Benjamin Ferencz: NEW LEGAL FOUNDATIONS FOR GLOBAL SURVIVAL

CHAPTER NINE: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE ?

(...). A leading NGO, Amnesty International, won a Nobel Prize in 1977 for its work in protectng hum,an rights around the world.

NGO's of many kinds have demanded a halt to nuclear testing or proliferation. They have fought for disarmament and environmental protection and economic development of the Third World. Not only do NGO's relieve the UN of financial burdens by not waiting for UN relief subsidies but such NGOs as Caritas, International Alert, the International Committee of the Red Cross and many others serve as early warning signal of trouble brewing and thereby create a foundation for the preventive diplomacy that may prevent conflicts. Soon after taking office , Secretary -General Boutros-Ghali expressed his appreciation for the important work done by non - governmental organizations and the support which they rendered to the UN.

On 8 November 1993 he noted:

There were 200 non -governmental organizations at the start of this century. There are over 1800 today. They link groups to Governments and peoples around the world. They are a powerful force for education, cooperation and conflict prevention.

But, as with so many other thing at the UN, appearance and reality are not always identical. Although the work of the NGO's is publicly lauded, NGO's enjoy no privileges or immunities at the UN. They are grudgingly given a limited right to enter the building and receive documents available for public distribution. Some States would be happier if NGO's just went away and disappeared. No sovereign likes to have someone looking over his shoulders to judge the legality or propriety of his conduct and particularly how he treats his subjects. It should not be too surprising if some governments inclined to suppress human rights opose the work or status of NGO's. Civic groups are granted UN NGO status by sufferance. ECOSOC has worked out a system of classifying those NGOs that it chooses to consult according to categories that determine whether such "consultants" can submit papers of up to 2000 words, 500 words, or none at all.

NgoS Are at the complete mercy of a UN Committee that has the power arbitrarily to silence an NGO by altering its status whenever it suits a nation represented on the Committee to do so. Since the NGO Committee acts by consensus, the discriminatory whim of any member can have a chilling effect on the freedom of speech of an organization which can find itself out of the UN action without having any semblance of a hearing or due process of law. It is an unfair and unwise situation that call for correction.

In writing of NGO's, Professor Bowett confirms that the value of NGO's contribution to the work of ECOSOC is often regarded with skepticism, but he acknowledges that:

If the UN is to be regarded as an organization representing "We the peoples..", as the Preamble states, then in principle the development of this consultative process is a worthy aim.

The potential power of non -governmental organizations dedicated to the cause of peace and justice should not be underestimated. Despite the fact that NGO's are threatened by expulsion, retaliation, threats and all sorts of attacks directed against NGO activists, their participation in the activities of the UN Commission on Human Rights has more than tripled in the last two decades. When the United Nations Conference on enviroment and Development (UNCED) was being planned, it was officially recognized that:

The Earth Summit will be a conference of leaders of Governments, but its success will largely depend on the interest and support of peoples and their active participation in NGO's and citizens groups which re contributing to its preparations.

In the Summer of 1992, nearly 30.000 people -men and women, young and old -from 171countries assembled on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro to let it be known that they expected solutions to the world's enviromental problems. Shridath Rampphal, Guyana's former Minister, called the Earth Summit" the enlightened global community of people" aware that there was a crisis that humanity had to face and conquer. Despite public relations indications to the contrary, the truth was that Governments wished to -and did- exclude the NGO's from the official deliberations at UNCED.