NEED TO ENHANCE PEACE-KEEPING CAPABILITIES STRESSED IN FOURTH COMMITTEE
Press Release
GA/SPD/98
NEED TO ENHANCE PEACE-KEEPING CAPABILITIES STRESSED IN FOURTH COMMITTEE
19961119 Speakers this morning addressed the need to enhance United Nations peace-keeping capabilities and practices, while respecting the sovereignty of States and working within the principles of the Charter, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) resumed its consideration of peace-keeping operations in all their aspects.The representative of Canada said the Organization was not addressing issues of peace and security with sufficient courage and creativity. The Department of Peace-keeping Operations lacked the necessary capabilities and resources to be the instrument of choice when the international community decided to address a crisis.
Peace-keeping was a basic tool of the Organization, but other methods should be found to settle disputes peacefully, the representative of Cuba told the Committee. Enhancing peace-keeping capabilities did not mean departing from the principles of the Charter; it simply meant less "ad hocracy", the representative of Romania said.
The representative of Zambia said peace-keeping operations should have clear mandates and observe the Charter principles of impartiality, consent of the parties, non-interference in the domestic affairs of States, and non-use of force except in self-defense.
Statements were also made by the representatives of the Russian Federation, Kuwait, Brazil, Togo, Viet Nam, Guatemala, Qatar, India, Slovak Republic, Belarus, Argentina, Indonesia, Israel, Madagascar, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Australia and Malta.
The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 20 November, to conclude its discussion of peace-keeping operations and to take action on peace-keeping and decolonization texts.
Committee Work Programme
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this morning to continue its consideration of peace-keeping in all their aspects. (For further information, see Press Release GA/SPD/96, of 18 November.)
Statements
YURI T. FEDOTOV (Russian Federation) said the pivotal principles of United Nations peace-keeping should not be forgotten: the presence of a real threat; consent of the parties; and operations should be impartial and committed to the non-use of force except in self-defence. The time-frame of peace-keeping operations should be defined.
He stressed that peace-keeping was an instrument for securing a political solution to crisis and encouraging dialogue. A clearer distinction was needed between peace-keeping and enforcement operations. Enforcement should be swift and initiated by the Security Council. The number of enforcement operations, such as imposition of sanctions, had been increasing. Care was needed in the use of force in non-enforcement actions, and limits for use of force should be clearly formulated by the Security Council.
He said peace-keeping should not serve short-term political interests. Coalitions should conform to the United Nations Charter. Enforcement actions by a "third party" or a coalition could be carried out only with the authority of the Security Council. There was need for transparency and accountability regarding peace-keeping operations. Cooperation between the United Nations and regional partners occurred under Chapter VIII of the Charter. Peace- keeping in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was being carried out in conformity with the Charter and the consent of involved parties.
Given new threats to peace and stability, he went on, the capacity of the Organization for rapid reaction should be stepped up. Standby arrangements were important in this regard, and his country had provided the Secretariat with important proposals for handling such arrangements. Russia was prepared to participate. It was important that Security Council control be maintained. The Organization also needed a concept of preventive deployment.
On rapid deployment, he said one priority was the handling of humanitarian tasks. The consent of all involved parties was needed. Russia believed that the interests of troop-contributing countries should be taken into account when the Security Council decided to establish new operations or to extend mandates of already-deployed operations. The financing of peace- keeping operations had become an important question. The solution to the problem required that Member States pay their dues on time. A more equitable assessment scale for assessments for peace-keeping operations was needed.
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KHALIDA AL-SALEM (Kuwait) said the question of peace-keeping operations was one of the most important on the Organization's agenda. Precise objectives should be formulated for peace-keeping operations so as to ensure adequate financing. Rapid action was needed to prevent conflict, and there should be the capacity to establish demilitarized zones. He supported the establishment of a multinational contingent to assure rapid deployment, and welcomed the establishment of consultations between participating countries and the Security Council. Such consultation extended to all stages of peace- keeping operations. A force had been established to monitor the border between Kuwait and Iraq (UNIKOM), in accordance with Security Council resolutions 687 and 689. Because financial difficulties might weaken the effectiveness of the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), Kuwait had decided to assume two thirds of the financial burden. He supported all recommendations of the Special Committee and the two draft resolutions before the Committee.
CELSO L.N. AMORIM (Brazil) said the number of peace-keeping operations had declined, while the complexity of the tasks facing the Organization had increased. The United Nations capacity for peace-keeping needed to be improved on a permanent basis. The Organization had not been able to reimburse troop contributors in a timely manner. The Department of Peace- keeping Operations had continued to resort to so-called "loaned officers". He agreed with the report of the Secretary-General on peace-keeping, which stated that every operation should be deployed with the strength necessary to accomplish its purpose, and that no solution was possible without consent of the parties involved.
Peace-keeping operations should not be seen as an end in themselves, he continued. Mandates should be clearly established and their composition geographically diverse. The use of force must be an option of last resort. The United Nations must be able to respond swiftly to emergency situations, and the development of a rapid deployment capability was consistent with that need. Broader geographical participation would add legitimacy and efficiency to the effort. He supported the expansion of the membership of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping.
DAVID KARSGAARD (Canada) noted the advances in the Department of Peace- keeping Operations in developing a system for standby arrangements, as well as a rapidly deployable mission headquarters. But it still lacked the capabilities and resources needed for it to be the instrument of choice when the international community decided to address a crisis. Member States had reached an intellectual dead-end in finding the conceptual framework within which the Department could respond with greater flexibility to demands made on it. The Organization was not addressing issues of peace and security with courage and creativity.
He said two issues merited particular attention in consideration of the Department's structure: personnel and finances. A significant number of
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Department staff were now engaged on short-term contracts or loaned by governments. Member States must correct that reliance on temporary personnel by providing the resources necessary for regular staff. Member States must meet their formal obligations to the peace-keeping budget if such activities were to be conducted properly. Management of peace-keeping equipment and matériel needed improvement.
It was a priority of his country, he continued, to create a sustainable infrastructure for human security. Peace-keeping was only one of many tools required for the complex task of ending conflicts and moving towards global peace and security. Those topics covered in the Special Committee's report this year, including coordination between Secretariat departments involved in peace-keeping, should be studied further. He welcomed revision of the Special Committee's membership structure.
FOLLY-GLIDJITO AKAKPO (Togo) stressed the importance and usefulness of peace-keeping operations in preventing the intensification of conflict and making a peaceful solution possible. Lessons for the future should be learned from both successes and failures, and, for that reason, he supported the enhancement of the Organization's "Lessons Learned Unit".
On the issue of conflict prevention, he said there was a need to detect in advance areas in risk. Despite his country's limited resources, Togo had invested greatly in preventive diplomacy and had made enormous sacrifices to promote the peaceful settlements of disputes. He hoped the international community would enhance its efforts in preventive diplomacy.
On the financing of peace-keeping operations, he said it was essential that the Organization have sufficient resources to conduct such operations effectively. At present, even developing countries had to subsidize peace- keeping operations. Without delay, all Member States must discharge unconditionally their financial obligations to the Organization.
He deplored the great loss of lives in peace-keeping operations, and called for the perpetrators to be punished, with the aim of strengthening the safety of peace-keeping members. The Organization was a common denominator of the determination of Member States. It should work together to make the twenty-first century one of peace and development.
PETRU DUMITRIU (Romania) said that in a world of ethnocentrism, prejudice and violent conflict, there was a vital need for strong determination and political will to intervene where conflict could be contained. Successful peace-keeping operations required clear mandates, unambiguous political support, and financial resources. The international community had to overcome its proclivity to pay for war, but not for peace. The international community should cease seeking justification for non-action.
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A rapidly deployable mission headquarters should be established at the earliest possible date, he continued. Until financing for such a unit was available from the regular budget, the mix proposed by the Secretariat as to funding was the best solution.
Troop contributors deserved more transparency as to how the funds available in peace-keeping accounts were used. He suggested the Secretariat present to the contributors to specific operations the facts about related resources and expenditures. His country was the eleventh largest troop contributor to United Nations peace-keeping missions. While noting the complexity of implementing operations, he reminded the Committee that loss of lives would be lessened if the United Nations reacted promptly to crisis situations. Innovation did not mean departure from the Charter; it meant less "ad-hocracy".
NGO QUANG XUAN (Viet Nam) said he supported the statement of the representative of Thailand on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement. United Nations peace-keeping operations had been moving beyond the confines of their traditional concepts. All means should be exhausted before coercive measures under Chapter VII of the Charter were considered. Use of force to maintain international peace and security should be a last resort. Peace-keeping operations should not be regarded as a substitute for the political settlement of disputes. The principle of respect for national sovereignty and non- interference in the internal affairs of States was important.
He said the United Nations should learn the lessons of the successes, as well as the failures, of its peace-keeping experiences. He welcomed arrangements for consultations between troop-contributing countries and the Security Council, and supported the expansion of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping into an open-ended body, as well as the newly proposed criteria for membership in that body.
He said the problems with the financing of peace-keeping involved the failure of certain permanent Security Council members to pay their assessments on time. He agreed with the statements of the Non-Aligned Movement, that there had been an increasing imbalance between the expenses of a large number of existing peace-keeping operations and the resources available for development activities of the United Nations. Peace-keeping should not be carried out at the expense of development activities.
JULIO ARMANDO MARTINI HERRERA (Guatemala), on behalf of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, said the Central American countries attached great importance to peace-keeping. The peace-keeping operations of the United Nations had directly contributed to establishing peace in the region.
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He said that was a crucial time to be discussing peace-keeping matters. Peace-keeping operations should follow the principles of the United Nations Charter. They should be carried out with the consent of the parties. The lessons learned and experience gained from previous operations should be utilized. He welcomed improvements of reaction time and capacity, and also the development of a rapid deployment capacity.
Another enormously important issue was the transparency of operations, he said, welcoming consultations between troop-contributing countries, the Security Council and the Secretariat. He said a uniform scale of compensation was needed for the death or disability of personnel.
ZAYED AL-KHAYAREEN (Qatar) said that, over the years, peace-keeping operations had been responsible for many successes, but, recently, regional, political, sectarian and ethnic tensions within and between States had caused some setbacks. Financial burdens had grown because of the increase in such operations. Qatar supported the concept that peace-keeping operations were among the primary tools available to prevent conflict. They were not the optimal method, but a means to be used while alternative methods were sought to settle disputes peacefully. The Organization should further explore methods of dispute resolution.
He said that in order to be effective, peace-keeping operations required clear objectives, sufficient financing, and the need to distinguish between different peace-related activities. They should be designed along the principles of impartiality, consent of the parties and non-interference in internal affairs. The international community needed to enhance confidence- building measures in order to establish regional and universal peace.
V.P. SHANMUGASUNDARAM (India) said that because of India's commitment to international peace and security, his country was involved in a number of peace-keeping operations. Even the best-laid plans were likely to falter unless the conceptual underpinnings were based on collective agreement gained from common experience.
Peace-keeping was predicated on the consent of the parties, he said, and, therefore, the mandates needed to be non-intrusive and non- interventionist. Such operations were not a substitute for a mutually acceptable negotiated political settlement. They were interim measures and not to be considered an end by themselves. Substantive consultations with troop contributors would enhance confidence and reduce the practice of national authorities interjecting themselves at the field level and undermining United Nations command and control.
He said it was a matter of concern that loaned officers were more than five times the number of United Nations-financed military officers. It was a symptom of the Organization succumbing to those who had an à la carte approach
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towards its activities. He said that, on the basis of equity and justice, he urged the use of equal and standardized rates of compensation for peace- keepers who were killed or disabled in action while serving the United Nations flag. Protracted delays in the reimbursement of troop contributors was a matter of concern. Member States must pay their arrears.
He said that many of the conflicts in which the United Nations had intervened had been caused by poverty, underdevelopment and inequalities. Those were persistently destabilizing factors. Economic development was the best form of preventive diplomacy, and the Organization must devote greater resources towards efforts in that regard. The new global threats to security now included terrorism, drug trafficking and international criminal activities.
TOMAS HRBAC (Slovak Republic) said peace-keeping was one of the key instruments for maintaining international peace and security. The international community had been confronted by an increasing number of conflicts. History taught that prevention was much easier and less costly than facing the consequences of an outbreak of conflict or war. United Nations experience showed there were a number of lessons to be learned.
He said that the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) had contributed to the containment of violence in the region. The lessons of that mission might be applied to other situations. Conflict often occurred within the boundaries of States. He supported the establishment of a United Nations radio station as an integral part of peace-keeping missions. He urged the Secretariat to further extend the cooperation of the United Nations with regional organizations within the terms of Chapter VII of the Charter.
He said he welcomed initiatives aimed at banning the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel land-mines. His country had already unilaterally declared a moratorium on the export of those devices. Slovak troops were currently participating in several peace-keeping missions. He welcomed the proposal to expand the membership of the Special Committee on peace-keeping.
ALYAKSEI SKRYPKO (Belarus) said he supported the recommendations contained in the report of the Special Committee on peace-keeping on ways to improve the peace-keeping machinery of the Organization. Peace-keeping operations were not the primary form of United Nations action, but should be an option of last resort. They should assist peaceful settlement of disputes. He endorsed the notion that preventive efforts and early action were necessary.
He said peace-keeping and peace-enforcement were quite different. The use of military in peace-enforcement should be a last resort. He supported enhancing the consultative process between troop-contributing countries, the
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Secretariat and the Security Council, and favoured strengthening the consultative process between the United Nations and regional organizations. Rapid deployment of peace-keeping could be significant strengthened by the further development of standby arrangements. He said he supported the development of a rapidly deployable headquarters team.
FERNANDO PETRELLA (Argentina) said his country participated in a number of peace-keeping operations. It had recently offered a regional training centre in which to carry out academic and training activities, open to all parts of the continent. The centre would aim at improving the coordination and level of participation by the countries of the Americas in United Nations operations.
He said preventive diplomacy and other preventive approaches required an efficient early warning and rapid reaction system. The use of force in peace- keeping operations should be exceptional. Reduced reaction times were vital to respond effectively to situations that jeopardized peace, because such situations usually escalated rapidly. Burundi and eastern Zaire were new proofs of the need for faster action.
In that regard, he supported the proposal to make available to the Organization a brigade to be rapidly deployed when necessary. He also believed in the need for a rapidly deployable headquarters mission. The Organization could have a supply of standby stocked material, subject to strict internal supervision.
He said that public dissemination of information on peace-keeping operations needed special attention; the United Nations should adopt a more aggressive approach in that area to demonstrate to the public the importance of peace-keeping operations for maintaining peace.
He said the Security Council could benefit from holding dialogue with troop-contributing countries. It was regrettable that many States continued to fail to pay their contributions to peace-keeping operations. It would be unfortunate if the Organization failed to pursue a viable operation simply because of financial constraints. He welcomed the Special Committee's expansion.
SUDJADNAN PARNOHADININGRAT (Indonesia) said he subscribed to the statement of Thailand on behalf of the members of the Non-Aligned Movement. By entrusting peace-keeping operations with missions to promote national reconciliations and humanitarian assistance, the Organization had crossed the threshold into a new era of peace-keeping activities.
On finances, he said he was pleased to note the recognition by the Special Committee that the developed nations were in a better position to make more generous contributions to peace-keeping than economically less developed
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countries. He welcomed the better consultations between troop-contributing countries, the Security Council and the Secretariat, and hoped to see those consultations institutionalized.
He said he welcomed the efforts of the Secretary-General to enhance the structure and planning of operations in Headquarters and in the field, and he supported greater attention to the principle of geographical representation and equitable gender representation, as contained in General Assembly resolution 49/167. He also supported in principle the Organization's standby arrangements, and agreed with the proposal to expand the membership of the Special Committee on peace-keeping.
HUMBERTO RIVERO ROSARIO (Cuba) said that, although peace-keeping was one of the basic tools of the Organization, everything possible should continue to be done to find methods of settling disputes peacefully. When peace-keeping operations were employed, since the United Nations was not a supra-State organization, it was necessary to obtain the consent of the countries and parties involved.
He said that, in the past, there had been an effort to blur the distinction between operations conducted under Chapter VI and Chapter VII of the Charter. The Special Committee on peace-keeping should prepare a set of principles on those and other matters, for adoption by the General Assembly. Those should be based on guidelines developed by the Non-Aligned Movement. It was most important to expand the Special Committee and make it more democratic.
He said there was an imbalance of representation of developing countries in the staff of the Department of Peace-keeping Operations. The practice of supplying gratis and "on-loan" officers was a violation of the principle of geographical distribution of staff. The Secretary-General should freeze the number of staffers on loan until he presented a report on the matter. He said he was concerned that the Organization's largest contributor had withheld its financial contributions. The rapid deployment headquarters proposals should be discussed further before being adopted.
DAVID PELEG (Israel) said his country was prepared to participate in civilian and humanitarian aspects of United Nations peace-keeping efforts. He hoped that when a comprehensive peace came to his region, his country would be able to devote more of its energies, attention and resources to such activity. It had a wealth of experience in dealing with humanitarian issues. Africa today hosted many different peace-keeping missions. Israel was both physically and emotionally close to that continent and took great interest in the humanitarian plight of its people.
He said that since its earliest days, Africans from many States came to Israel for agricultural and educational training. In 1994, Israel was the
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first country to respond to the United Nations request to provide humanitarian assistance to the survivors of the slaughter in Rwanda. It had established a field hospital in Goma, Zaire, in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It was the moral obligation of the international community to do everything in its powers to prevent a disaster of epic proportions from recurring in the Great Lakes region, and his country would continue to contribute to humanitarian efforts in that region.
RANDRIAKOTO ZOELISOA (Madagascar) said that, in recent years, violent conflicts had attained dangerous proportions. In response, the international community had mobilized. The Secretary-General's An Agenda for Peace had delineated procedures for the establishment of United Nations standby forces, making it possible to react rapidly to conflict situations with the agreement of Member States. That document had also stressed the need for preventive diplomacy and described cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations.
She said Madagascar supported the use of preventive diplomacy and regional cooperation, and had made serious efforts in that regard. She welcomed the deployment of a humanitarian force in Rwanda.
She said the ideas contained in An Agenda for Peace should be further developed in order to restructure the Organization, and particularly the Security Council. The maintenance of peace was a short-term challenge for the international community; the long-term goal was development.
RI JANG GON (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said remnants of the cold war remained, while new forms of conflict were appearing across the globe. Preventive diplomacy, aimed at precluding conflicts by promoting dialogue and negotiation, should be given primary attention in the Organization's peace-keeping activities.
Peace could not be imposed by military or physical means, he continued. All peace-keeping should be based on impartiality, respect of sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs. If peace-keeping activities violated States' sovereignty, the expected results would not be achieved. Due consideration should be given to cause and background of conflicts.
He said it was important to prevent peace-keeping from being used by some countries for their own political purpose. Misuse of peace-keeping operations by certain Powers continued even in today's post-cold-war era. It was abnormal, he said, that United States troops in south Korea were using the name and the flag of the Organization. Those troops did not receive instruction or financial assistance from the Organization. The "United Nations Command" in south Korea was a camouflage created by the United States. The United States must remove the Organization's insignia from the caps of its forces in Korea. The United Nations should take a decisive measure to
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dissolve the "United Nations Command", which did not belong to the Organization or obey its instructions.
VICTORIA ZAZA (Zambia) said she associated her delegation with the statement of Thailand on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement working group. If peace-keeping operations were to retain their vitality, they needed adequate financial, human and material support. "We feel that the abundant resources spent on carrying out some of these operations could be rechannelled to address pressing needs of education, health, environment, if we could commit ourselves to resolving conflicts by other means", she said. Since its independence, her country had made modest contributions to conflict resolution in various countries.
She welcomed efforts to improve aspects of information-sharing and the coordination of activities of the various United Nations Departments. Peace- keeping should be carried out on the basis of clear mandates and performed in observance of the principles of impartiality, the consent of the parties to the conflict, non-interference in the domestic affairs of States and the non- use of force expect in self-defense. Peace-keeping and peace-enforcement operations should be kept separate. She welcomed the decision to establish the rapidly deployable mission headquarters and hoped that it would be established with equal representation.
CHRISTOPHER PRICKETT (Australia) said the report of the Special Committee reflected the important role that peace-keeping played in the Organization. The preventive capacity of the Organization needed to be enhanced, and so did its planning capability for the effective management and deployment of peace-keeping operations. He supported proposals to allow the Secretariat to conduct feasibility studies for consideration by the Security Council, to translate mandates into achievable operational concepts, and to provide timely advice to the field. Advances were being made, but he said he remained concerned that an institutionalized planning process had yet to be developed.
He said significant steps had been taken within the Department of Peace- keeping Operations (DPKO), such as its development of standby arrangements and the creation of the mission planning service unit. The establishment of the rapidly deployable mission headquarters was also a constructive step toward enhancing United Nations capabilities. There was still much other work to be done to address the problem of delays in deployment of peace-keeping efforts. He encouraged further collaboration between the United Nations and regional organizations. The role of the Central Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Resolution, and Management of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) deserved the support of the international community. However, the role of regional organizations could not be used as a substitute for the Organization's continued engagement in the maintenance of international peace and security.
JOANNA DARMANIN (Malta) associated herself with the statement made yesterday by Ireland, on behalf of the European Union.
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