PEACE-KEEPING PLANNING MUST INCLUDE HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS, HUMAN RIGHTS, REFUGEE RETURN, FOURTH COMMITTEE TOLD
Press Release
GA/SPD/78
PEACE-KEEPING PLANNING MUST INCLUDE HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS, HUMAN RIGHTS, REFUGEE RETURN, FOURTH COMMITTEE TOLD
19951116 Speakers also Stress Regional Initiatives, Preventive Deployment As Committee Continues Consideration of Issue of Peace-keeping OperationsHumanitarian and human rights concerns, as well as the phased and orderly return of refugees, must be an integral part of the planning of peace- keeping operations, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) was told this morning as it continued its consideration of peace-keeping operations.
The representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said enforcement actions carried out under Chapter VII of the Charter could compromise the principles of impartiality and neutrality of humanitarian action. For continued successful collaboration between peace-keepers and humanitarian agencies, humanitarian principles must be scrupulously respected. In post-conflict situations, politicization or subordination of the humanitarian imperative should be avoided.
The representative of The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia stressed the tremendous role of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in the maintenance of peace in the southern Balkans. The whole operation had proved how effective preventive deployment could be, if it was done at the right time and with a clear mandate. The unprecedented mission could serve as a role model for future operations.
The representative of Ethiopia said Africans should take the lead in dealing with their continent's problems. However, ensuring peace and security in Africa or any other part of the world was the responsibility of the international community as a whole. Any further consideration of the initiatives on improving preparedness for conflict prevention and peace- keeping in Africa should be undertaken in cooperation and consultation with the Organization of African Unity.
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The representative of Colombia said the use of peace-keeping operations to tackle the broadest possible range of tasks continued to mark a trend towards intervention and military emphasis in the Security Council and moved the international community away from the urgent need to address the root causes of conflict. There should not be an imbalance between expenditures for peace-keeping and those committed to development activities.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea said peace-keeping activities which were used for political purposes not only failed but also aggravated the situation. The United Nations intervention in the Korean war in 1950 was a typical example. The United Nations should lower its flag from the United States command in South Korea, which was the least that could be done to encourage peace on the peninsula and improve relations with his country.
The representative of the Philippines said his Government was exploring the possibility of offering its military training and base facilities as part of a regional peace-keeping establishment. The broadening of participation and support for peace-keeping operations was a leading priority.
Representatives of Jamaica, Venezuela, Indonesia, Hungary, Viet Nam, Mauritania, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia and Djibouti also spoke.
The Committee will meet again this afternoon at 3 p.m. to conclude its debate on peace-keeping operations and to take action on a related draft resolution.
Committee Work Programme
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this morning to continue its consideration of the question of peace-keeping in all its aspects.
It had before it a draft text (A/C.4/50/L.10) whereby General Assembly would, among other things, urge Member States, the Secretariat and relevant United Nations bodies to take all necessary steps to implement the Special Committee's proposals, recommendations and conclusions on Peace-keeping Operations. The Assembly would recommend that should any of the proposals contained in the resolution result in budgetary implications for the bienniums 1994-1995 and 1996-1997, such additional costs be accommodated within appropriation levels approved by the Assembly for those bienniums, in accordance with the Organization's financial rules and regulations.
The draft resolution is sponsored by Argentina, Canada, Egypt, Japan, Nigeria and Poland.
The Committee also has before it the annual report of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations and the Secretary-General's report on conflict prevention and peace-keeping in Africa. Other documents before the Committee include a letter from the Netherlands relating to rapid deployment, letters from Ukraine and Austria, and the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the link between humanitarian assistance and peace-keeping operations.
The report of the Special Committee (document A/50/230) discusses the definition and implementation of peace-keeping mandates; consultation with troop-contributing countries; command and control; and safety and security for peace-keepers. The section on enhancing the capacity of peace-keeping operations examines planning, organization and effectiveness; training; rapid deployment and stand-by arrangements; public information; finances; and cooperation with regional organizations.
The Secretary-General's report on improving preparedness for conflict prevention and peace-keeping in Africa (document A/50/711), discusses issues relating to preventive diplomacy, peacemaking, peace-building, and peace- keeping in Africa. The section on peace-keeping covers such areas as personnel and training and stand-by arrangements, planning and financing, and cooperation with the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and subregional organizations. The report also contains proposals to enhance the capacity for conflict prevention and peace-keeping in Africa.
The letter from the Netherlands to the Secretary-General (document A/49/886) contains a preliminary study on a United Nations rapid deployment brigade. The report of the Joint Inspection Unit entitled "Investigation of the relationship between humanitarian assistance and peace-keeping operations"
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(document A/50/572) deals mainly with the coordination of activities of the United Nations organizations and agencies involved in conflict emergencies wherein humanitarian operations and peace-keeping operations are performed simultaneously by personnel of the United Nations system. (For details of those documents before the Committee see Press Release GA/SPD/75 issued on 13 November.)
HILLARY WILLIAMS (Jamaica) welcomed the proposals of the Secretary- General in the Agenda for Peace, stressing the link between economic and social development and the attainment of peace and security. Adequate financial resources were crucial to the effectiveness of peace-keeping operations. Resources made available for peace-keeping should not be at the expense of resources for development activities. Special attention should be given to improving the capacity to respond rapidly to emergency situations in Africa.
She said a cause for grave concern was the almost daily loss of life of United Nations peace-keepers. Since 1945, 1,280 blue helmets had been killed. Those responsible for such attacks should be brought to justice. The security of personnel should be made an integral part of the planning of all United Nations peace-keeping operations. The expansion of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping should be considered as a matter of priority.
LOURDES COBA (Venezuela) said no peace-keeping operation should be established without the full consent of the parties involved. They should all be multilateral in nature and completely impartial. Such operations were only one of many means for the United Nations to establish peace and they should only be used when all other means for settling conflicts had been exhausted. Careful planning should be given to their mandates, including the financial element.
There should be greater openness between the Security Council and troop contributors, she continued. The regional organizations had an important role to play in helping maintain international peace and security. Information regarding peace-keeping missions should be aimed at the public in general as well as to Member States. Given the overall complexity of operations, the Special Committee had an important role to pay and her Government supported proposals to make it a more open-ended and representative body.
BERHANEMESKEL NEGA (Ethiopia) said that respect for the principles of consent, impartiality and non-use of force was crucial for the success of peace-keeping operations. Failures in certain operations were largely attributable to violations of these basic principles. Wider participation of States in operations would ensure and preserve their impartiality and international character, giving them the necessary political and moral force to guarantee their success. Political guidance and military operational control by the United Nations was of paramount importance. Any change in the
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mandate of peace-keeping operations or their termination should remain the collective responsibility of the Organization, exercised through the Security Council.
He said selective treatment of conflicts in different parts of the world should not be allowed. Success of missions depended on adequate resources and Member States should pay assessments in full and on time. Special consideration and priority should be given to reimbursements to troop contributing developing countries. Ethiopia welcomed the proposals contained in the Secretary-General's report on ways to improve the capacity to respond to emergencies in Africa. Needless to say, Africans should take the lead in dealing with their continent's problems. However, ensuring peace and security in Africa or any other part of the world was the common responsibility of the international community as a whole. Any further consideration of the initiatives on improving preparedness for conflict prevention and peace- keeping in Africa should be undertaken in cooperation and consultation with the Organization of African Unity before any decision was taken by the United Nations.
PIRKKO KOURULA, Deputy Director, Liaison Office, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said collaboration between humanitarian organizations and peace-keepers had far-reaching implications for both the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and for the promotion of solutions for large numbers of refugees and displaced persons. The courage and determination of peace-keepers had been a key factor in permitting the repatriation of millions of refugees. But the experience, for all its success, had been marked by dangers as well as benefits.
From the UNHCR's perspective, the benefits of collaboration had been most apparent in post-conflict operations, she said. Recent experiences in Namibia, Cambodia, El Salvador and Mozambique had demonstrated that when the United Nations's involvement in a country was based on agreement, and when its impartiality was broadly recognized, it was possible to plan and implement the humanitarian, political and military elements of a multi-functional operation in an integrated manner, with the various activities complementing each other. Such operations had included both military functions and a wide range of activities involving civilian personnel and humanitarian organizations. Experience had highlighted the importance of including humanitarian and human rights concerns, as well as the phased and orderly return of refugees, as an integral part of the planning process from the outset.
An enforcement action carried out under Chapter VII, she continued, might be morally justified but it could not be neutral or impartial. From the UNHCR's standpoint, such operations held the risk that the principles of impartiality and neutrality of humanitarian action would be compromised as a result of its association with the armed force. There was also the risk that emergency relief would be employed as a substitute for decisive international
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action to prevent or halt refugee producing conflicts, and by the potential threat posed to the institution of asylum, because of the international community's growing efforts to assist war-affected populations within their own countries.
If collaboration between the peace-keepers and humanitarian agencies was to continue in zones of conflict it was essential that the imperatives of humanitarian action were scrupulously respected, she continued. Different scenarios of post-conflict and peace-enforcement operations called for different responses. Where a neutral United Nations peace-keeping contingent operated in a post-conflict environment, politicization of the humanitarian or subordination of the humanitarian imperative should be avoided. Mutual understanding and proper coordination between military and humanitarian activities could be achieved through improved preparedness, training of military personnel in humanitarian issues, joint planning and assessment missions, early agreement on responsibilities and effective communication and coordination.
Where military action under Chapter VII of the Charter was foreseen, she said mutual understanding and timely information sharing were crucial. However, a clear separation of the political and military components from the humanitarian components was required if the basic humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality were to be maintained. Collaboration on the ground, regular contacts at Headquarters level and enhanced training had greatly increased understanding of the respective roles of peace-keepers and humanitarian actors. However, much remained to be done in improving effectiveness of the international response to refugee crises in environments where peace-keepers played a role.
GATOT SUWARDI (Indonesia) said that the expanded nature and scope of peace-keeping operations should be in line with the guiding principles, definitions and implementation of mandates set forth in the report of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations. Such operations should follow the principles of respect for territorial integrity, non-intervention in internal affairs, and impartiality. They should have clear mandates and objectives, unified command and control structures and secure financing. There was also a need to differentiate between peace-keeping operations and humanitarian assistance activities.
He said all efforts to settle disputes peacefully should be exhausted before undertaking missions, which should be a last resort and of a temporary nature. Cooperation with regional organizations should be strengthened. The holding of regional dialogues would provide the appropriate framework for promoting security and enhancing cooperation.
Financial arrangements for the reimbursement of troop contributors were inadequate and placed an unfair burden on those countries, he added. If
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effective measures were not taken to redress this situation, "it would not only undermine the success of present peace-keeping activities but also impede the participation of developing countries in all future endeavours to maintain international peace and security." The membership of the Special Committee should be open-ended to reflect the interests and aspirations of Member States, and this matter should be taken up as a priority next year by the Special Committee.
ATTILA PALYA (Hungary), said preventive diplomacy was mentioned too often without actually being used in a timely and resolute fashion. The example of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was an example of the effective resort to preventive deployment by peace-keepers and could serve as a model for other countries and territories stricken by religious and ethnic conflicts. His Government looked forward to the implementation of recent initiatives by Canada, the Netherlands and Denmark to enhance the United Nations rapid deployment capability as well as the proposals by the Department of Peace-Keeping Operations (DPKO) concerning the establishment of its rapidly deployable headquarters capability.
He said his Government supported the enlargement of the Special Committee and the involvement in its work of troop-contributing countries. Traditional peace-keeping had become more complex during recent years and so- called post-conflict peace-building measures were gaining more importance in establishing a durable peace. Recent experiences in Angola and the former Yugoslavia had shown that demilitarization, control of arms, demining activity, monitoring and verification of human rights violations and the facilitation of the return of displaced persons were indispensable to contemporary peace-keeping operations. The regional organizations played an important role in implementing those tasks and in the maintenance of international peace and security, particularly in the handling of intra-State conflicts in their own region.
ALVARO FORERO (Colombia) said peace-keeping operations were a useful tool that had to be used cautiously. The use of such operations to tackle the broadest possible range of tasks continued to mark a trend towards intervention and military emphasis in the Security Council and moving away from addressing the root causes of conflict. The Security Council continued to ignore the appeal of peoples to focus on lasting development. Never before were such resources spent on peace-keeping operations and never before was there such mistrust by people of the ability of the Organization to bring about peace.
He said a reduction of operations at the present time and a more substantial reduction in the future were merited. The mandate of the Special Committee should remain broad since it was the forum to analyze operations. It was not appropriate for Member States to carry out micro-management of peace-keeping operations. The Non-Aligned Movement had stressed the
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importance of the Special Committee to ensure that operations strictly abided by the principles of the Charter. Colombia deplored the trend to call into question such basic principles as full consent of the parties as a condition for the establishment of peace-keeping operations.
There should not be an imbalance between expenditures on peace-keeping and development activities, he went on to say. The Special Committee's membership should be extended to all Member States. Its current restrictive character was like that of the Security Council and showed a lack of democracy. There was no ideal mechanism of consultation with troop contributors. A rapid deployment capacity required detailed consideration by the Special Committee. Reimbursements of troop costs and use of equipment was a problem that needed to be resolved.
HOANG THI CU (Vietnam) said there was a big gap between the requirements placed on the United Nations due to the increasing number of conflicts in the world and its capability to effectively and efficiently address those problems. Keeping in mind the link between peace and development, due attention should be given to the causes of conflict. His Government was concerned with the decline in international development assistance and the soaring costs of peace-keeping operations.
The General Assembly was the highest decision-making body of the United Nations and the universal membership should play a more active role in overseeing the management of peace-keeping operations, she continued. Strict observance of the provisions set out in the Charter were of great importance for the Organization to discharge its responsibilities. Peace-keeping operations should strictly observe the principles of respect for national sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs of States. Lessons from the successes and setbacks of peace-keeping operations had proved that deviating from those principles would lead to failure. Peace- keeping could be no substitute for peaceful solutions to conflicts and should only be launched after all other methods had been explored.
HAMOUD OULD ELY (Mauritania) said the quest for peace remained a priority objective of the United Nations. Peace-keeping operations played an essential preventive role as well as a role to settle conflicts. Respect for and compliance with the principles of the Charter should guide all initiatives. Operations should, before being launched, have clear, precise mandates and adequate financing. One of the most promising trends was the evolution of preventive diplomacy to reduce tensions, so that crises did not become open conflicts, which were difficult to resolve.
He said the Secretary-General's report on improving the capacity for peace-keeping and conflict prevention in Africa deserved further review, concrete follow-up and implementation. Cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations should be strengthened. Faced with new conflicts,
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the United Nations had to adapt its intervention mechanisms and there were new civilian tasks of peace-keeping which made the role of the Organization even more vital. The consolidation of peace was another important function after disputes had been settled. He expressed the hope that the Convention on the Safety and Security of United Nations Personnel would soon enter into force.
ROGERS G. BYAMUGISHA (Uganda) said the Security Council and its five permanent members had continued to play a major role in maintaining international peace and security. However, it was important to recognize the collective crucial role of the rest of the membership, through the General Assembly as the major organ of the United Nations. It was therefore important that the two bodies work in close collaboration if the Council's mandates were to enjoy the confidence of all Member States.
He appealed to the international community to support the proposals contained in the Secretary-General's report on improving preparation for conflict prevention and peace-keeping in Africa. There had been major initiatives in Africa to respond to potential and actual conflicts through the establishment of an Organization of African Unity (OAU) mechanism for conflict prevention and resolution. The United Nations should provide the OAU with much needed financial and technical support to make its initiative operational and achieve its objectives. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had made an enormous contribution to the peaceful solution to the Liberian conflict and he hoped the international community would give the Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG) the support it needed to conclude its mandate successfully.
His Government welcomed initiatives aimed at solving the dispute in the Great Lakes region and had suggested that problem-solving could be carried out by the extensive use of the good offices of eminent persons like the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, Bishop Desomond Tutu of South Africa and former United States President Jimmy Carter, who among them had the time, commitment, and above all the confidence of the parties involved. The United Nations could facilitate the convening of a conference using the good offices of those men.
NIHAL RODRIGO (Sri Lanka) said successful peace-keeping operations tended to be overshadowed by daunting statistics such as the $4 million daily budget of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). Last year's total peace-keeping budget of approximately $3.5 billion raised fundamental questions about the priorities of the United Nations. "Development priorities should not be sacrificed in the pursuit of politico-military operations." Most post-cold war conflicts stemmed from social and economic factors and inordinate emphasis on peace-keeping would negatively affect development activities. All efforts must be made to prevent disputes and to achieve peaceful solutions.
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He said national peace initiatives should be encouraged and strengthened. Interventions must be confined to situations which threaten international peace and security and where Security Council decisions were based on the support of Member States rather than the political exigencies of a few, powerful States. Some of the current disillusionment with peace- keeping was related to the ongoing debate of the role of the Security Council and its expansion and reform. The membership of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping should be expanded.
SLOBODAN TASOVSKI (The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) said that to be effective, peace-keeping operations must have a clear mandate, as well as sufficient human, financial and material resources. The safety and security of United Nations personnel was of paramount importance and his Government strongly supported the Convention on the Safety and Security of United Nations Personnel and Associated Persons.
Noting his own country's concerns for its own safety, as well as for peace and security for peace in the Balkans region, he stressed the tremendous role of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) for the maintenance of stability and peace in the southern Balkans. For the first time in United Nations history military units had been deployed as a measure of preventive diplomacy and could be a good example for the future. The UNPREDEP, which included contingents from the United States, was vital for his country's security and for sustaining peace and security in the region. Cooperation between local authorities, his Government and UNPREDEP had been very good. The whole operation had proved how effective preventive deployment could be, even with a relatively small number of United Nations peace-keeping units, if it was done at the right time and with a clear mandate. The mission could serve as a role model for future operations.
ALYAKSEI SKRYPKO (Belarus) expressed support for the proposals contained in the report of the Special Committee. Despite some success, the authority of the United Nations could be done harm as a result of its inability to halt bloodshed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The Organization could not force the parties to refrain from violence if there was no political will.
He expressed support for efforts to establish a systematic machinery to learn from past operations and welcomed the establishment of a sub-division in the Department of Peace-keeping Operations. Given the changing nature of peace-keeping operations, there was a need for comprehensive guidelines. Mandates should be in line with the amount of resources available. There was a need for a distinction between mandates and structures carried out under Chapters VI and VII of the Charter. The effectiveness of peace-making activities could be increased through a strengthening of early warning capabilities.
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One of the key factors in settling conflicts was the existence of a rapid reaction capability, he said. A rapid reaction force needed further study. The United Nations should not be turned into an Organization with military functions. Belarus' participation in stand-by arrangements was being considered by the Government.
He said cooperation with regional organizations should be strengthened, particularly in the areas of preventive diplomacy and peacemaking. Attention should also be given to the financing of peace-keeping operations, which were consuming more and more resources. There should be a rational system for preparing budgets and administering operations. He expressed support for the expansion of the membership of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations.
RI JANG GONG (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said 50 years of history had shown that United Nations peace-keeping activities which were used for the political purposes of other countries, not only failed, but also aggravated the situation. The United Nations intervention in the Korean war in 1950 was a typical example. "Today the `United Nations Forces' in South Korea means the United States forces." The Democratic People's Republic of Korea could not escape from unsavory relations with the United Nations due to the existence of the United Nations Command over which the Organization had no jurisdiction. That was abnormal in an international trend towards detente. However, the United Nations intervention in the Korean war had been depicted as a success on several occasions and in one of the supplements to the Secretary-General's Agenda for Peace, and other United Nations publications. The Organization should take practical steps to remove the stain that it had made dealing with the Korean question.
The United Nations should meet its obligation and at least lower its flag from the United States command in South Korea in accordance with the resolution adopted at the 1975 thirtieth General Assembly session which states that the United Nations Command should be dismantled and replaced with an armistice agreement and with a peace agreement. That would do away with unfavourable relations with his country and further establish peace and security on the Korean peninsula.
JESUS DOMINGO (Philippines) expressed concern over a possible "creeping prioritization of resource allocation in favour of peace-keeping operations over developmental activities", compounding the overall problem of reduced resources. While peace-keeping was a leading concern for the Organization, economic and social programmes must remain its primary focus. Early negotiation and political resolution were preferred over peace-keeping. His Government was exploring the possibility of offering its military training and base facilities as part of a regional peace-keeping establishment. Stand-by arrangements were also being studied by the military.
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He said there was a need to formulate a set of guidelines and principles governing operations, as well as clear mandates with time-frames. The leadership and direction of operations, as well as their command, communications, control and intelligence systems must be further improved. The broadening of participation and support for peace-keeping operations was a leading priority. There should be greater democratization and transparency in the decision-making process in the Security Council and in the composition of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping. There was also a pressing need to address the problem of delay in reimbursement for troops and equipment, and the establishment of a uniform scale of compensation. The membership of the Special Committee should be open-ended.
ANATOLLY T. OLIYNYK (Ukraine) said cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations in fielding peace-keeping operations was very important. At the same time the principle according to which no individual State or regional organization could be granted the right to be the main guarantor or peace and security in one region should continue to be an inviolable condition of peace-keeping operations at the regional level. Special attention should be paid to the development of mechanisms for preventive diplomacy as the most promising instrument of peace-keeping activities. Obviously, conflict settlement required more military and political than preventive efforts. The Joint Inspection Unit should prepare a study of the relationship between preventive diplomacy and peace-keeping operations, particularly mechanisms for preparatory arrangements for peace- keeping operations in cases where preventive diplomacy had not achieved desirable results.
He said the safety and security of United Nations personnel remained one of the most urgent problems facing peace-keeping operations, as events in the former Yugoslavia had shown. He called upon Member States to accelerate their ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Safety and Security of United Nations and Associated Personnel so it could enter into force.
MIROSLAV SEDLAK (Slovakia) said the Special Committee's membership was 34; the number of troop-contributors totalled 84; and the number of countries wanting to participate in the Special Committee was even higher. The membership should be expanded. While the idea to transform the Special Committee into an open-ended one was the most democratic solution, it might end up duplicating the work of the Fourth Committee. Excluding members on the basis of unpaid peace-keeping arrears might halt its work. If membership were limited to troop-contributing States, then those countries that contributed observers and civilian police should also be considered. States that contributed financially should also not be excluded. The issue should be the main agenda item at the Special Committee's next session. The Fourth Committee should deal with principle issues, evaluate the work of the Special Committee and refrain from taking over its work.
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BADRI ALI BOGOREH (Djibouti) said that before starting up a new peace- keeping operation a small mission should be sent to evaluate the situation and report back to the Security Council. The United Nations should not tolerate situations like the one in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Solutions which appeared to be seductive in the beginning could be overtaken by events. It was wiser to remain prudent and practical and leave a certain room for organizations which were more familiar with situations in the field. Setting a rigid timetable for peace-keeping operations was not always desirable, as had been witnessed by the Somalia operation. The United Nations had packed its bags and left a devastated country. Peace-keeping operations would be more effective if carried out in cooperation with regional bodies. The Organization of African Unity (OAU) had put in place a mechanism for the prevention and management of disputes.
There must be increased efforts to tackle the underlying causes of conflicts, and increased attention had to be given to development, he said. More attention should also be given to the situation in neighbouring countries to a conflict which often had to deal with the impact of refugees. His Government was pleased with recent arrangements for more regular consultations between the Security Council and troop contributors.
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