After Months of Debate, UN Security Council Calls for Global Coronavirus Truce. Resolution Calls for 90-day Worldwide Truce
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(July 1, 2020) — It took months of revisions and debate, but the UN Security Council finally passed a resolution Wednesday backing an immediate, global ceasefire for the sake of shifting attention to the coronavirus pandemic. It calls for a 90 day “humanitarian pause.”
Russia was previously concerned that the language didn’t allow them to defend themselves in Syria, while the US wanted both language blaming China for the virus, and language clarifying it didn’t apply to various US wars.
That didn’t happen, but the US included a signing statement complaining about language that should’ve been in there emphasizing “transparency,” while China’s own statement criticized the politicization of the process.
Many nations had already endorsed the plan months ago, and agreed to voluntary compliance. This means many of the wars that would be liable to be paused for this already were. There is no reason to think that the US will pause any conflicts.
In May, 2020 the Trump Administration stood up against the rest of the world’s nation and blocked UN calls for a Global Ceasefire to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
UN Security Council Backs Call for Coronavirus Truce
(July 1, 2020) — The UN Security Council on Wednesday finally backed UN chief Antonio Guterres’ March 23 call for a global truce amid the coronavirus pandemic, adopting a resolution after months of talks to win a compromise between the United States and China.
The resolution, drafted by France and Tunisia, calls for “all parties to armed conflicts to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days” to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Negotiations on the resolution were stymied by a standoff between China and the United States over whether to urge support for the World Health Organization. The United States did not want a reference to the global health body, while China did.
US President Donald Trump said in May that Washington would quit the Geneva-based UN agency over its handling of the pandemic, accusing it of being “China-centric” and promoting China’s “disinformation,” assertions the WHO denies.
The adopted Security Council resolution does not mention the WHO but references a UN General Assembly resolution that does.
“We have really seen the body at its worst,” Richard Gowan, International Crisis Group UN director, said of the council. “This is a dysfunctional Security Council.”
The United States and China both took veiled swipes at each other after the resolution was adopted.
The United States said in a statement that while it supported the resolution “it does not include crucial language to emphasize transparency and data-sharing as critical aspects in fighting this virus.”
China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun acknowledged the body “should have responded immediately” to Guterres’ call, adding: “We were very frustrated that some country politicized this process.”
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