"Broken Promises" DVD
by Citizens United Foundation

The United Nations is observing its 60th anniversary, but not everyone is celebrating. You'll see why when you watch the new DVD "Broken Promises, The United Nations at 60," the explosive documentary which details a litany of the U.N.'s failures to resolve human rights abuses, improve economic and social development and enhance world security.

Narrated by actor Ron Silver, "Broken Promises, The United Nations At 60" features testimonials from scholars, government officials and even survivors of genocide who relate their first hand accounts of the U.N.'s inability to carry out its charter mandate to preserve peace and defend global human rights.

One such example documents how the U.N. failed to resolve tribal conflicts in Rwanda in which tens of thousands of people were brutally slaughtered. Mother-to-be Eugenie Mukeshimana recounts her escape from the horrifying massacre and the complete apathy and inability of the U.N. to quell the rioting and killings. While aware of the country-wide genocide, the U.N. was inhibited by its desire to protect an image of impartiality. "It's not that the U.N. didn't know what was going on. It's just that they were told not to do anything," said Ms. Mukeshimana.

"This documentary delivers the clear message that if the U.N. is to ever grow into a credible world organization, top to bottom reform is necessary," said co-producer Ron Silver. "To date, the U.N. has failed to deliver on virtually every aspect of its charter mandate."

"This is certainly no happy birthday for the U.N.," said co-producer David Bossie. "At sixty, the U.N. is at a crossroads. Unless the United Nations adopts sweeping policy changes and conducts a thorough in-house cleaning, it will render itself completely obsolete. Past history reveals a long list of failures. From the inability of the U.N. to resolve the hostility between India and Pakistan in 1947, to the Arab/Israeli conflicts of the late 1940s, to the slaughter of millions of Cambodian refugees by Pol Pot in the 1970s, to the hardships and genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia, the U.N. has proven itself to be a toothless lion in resolving global conflicts and ending human rights abuses," Bossie added.

In addition the film focuses on ongoing scandal and corruption within the U.N. In an effort to avoid wasting U.N. assets, real estate mogul Donald Trump offered the Secretary General an alternative renovation plan that would potentially save the U.N. $1 billion on its plan to modernize the U.N. headquarters in New York. Trump's offer was refused, a move he labels "something worse than incompetence." In the wake of the Oil for Food scandal implicating U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Mr. Annan admitted his responsibility and acknowledged the U.N.'s need for reform.

Other contributors to the documentary highlight:

• How the U.N. Commission on Human Rights includes some of the world's worst human rights abusers

• How the U.N. Commission on Human Rights has targeted Israel with more violations than any other country

• The U.N.'s failure to acknowledge the slaughter of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Serbia

The hour-long documentary film, "Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60," chronicles the organization's failings since its inception, and raises serious doubts about whether the world body should perpetuate itself for another 60 years.

Click here to order "Broken Promises" on DVD