Where the Majority Rules
Berns, Walter
Walter Berns WHERE THE MAJORITY RULES: A UN DIARY How I spent my summer vacation. Early June: I am asked whether I would be willing to serve as the American "expert" in a United Nations Seminar...
...Senegal complains that no one else supports my amendment, but Ireland immediately says he supports it...
...A brains drain...
...My shepherd, who has an eye for such details, notices that the alphabetical rules have been violated in the seating of the observers...
...he will act as a kind of shepherd for me...
...The chairman (or, as the Australian participant, a woman, will insist on saying, the chairperson) is from Sri Lanka, the rapporteur is a charming lawyer from Sierra Leone, and there are three vice-chairmen: one from the Soviet bloc (Bulgaria), one from the Third World (Cuba, formally nominated by Mexico), and one from the WEOG (the Western European and others group...
...This reminds me of the story in the Times today...
...August 4: The WEOG vice-chairman is elected unanimously...
...We adjourn an hour-and-a-half before the scheduled 6 p.m...
...He's preventing us from doing our business...
...A U.S...
...During lunch I am informed by a USUN friend that it costs $400 to publish one page of an official UN document...
...Ireland asks more or less the same question concerning the so-called right to peace...
...Resuming at 3:40, Czechoslovakia, in the person of a rather attractive young woman, gives its version of the Soviet line, but gives it in English...
...In the afternoon, I point out that everyone present, even the Soviet Union, is for human rights, although Marx himself had nothing but contempt for the very idea of rights...
...I protest that I hope to be in Maine in August and, in any case, in August I would prefer to be anywhere other than New York...
...When, after lunch, the package is formally proposed, France offers what I see as an insignificant amendment, saying that, at least in the French version, there is a troubling phrase that he cannot accept...
...August 13: We spend the day haggling, much to the annoyance of the Soviet Union, who wants to get on...
...When leaving the Mission to cross the street for the opening session, we run into one of our UN ambassadors, a friend from Washington, who gives me an idea of the importance generally attached to the Seminar by greeting me with the words, "What in the hell are you doing here...
...But the draft numbers some 150 pages, being a compilation of all the various points made during our two weeks...
...Distinguished participants, we must adopt our report...
...The Norwegian consultant says he is for human rights and peace and development, urges us to "embrace all three and to rise above them," and says there must be a "comprehensive redistribution" of income, which, of course, is what this seminar is really about...
...Syria denounces Israel, and we adjourn for lunch...
...In it, among other things, I point out that I don't think the "overall global human rights situation" is actually so hotsy-totsy...
...I say, I have no objection to these changes being made, but insist that this be done in every case...
...So saying, she glares at me...
...August 11: The Indian participant sweeps in, clad in still another dazzling sari...
...Billions of the world's peoples," I write, "are being governed without their consent, millions are being systematically and deliberately annihilated, hundreds of thousands are crowding fearfully into the flimsiest of vessels and fleeing the lands of their births, millions more see their homelands suddenly and viciously occupied by an army launched by a neighboring state, while, across a continent, another people trembles at the prospect of being invaded-because they had committed the horrendous mistake of forming a free trade union!-by troops launched by that same friendly neighbor, and so on.'' Where, I ask, is the evidence of an improved human rights situation...
...The Norwegian is not a participant, although he will participate...
...Warming up to his task, he leads me to believe that if I stay at a modest hotel-he must have had in mind the YMCA-I might break even...
...I spend the weekend writing my objections to the Seminar's report, which, of course, I have not yet seen because it is not yet written...
...Cuba points out (unnecessarily, I think) that property rights are "out of fashion" at the UN...
...Mission to the United Nations (otherwise known as USUN), am assigned an office and an "alternate participant," who is a foreign service officer and a UN veteran...
...Since it is now after one o'clock, the chairman adjourns us, whereupon the Soviet Union says to me, "I agree with you...
...August 5: Morocco identifies Israel as the world's chief villain...
...after all, Soviet delegates are renowned for their ability to outlast, or outsit, the delegates of other countries...
...they are cooperative, friendly...
...I know that I got through only 30 pages of chapter one...
...Yes, she says, that view was expressed, but only by one participant...
...And the ambassador may be right, but I wonder what difference it would make if our UN representatives served longer and succeeded in establishing closer relations with other delegations...
...Bulgaria tells us that the "great October Revolution opened up a new epoch for human rights," and that individual rights cannot be separated from collective human rights...
...The truth of this was demonstrated in America by an egregious denial of rights: I refer, of course, to the failure to afford black Americans the opportunity to vote for or against the Constitution in 1787-8...
...We troop back to the main chamber where a new quarrel erupts: Cuba argues that my resolutions don't even belong in the second category because no one else supports them, or almost no one else supports them...
...When I report what Ireland had said about our attitude toward the UN, he says Ireland may be right...
...August 3: I arrive at the U.S...
...Early June: I am asked whether I would be willing to serve as the American "expert" in a United Nations Seminar on the Relations that exist between Human Rights, Peace, and Development...
...Cuba's answer to this is that, unlike 1945, the UN now represents the majority of the world's people, so it can say what human rights are -and the United States better get used to it...
...The Soviet Union leans over to ask, "Vat's Bahai...
...I apologize for my inability to speak Spanish and we shake hands...
...June 22: Today I receive from Geneva a formal notice of my appointment...
...It is decided that he will take my place for the first hour tomorrow, which has the further advantage of allowing me to be absent when the Soviet Union replies to my speech...
...He concludes by calling on "some countries" to transfer wealth to the poor...
...As for this immigration business, he asks, what is it in fact...
...a quiet word with some UN functionary leads to a rearrangement of the plastic name cards and a reshuffling of the observing delegations...
...In my working paper, I had criticized the idea that human rights can be declared into existence by the UN...
...one has to be later, and that is not readily accomplished...
...I suggest that we will never finish if we adopt this procedure, that he should merely ask whether there are any objections...
...Australia is becoming annoyed with me and, truth to tell, I with her...
...I cannot agree with any resolution, I say, that speaks of the right to development...
...Morocco then recalls a precedent...
...We reconvene shortly after 3:30 and spend a few hours listening to India, the USSR, France, and the Norwegian consultant congratulate the officers on their election and speak of the interrelation of human rights, peace, and development...
...El Salvador...
...O.K., I say, I'll withdraw it and replace it with this one: Add, ' 'and the right of Israel to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries...
...Jefferson and Tom Paine, following the political philosophers, could speak of the rights of man and were prepared to explain how these rights were related to and derived from man's nature...
...Prime Minister Castro solved this problem when he said the UN must recognize the rights of mankind...
...We shake hands...
...To put it mildly, no consensus is reached on this, and the wrangling becomes somewhat nasty...
...as for peace, it is worth pointing out that there has never been a war between two liberal democracies...
...We now pick up 25 percent of the tab, and more...
...As usual, the expression most frequently heard is, "We can live with that.'' That speaks volumes, because it reflects the fact that the West is engaged in a holding operation here, and that the initiative, and the power, here as in the UN generally, is,in the hands of others...
...France makes the reasonable suggestion that there should be a drafting committee, but Nigeria says there is no time for that...
...I resist the temnptation to ask India about this...
...The World Jewish Congress speaks on behalf of Israel...
...Since no one else indicated a desire to speak, we adjourn until 3 p.m...
...To say that the 780 million people living in absolute poverty have a right to development suggests that they are poor because they are not developed (which is true), and that they are not developed because someone- guess who-is denying them this right...
...Thus, in this case, the UN would be sanctioning the elimination of the farmers...
...There is some confusion and hesitation, but eventually the following raise their hands: Ireland, France, Australia, Portugal, and Belgium...
...Some thirty minutes are consumed by this dispute...
...he replies that I should look upon this as a form of national service...
...Eventually, we adopt our two categories of recommendations: consensus (innocuous) and nonconsensus (contentious...
...and one from the Norwegian (85 pages...
...finally, the chairman says he will assume that there are no objections to the draft report as written, and before anyone can open his mouth, he bangs his gavel saying, "the report is adopted...
...This is likely to be resisted by the dispossessed farmers, who will then be dealt with harshly...
...Australia objects to the uniform use of the masculine pronoun, etc., and suggests that it be redrafted, but when the rapporteur winces, Australia says she is content that her objections be noted somewhere...
...The chairman agrees, and a half dozen of us repair to the adjoining small conference room...
...This includes the cost of translation and distribution...
...He is accompanied by a short chap with dark glasses who, I presume, is the KGB agent...
...I point out that it is not easy to be late...
...As for freedom of the press, why has the American press paid no attention to this Seminar...
...That' is, we must ascertain the number of participants who agree with each view expressed...
...mission made of scores of Eleanor Roosevelts and Adlai Steven-sons, all serving for life, would not, I sadly conclude, change this situation one whit...
...for example, in the United States we have a right to speak freely, and the government has the duty to protect speakers...
...but UN seminarians are impatient with such talk...
...I suspect this Seminar was typical of UN meetings, especially of meetings on human rights, and it was surely not convened with the view that we might learn something from each other...
...Australia joins in the attack, then Morocco...
...It is a blistering day, so it is a relief to leave USUN, where Jimmy Carter's thermostat rules are still in effect, for the General Assembly Building, where the temperature is kept at a comfortable 72 degrees...
...he is a "consultant" employed by the Seminar...
...And why not...
...reply that that might not be the tragedy he implies, but he thinks it will be the prelude to World War III...
...still others define as a human right whatever their own governments are prepared to grant, such as free dental care (or as Clifford Orwin and Thomas Pangle put it mischievously in a recent paper, free bad dental care...
...Algeria refuses to accept the French changes and the package deal collapses...
...He spends the next 15 minutes denouncing me...
...what the UN can give, I wrote, the UN can take away (which it now proposes to do with freedom of the press...
...At the pleasure of the official participants, I am told...
...On behalf of the PLO, Algeria argues vigorously in favor of the resolution calling upon the UN to guarantee the Palestinian people their rights...
...Here (and elsewhere) it should be indicated that the view was expressed only by one country...
...it also represents more than twice the annual per capita income of some countries...
...This ought to form the basis of our report on the relation of human rights, peace, and development...
...this is the language of UN resolution 242...
...The chairman seems to be aware of this because he asks the PLO to confine his remarks to agenda items, and Egypt settles back in her chair...
...France asks what the fifth resolution means...
...None of this matters so nobody objects...
...A half hour later the "distinguished participant from the USSR" will take exception to my remarks, but I will lean over and say, innocently, that I didn't mention the Soviet Union or even utter the word "kulaks...
...In this context, I insist that the chair determine how many participants support my resolution concerning Israel's right to live in peace within "secure and recognized boundaries...
...This, I point out, is germane...
...He's not democratic...
...Cuba, who, after Algeria, will prove to be the nastiest participant, says there is no possibility of tension between individual and collective rights...
...I could have told him, because they're all in Maine...
...It is, in fact, now a few minutes before 9 p.m., but, so far as I can learn by twisting my dial, the interpreters are still with us...
...he says I must be late to the next day's session to make it clear that my departure was not required by the need to attend to one of nature's functions...
...When reconvened, various participants argue over who possesses the collective right to development: Algeria insists it is the states, Australia prefers communities, Cuba agrees with Algeria but nevertheless fancies the term ' 'peoples.'' Aware that we are not making progress and that time is running out, we agree that the rapporteur should return in the afternoon with a two-or three-page draft of recommendations, which, surprisingly, he manages to do...
...proof of this is to be found in the number of UN declarations on the subject...
...He makes a deprecatory reference to the Camp David accords, and Egypt bangs on the table and shouts, "Pointe d'ordre Pointe d'ordre...
...I tell him it's a religious organization and he smiles condescendingly...
...August 6: The chairman tells us that "fruitful discussion has taken place...
...Well, if it comes to a vote, I am sure to lose, so I, too, settle back in my chair...
...If this right is secured, the civil rights (the right to speak, to vote governments out of office, to acquire, possess, and pass on to one's heirs the property one earns by the sweat of one's brow or the acuity of one's brain, and to associate in free trade unions, etcetera) are likely to be secured...
...it seems that in India, which, of course, has signed the UN convention on women's rights, women can still be bought and sold on the open market...
...We adjourn for lunch, which I take with a USUN friend in the UN cafeteria where prices seem to have been set in the late 1950s and, perhaps in an effort to refute Milton Friedman, not changed since...
...The consequence was a denial of their right to be part of the constitutional majorities that governed the country, and it is not surprising that, until after the Civil War, they did not enjoy civil rights...
...Actually, my caller begins by asking whether I would be willing to kill two weeks in New York in early August...
...He says he was afraid I would say that, but for us to do that will mean the end of the United Nations...
...We adjourn to confer privately on the question of whether there is time for a drafting committee...
...In the afternoon, Senegal, the World Council of Churches, and the USSR call for disarmament...
...Cuba, Senegal, the Soviet Union, et al., rally to her support...
...He is not amused...
...We end up with the African National Congress on our right...
...Who, I wonder, will ever read it...
...It seems, however, that points of order are not allowed in a seminar, but, then, what we are engaged in cannot fairly be described as a seminar...
...Nigeria recommends that we denounce colonialism, neo-colonialism (and I remind him of quasi-colonialism), imperialism, and racism...
...the results of this research are to be given to students...
...By some alchemy that I do not understand, we decide that WEOG's vice-chairman must be the participant from Finland...
...Finally, although I cannot speak for the government of the United States, I think the record shows that it stands ready to assist any country that demonstrates its willingness to use assistance in a way calculated to foster development...
...The same cannot be said of the situation with our neighbors on our right, the PLO, with whom, my shepherd informs me, we do not speak and must not be photographed...
...The chairman shouts that that would take us another two weeks and it is now almost 8:30...
...And to say (as every other speaker does) that the human right to develop is a right possessed by collectivities as well as individuals is merely to invite the governments of those collectivities to violate individual rights...
...This produces some consternation among the participants because most of them are of the opinion that Israel (along with South Africa and American wealth) is the agenda...
...Dial a human right...
...He then chastises the United States for its attitude: "In one sense, you don't take the UN seriously...
...That is why we in the liberal democracies attach so much importance to this right to be governed only with consent...
...It would be unprecedented for a seminar not to adopt a report, unprecedented...
...Cuba and Algeria refuse this, and I refuse to withdraw my amendment unless, as a separate resolution, it is voted on along with the Algerian resolution...
...He suggests a third category for my resolutions but, because there is no precedent for this, and because I threaten to object to all recommendations (evqn the innocuous ones), I eventually win...
...resolutions and decisions concerning the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to freely determine their political status and exercise their human rights as a prerequisite to achieving peace and development...
...Israel, I say, is not on the agenda...
...My shepherd introduces me to a number of my fellow participants who prove to be not "experts" at all but members of their various countries' UN missions...
...At this point I half expect to see a blind man grope his way into the chamber and start lecturing me on the colors of the rainbow...
...I have news for the...
...August 7: I put in an appearance at the appointed hour merely to see if anyone else is present...
...Brezhnev...
...And Professor Berns...
...It appears that UN seminars are expected to achieve consensus on their recommendations, which affords me opportunities to toss a few monkey wrenches...
...August 12:1 arrive at noon and am told by my shepherd that the time was given over entirely to the USSR's reply to me...
...August 1 5: I go to my USUN office and begin discarding part of the mountain of paper that has accumulated on my desk (and to which, I confess, I contributed a few foothills...
...I haven't felt so uncomfortable in a parliamentary situation since the Cornell faculty meetings of 1969...
...in fact, the only other country that appointed an "expert" is the Soviet Union, which named its "Director of the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences...
...We sdjourn one hour and fifteen minutes early, being told by the chairman that it has been an arduous week...
...The Soviet Union cannot understand me, he says...
...Rights, I say, have corresponding duties...
...The first order of business and, as it turns out, the morning's only business, is the election of the Seminar's officers, all of whom are elected unanimously...
...It was not conducted with that purpose in mind...
...Bulgaria, Australia, India, and Cuba deplore my letters to Santa Claus allusion...
...Besides, he adds, since the appointment would be made by the UN Commission on Human Rights, I would receive the UN per diem allowance which is somewhat more generous than the American (even though the money comes from the same source, us...
...She insists that Camp David is not on the agenda...
...I say that is nice, then ask (pretending not to know the answer), who has the duty that corresponds to a country's right to development...
...in fact, they will be killed...
...it appears that "almost all the miseries in the world, during the past 200 years, have been caused by capitalism...
...that it is foolish to think that we can agree on a report because we have incompatible ideas on what these rights are...
...I ask why the Soviet Union is so anxious...
...the only person in the chamber is the representative of the African National Congress...
...better that than a listing of demands which we call rights and which, as Ambassador Kirkpatrick said recently [and she picked it up from that Orwin and Pangle paper], may be likened to letters to Santa Claus...
...I say that if asked I shall recommend that the United States reduce its contribution to the UN...
...still, I don't budge...
...Since we were given the draft only todav, I doubt that anyone has had time to read it all...
...The chairman delivers his opening lecture and sets the tone of the Seminar by saying that it is "cynical to speak of civil rights to a poor and hungry man...
...participants of this Seminar: There ain't no Santa Claus...
...Most of us sigh in relief...
...The day ends with a passionate speech by the PLO...
...Back in the USUN, I report all this to my shepherd (who, wisely, no longer bothers to accompany me to these sessions...
...The morning session is devoted entirely to consideration of the following Algerian resolution: The Seminar recognizes that racism as a state ideology violently negates the basic humanity of its victims...
...We reconvene 30 minutes late-every session begins at least 30 minutes late-and spend the afternoon adopting the agenda and deciding, despite the wishes of Kenya who prefers that we be divided into three discussion groups, to do our business in plenary sessions...
...With that we adjourn...
...reading his paper, I wonder if consultants are reimbursed on a per page rather than on a per diem basis...
...Professor Berns is surely not like the American people he has encountered during his very pleasant visit to New York...
...By the end of the day, we have approved i.e., gained consensus on one innocuous resolution...
...Here I am persuaded by Morocco that my amendment is not really germane to the Algerian...
...He also says the UN should establish the new International Economic Order (a code term for massive redistribution of wealth from us to the developing nations), adopt the resolutions on mass communications (a code term for restrictions on the freedom of the press), and promote research on the relations between human rights and peace...
...Chairperson"), Costa Rica, and Kenya deplore the arms race...
...closing...
...Instead, I remind the participants of what it means to have a right, and that I intend to exercise my right to withhold my consent...
...Package deal, yes...
...One can argue, as I did, that to know what human rights are requires that we understand what it means to be human, and what it is that distinguishes humans from other classes of beings, but all this falls on deaf ears...
...Collaboration with states that have racism as a complement to state ideology endangers peace and international security...
...This proves to be a formidable monkey wrench, and haggling continues until 6:15 when the chair announces that the various interpreters (some twenty in number: French into English, into Chinese, into Spanish, into Russian;Russian into . . .) insist on their right to go home...
...But it is now 7:45, and the interpreters have agreed to remain only until 8:30, and we have not yet adopted our report...
...in fact, there is a general round of handshaking, and I even receive a friendly slap on the back from Bulgaria...
...I say I am quite willing to do this if the two resolutions can be voted on as a package...
...The Director of the UN's Division of Human Rights writes that participants in the seminar are expected to contribute working papers "approximately ten quarto-sized, double-spaced typewritten pages in length," which papers will be translated, reproduced, and distributed "in advance of the Seminar, if possible.'' July 1: A packet arrives from Geneva containing three working papers: one from the Soviet participant (44 pages) detailing the life-long human rights work of Mr...
...One minute later the Cuban comes to me, a broad smile on his handsome face...
...In the course of the day, Romania, Morocco, Egypt, Finland, Ireland, Australia ("Thank you, Mr...
...The chairman suggests we begin immediately to consider the draft submitted by the rapporteur, and that we do so page by page...
...China, in its first utterance of the Seminar, adds hegemonism to the list...
...In fact, of course, we all know that human rights properly understood are best secured in liberal democracies, and that liberal democracies are the most developed...
...And if the report is going to contain a condemnation of Israel, honesty requires us to point out that Jordan has killed more Palestinians, that Syria has killed more Palestinians, than has the state of Israel...
...this is followed by a series of speeches-by Algeria, Belgium, Senegal, Kenya, Australia, and then the World Council of Churches which has no instructions because it has no government to issue them...
...Ireland, in an eloquent speech, reminds us that this is supposed to be a seminar of experts, and that "we don't come here with instructions in our pockets...
...August 14 (last day): We WEOG's have our customary pre-session meeting to discuss strategy...
...after congratulating each of the officers on his election to an important post in this important Seminar, he drones on until 12:10...
...Algeria makes the reasonable point that my addition is not germane to the subject of her resolution...
...Cuba calls for a "massive transfer of resources to the developing countries and complete forgiveness of debts accumulated in the past.'' This strikes most seminarians as a good idea...
...Of course, this is unacceptable...
...unfortunately, due to the air controllers' strike, he has not yet arrived...
...Iron-bottom Molotov" was a term of grudging respect in the United States, I add...
...Kenya also thanks the USSR for the most appropriate gift ever given to the UN and the world...
...others say that a human right is any desired good-development, for example -that the UN transforms into a right...
...Since under the prevailing alphabetical seating rules we are placed next to the Soviet delegation, the four of us are soon engaged in an exchange of pleasantries...
...They have the votes...
...Then, as I promised, I go up to the eleventh floor to chat with one of our ambassadors...
...Algeria pipes up, claiming I have not kept a promise I made to her, and proceeds to lecture me on morality...
...During the morning session we listen to many speeches, including one from the Bahai International Community...
...Cuba, in what he would have me believe is the spirit of conciliation, says I should introduce this as a separate resolution...
...July 15: I finish a ten quarto-sized (actually a ten 8% x 11 sized) page double-spaced typewritten paper and send it off to Geneva...
...Whereupon Algeria objects to paragraph 39 of chapter one, which reads as follows: "The view was therefore expressed that it would be preferable to speak of development as a necessity rather than a right...
...In any case, it is simply foolish to suggest that one can discover his human rights by telephoning the UN Secretariat...
...On the table there is a set of draft recommendations, fifty-odd in number and largely repetitive, since it is largely a compilation of recommendations made by the various participants...
...Our recommendations constitute only chapter four of a four-chapter report...
...For example, a government might decide that agricultural development can best take place through collectivization and then seize all private farms...
...He talks about democracy...
...Iran...
...That's quite a mouthful, but I indicate my support, provided the following words are added: "The right of a people not to be governed without its consent is also an inalienable right...
...All three papers indicate that there has been a marked improvement in the "overall global human rights situation" in recent years...
...As for what the peoples of the world think about human rights, I suggest we look at the countries people escape from, or try to escape from, and the countries they escape to, or try to escape to...
...one from the Indian (55 pages...
...Everyone speaks of a right to development, so I raise my hand, which, when noted by the secretary, will earn me a place on the list of speakers...
...That evening my wife calls me from Mount Desert Island to say that Maine is very pleasant...
...We then turn to another resolution championed by Algeria: This Seminar appeals to the U.N...
...I run for a cab-I am of course late for a dinner engagement-and as I am being driven uptown I reflect that most of the participants will soon be meeting and working together again-in fact, unlike me, they do represent their countries, most of them on the UN's Third Committee (which deals with human rights)-and most of them will regularly vote against the United States...
...Kenya proposes a recess during which some of us might get together privately...
...At 5:26, the PLO begins a violent speech and suddenly the Seminar becomes interesting...
...Why doesn't he go along with the majority...
...The right to develop includes a right to the means of development as well as the right to decide on which means are appropriate or necessary...
...August 10: The week begins (37 minutes late) with a long speech by the Soviet Union calling upon the UN to ban production of the neutron bomb (which, over the weekend, the United States said it was going to produce and deploy), and calling upon the United States to ratify SALT II...
...So, being pressed for time, we reconvene at 3:25, only 25 minutes late, and begin consideration, item by item, of the recommendations...
...I thank him for his support and he makes a beeline for the Cuban participant...
...Privately, some of them will concede that human rights have been best secured in the liberal democracies, but such concessions are quickly overwhelmed by their resentments toward their "former colonial masters...
...Privately, some of them will acknowledge that the Soviet Union is acting with gross hypocrisy, but the Soviet Union and its bloc supplies them with votes...
...For example, you are constantly changing your personnel, and as a result you don't establish the relationships that might permit you to work effectively here...
...in the Soviet Union they have a right to work, and the government has the duty to provide jobs, at which point the Soviet Union interrupts to say that Soviet citizens have the right to free speech, too...
...Under what conditions, I ask, are observers permitted to speak...
...This right to emigrate, I say, is derived from the fundamental natural right not to be governed without one's consent...
...This is fortunate because the chairman must make a closing speech...
...He thanks us, we thank him-and the rapporteur, and the secretary, and the vice-chairman, and the various members of the Secretariat who have been so helpful, and the documents' custodian...
...The rapporteur follows by reciting a long list of UN declarations on human rights, peace, and development, and contradicts the chairman, whether knowingly or not I don't know, by saying that "people living in freedom are likely to work harder and thereby contribute to development...
...When the tirade resumes, I gather up my papers and walk out, which, I confess, gives me some pleasure: The United States walks out (even though, of course, as an independent "expert" I am not representing the United States...
...I offer an amendment adding, "the people of Israel, the people of Afghanistan, and the people of Cambodia...
...Well, with one thing or another, it proves to be an offer I cannot refuse...
...The fight of oppressed peoples for self-determination is an inalienable right...
...I offer the following amendment: After the words, "Palestinian people," add, "the people of Israel, the people of Afghanistan, and the people of Cambodia...
...The PLO, along with SWAPO, the African National Congress, and the Pan African Congress, is present as an observer, one of the "Liberation Movements" recognized by the UN...
...What they want is a UN declaration saying that the "South" has rights and the "North" (which means the United States) has duties, and it matters not a fig to them that, when challenged, they cannot present a rational argument on behalf of their demand...
...Belgium, speaking on behalf of the WEOG, asks the chair if the election of the third vice-chairman can be delayed pending his arrival...
...Conspicuously not raising their hands are Cyprus, Egypt, India, Mexico, Finland, and, of course, all the Soviet bloc and Third World countries-this in a Seminar that will adopt resolutions on the sovereign rights of nations, etc...
...Still, I am sustained by the chair...
...I offer the following new resolution: "This Seminar appeals to the General Assembly to devise procedures by which it may be ascertained whether the peoples of all countries enjoy their fundamental human right of being governed only with their consent...
...I decide that this is fun, so when the PLO, without referring to Camp David, launches a tirade against Israel, I pull out the plastic name card-"the United States of America"- and begin pounding on the table...
...The United States only takes the doctors and scientists educated in the poor countries...
...As, we gather up our papers, Ireland, who is a charming and eloquent man, asks me for my impressions...
...A very sensible observation, but what the decision will mean is that there will be nothing resembling discussion, merely one speech after another...
...I note that in addressing the participants he always says "gentlemen," which must make Australia squirm...
...In due course, I speak my piece: Development is not a right but a necessity...
...Cyprus is next...
...it seems that at least one previous UN seminar presented its recommendations in two categories, one for recommendations on which there was consensus, and the other for recommendations on which there was no consensus...
...As France points out, most delegations consist of only two members and some of only one, and neither two nor one is divisible by three...
...Apartheid, racism, and racial discrimination, colonialism, neocolonialism, foreign domination and occupation [the Namibia situation], aggression, and threats against national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the denial to self-determination of a people are flagrant breaches of human rights, deny the political and social conditions for development, and constitute a threat to international peace...
...As Cuba said, they are the majority...
...Some of us, I point out, say human rights are those natural rights delineated by the political philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and those that are reasonably derived from them...
...member states to implement U.N...
...Cuba follows with a vituperative speech calling upon the United States to beat its sword into a plowshare...
...They have a corresponding duty to allow me to exercise it...
...But this has no effect on the PLO who, of course, has only one speech in his repertory, and when he continues his denunciation of Israel, I again bang with the name card...
...O.K.," he says in halting English, "a package...
...He is reading the New York Times...
...The USSR objects to this...
...Cuba becomes angry, saying that there is no reason why we cannot vote on, first, the Algerian, then the American resolution...
...The Seminar, he explains, is one of those UN functions whose establishment the United States votes against but, when outvoted, it feels obliged to attend, the principle being that a no-vote is better than no vote...
...it seems that some years ago, the Soviets installed a piece of sculpture in the UN garden depicting the beating of a sword into a plowshare...
Vol. 14 • November 1981 • No. 11
