Other critics and even proponents of the United Nations question its effectiveness and relevance because in most high-profile cases , there are essentially no consequences for violating a Security Council resolution . An early example of this was the Bangladesh Liberation War and the 1971 Bangladesh genocide committed by the Pakistan Army on Bangladeshis . Critics of the UN argued that the UN was completely ineffective in preventing the genocide , and that military intervention by India was the only thing to stop the mass murder . Another such case occurred in the Srebrenica massacre where Serbian troops committed genocide against Bosnian Muslims in the largest case of mass murder on the European continent since World War II . Srebrenica had been declared a UN " safe area " and was even protected by 400 armed Dutch peacekeepers , but the UN forces did nothing to prevent the massacre . In the 21st century , the most prominent and dramatic example is the War in Darfur , in which Arab Janjaweed militias , supported by the Sudanese government , committed repeated acts of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the indigenous population . Thus far , an estimated 300,000 civilians have been killed in what is the largest case of mass murder in the history of the region , yet the UN has continuously failed to act against this severe and ongoing human rights issue . At the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly , New Zealand Prime Minister John Key heavily criticized the UN 's inaction on Syria , more than two years after the Syrian Civil War began
1971 Bangladesh genocide
1971 Bangladesh genocide
Criticism of the United Nations