Mr. Zelensky’s government played, showing some of the hundreds of corpses found strewn around the city of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, after Russian forces retreated last week — bloated, charred bodies of civilians, including children. Some of the victims had their hands tied and were shot in the head.
Mr. Zelensky said that in Bucha, “they killed entire families, adults and children, and they tried to burn the bodies.” Civilians “were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road,” he added, asserting that “women were raped and killed in front of their children; their tongues were pulled out.”
Russia did its usual thing: it lied. They claimed that the nazis perpetrated the atrocities. But, keep in mind, Russia has a couple of other narratives. 1) These images are fake and 2) The people were shot by Ukrainian artillery. Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia had this insightful brainfart.
Vasily Nebenzia, Russian UN Ambassador said Russia must “cut off Nazi cancerous tumor” in order to save Donbass
Ukrainians are being dehumanized, as is the case in Russian media. This was brought up to the UN.
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) April 5, 2022
Zelensky has it right. The UN will do nothing because it can’t. The UN Security Council’s five permanent members are relics of World War II. It is not logical for Russia, France or Britain to have a veto power if they do not possess nuclear weapons. Russia is the only country that has a right to occupy a permanent place. The USSR’s seat was lost to Russia, but it managed to retain the same seat despite complete lack of legitimacy. It should have put the question of who owns the USSR’s vacant seat to the General Assembly. A Third World option like India or Brazil, or the EU would make more sense. To and insult to stupidity, Russia also has a seat on the UN’s Human Rights Council.
The UN clearly shows what Donald Trump has so frequently criticized. The United Nations is a non-profit organization. It exists, so far as I know, to offer jobs for well-connected and international elites.
Once upon a time, I felt that the UN could be justified since an international forum was good. We are now seeing, as with Somalia, Rwanda, Burma, or whatever name they use this week, that the UN cannot protect weaker and more vulnerable peoples, nor ensure international order. Perhaps it is time to reconsider our membership in the UN and instead create bilateral agreements as required.
About Post Author
