Sanctity of UN Charter must be preserved and upheld: UN expert

GENEVA (19 September 2022) – Multilateralism through dialogue, diplomacy, negotiation, and inclusiveness, and based on collective responsibility, is the only path to resolving conflicts, maintaining international peace and security and generally overcoming the global challenges facing humankind, a UN expert said today.

“Full and unconditional respect for international law, including international human rights law and international humanitarian law, is the condition sine qua non for realising a peaceful, prosperous, resilient and just international order,” Livingstone Sewanyana, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, told the Human Rights Council.

In his annual report, the expert addressed the centrality of international law in safeguarding the international order, global disarmament processes, and much-needed structural reform of some key United Nations bodies.

“I call on Member States to abide by the Charter of the United Nations, including by settling their international disputes by peaceful means and refraining from the threat or use of force in their international engagement,” Sewanyana said.

He stressed that international peace and security cannot be fully secured without achieving nuclear disarmament, revitalising the international community’s commitment to arms control and disarmament, and reducing military expenditure in favour of sustainable development and responses to global climate change.

“I urge all Member States to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, with the goal of universal State adherence to this instrument and ratify other disarmament-related treaties and implement them faithfully,” the expert said.

Sewanyana said addressing challenges to international peace and security also means undertaking long-overdue reform of some key United Nations bodies, starting with the Security Council. “The Security Council should at last become more democratic, representative, effective, transparent and accountable. In addition, the use of veto power by permanent members of the Council should always be in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN,” he said.

The expert said that to successfully address the challenges facing international peace and security and other global challenges, it was vital that the views of people throughout the world were articulated and heard clearly in global affairs. Mechanisms through which civil society can participate and contribute in a safe and meaningful manner were crucial to this, Sewanyana said.

“It is hoped that the gravity of the current situation will provide much-needed impetus to find solutions to long-standing issues relating to international peace and security described in my report,” the expert said.

ENDS

Mr. Livingstone Sewanyana (Uganda) was appointed as the second Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order by the Human Rights Council and took up his mandate on 1 May 2018. A lawyer by profession and advocate of the High Court of Uganda, he is the Founder and Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), a Ugandan civil society organisation. He has written and published widely on human rights, corporate governance, public sector management and access to justice.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Proceduresof the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.