Assignment # 2: The Trusteeship Council
Sunday, September 24 2000
Patricia Fernandes da Silva
When
thinking of the world today, one may mistakenly consider the existence of the
Trusteeship Council to be superfluous.
Most countries achieved self-governance years ago, with only a little
more than a dozen still dependent.
Occupying countries (e.g., Indonesia in the case of Timor-Leste or the
United Kingdom in the case of Gibraltar) do not seem willing to accept the
intervention of the United Nations. The
occupying country considers its relationship with the occupied country part of
its internal affairs.
The
Trusteeship Council was formed as a successor to the “Permanent Mandates Commission”. Contrary to the Permanent Mandates
Commission the Trusteeship Council is composed of government representatives
rather than private experts. The
purpose of the Council is in line with the objectives and goals of the United
Nations. Among its most important
objectives the Trusteeship Council seeks to:
·
further international
peace and security;
·
promote the political,
economic, social and educational advancement of the inhabitants of the trust
territories, and their progressive development towards self-governance or
independence;
·
encourage respect for
human rights and for fundamental freedom for all; and
·
ensure equal treatment
in social, economic and commercial matters for all members of the United
Nations.
The
Trusteeship Council consists of all members administering trust territories and
an equal number of members that are not administrating trust territories. The General Assembly of the United Nations
elects the non-administering members for three-year terms and ensures that the
number of non-administering members always equals the number of administering
members. Each member has one vote.
Among
its other powers the Trusteeship Council may:
·
consider reports
submitted by the administering authority;
·
accept petitions and
examine them in consultation with the administering authority; and
·
provide for periodic
visits to the respective trust territories at times agreed upon with the
administering authority.
As
mentioned in the introduction, all of this may sound like old news. The U.K., Indonesia and the U.S. do not want
any intervention in the business of their occupied territories. These issues have been discussed so many
times that many are tempted to accept the status-quo and simply admit that
there is nothing that the Trusteeship Council can do for the occupied
territories. However, when one
considers the events of the past year in Timor, Kosovo, Macedonia and some
parts of the Russian territory, it becomes clear that the work of the
Trusteeship Council is necessary indeed.
More and more ethnic groups and quasi-occupied territories are screaming
for their rights to self-governance.
The role of the Trusteeship Council continues to grow and to become more
complicated.