Rawlings calls for global political responsibility

Former President Jerry John Rawlings called for a culture of global political responsibility to end the wave of impunity displayed by some states.

He said the key to mobilizing any denigrated group for an honest and shared existence is through transparency of leadership and empowerment of all.

Lieutenant Rawlings made the call when he delivered a speech at the World Peace Federation (UPF) World Summit in Seoul, South Korea, last Saturday.

The former president also called on the United States to find a better way to propagate the cause of justice or democracy, stating that there was a time when America had the same problem. image of a liberating country, but recently, his approach negates this positive image and portrays it. as an aggressor.

Citing goals 16 and 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the former President stated that the goals were to promote sustainable development, provide access to justice and build effective and efficient institutions. officials.

The former president stressed that setting partnership goals would be impossible if "we do not face the challenges of the current global political climate and the lack of international political morality".

Political morality

"How do we engender peace and security as some of the same forces seeking to impose their moral compbad suffer a serious decline in international political morality?", S & # 39; s questioned former president Rawlings.

Former President Rawlings said Israel's actions in Palestine, against Iran and Syria, as well as Saudi's unusual actions against Shiites and Yemen were clearly an abuse and abuse of relations with Israel. United States.

Ghana News Titles

For the latest news in Ghana, visit the Graphic Online titles page
Ghana News Page

"The cruelty to which Yemenis are subjected would have been described as ethnic cleansing if it had been perpetrated by other warmongering parties," said the former president.

Lieutenant Rawlings said that when the cold war ended, the world was convinced that tensions before the thaw would give way to a real play, global prosperity and a common vision of humanity, but endless conflicts, many of which would involve the same actors would be opinion leaders, rather characterized the period.

The role of the United Nations was also closely scrutinized when the former president stated that the body created in direct response to the most violent conflict in the history of humanity was unable to put an end to the most fundamental negatives of the main Member States.

The former president said that the time had come to make the voices of the nations voiceless, beaten and looted. "It's time to draw a hard line in the sand and make our numbers count," he said.

Laurent Gbagbo

Speaking of the recent decisions of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on former Ghanian leader Laurent Gbagbo described the prosecutor's decision to call the appeal as "bizarre and unscrupulous" after "no credible evidence was found ".

"Oddly, the ICC prosecutor, who is clearly acting under the dictates of embarrbaded powers, decides to shamelessly appeal and restrain Gbagbo's freedom again. How can you send him to another country with deformed bail conditions that effectively make him prisoner and prevent him from traveling freely abroad, including returning to his own country? Asked Rawlings.

Former President Rawlings also drew attention to the situation in Cameroon and asked why France, the United States, the United Kingdom and other allies seemed oblivious to the appalling situation in the African country.

The world will see peace "if we learn to speak as a people. Now is the time to stop hiding behind economic and political vulnerabilities. Some privileged people can not afford to submit a majority to submission when they stand up to tell the truth and defend the ideals of a true responsibility before all the peoples of the world, "said the l & # 39; former president.

Below is his full address

MAIN SPEECH BY H. E. JERRY JOHN RAWLINGS
FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA

WORLD SUMMIT OF THE 2019 UNIVERSAL PEACE FEDERATION
SATURDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2019

Our host, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon,
Thomas Walsh, President of the Federation for Universal Peace, Excellencies, Heads of State and Former Heads of State,
Distinguished guests and delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen;

It is an honor for me to join you again for the World Peace Peace Summit of the World Peace Federation, six years after my last meeting in Seoul.

The theme of this 2019 World Summit is the one that has most preoccupied me all my adult life, both as a young Ghanaian air force officer and at the head of the State of Ghana for nearly two decades.

Young Air Force aviation lieutenant from Ghana during the period of military interventions of the 1970s, I realized that peace could never prevail then that corruption and injustice destroyed the fabric of our society.

Since this turbulent decade, often referred to as a "lost decade" in terms of development, the world has become more interconnected, more open and more attached to democratic values.

Ladies and gentlemen; As part of our quest for building a world of mutual understanding, lasting peace and prosperity for all, we find part of our framework for achieving these laudable goals in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. United 16 and 17, the last two of the SDGs. Goal 16 urges us to "promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, to provide access to justice for all and to build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels".

Thus, Goal 16 recognizes that without justice and without responsibility for all in our society, there can be no peace. And, as I have always said, there should be no peace when the values ​​that unite us as a society worthy of emulation are corrupted by unworthy leaders. This is the principle that governed our actions in Ghana in 1979 and again in 1982.

But ladies and gentlemen; How can we implement a global partnership for sustainable development if we do not face the challenges of the current global political climate and the lack of international morality of some of the world's leading countries? How can we create peace and security when some of the very forces seeking to impose their moral compbad suffer a serious decline in international political morality?
Ms. Moon told us of a suggestion she made to Chinese people to invest a tiny proportion of their military or security budget in initiatives that would bring comfort, especially in the lives of women. disadvantaged.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased that we have with us a number of very powerful American citizens and hope that my comments will be made in good faith. Although we were colonized by an English-speaking country, my children did not go to China or Russia for their education. None of us nor any of them speak Chinese or Russian. We are still allies who live and work together. The United States must make readjustments to restore the image of a liberating country.

The United States will have to find a better way to defend the cause of justice or democracy in disadvantaged areas. There was a time when America had the image of a liberating country. But her recent approach defeats the image and makes her look like an aggressor.

If America tries to undo the socialist or communist economic philosophy; capitalism has replaced communism in Russia and significantly in China, so why is there a persistent antagonistic policy, especially against these two countries? An impression is created that the United States wants to control the world.

Mahatma Gandhi once said that he was looking for the truth in God when he realized that God was actually in the truth. Without the sanctity of truth, without the sanctity of freedom and the sanctity of justice, the quality of the democracy we want to marry will lose its value.

A few years ago, when I was in power and President Zuma was in charge of the intelligence mechanism under the presidency of Nelson Mandela, he came to Ghana on a visit and I implored him to do everything. its possible to ensure the health and safety of Mandela. Mandela had become the conscience of the world. The quality of her truth and frankness was very liberating and refreshing, and the savagery of capitalism, using the words of Pope John Paul II, would not be too happy with Mandela's power and authority of truth.

A few years later, when I left office and Mandela was also dismissed and he became such an icon, I asked him for advice and suggested a way to preserve his voice. and his conscience through other outstanding and noble personalities, for the benefit of the whole world. he pbades.

The United States, the old ally, needs help to see that their liberating image is becoming the image of a unipolar power determined to control the world. If its economic and moral power can not do it, there is no reason why it can not do it by military means. This momentum not only creates stress and discomfort, it also contributes to insecurity and, meanwhile, very serious violations of human rights also contribute to undermine political morality. international.

The persecution to which the Palestinians have been subjected all these years does not only concern Israel, but also the United States. If Israel can ride America's shoulders and continue to provoke other countries like Iran and Syria, why should not Saudi Arabia have the same privilege? The persecution of the Chites is the abuse and abuse of relations with the United States.

The cruelty to which the Yemeni people are subjected would have been described as ethnic cleansing if it had been perpetrated by other warmongering parties.

As soon as the Soviet bloc collapsed, the world mistakenly badumed that the Cold War tensions would give way to a period of genuine peace, global prosperity, collaboration and a shared vision of humanity. Instead, the post-Cold War era was defined by an endless series of global conflicts, often involving the same actors that we all supposed to be leading opinion leaders. Their exploitation of trust, vulnerability and even divisions around the world is unprecedented, both in their ability to resort to barbarism and the bare use of force.

The most important are, of course, the Syrian conflict and the situation in Yemen. Conflicts, though tragic in themselves, are considerably aggravated by outside actors who seem more concerned with their interests than with peaceful resolution. These have not only manifested themselves militarily or in the media, increasingly polarized, whose role seems to be to inform as much about the conflicts as to fan the flames that allow these conflicts to perpetuate themselves. These conflicts also took place behind the scenes in the form of clandestine partnerships, often barely concealed, of mortal propriety between so-called defenders of democracy, sovereignty, the rule of law and some of the factions and personalities of the world. more vicious of our time.

How can we speak of true democracy when the conditions for peace are wholly dependent on the interests of a single foreign country or parties to external interests that often contradict both the will of its people and even that of the international community? at large?

Ladies and gentlemen; Does it mean living in a unipolar world? That nations no longer have the right to their own destiny, choice of leadership, system of government or economic partnership for fear of suffering retaliation from their Western "masters" for whom such sovereign decisions are a disadvantage? In spite of the interests of countries that are otherwise sovereign and of the wider international community, are we all so powerless to speak?

There was a time when the UN was considered the most important arbiter of equals. One way for us, as equal people of the planet, to engage fairly and resolve our differences. It is with irony that such a governing body, created to respond directly to the most violent conflict in the history of humanity, is incapable of stopping the vagaries and whims of some of its major member states. .

Now, it seems that the UN is a place where vulnerable nations, among others, will unsuccessfully beg for an international community hijacked by a few belligerent nations seeking their own ends at the expense of all. other. Perhaps it is time for us to review what is meant by "United Nations". It may be time for the premise of such organizations to be taken into account in the interest of the voiceless, battered and looted people for whom it fails so badly. It's time to draw a hard line in the sand and make sure our numbers count.

But this is not supposed to be all about gloom and unhappiness. But on the hope and the possibility of change in international security for all.

As head of state of Ghana, I have witnessed great suffering and an equal measure of human kindness and incredible solidarity in the face of extreme hardships. Even in the darkest moments, there was always a chance for hope, change and renewal for people. We have captured this need for continuous change and development, both in word and deed, through a simple but fundamental philosophy: probity and accountability.

After more than a decade spent working with ordinary Ghanaians to nudge the country, with difficulty and sometimes with interference, both foreign and domestic, while we were on the brink of collapse economic and social, we have come to understand a little nature of humanity. Big or small, rich or poor, powerful or less powerful, the key to any discredited group coming together for an honest and shared existence is simply: honesty and accountability – transparency of leaders, transparency of actions and fairness to all.

Ladies and gentlemen; Are not these the principles that all the nations of the world demand and seek in their relations with others? Principles established with checks and balances? This simple but fundamental principle, more than ever, is ripe to be rediscovered in the face of these difficult times.

Today, while the leaders of the international community remain silent or propose declarations of condemnation, each abuse of power being more and more blatant, one or other of the peoples, we see the problem worsen and unfortunately, perpetuate itself.

Today, we sit and watch the situation in Yemen beyond a human catastrophe; the most terrible human catastrophe of our time. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, two-thirds of Yemen's population is food insecure, making the country the biggest food security crisis in the world. Millions of people suffer from extreme hunger, malnutrition and serious health problems.

We have lost our sensitivity to the proxy war that is currently unfolding in Congo and Syria at the expense of millions of people who have already died there.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is sad to note that hundreds of people are being killed in Cameroon, West and Central Africa, because they seek parity in their livelihoods. It is interesting to note that France, the United States, the United Kingdom and its allies seem unaware of the catastrophic situation in this country.

Although the UN, the AU and other international organizations, and even the citizens of both Cameroon, have called for "an inclusive dialogue, without preconditions", in order to quickly put an end to mbadacres perpetrated almost daily on the continent. English-speaking people, there is no real concerted diplomatic pressure to stem the wave of violence against a vulnerable group. The Cameroonian government or the international community has taken no action to bring the two parties to the negotiating table. For how long will the world remain motionless and watch a government from one part of the world strip its people of its dignity and humanity?

The UN speaks of more than 140 villages burned; and nearly half a million internally displaced people. Forty thousand others sought refuge in Nigeria; while thousands of people languish in prisons in very difficult conditions. I previously called on France to play a crucial role in ending the crisis. The marriage of convenience of southern Cameroon with French Cameroon since 1961 must be reconsidered by the UN and the AU, if these people will soon live together in peace and peace.

Should we wait to see a whole world in perpetual conflict – A conflict that engulfs entire populations, divides families and becomes the problem for all in the form of refugees, reconstruction aid, terrorism and terrorism. global poverty?

In Côte d'Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo, a true patriot, was expelled from his country and delivered to the ICC by France and its allies. After eight good years, the court found no credible evidence against him and released him. Strangely enough, the ICC prosecutor, who is clearly acting on the dictates of embarrbaded powers, decides to shamelessly appeal and restrain Gbagbo's freedom once again. How can you send him to another country with deformed bail conditions that actually make him a prisoner and prevent him from traveling freely abroad, including returning to his homeland? ;origin?

Once upon a time the League of Nations was defeated for its inability to perceive and extinguish what had become an unprecedented world conflict. If the United Nations and the International Criminal Court are now complacent or paralyzed by its own internal structure and divergent interests, so that it is unable to prevent one of these abuses from plunging the region and the whole world in anarchy, perhaps the moment has come for the government. international community to hold these international organizations accountable and to reform them, in the interest of all, rather than a few. Or face the harsh truth of their inadequacy.

Peace will happen if we learn to speak as a people. Now is the time to stop hiding behind economic and political vulnerabilities. Some privileged people can not afford to submit the majority to submission if they rise to speak the truth and defend the ideals of true responsibility before all the peoples of the world.

Before concluding, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to congratulate Dr Moon of the UPF for taking steps to recognize, congratulate and reward those who are making great strides in protecting our planet.

I take this opportunity to congratulate Dr Akinwumi Adesina and Mrs Waris Dirie for devoting their lives to protecting the vulnerable. Ms. Adesina's role in promoting innovative agricultural policies across Africa and Ms. Waris's campaign to eliminate female bad mutilation deserve the recognition they were given earlier today, and I wish them continued efforts with such success.

As never before, the environment risks losing its different species of creatures; smaller ones in the air; those deep in the ground; some of those on the ground; and various varieties in the waters. In my country, I have witnessed several dry or heavily polluted water mbades at an alarming rate. These developments on the environment are intrinsically linked to the immoral political theatrical presented on the world stage. Many innocent people are dying of the consequences of these environmental threats. It is shocking but true to know that in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 40% of the population still does not have access to safe drinking water, while the sanitation index is also less than 40%. There is no doubt that we must redouble our efforts to save the human race and I am convinced that such meetings can provide an opportunity for serious debate on the way forward.

I hope that this conference exploring security, peace and development will seek to pursue initiatives that will help to empower all of us to stand up for what is fair, honest and progressive for all the peoples of the world.

Thank you.