United Nations Archive

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  Mapp’s reassurances on torture fall short - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  It’s not good enough for Defence Minister Wayne Mapp to say he has “no information” that any of the 58 people arrested on the SAS’s joint operations with the Afghan Crisis Response Unit have been subsequently tortured. He admitted that 15 of them had been sent to facilities run by the Afghan intelligence service, the [...] read more
  October 14, 2011 2:15 pm - 5 Comments
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  Palmer Panel soft on Israel’s flotilla raid - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  It was seen as a feather in New Zealand’s cap when former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer was appointed to head the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Inquiry into the Israeli attack on a flotilla bringing aid to Gaza in May 2010. Unfortunately, the resultant report, released this month, is far from adequate. It supports the [...] read more
  September 12, 2011 2:18 pm - 6 Comments
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  NZ responds to internet termination at UN, but did we really mean it? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  New Zealand is one of 40 countries to endorse a speech by Sweden at the United Nations Human Rights Council criticising internet termination. Interestingly the United Kingdom and France, two other nations who have established “three strike” laws similar to ours, refused to sign. This is a response to the UN Special Rapporteur on the [...] read more
  June 15, 2011 2:02 pm - 50 Comments
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  Is Waihopai helping the US spy on the UN? - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  The latest Wikileaks documents on US spying on the UN are going to make it harder for our government to justify the Waihopai spy station. Waihopai’s main task is to intercept global communications for the US National Security Agency (NSA). The Wikileaks documents inform us that the US has been blatantly violating international conventions with [...] read more
  November 29, 2010 11:16 am - 38 Comments
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  OAG’s report on defence fraud - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  The Auditor-General has come out with a very disturbing report on the NZ Defence Forces defrauding the United Nations over accommodation payments for NZDF seconded to the UN in New York. This fraud took place over seven years, from 2001 to 2008, with “a large number of NZDF employees” [Report, page 65] aware of the [...] read more
  July 22, 2010 2:24 pm - 1 Comment
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  Bring the SAS home - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  When John Key was in Afghanistan he flew a kite about extending the SAS mission there beyond the middle of next year. He’d be wise to can the idea, judging by a poll reported in yesterday’s Dominion Post. It shows that 40 percent wanted complete withdrawal and another 37 percent partial withdrawal, with only 10 [...] read more
  June 1, 2010 3:37 pm - 42 Comments
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  Green Parliamentary speech on UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People - by Metiria Turei

  
  
  
  The Green Party welcomes the announcement that the Aotearoa/New Zealand will finally adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.  It has been our policy for many years and we are very pleased that it has happened at last.  We consider it the minimum international standard for the protection of indigenous communities [...] read more
  April 22, 2010 11:41 am - 55 Comments
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  General debate, April 6, 2010 - by frog

  
  
  
  9 Food Label Lies – Welcome to the Anthropocene – Who will be the next UN climate chief? – 6 great environmental pranks read more
  April 6, 2010 6:20 am - 41 Comments
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  Former Green Co-leader appointed to UN top job - by frog

  
  
  
  Former Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons has put weeks of speculation to rest and confirmed she has been appointed to the role of Secretary General of the United Nations. Ms Fitzsimons, who retired from Parliament in February, was initially looking forward to spending more time at home on her Coromandel farm. ‘But Harry had everything [...] read more
  April 1, 2010 10:00 am - 13 Comments
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  NZ and its strange love of voting down anti-nuke resolutions - by Kennedy Graham

  
  
  
  New Zealand Nat-Lab Governments have prided themselves in recent years over their pristine nuclear-free policy. In the mid-1980s, we helped lead in the Pacific initiative to create the South Pacific Nuclear-free Zone. Then, unsatisfied with the weakness of the regional zone in allowing nuclear-armed warships to enter the harbours of treaty states, we legislated in Parliament against their entry into our own. read more
  September 30, 2009 12:42 pm - 24 Comments
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  Non-Aggression Bill still a force to be reckoned with - by Kennedy Graham

  
  
  
  My International Non-Aggression Bill met its Maker last Members’ Day (23 Sept.) in the House. While that was disappointing, it was not all doom and gloom. read more
  September 29, 2009 5:27 pm - 18 Comments
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  The Yes Men Strike Again - by frog

  
  
  
  The Yes Men, Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonann, have done it again! Ahead of a UN summit on climate change, they distributed nearly one million spoof copies of the New York Post. Having come out brazenly as climate change deniers, New Yorkers were surprised to see the right wing rag emphatically change its tune. The full on [...] read more
  September 22, 2009 9:54 am - 5 Comments
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  “No Limits” to civilian suffering in US bombing - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  Images courtesy of Radio Live ***** The three Kiwi soldiers in Afghanistan might have seen it as a bit of harmless fun. To help a drink promotion they slapped a Demon sticker reading “No Limits, No Laws” on a 2000 lb bomb attached to the undercarriage of a [presumably] American plane at [presumably] Bagram airbase. [...] read more
  September 4, 2009 6:22 pm - 112 Comments
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  Green MPs Support 350 Challenge - by frog

  
  
  
  Green MPs support Bill McKibben’s campaign to reduce carbon in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, down from the current 389 ppm which is going up every year.  Scientists believe this would keep the global temperature rise to less than 2C. Meanwhile, the NACT government struggles with denial.  National’s “target” is a 50% reduction [...] read more
  June 9, 2009 7:00 am - 42 Comments
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  The Price of Silence - by frog

  
  
  
  Further to my post yesterday about the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, there is this lovely music video from Amnesty International: It is a cogent reminder that when we remain silent in the face of arcane legislation like the current Immigration Bill or last year’s Terrorism Amendment Act, we allow [...] read more
  December 11, 2008 12:15 pm - 6 Comments
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  World Food Day - by frog

  
  
  
  Yesterday was World Food Day. World Food Day began in 1979 established by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The aim of the day is to heighten public awareness of the world food problem and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. In 1980, the United Nations General Assembly [...] read more
  October 17, 2008 6:28 am - No Comments
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  Defending small islands - by frog

  
  
  
  Defence and security seems to be my meme for the day. Tane has noted that: in a resource-constrained post-peak, climate changing world, there won’t be enough to go around. We won’t be able to help the whole world, therefore removing all incentive for them to attack us. And that seems to be the problem that [...] read more
  September 4, 2008 11:16 am - 9 Comments
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  South Ossetia - by frog

  
  
  
  You have to wonder who Georgia’s Mikheil Saakashvili had in his ear to think that attacking the separatists in South Ossetia was going to work.  Maybe he mistakenly thought the support he got from the US in recent years was cavalry rather than show ponies?  Maybe he though that nearly belonging to NATO was close [...] read more
  August 11, 2008 8:48 am - 4 Comments
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  Climate refugees - by frog

  
  
  
  The number of refugees in the world rose by 3 million people last year after a having been in a short period of decline.  And, according to the United Nations, one of the biggest causes is climate change.  Antonio Guterres, the UN high commissioner for refugees tells the Guardian: “Climate change is today one of [...] read more
  June 19, 2008 8:33 am - 5 Comments
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  GE breaks its promise - by frog

  
  
  
  The promise of GE was that it was going to feed the starving masses. Now a UN report that 400 scientists spent four years helping to write criticises GE saying it has little role to play in helping to feed the world and that scientific time and energy time instead needs to be invested protecting [...] read more
  April 17, 2008 9:59 am - 12 Comments