It is Time to Decolonize the United Nations

Yesterday, the Secretary-General issued a statement on Gaza that began with a lengthy paragraph that condemned Hamas and highlighted the suffering of the Israeli people in great detail. However, throughout the two-page discourse, the name of Israel was seemingly forgotten, not even a single mention.

The Security Council is occupied by Western powers, which has rendered it paralyzed.

If you believe the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is independent, I invite you to reconsider.

Let’s take the ongoing case of South Africa versus Israel as an example. Instead of letting the Judges preside with objectivity and devoid of political influence, some Western Nations can’t seem to resist tampering. Bracing for a potential ruling favoring Palestine, Germany has jumped the gun and publicly backed Israel, even before the proceedings have concluded.

Just imagine the pressure that Germany’s judge in the ICJ, Georg Nolte, would be under, feeling the weight of his responsibilities and the difficult decisions he must make. 

Then there’s the story of the United States. It chose to step away from the mandatory jurisdiction of the court in 1986, following a ruling indicating the US was obligated to pay war reparations to Nicaragua. Notably, the ICJ’s current President, Joan E. Donoghue, hails from the United States.

Donoghue says she does not see herself as a representative of the United States to the court. On the eve of The Hague proceedings, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby called the genocide allegations “unfounded,” adding, “That’s not a word that ought to be thrown around lightly, and we certainly don’t believe that it applies here. “

Then you have France and Australia, who are also currently sitting on the ICJ, and we know their positions too well.

If you think these judges are independent, think again.

The insidious tentacles of racism and discrimination have infiltrated every corner of the United Nations’ work, revealing an alarming surge in recent years.

If you’re seeking a real-life illustration of entrenched discrimination and ingrained racism, consider how UN staff who hail from nations in the Global North interact with those from the Global South. A quick look at this scenario highlights the glaring disparity between staff from the Global North and those from the Global South at the United Nations.

Supporting evidence isn’t hard to find when you dig into the decisions handed down by the United Nations Dispute Tribunal. These rulings paint a worrying picture. 

Take, for instance, the recent case of Theunens vs. Secretary-General, UNDT/2023/145. Released just a week ago, its detailed records provide a disturbing glimpse into the pervasive patterns of racism and discrimination that UN staff from the Global South are forced to endure day in and day out.

This judgment relates to a senior Belgian staff member working with UNIFIL. UNIFIL is the UN’s peacekeeping mission, tasked with verifying the retreat of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and aiding the Lebanese Government in reclaiming its crucial authority over the region. 

Contained within the UNDT judgment’s hefty 82 pages, is a chilling depiction of rampant racism, discrimination, misconduct, harassment, and a blatant abuse of authority. It’s the alleged wrongdoings of a Belgian senior staff member (Chief of Joint Military Analysis Centre – JMAC), directed at his Lebanese subordinates, that spanned across a disturbing long stretch of 10 years, from 2010 all the way through to 2020.

There seemed to be no effort to rectify this glaring issue. 

Allow me to draw your attention to a particularly striking instance of this evident discrimination and prejudice: the prohibition enforced on two native Lebanese staff members, Mr. El-Sibai and Ms. El-Joubeili, by their Belgian superior.

The Belgian Chief strictly forbade them from conversing in their mother tongue, Arabic, while their international counterparts were granted the liberty to communicate in their native languages like German, French, and so on.

Hold that thought if you believe such an event couldn’t possibly involve a United Nations employee. The next one might just raise your eyebrows a bit more. 

An incident involving the Belgian Chief of JMAC threw racial prejudices of the Global North under sharp light when he introduced two Lebanese national staff members to his French deputy. 

Instead of introducing them by their respective names Mohamed and Christine and recognizing their important roles as research assistants,  the Belgian Chief had a shocking habit of introducing them by their religion as “‘Mohamad the Shia Muslim and Christine the Christian’”

Even for someone like me who has worked for 20 years with the UN worldwide, this is difficult to accept and understand. 

It seems there’s a jarring reveal of the Global North’s real countenance unveiling nothing less than the epitome of racism.

Discrimination seeping to the very deep of everything.

Mr. El-Sibai the Lebanese national staff testified to the UN Tribunal that the atmosphere under the senior Belgian staff, was “hell” and that the Belgian’s Chief’s behavior was very intimidating,

“as if he was still in the army or as if we were in Guantanamo or prison. For some unknown reason there was always this division—two camps, the Arab speakers and the international colleagues. The Chief preferred to deal with the international colleagues more “than dealing with us.”

A third senior staff witness testified that he left UNIFIL because of the Belgian Chief JMAC and that “he had knocked at all the doors within UNIFIL, and nobody wanted to hear it, including the leadership”.

Dismantling systems of Western oppression, including colonization, is undeniably complex.

When examined by the Judge during the hearing, the Belgian Chief JMAC admitted:

that many military people and especially those, I mean my Deputies from France, they have a view on Lebanon, and they have a view on Christians and they have a view on Muslims, whether we like it or not.”

In echoing his colonial sentiments, he was quoted saying:

 “I may be misinformed by my experience, but I think in a country with internal issues, it is difficult for a citizen – not a citizen, but a person from that country to be objective.”

Could it be that the privilege of critical and objective thinking has been bestowed primarily upon those dwelling in the Global North, while it eludes the majority of the remaining world?

The Global North’s objective mind is indeed so evident in its refusal to acknowledge and condemn the 24 hour live broadcast of the atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinian people – a practice shared by countries including Germany, the US, the UK, and Canada.

In her testimony to the Judge, Ms. El-Joubeili, the Lebanese national staff said:

“It was a nightmare to summarize those awful years spent in JMAC. It was a nightmare.

I had to cope with following psychotherapy, which helped me stay strong and not fall into the trap of the harassment, the abuse of authority, the intimidation, discrimination, all those awful bullying…

It was really toxic and unhealthy. It wasn’t at all the environment I was expecting in an international organization as the United Nations…

Nine years we paid from our health–mental health, physical health. Nine years were too long, way too long really.

It is so enraging, so revolting to have to go through all this for that long without being heard. I know these are the worst years of my life. Nine years in JMAC with the Chief are the worst years of my life.”

Essentially, the gripe against the Chief JMAC revolved around his establishment of a work environment that was oppressive, discriminatory and brimming with harassment. Moreover, he wielded his power in an abusive manner. 

Every single charge against him checked out; normally, in such circumstances, termination should have been the least disciplinary action. 

However, the outcome for the Chief JMAC saw him demoted by just one grade level. Instead of the door being shown to him, he was reassigned to a new role as a senior political affairs officer in the office of UNIFIL’s Head of Mission — the most influential position in UNIFIL. 

It seems more like he hit a career advancement jackpot.

Why would a senior staff member, convicted on charges of discrimination, harassment, and abuse of authority, continue to serve with UNIFIL in Lebanon, a highly volatile political battlefield? The answer is right in front of us. 

Could it be that he gets to keep his position because he has the advantage of Belgian nationality? Or is it possibly due to the unfortunate reality that the United Nations is indeed internally colonized? 

Not yet convinced? 

Keep reading to uncover more.

In a recent judgment, the UNRWA Dispute Tribunal upheld management’s decision to terminate a previous Chief of Security Operations and Analysis, cited in the judgment ElMenshawy UNRWA/DT/2023/034. Notably, ElMenshawy hails from the Global South and is an Arab.

His immediate superior, the Director of Security, hailed from the Global North. 

Our Arab Chief found himself in hot water, slapped with accusations of: 

1) Casting a shadow of doubt on his direct supervisor’s integrity, a gentleman from Britain; 

2) Being a source of distress for his co-worker within the Security Department; 

3) Curating an environment within the Security Department that can only be described as hostile.

The Arab Chief ElMenshawy found himself abruptly ousted from his position and faced with the stark reality of termination as a disciplinary measure for his actions. 

Compare this example to the Belgian Chief, who, for a protracted decade, wielded his power recklessly, intimidated, and discriminated against Arab staff. Was his punishment as harsh? No.

The Belgian Chief was merely demoted and reassigned to provide leadership in the Head of Mission office, a prestigious role. One may wonder about the seeming disparity. 

One thing is certain.

To reform the United Nations, it is necessary to decolonize it first.

artwork by Emmy Tran