By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, October 17 -- With the "Rule of Law," or really the International Criminal Court, the UN Security Council's topic for debate on Wednesday, 55 countries signed up to speak. But Libya was not among them, despite currently arguing against transferring Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi to the ICC.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, as is the custom, spoke first. He described the UN's work with the ICC, but didn't mention that his envoy to Darfur Ibrahim Gambari partied at a wedding reception with ICC-indictee Omar al-Bashir, nor that the UN flew fellow indict Ahmad Harun to Abyei.
Behind Ban was his top lawyer, Patricia O'Brien, who has for months sat on a legal claim against the UN for introducing cholera into Haiti. How can the UN preach rule of law if it does not practice it?
Early in the proceeding, an African Permanent Representative leaving the proceedings stopped and told Inner City Press, "the ICC is all about Africa, but look at the audience. Even, look at the speakers. Keep it up."
On her way in as the debate began, Inner City Press asked US Ambassador Rice the obvious warm-up question, "I'm sure you watched the debate" between President Obama and Mitt Romney.
Rice smiled and said, "Ya think?" She then rushed into the Council. The issue of Administration statements about the deadly Benghazi attacks was central to the debate. But at the UN, endless one-way debating continued: without Libya.
The UN is mostly about SEEKING positions. The speakers list included the foreign ministers of Finland and Luxembourg but not Australia, with which they will compete this week for two Security Council seats.
The Permanent Representative of Finland Jarmo Viinanentold Inner City Press his country has 165 commitments; Australia's PR Gary Quinlan told Inner City Press he has 162. With Luxembourg supporters issuing a count of 150, several UN member states are dissembling: and not only on the elections. Watch this site.
