Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): The international community ignored the widespread violence against civilians, mostly women and children. Meanwhile the largest UN Peacekeeping force in the world was unable to make a significant difference in the world's biggest human catastrophy.
Sudan: The international community failed to execute the international arrest warrant for the Sudanese President, accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. Non-action allowed the Darfur genocide to continue, tolerated the expulsion of a dozen NGOs on allegations of spying. Meanwhile Khartoum arms fractions in South Sudan, preparing for a new war.
Copenhagen: Where the world's political leaders failed to come up with a significant agreement to protect the environment.
Somalia: The international community failed to stop the politicization of the civil war, with the US through its proxy Ethiopia, and some Arab states through their proxy Eritrea who did nothing but put oil on the fire. Meanwhile the donor community failed to provide sufficient aid to sustain the feeding centers and refugee camps.
Zimbabwe: The international community failed to pressure Zimbabwe's government to provide sufficient social security, social safety nets and proper social welfare to its citizens, turning what once was the breadbasket of Sub-saharan Africa, into a well of hunger and human suffering.
Afghanistan: The international community and the UN underestimated the level of corruption during the elections, trying to cover it up while supporting Karzai, ignoring all reports of large scale fraud.
Pakistan: Armed interventions in the Swat province plunged the country into chaos, riddled with suicide attacks, displacing over 2 million people, with no hope of a longer term peace settlement.
US: Continued their short sighted armed interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, plunging any country they touch, into chaos. Further mixing humanitarian and military causes, continues to put the lives of aidworkers at stake.
Sri Lanka: The international community failed to highlight the crimes against humanity and genocide the Sri Lankan government covered up during the last weeks of their civil war in an attempt to exterminate the Tamil population as a whole, locking up all civilians in camps which are rated as 'inhumane'.
Palestine: the Gaza blockade, implemented by Israel and Egypt and endorsed by most governments, collectively punishes 1.5 million refugees by inhibiting education, reconstruction, health and nutrition to allow the people to break out of a vicious circle of abuse. Hamas is cruelly and strategically using the Gaza situation to its political advantage. Israel used the highest grade weaponry to indiscriminately kill civilians, target aid organisations and schools.
Guinee: Where the government violently suppressed protests through whatever means, including widespread rape.
World hunger: We allowed a record of 1 billion people to go hungry, while the world is producing sufficient food.
GMO seed and food market manipulation: Monsanto and Cargill further monopolized the seed market, using the US government to introduce GMO food and seeds into developing countries. Shame on Monsanto for single-handedly causing the autumn corn harvest in South Africa to fail.
LRA: For their atrocities in DRC, Uganda, Chad and Sudan, with an international community unable to stop the abduction of children as sex slaves and child soldiers, widespread rape and indiscriminately killing amongst civilians.
Ethiopia: Wide spread famine taking gigantic proportions, despite a decade of aid efforts. Press and NGOs were closely monitored not to make the disaster "too public". Meanwhile, as a US proxy, Ethiopia continued their shady role in the Somalia crisis, discriminating their in-country political opposition and keeping a close lid on their civil war in Ogaden.
Iran: Rigged elections caused widespread protests, violently suppressed by the government killing innocent civilians to secure the government's handle on internal and external affairs.
Belgium: Administrative Kafka-ian hurdles paralysed the government in providing inadequate shelter and protection for the homeless and the asylum seekers during the severe winter.
North Korea: for their scare tactics, failure to cooperate with any common sense, and their wide spread human rights violations.
ASEAN: lookingseeking to improve trade relations, but at the expense of basic rights across the entire region, the US plays along. Genocide in Burma continues.
Neocolonialism: EU, Middle East and Far East countries are buying up and leasing land in Africa either for biofuel production, or production of their own food. Despite the fact that those countries do not produce enough food for their own yet.
Aid agencies: for not being accountable for the $100 billion a year, failing the world's poor.
China: for equivocating in Sudan for the sake of oil resources, circumventing the international arms embargo for Sudan and Zimbabwe, and being a main stumbling block at the Copenhagen summit.
The international community: for being schizophrenic at the cost of human suffering in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, DRC, Myanmar and so on, and so on.
Here is the poll: (You can vote for several nominees at the same time)
The international community has no moral to criticize or pressure Zimbabwe under any circumstance, unless they take the first initiative of lifting the unjustified economic embargo they placed on the country.
The problem of the "shame list" is the we. In this list I think we should be first and foremost ashamed of Copenhagen as it represented the we collective, the absolute failure to realize the importance of global warming beyond our national and economic interests. Most of the other events do not depend of a "we" but a new approach (bottom-up maybe) to conflicts. It involves we but also them; the nation upon which it is foolish to believe that we can solve their problem for them.
I would agree that economic sanctions against Zimbabwe are probably more damaging than doing good. I also believe the regime is to be fully blamed for the shamefull state of affairs.
@Nathalie
I pondered over the "we" and "them". That is why between the call for 'nominations' and the actual poll, I slightly rephrased some statements. True that for many countries the regime in place is to blame: "them". But I also believe that in many options the international community is to blame in putting insufficient pressure on the governments. Political alliances are often taking priority over what "is right". The conflict in Palestine as an example.
Update:
Peter. Flemish, European, aid worker, expeditioner, sailor, traveller, husband, father, friend, nutcase. Not necessarily in that order.
3 comments:
The international community has no moral to criticize or pressure Zimbabwe under any circumstance, unless they take the first initiative of lifting the unjustified economic embargo they placed on the country.
The problem of the "shame list" is the we. In this list I think we should be first and foremost ashamed of Copenhagen as it represented the we collective, the absolute failure to realize the importance of global warming beyond our national and economic interests.
Most of the other events do not depend of a "we" but a new approach (bottom-up maybe) to conflicts. It involves we but also them; the nation upon which it is foolish to believe that we can solve their problem for them.
@Salifu
I would agree that economic sanctions against Zimbabwe are probably more damaging than doing good. I also believe the regime is to be fully blamed for the shamefull state of affairs.
@Nathalie
I pondered over the "we" and "them". That is why between the call for 'nominations' and the actual poll, I slightly rephrased some statements. True that for many countries the regime in place is to blame: "them". But I also believe that in many options the international community is to blame in putting insufficient pressure on the governments. Political alliances are often taking priority over what "is right". The conflict in Palestine as an example.
Point taken, though!
Peter
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