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Of Gnats and Camels: Is There a Double Standard at the United Nations?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2017

Thomas M. Franck
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Extract

Does the United Nations, in Saint Matthew’s words, “strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel”? Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr., a U.S. alternate delegate to the 38th United Nations General Assembly in 1983, spoke for many in and outside the U.S. Government when, after the end of the session, he charged in the New York Times that “[f]or decades, the United Nations has practiced a double standard.” Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick has elaborated the same point, accusing the Organization of being “perverted by politicization.”

Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 78 , Issue 4 , October 1984 , pp. 811 - 833
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1984

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References

1 N.Y. Times, Feb. 10, 1984, at A27, col. 3.

2 Quoted in Pines, The U.S. and the U.N.: Time for Reappraisal 10 (Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, Sept. 29, 1983).

3 The motion to close debate passed by 60 in favor with 54 against and 24 abstentions. UN Doc. A/38/PV.43, at 12–15 (Nov. 5, 1983).

4 GA Res. 38/7 (Nov. 2, 1983).

5 UN Doc. A/38/PV.43, supra note 3, at 45–50.

6 GA Res. 38/7, supra note 4.

7 UN Doc. A/38/PV.43, supra note 3, at 98–99.

8 Id. at 102–03.

9 GA Res. 34/22 (Nov. 14, 1979).

10 Id.

11 UN Doc. A/34/PV.67, at 78–79 (Nov. 14, 1979).

12 GA Res. 34/22 (Nov. 14, 1979); GA Res. 35/6 (Oct. 22, 1980); GA Res. 36/5 (Oct. 21, 1981); GA Res. 37/6 (Oct. 28, 1982); and GA Res. 38/3 (Oct. 27, 1983).

13 Id. For the votes, see, respectively, 34 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 46) at 294, UN Doc. A/34/46 (1979); 35 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 48) at 309, UN Doc. A/35/48 (1980); 36 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 51) at 283, UN Doc. A/36/51 (1981); 37 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 51) at 315, UN Doc. A/37/51 (1982); and UN Doc. A/38/PV.38, at 78 (Oct. 29, 1983).

14 UN Doc. A/38/PV.43, at 45 (Nov. 5, 1983) (Grenada); UN Doc. A/38/PV.38, supra note 13, at 78 (Kampuchea).

15 GA Res. 377 (V) (Nov. 3, 1950). The Emergency Session debates are in ES-6 UN GAOR, pt. 1 (1980).

16 ES-6 UN GAOR (5th plen. mtg.) at 78 (Jan. 12, 1980).

17 GA Res. ES-6/2 (Jan 14, 1980)

18 ES-6 UN GAOR (7th plen. mtg.) at 111 (Jan. 14, 1980).

19 Id. (1st plen. mtg.) at 8–9 (Jan. 10, 1980).

20 Id. (2d plen. mtg.) at 26 (Jan– 11, 1980).

21 Id. (5th plen. mtg.) at 78 (Jan. 12, 1980).

22 Id. (7th plen. mtg.) at 99 (Jan. 14, 1980).

23 Id. (5th plen. mtg.) at 67 (Jan. 12, 1980).

24 GA Res. 35/37, Nov. 20, 1980, passed by a vote of 111 to 22, with 12 abstentions. See 35 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 48) at 310, UN Doc. A/35/48 (1980). GA Res. 36/34, Nov. 18, 1981, passed by 116 to 23, with 12 abstentions. See 36 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 51) at 284, UN Doc. A/36/51 (1981). GA Res. 37/37, Nov. 29, 1982, passed by 114 to 21, with 13 abstentions. See 37 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 51) at 316, UN Doc. A/37/51 (1982). GA Res. 38/29, Nov. 23, 1983, passed by 116 to 20, with 17 abstentions. See UN Doc. A/38/PV.69, at 22 (Dec. 1, 1983).

25 UN Doc. A/38/PV.69, supra note 24, at 22.

26 Resolutions on Political and Information Affairs Adopted by the Twelfth Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, 1–5 June 1981, Baghdad, UN Doc. A/36/421, Ann. II, at 52 (Aug. 12, 1981).

27 In 1983, according to the calculations of the U.S. Mission, 39 countries that voted to condemn the U.S. action in Grenada failed to vote to condemn the Soviet role in Afghanistan. This includes those who failed to vote, or abstained, on the Afghan resolution. Specifically, it includes Afghanistan, the three nations of Indochina, the three Marxist states of the Caribbean (Cuba, Grenada and Nicaragua) and eight Marxist states of Eastern Europe. U.S. Dep’t of State, Report to Congress on Voting Practices in the United Nations, table 14, Feb. 24, 1984.

28 For a discussion of this assertion of principle over politics, see Franck, , Duke et Decorum Est: The Strategic Role of Legal Principles in the Falklands War, 77 AJIL 109 (1983)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The resolution is SC Res. 502 (Apr. 3, 1982).

29 SC Res. 502, supra note 28.

30 For example, Ambassador Javier Chamorro Mora of Nicaragua, who was particularly strident in denunciation of British colonialism. UN Doc. S/PV.2363, at 16–25 (May 23, 1982).

31 UN Doc. S/PV.2362, at 41, 46 (May 22, 1982).

32 UN Doc. S/PV.2364, at 21, 23–26 (May 24, 1982).

33 The resolution was addressed to both India and Pakistan, but since Pakistani troops were not on Indian soil, it was obviously aimed at New Delhi. GA Res. 2793 (XXVI) (Dec. 7, 1971).

34 UN Doc. A/PV.2003 and Corr.1, at 44–45 (Dec. 7, 1971).

35 GA Res. 3292 (XXIX) (Dec. 13, 1974).

36 GA Res. 3458A (XXX) (Dec. 10, 1975).

37 UN Doc. A/PV.2435, at 112–15 (Dec. 10, 1975).

38 The effect, however, was undermined by another resolution passed by the same session, albeit with the narrowest margin of 56 to 42, with 34 abstentions, which “[t]akes note” of the agreement made on Nov. 14, 1975 between Spain, Morocco and Mauritania, by which Madrid ceded the territory to the two invading African nations. GA Res. 3458B (XXX) (Dec. 10, 1975).

39 See, e.g., Report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, UN Doc. A/38/23, pt. VI, at 5 (Oct. 10, 1983).

40 GA Res. 37/28, Nov. 23, 1982, was adopted by 78 to 15, with 50 abstentions. See 37 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 51) at 316, UN Doc. A/37/51 (1982). See also GA Res. 38/40, Dec. 7, 1983, adopted without a vote. See UN Doc. A/38/PV.86, at 7 (Dec. 7, 1983).

41 UN Doc. A/PV.2439, at 38 (Dec. 12, 1975).

42 GA Res. 3485 (XXX) (Dec. 12, 1975).

43 GA Res. 31/53 (Dec. 1, 1976). For the vote, see 31 UN GAOR (85th plen. mtg.) at 1298 (Dec. 1, 1976).

44 In recent years, the conflict appears to have died down (although it is claimed by Fretilin sources that the continuing civil war in Timor has cost 100,000 lives—a figure the Indonesians call grossly exaggerated). With a decline in actual fighting, the Assembly’s interest has waned. The 1976 majority of 68 to 20, with 49 abstentions (GA Res. 31/53 of Dec. 1, 1976) had by 1982 withered to a mere 50 to 46, with 50 abstentions (GA Res. 37/30 of Nov. 23, 1982). For the votes, see 31 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 39, vol. 1) at 219, UN Doc. A/31/39 (1976); 37 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 51) at 316, UN Doc. A/37/51 (1982). There was no resolution on Timor in 1983, although the Assembly’s Special Committee on Decolonization continued to hold hearings on the situation. 37 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 23), ch. X, UN Doc. A/37/23/Rev.1 (1983). By then, most states, including many in the Third World, no longer saw much point in incurring the wrath of oil-rich Indonesia solely to affirm a principle which, at least in this instance, evidently could not be applied.

45 The term was used by Senator Kasten of Wisconsin. 130 Cong. Rec. S3842 (daily ed. Apr. 5, 1984).

46 GA Res. 38/10 (Nov. 11, 1983).

47 GA Res. 38/180E (Dec. 19, 1983).

48 Id., preambular para. 4.

49 UN CHARTER arts. 13(1), 55, 62, 68 and 76.

50 Id., art. 13(l)(b).

51 Id., art. 55(c).

52 Id., art. 60.

53 Congressional Research Service, Reform of the United Nations: An Analysis of The President’s Proposals and Their Comparison With Proposals of Other Countries 63 (1979).

54 Rodley, , The Development of United Nations Activities in the Field of Human Rights and the Role of Non-Governmental Organizations, in The U.S., the U.N., and The Management of Global Change 263, 263 (Gati, Toby T. ed. 1983)Google Scholar.

55 Congressional Research Service, supra note 53, at 63.

56 Id. at 65.

57 The Covenants were adopted by GA Res. 2200A (XXI) (Dec. 16, 1966).

58 Report of the Human Rights Committee, 38 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 40) at 91, UN Doc. A/38/40 (1983).

59 Rodley, supra note 54, at 267.

60 Wolf, , Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation, in 2 Human Rights in International Law: Legal and Policy Issues 273, 273 (Meron, T. ed. 1984)Google Scholar.

61 ECOSOC Res. 1503 (XLVIII) (May 27, 1970).

62 Id., Art. 6(a) and (b).

63 Id., Arts. 7(c) and 8. For the relevant subsidiary documentation and practice, see Tardu, M., Human Rights: the International Petition System (1979)Google Scholar.

64 UN Doc. E/CN.4/1371 (Feb. 12, 1980).

65 Commission on Human Rights [hereinafter cited as CHR], Report on the Thirty-sixth Session, 36 UN ESCOR Supp. (No. 3) at 85, UN Doc. E/1980/13, E/CN.4/1408 (1980).

66 Rodley, supra note 54, at 281 n.28.

67 Id.

68 Id. at 275.

69 CHR Res. 1983/5 of Feb. 15, 1983, CHR, Report on the Thirty-ninth Session, 39 UN ESCOR Supp. (No. 3) at 123–25, UN Doc. E/1983/13, E/CN.4/1984/60; GA Res. 38/3 (Oct. 27, 1983).

70 CHR Report, supra note 69, at 123.

71 CHR Res. 1983/5, Arts. 1, 6, 9, id. at 124–25.

72 UN Doc. A/38/PV.38, supra note 13, at 78.

73 GA Res. 38/3, preamble (Oct. 27, 1983).

74 CHR Res. 1983/7 of Feb. 16, 1983, Art. 1, CHR Report, supra note 69, at 128.

75 Id. at 127.

76 GA Res. 38/29 (Nov. 23, 1983). For the vote, see UN Doc. A/38/PV.69, supra note 24, at 22. See also text at note 25 supra.

77 CHR Res. 38/29, supra note 76, preamble and Arts. 1, 3 and 8.

78 CHR Res. 1983/30 of Mar. 8, 1983, CHR Report, supra note 69, at 160. This resolution was passed by a vote of 19 to 14, with 10 abstentions. See id.

79 CHR Res. 1983/30, id., preamble and Arts. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

80 CHR Res. 1983/34 of Mar. 8, 1983, Arts. 1 and 4, id. at 164–65.

81 CHR Report, supra note 69, at 164.

82 CHR Res. 1983/8 of Feb. 16, 1983, id. at 129.

83 CHR Res. 1983/6 of Feb. 16, 1983, id. at 126.

84 GA Res. 38/40 (Dec. 7, 1983).

85 CHR Res. 1983/37 of Mar. 8, 1983, CHR Report, supra note 69, at 168–69.

86 CHR Res. 1983/38 of Mar. 8, 1983, id. at 169–71.

87 CHR Res. 1983/29 of Mar. 8, 1983, id. at 157–60.

88 CHR Res. 1983/1 of Feb. 15, 1983, id. at 112–16; CHR Res. 1983/2 of Feb. 15, 1983, id. at 116–18; CHR Res. 1983/3 of Feb. 15, 1983, id. at 118–20; CHR Res. 1983/27 of Mar. 7, 1983, irf. at 154–55.

89 CHR, Report on the Fortieth Session, 40 UN ESCOR Supp. (No. 4) at 151, UN Doc. E/ 1984/14, E/CN.4/1984/77.

90 Id. at 153.

91 Id.

92 GA Res. 38/100 (Dec. 16, 1983); GA Res. 38/102 (Dec. 16, 1983); GA Res. 38/101 (Dec. 16, 1983).

93 CHR Res. 1983/1, supra note 88, Art. 2.

94 Id., Arts. 3 and 5.

95 Id., Art. 6(5).

96 Id.

97 See Franck, & Fairley, , Procedural Due Process in Human Rights Fact–finding by International Agencies, 74 AJIL 308, 327 (1980)Google Scholar.

98 GA Res. 38/180A (Dec. 19, 1983). See also GA Res. 38/180B, C, D and E (Dec. 19, 1983).

99 UN Doc. A/34/PV.14 (Sept. 29, 1979).

100 See Meron, Remarks, in 77 ASIL Proc. (1983, forthcoming).

101 56 UN ESCOR Supp. (No. 5), UN Doc. E/5464 (1974).

102 ECOSOC Res. 1873 (LVI) (May 17, 1974).

103 Sub-Comm’n on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Res. 8 (XXVII) (Aug. 21, 1974), UN Doc. E/CN.4/1160, at 53 (1974).

104 GA Res. 3219 (XXIX) (Nov. 6, 1974).

105 58 UN ESCOR Supp. (No. 4) at 4, UN Doc. E/5635 (1975).

106 UN Doc. A/10285 (Oct. 7, 1975).

107 GA Res. 3448 (XXX) (Dec. 9, 1975).

108 Id., para. 1.

109 UN Doc. A/PV.2433, at 41–42 (Dec. 9, 1975).

110 See chs. IB (draft decision No. 1), XI and XXA (Res. 3 (XXXII)) and XXB (decision No. 1 (XXXII)) and Annex, 60 UN ESCOR Supp. (No. 3), UN Doc. E/5768 (1976). See also ECOSOC Res. 1994 (LX) (May 12, 1976); GA Res. 31/124 (Dec. 16, 1976); Letter of Sept. 30, 1976 from Chile transmitting 16 communications between Chile and the Human Rights Commission, UN Doc. A/C.3/31/4 (Oct. 7, 1976).

111 CHR Res. 9 (XXXIII) (Mar. 9, 1977). For the resolution and vote, see, respectively, 62 UN ESCOR Supp. (No. 6) at 82 and 35–36, UN Doc. E/5927, E/CN.4/1257 (1977).

112 UN Doc. A/32/227 (Sept. 29, 1977).

113 GA Res. 32/118 (Dec. 16, 1977).

114 UN Doc. A/32/PV.105, at 29–30 (Dec. 16, 1977).

115 UN Doc. A/33/331 (Oct. 25, 1978).

116 GA Res. 33/175 (Dec. 20, 1978).

117 Id., para. 7.

118 UN Doc. A/34/583 and Add.l (Nov. 21, 1979).

119 GA Res. 34/179 (Dec. 17, 1979).

120 GA Res. 37/183 (Dec. 17, 1982); GA Res. 38/102 (Dec. 16, 1983).

121 UN Doc. A/38/PV.100, at 22–23 (Dec. 26, 1983).

122 Address at 38th session of Commission on Human Rights, Geneva, Feb. 1, 1982, reprinted in Van Boven, T., People Matter: Views on International Human Rights Policy 76, 83 (1982)Google Scholar.

123 UN Doc. A/37/564, at 2 (Nov. 4, 1982).

124 Id. at 3.

125 Id. at 123.

126 Id. at 123–26.

127 Id. at 127.

128 Id. at 128.

129 Id.

130 Id. at 129.

131 Id. at 141.

132 UN Doc. E/CN.4/1983/18 (Feb. 21).

133 Id. at 15.

134 Id.

135 Id. at 12–15.

136 Id. at 15.

137 Id. at 16.

138 Id.

139 Id. It should be noted that the International Labour Organisation has appointed a commission of inquiry, under the chairmanship of Dr. Valticos, to investigate the noncompliance of Poland with its legal obligations under ILO conventions. Those familiar with the ILO’s performance in fact-finding expect better things of this examination than have so far been produced by the office of the Secretary–General. See N.Y. Times, Mar. 8, 1984, at A14, col. 5.

140 UN Doc. E/CN.4/1984/26, at 12 (Mar. 1).

141 Regents of the Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978).

142 Morton v. Mancari, 417 U.S. 535 (1974).

143 E.g., Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Optional Protocol, establishing the Human Rights Committee, note 57 supra.

144 13 U.N.C.I.O. Docs. 633–34, 653–54 (1945).

145 Professor Louis B. Sohn has expressed the view that this tendency should be modified, at a minimum, when it comes to disposing of “grave objections to the constitutionality or legality of various decisions,” which ought not to be decided “by the same body whose powers are in question.” Sohn, , Due Process in the United Nations, 69 AJIL 620, 621 (1975)Google Scholar. See also Sohn, Enabling the United States to Contest “Illegal” United Nations Acts, id. at 852.