The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, announced the activation of Article 99 of the Organization’s Charter, regarding the Israeli aggression against Gaza. While this is a rare move in the organization’s history, it raises questions about the extent of its impact on the Israeli war and aggression.
In his latest moves regarding the Israeli occupation’s aggression against Gaza, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, announced on Wednesday the activation of Article 99 of the UN Charter, which classifies war as a threat to world peace, giving the Secretary-General the political ability to pressure the Security Council to approve a ceasefire.
While this is the first time that Guterres has used this legal tool, since he assumed the General Secretariat of the United Nations. This is the fourth time that the article has been activated since its establishment. This raises questions about the meaning of this movement, and how it will affect the course of the ongoing war.
Guterres activates Article 99
In a message published on his account on the X platform, on Wednesday, the Secretary-General of the United Nations announced that he had activated Article 99 of the Organization’s Charter. Guterres said: “I am writing to you in accordance with Article 99 of the United Nations Charter, to draw your attention to the issue of the multiplying threat to global peace and security.”
The Secretary-General added: “In the face of the grave danger of the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, I urge the Security Council to help avert a humanitarian catastrophe and appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared.”
According to United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric, this is the first time that António Guterres has activated Article 99 of the Charter, since he became Secretary-General of the United Nations in 2017. He added that the Secretary-General is thus activating the authority granted to him by the Charter, which is the most powerful tool. He owns it.
The decision of the Secretary-General of the United Nations angered the Israeli Foreign Ministry. In a tweet on the X website, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen responded to Guterres’ speech, saying: “What constitutes a threat to world peace is the call for a ceasefire in Gaza, which amounts to support for the terrorist movement Hamas.”
The Secretary- General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, expressed his support for Guterres’ initiative, via the The Council bears its responsibility after this repeated failure.”
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also supported the decision to activate Article 99, writing on Ex: “I support Secretary-General Guterres’ letter to the UN Security Council, citing Article 99 and calling for a ceasefire. The health system in Gaza is on its knees. "His knees are on the verge of complete collapse. We need peace for health."
In a surprising decision, the European Union supported Guterres' call for a ceasefire in Gaza. European Foreign Ministry official Josep Borrell urged European Union members to support the decision of the Secretary-General of the United Nations .
What does Article 99 of the UN Charter mean?
The United Nations Charter states , in Article 99, that “the Secretary-General may alert the Security Council to any matter that he deems may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.” This tool enables the Secretary-General to play a political role, which is to raise debate on the issue that he deems relevant to the article, and to press for decisions to be taken regarding it.
According to analysts, Article 99 of the Charter represents the responsibility of the Secretary-General to work to prevent the outbreak of conflicts and avoid tensions and their transformation into wars, by using his “good offices” with the help of “preventive diplomacy,” and to make and preserve peace by helping to restore stability in the event of a conflict. The outbreak of armed conflict.
Historically, this article has been activated on three occasions: the first was in 1960, when Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld used it to draw the Council’s attention to the fighting in the Congo. The day after the announcement, the Security Council met and approved the launch of a large peacekeeping mission in the African country.
In 1979, Secretary-General Kurt Josef Waldheim resorted to Article 99 in his efforts to resolve the American hostage crisis in Tehran. Subsequently, the Security Council ratified Resolution 457, in which it called on Iran to immediately release the hostages held at the US embassy and allow them to leave the country.
The third time the aforementioned article was used was in 1989, when Secretary-General Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar cited it in order to draw attention to the fighting that Lebanon was witnessing during the civil war. He pointed out at the time that violence in and around Beirut “escalated to an unprecedented level during fourteen years of conflict.”
Does it affect the war on Gaza?
Through this measure, Secretary-General António Guterres seeks to sound the alarm bell about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and to put pressure on the Security Council to raise the issue of a ceasefire for discussion, and in the best case scenario to adopt a resolution imposing this ceasefire.
Under the United Nations Charter, Security Council resolutions are binding on member states . In the event that any member does not adhere to it, the Council issues a ban or enforcement decision against the abstaining state, and the General Assembly suspends its membership and privileges. If it repeatedly deviates from the principles of the Charter, the General Assembly may cancel its membership in accordance with the Council’s recommendation.
While it is not clear how Article 99 will be implemented, analysts confirm that “it is difficult to predict the way this article will be implemented, but the responsibility it gives to the Secretary-General will require on his part to exercise the highest qualities of political judgment, tact and integrity.”
The UAE announced its presentation of a draft ceasefire resolution in Gaza on Thursday, to be discussed in the Security Council on Friday. The UAE Permanent Mission to the United Nations said , on Wednesday, on the X website: “The situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic and may reach an irreversible point. We cannot wait any longer, and the Council must act decisively to demand a ceasefire. ”
However, this Emirati project may clash again with the American veto. In his statements to Reuters, Deputy US Envoy Robert Wood indicated that the Biden administration does not support, at this stage, presenting the issue to the Security Council. “We remain focused on the difficult and sensitive diplomacy aimed at getting more hostages released, more aid flowing into Gaza, and better protection for civilians,” Wood said.
In a report, the British newspaper The Guardian wrote that the Biden administration faces a difficult decision regarding the UAE ceasefire project. According to the newspaper, the United States may pay a heavy diplomatic price for vetoing the draft resolution, especially after the European Union announced its support.
Good
ReplyDelete