OBERVERS of international occasions are pondering over recent events at the United Nations. A notorious human rights abuser is serving as Chairman of the United Nations Security Council in New York for the month of August. He is none other than the embattled President of Sierra Leone, Retired Brig. Julius Maada Bio.
President Bio arrived in New York on August 9, 2024 amidst huge fanfare for his supporters of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP) , even as human rights abuses of no mean magnitude hang over his head in his country and the U.S. State Department, in its yearly Country Reports, has been highlighting the egregious human rights violations, including politically-motivated killings that President Bio has been committing since he came to power to 2018. Sierra Leoneans have been worrying about the confident sense of impunity with which Maada Bio performs his human rights abuses and on top of that walking proudly and pompously around the country and the world.
Bio’s human rights abuses and his impunity constitute a grave danger to peace and security in the whole West African Subregion. Yet, he is chairing the UN Security Council during the month of August.
“I am honored to preside over the United Nations Security Council this August and am eager to lead discussions on pressing global issues……We aim to foster constructive dialogue and seek impactful solutions to international conflicts and challenges”, Bio tweeted. Yet innocent demonstrators in Sierra Leone have been slaughtered in impunity on the streets of Sierra Leone. Bio does not believe in constructive dialogue so his statement above was an insolent abuse to the moral sensitivity of the people.
APC’S EVANGELIST SAMPSON WAS MERCILESSLY SLAIN BY MAADA BIO’S SECURITY FOR NO VALID REASON AND SO FAR THE UN AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS HAVE SAID NOTHING WHILE BIO WALKS AROUND THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD POMPOUSLY WITH IMPUNITY. YET, BIO IS CHAIR OF THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST
MOURNING FAMILIES DISPLAY PHOTOS OF YOUTHS KILLED BY MAADA BIO’S FORCES DURING THE MAKENI DEMONSTRATION
ANOTHER INNOCENT VICTIM OF MAADA BIO’S BRUTALITY IN SIERRA LEONE
Nothing has made the Bio Chairmanship of the UN Security Council more ironic —with the irony slamming both Bio and the very UN –than the statement made on World Humanitarian Day on August 19, 2024 by the UN Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, shortly after Bio returned home to Sierra Leone.
Though the Secretary General referred mainly to the humanitarian situation in Gaza , yet some points he made cast some stark and ominous chord at the contradictions involved in having a human rights abuser serve as Chair of the UN Security Council. Mr. Guitterez said : “A climate of impunity means perpetrators do not fear justice. This is a failure of humanity, responsibility, and leadership.”
Indeed.
Secretary-General’s message on World Humanitarian Day
Wherever there is human suffering, humanitarian aid workers are striving to alleviate hardship and pain.
Humanitarian operations coordinated by the United Nations provided life-saving aid to more than 140 million people last year.
Aid workers, mostly national staff serving their own communities, persevered despite brutal violence.
They continued their efforts to overcome all obstacles to supporting people in need — in the face of severe funding shortages.
On World Humanitarian Day, we once again salute their courage, their determination, and their service to humanity.
And we recognize that honouring aid workers is not enough.
2023 was the deadliest year on record for humanitarian personnel.
In Gaza, in Sudan, and in many other places, humanitarian workers are being attacked, killed, injured, and abducted, alongside the civilians they support.
Disinformation campaigns spread lies that cost lives.
International humanitarian law – the law that protects civilians during wartime – is being ignored and trampled.
A climate of impunity means perpetrators do not fear justice.
This is a failure of humanity, responsibility, and leadership.
On World Humanitarian Day, we demand an end to attacks on humanitarians and on all civilians.
We demand that governments put pressure on all parties to conflict to protect civilians.
We demand an end to arms transfers to armies and groups that violate international law.
We demand an end to impunity, so that perpetrators face justice.
Celebrating humanitarians is not enough.
We must all do more to protect and safeguard our common humanity.
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