PM Anwar calls for ban on UNSC veto power in mass atrocities cases, wants global justice reform

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — United Nations Security Council (UNSC) veto power should be banned in cases of mass atrocities until it can be abolished, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said the UNSC decision-making processes require broader support from both permanent and non-permanent members and be subject to ratification by the General Assembly through a simple majority.

Anwar said the veto power has paralysed the council, while the lack of representation from regions such as Africa and Latin America reflects a bygone era.

“Instead of being a vehicle for action, the Security Council has too often become an instrument of deadlock.

“We see the consequences in places like Gaza, in the persecution of the Rohingya, and in the war in Ukraine,” he said in his keynote address at the Common Action Forum (CAF) 2024, here today.

The Prime Minister said the world stands at a critical juncture for global justice, emphasising that Israel’s actions against Palestinians undermine the very foundations of the global order.

“… war crimes, collective punishment, and genocide are a blatant affront to the norms of international law and fundamental human rights,” he said.

As Malaysia has advocated at the UN, Anwar said the world must take bold, immediate steps, starting with an arms embargo on Israel.

However, he said the severity of Israel’s actions warrants more including a global consensus towards suspending or even expelling Israel from the UN.

The UNSC reform is one of the key areas proposed by Anwar that urgently needs to be reformed for a more equitable world.

Other areas are the international financial architecture, international trading system, climate finance and climate justice.

At the UNSC Debate in New York in September, Malaysia made a strong appeal to limit the use of veto power in the UNSC, stressing that the unchecked use of veto has obstructed peace efforts, particularly in the case of Palestine. — Bernama