Ilikuwa ni kutisha kwa mauaji ya halaiki na ukatili uliotokea wakati wa Vita vya Pili vya Dunia ndiko kulikoleta makubaliano ya haraka kwamba shirika jipya lazima lifanye kazi ili kuzuia misiba kama hiyo isitokee tena siku zijazo. Umoja wa Mataifa ulianzishwa mwaka 1945 hasa ili kufikia lengo tukufu la 'kuziokoa vizazi vijavyo na janga la vita.' Tangu wakati huo kumekuwa na migogoro zaidi ya 250 duniani kote. Ni wazi kabisa kwamba Umoja wa Mataifa haujafanikiwa katika kusudi lililoundwa kwa ajili yake.

It was the horror of the atrocities and genocide during World War 2 that led to a ready consensus that a new organisation must work to prevent any similar tragedies in the future. The United Nations was founded in 1945 primarily to achieve the lofty aim of having to ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.’ Since then there have been more than 250 conflicts worldwide. It is blatantly clear that the UN has been unsuccessful for the purpose it was created for.

Magharibi pamoja na wanasiasa wengi kutoka nchi za Ulimwengu wa Tatu wanaiona Umoja wa Mataifa kuwa taasisi isiyo na upendeleo, inayowakilisha kimataifa, yenye nchi wanachama karibu 200, ambayo inashikilia mwanga wa thamani za utaifa wa kimataifa, hatua za pande nyingi, demokrasia, wingi wa mitazamo, usekula, maridhiano, haki za binadamu na uhuru. Hili halina ukweli kabisa.

The West as well as many policymakers from the third world consider the UN a non-biased, internationally represented institution boasting nearly 200 member states, who uphold the beacon for the values of internationalism, multilateral action, democracy, pluralism, secularism, compromise, human rights and freedom. This could not be further from the truth.

Umoja wa Mataifa (UN) kwa kweli ni chombo cha unyonyaji, kwani ni dhahiri kutokana na muundo wa asili wa shirika hilo kwamba unahalalisha unyanyasaji mkubwa unaofanywa na wakoloni na wanachama wa kudumu wa Baraza la Usalama.

The UN in reality is a tool of exploitation where it is manifestly apparent from the inherent structure of the organisation that it legitimises wholesale abuse by the colonialist and permanent members of the Security Council.

Mnamo 1994 Umoja wa Mataifa ulishindwa kuzuia mauaji ya halaiki nchini Rwanda, jambo lililosababisha kuuawa kwa karibu watu milioni moja, kutokana na kukataa kwa wanachama wa Baraza la Usalama kuidhinisha hatua yoyote ya kijeshi. Wafaransa (mwanachama wa kudumu wa Baraza la Usalama) waliunga mkono serikali ya Wahutu dhidi ya waasi wa Kitutsi, katika vita hivi vya kikabila vya ndani vilivyoanzia enzi za ukoloni. Katikati ya mgogoro huo, wanajeshi wa Umoja wa Mataifa wa kulinda amani waliagizwa kuzingatia tu kuwaokoa raia wa kigeni kutoka Rwanda, badala ya kuwalinda Watutsi. Mabadiliko haya yalisababisha wanajeshi wa kulinda amani wa Ubelgiji kuondoka katika shule ya ufundi iliyojaa wakimbizi 2,000, huku wanamgambo wa Kihutu wakisubiri nje. Baada ya Waubelgiji kuondoka, wanamgambo waliingia shuleni na kuwachinja wale waliokuwamo ndani, wakiwemo watoto wengi. Siku nne tu baadaye, Baraza la Usalama lilipiga kura kupunguza nguvu zake hadi wanajeshi 260 tu.

In 1994 the UN failed to prevent genocide in Rwanda, which resulted in the killing of nearly a million people, due to the refusal of Security Council members to approve any military action. The French (a permanent member of the Security Council) supported the Hutu regime against the Tutsi rebels, in this ethnic civil war that dates back to the colonial era. In the midst of the crisis, UN peace keeping troops were instructed to focus on only evacuating foreign nationals from Rwanda, rather then protecting the Tutsis. This change led Belgian peacekeepers to abandon a technical school filled with 2,000 refugees, while Hutu militants waited outside. After the Belgians left, the militants entered the school and massacred those inside, including hundreds of children. Just four days later, the Security Council voted to reduce its force to only 260 men.

Tukio kama hili lilitokea mwaka mmoja tu baadaye katika kile kinachojulikana kama mauaji ya kimbari ya Srebrenica. Ingawa Uingereza na Marekani zote zilitaka kuvunjwa kwa eneo hilo, Marekani ilitaka NATO iwe kikosi cha usalama cha kweli. Umoja wa Mataifa ulitangaza Srebrenica kuwa 'eneo salama' kwa wakimbizi, na ukawapa wanajeshi 600 wa Uholanzi kazi ya kulilinda, ambao hata hivyo walikabidhi kambi kwa vikosi vya Waserbia, ambao kisha waliwachinja.

A similar scenario occurred just a year later in what has come to be known as the Srebrenica genocide. Although both Britain and the US wanted the break-up of the region, the US wanted NATO to be the de-facto security force. The UN designated Srebrenica a ‘safe haven’ for refugees assigning 600 Dutch peacekeepers to protect it, who handed over the camp to Serb forces, who then massacred them.

Umoja wa Mataifa tena ulishindwa kuingilia kati wakati wa vita vya pili vya Kongo katika Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo. Kikosi cha kulinda amani cha Umoja wa Mataifa kilianzishwa mnamo Februari 2000, kwa Azimio Nambari 1291 la Baraza la Usalama la Umoja wa Mataifa, ili kufuatilia mchakato wa amani. Hata hivyo, kushindwa kwa kikosi hicho cha kulinda amani kuingilia kati wakati wa vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe kulisababisha vifo vya karibu watu milioni tano.

The United Nations again failed to intervene during the second Congo war in the Democratic republic of Congo. A UN peacekeeping force was established in February 2000, by Resolution 1291 of the United Nations Security Council in order to monitor the peace process. However, failure by the peace keeping force to intervene during the civil war claimed the lives of nearly five million people.

Umoja wa Mataifa ndio uliozusha tatizo la mzozo wa Israeli na Palestina, na umeendelea kushindwa kutekeleza vifungu vya Maazimio ya Baraza la Usalama la Umoja wa Mataifa kwa kutumia sheria za kimataifa kwa upendeleo. Umoja wa Mataifa ulionekana kuwa dhaifu na unaoendeshwa na wakoloni wa kiuchumi pale ulipotupwa kando katika kipindi cha kabla ya vita vya pili vya Iraq. Marekani haikuficha ukweli huu. John Bolton, Balozi wa Marekani wa kaimu katika Umoja wa Mataifa, alitoa kauli kadhaa za kukosoa Umoja wa Mataifa, akisema mwaka 2004: "Hakuna kitu kinachoitwa Umoja wa Mataifa. Kuna jumuiya ya kimataifa tu, ambayo inaweza tu kuongozwa na nguvu kuu pekee iliyobaki, ambayo ni Marekani.

The United Nations created the problem of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and has continued in its failure to implement provisions of United Nations Security Council Resolutions by selectively applying international law. The United Nations was exposed as being ineffective and run by imperialists when it was essentially thrown aside in the run up to the second Iraq war. The US didn’t hide this fact. John Bolton, acting US Ambassador to the UN, made several statements critical of the UN saying in 2004, ‘There is no such thing as the United Nations. There is only the international community, which can only be led by the only remaining superpower, which is the United States.

Kwa kweli, Umoja wa Mataifa ni shirika la kimataifa ambalo wanachama watano wa kudumu wa Baraza la Usalama (Marekani, Urusi, Uingereza, Ufaransa na China) wameutumia kama kiendelezi cha sera zao wenyewe za kigeni.

In reality the UN is an international organisation that the five permanent Security Council members (US, Russia, Britain, France and China) have used as an extension of their own foreign policies.

Tatizo kwa kweli liko katika dhana ya sheria ya kimataifa, ambayo kwa uhalisia haipo. Kunaweza kuwepo tu kanuni na desturi za kimataifa, si sheria ya kimataifa. Ili sheria ya kimataifa iwepo, utekelezaji lazima uwezekane katika ngazi ya dunia nzima, ya juu ya taifa. Kwa kuwa hilo halipo, tunapaswa kutarajia mataifa yenye serikali kuvunja kanuni za mashirika ya kimataifa pale yanapoona inawafaa – nadharia ya neorealism (ona Waltz, K. 1979. ‘A Theory of International Politics’).

The problem actually lies in the concept of international law, which in reality does not exist. There can only really be international norms and customs not international law. For international law to exist enforcement must be possible at a global, supranational level. As this does not exist we must expect nation-states to flout the regulations of the international agencies when it suits them – neorealism (cf. Waltz. K. 1979. ‘A Theory of International Politics’).