Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a reformer of the United Nations

By KEN SIBANDA
It is somewhat difficult to write posthumously of someone deceased let along having the statute of the recently former UN secretary general Boutros-Boutros Ghali. But perhaps a starting point would be the events during the Clinton era: what led to Mr. Ghali’s untimely exit as secretary general of the United Nations. Mr. Boutros-Ghali, a master of diplomacy who had earned his strips in Anwar Sadat’s government of the 70s.
Mr. Boutrous-Ghali reflects the success of Arab Israeli relations as espoused by Anwar Sadat in his visit to Jerusalem in 1977.
Then there is the time at the United Nations. In April of 1994, the genocide in Rwanda broke out. Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the then  UN secretary general ,asked the Clinton administrations for an increase and escalation of force to the situation. But in more specific terms for the conflict to be classified as genocide. In specific terms naming the conflict as genocoide and arming forces preventatively would have reduced the close to 1 Million casualties, albeit the Clinton administration saw otherwise. This was the second failure, after the League of Nations era, to reform the United Nations into a unified and independent organization.
Since then peace keeping has tagged along, largely influenced by United States  and Chinese foreign policy. Mr. Boutro-Ghali’s suggestion was clear: that the United Nations be allowed to enter Rwanda in 1994 better equipped and with a more solid mission. Today’s United Nations is a reflection in many ways of the symptoms that were noticed by Boutros-Ghali, it is taking too long for the United Nations members to \simultaneously have International Criminal Court membership as well as UN membership. International interest does not translate into a shared interest in international security.
The International Criminal Court, ICC, a United Nations organ should reflect the idealism first suggested by Mr. Boutros-Ghali, and that is - the United Nations needs organs which bind its members and then act independently - membership to the United Nations should mean a contract for international peace and automatically result in jurisdiction of the ICC.
  Ken Sibanda is an American Constitutional lawyer. Known affectionally as "Tecumseh," for his work in literature and film, including the novel - Hannibal the Great.