FOURTH COMMITTEE, CONTINUING PEACEKEEPING DEBATE, HEARS VIEWS ON HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION, NEED FOR LEGAL FRAMEWORKS

Press Release
GA/SPD/166

FOURTH COMMITTEE, CONTINUING PEACEKEEPING DEBATE, HEARS VIEWS ON HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION, NEED FOR LEGAL FRAMEWORKS

Concern over the concept of humanitarian intervention was the focus of the continuing general debate on peacekeeping operations in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) this afternoon. Most speakers stressed the need to distinguish between peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance.

The representative of Algeria said that humanitarian intervention, and the surrounding media frenzy, was designed to endow that concept with a moral cloak and to give it a legal basis in order to justify interference in the internal affairs of independent States and to flout their sovereignty. The concept of humanitarian intervention had no legal base, either in international law or under the United Nations Charter.

Several speakers stressed the need to elaborate a legal framework for enforcement actions, including cases of humanitarian intervention. The representative of the Russian Federation said that such work should be carried out collectively on the solid basis of the Charter. The representative of Belarus said that principles for the use of force should be clarified in a legally-binding document, which should stress the principles of respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of States.

Referring to humanitarian action by structures pursuing political and military objectives, the observer for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) underscored the risks inherent in coordinating humanitarian action within such structures. Confusion over different roles could only be detrimental to the success of military and humanitarian endeavours alike. Deployment of military contingents for humanitarian operations should only be employed as a last resort.

Several speakers supported the position of the Non-Aligned Movement which called for a distinction between humanitarian assistance and all other activities within the United Nations system, including peacekeeping. Endorsing that position, Mexico’s representative said his country firmly rejected the existence of the supposed right of interference. The representative of Iran said that, in the face of crises, lack of consensus in the Security Council did not entitle any country or group of countries to engage unilaterally in dealing with conflicts.

Fourth Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/SPD/166 12th Meeting (PM) 20 October 1999

Also raised this afternoon were the issues of delays in reimbursement for troop and equipment contributors; transparency in procurement procedures; and training and professional expertise. Speakers also recognized the need for a request by the Secretariat for supplementary staffing in view of the growing demand for peacekeeping operations.

Statements were also made by the representatives of the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Cuba, Mozambique, Pakistan, Croatia, Syria, Thailand, United States, Cyprus, Brazil and Guatemala.

The Fourth Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. Thursday, 21 October, to conclude its general debate on the question of peacekeeping operations and to take action on a related draft resolution.

Committee Work Programme

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this afternoon to continue its review of the whole question of peacekeeping.

Before the Committee was the report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (document A/54/87), the Secretary-General's report on enhancement of African peacekeeping capacity (document A/54/63-S/1999/171) and a draft resolution on the comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects (document A/C.4/54/L.2).

(For details see Press Release GA/SPD/164 of 18 October.)

Statements

NICOLAI BUZO (Belarus) said that his delegation shared the position of the Non-Aligned Movement on the question of peacekeeping. Use of force should be considered an extraordinary measure after all other means of conflict resolution had been exhausted. Mandate for such actions should be provided on the basis of the United Nations Charter. The international dialogue at its present stage should concentrate on consideration of the use of force and on the development of an agreed upon, and universally accepted, mechanism for the implementation of peacekeeping decisions. The peacekeeping potential of the United Nations required the most serious consideration. Preventive reaction implied not only conflict resolution, but also the determination of original causes. Kosovo and East Timor would help to determine the role of the Organization in the future. Only strict compliance with the concept and the mandate of the missions would allow normalization of the situation in the Balkans and in East Timor.

His delegation believed that consideration of the question of the use of force could lead to the clarification of the principles involved in a legally- binding document, he continued. Such a document should stress the principles of respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of States in relation to international legal norms regarding conflict resolution. Participation of regional organizations should be authorized by the Security Council in compliance with Chapter VIII of the Charter. The emphasis should be not on delegating the maintenance of peace to regional arrangements or replacing the United Nations, but on taking advantage of the comparative strengths of regional and subregional arrangements in the maintenance of international peace and security, in compliance with Chapter VIII of the Charter. No measures should be undertaken without authorization of the Security Council.

Work on the issues of preventive economic and social diplomacy should be continued, he said. Belarus supported the efforts of the Secretariat to develop and improve the system of standby arrangements. He emphasized his country’s interest in expanding its participation in peacekeeping operations of a non- military nature and said that the question of humanitarian intervention should be discussed in the relevant forum of the General Assembly.

SUH DAE-WON (Republic of Korea), recalling the killing last week of three United Nations staff members in Kosovo and Burundi, expressed concern at the increasing tendency to target United Nations personnel. It was all the more deplorable that attacks against United Nations peacekeepers were carried out with political motivations. The Republic of Korea was confident that the Convention on the Safety and Security of United Nations and Associated Personnel would be the cornerstone of better protection for peacekeepers, and welcomed the Special Committee’s recommendation urging those Member States which had not yet become parties to that Convention to consider doing so as soon as possible.

He commended the Secretary-General’s efforts to continue to perform the mandated tasks of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations despite the phasing out of gratis personnel. The Republic of Korea shared the concern of other Member States over the phase out negative impact on the Department’s ability to respond to new challenges. The Department should elaborate on transitional arrangements concerning how it should operate, both at Headquarters and in the field. With the increasing demand for peacekeeping and other field operations over the past several months, the Department should maintain its capabilities beyond those needed for its current activities.

The Republic of Korea reiterated its position that the United Nations standby arrangements system should serve as the principal instrument to enhance the Organization’s capacity to react rapidly in crisis situations, he said. It was hoped that the broadest possible participation of Member States would further strengthen the system. The Republic of Korea also intended to participate in the full-fledged operation of the Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters to facilitate the ground work for new peacekeeping operations.

He expressed grave concern over the Organization’s financial situation. United Nations peacekeeping operations could not accomplish their often daunting mandates if they were not provided with the means to do so. Non-payment of arrears by certain Member States had forced the Organization to sustain regular budget activities only by cross-borrowing. That practice resulted in delayed reimbursement to troop and equipment contributors. The Republic of Korea, therefore, urged Member States to pay their assessed contributions on time, in full and without conditions.

JARGALSAIKHANY ENKHSAIKHAN (Mongolia) associated himself with the position of the Non-Aligned Movement and said that the need for peace-keeping operations and missions was still high and even growing. All the current and proposed missions would require commitment of tens of thousands of personnel and vast amounts of financial resources and equipment. That raised many practical questions, including that of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the peacekeeping operations. The Charter of the United Nations should be fully respected, in particular the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence of States and non-interference in the matters clearly falling within domestic jurisdiction of States. Consent of parties, impartiality, clear definition of the mandate and objectiveness were also essential.

The international community should move from the culture of reaction to the culture of prevention, he said. The effectiveness of the United Nations peacekeeping depended on the preventive and post-conflict peace-building measures, on the strategic management of many issues involved, mission planning in the field, cooperative relationship with local administrations, availability of skilled personnel and solid technical and financial backing. Mongolia had decided to take a direct part in peacekeeping. To that end, it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Standby Arrangements. A few weeks ago, Mongolia had held a national seminar on peace-keeping operations, which had been very useful. In conclusion, he briefly touched upon the issues of the safety and security of the United Nations and associated personnel and the role of regional organizations, which could play an important part in United Nations peacekeeping operations. However, their role should be in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Charter, especially its Chapter VII, and within the mandate of the Security Council.

RAFAEL DAUSA CESPEDES (Cuba), supporting the position of the Non-Aligned Movement, said that the Security Council’s role could not be overlooked in conducting and handling peacekeeping operations. That was why the stronger some trends -– which Cuba noted with concern -– within that body became, the greater would be the chance that peacekeeping operations would cease to be an important means to preserve international peace and security, and become a foreign policy instrument in the hands of some Powers. The more there were attempts to go beyond the limits set by the Charter, and to lead the Organization towards actions that reduced the most sacred principles of international law, the more those operations would grow farther apart from the fair concepts which had given rise to them.

It was necessary, he said, to provide the Organization with dynamic mechanisms so that, when a peacekeeping operation was decided upon, it became operational in the field without unnecessary delays. Cuba reaffirmed that the ideal instrument for that was the standby arrangements system, which should be further developed and based on contributions from individual Member States.

He expressed concern and regret that while implementing the guidelines to be followed by peacekeeping forces in regard to humanitarian law, the claims by the Special Committee and the Non-Aligned Movement that the process be carried out in the framework of a real consultation, with the necessary time to debate and analyse important elements for the development of peacekeeping operations, had not been taken into account. The need to establish a clear-cut distinction between peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance was of paramount importance, especially at times when there were attempts to spread concepts which tried to disguise hegemonic cravings with the mask of humanitarian actions; when the concepts of sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs were frontally attacked; and when the very Charter was questioned and presented as less than an outdated document.

The factors affecting international peace and security were closely linked to misery, poverty and the socio-economic underdevelopment in which many people lived, he said. Peacekeeping operations would never be a definitive solution to the economic, social and political problems the world was facing. As long as the real causes underlying a conflict were not combated, no truly just and lasting solutions would be found. The United Nations presently spent $3 in peacekeeping operations for every dollar invested in core resources for development. The world spent a staggering $800 billion on weapons while 12 million children died every year due to curable diseases, while there were 1 billion illiterates and while, in Africa, a child died of malaria every 30 seconds.

PABLO MACEDO (Mexico) commended the work of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and said that the peacekeeping actions of the United Nations had been at the forefront of the governments’ concerns. This year, force had been used without an explicit authorization of the Security Council. Regrettably, due to the limited resources at its disposal, the United Nations had been unable to contain the violence following the popular consultation in East Timor. The Security Council had been alienated in the case of Kosovo. The specter of the veto and the interests of some had prevented the Council from carrying out its responsibilities. In the new circumstances, it was necessary to act pragmatically. Today, more than ever, it was imperative to preserve the principles of international law, including the consent of parties, which was an essential requirement. Coercive measures should be enforced in strict compliance with Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. Strict respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States should be emphasized.

The Government of Mexico was concerned that there was still recourse to coalitions of States in conflict resolution, he continued. Loose interpretations of Chapter VII of the Charter and arbitrary reading of the existing resolutions should not be accepted. The legitimacy of the work of the Organization in international peace and security should not be questioned. Root causes of conflicts should be addressed. In that context, it was relevant to recall the fact that peace was inseparable from development, and development was inseparable from prosperity. Mexico supported fostering social and economic development to prevent conflicts. It recognized that regional bodies could provide valuable input in conflict resolution, but the main responsibility lay with the Security Council. His country could not accept other arrangements. The regional body to which his country belonged –- the Organization of American States -- did not have a mandate to act in the military field.

Responsibility for civil areas in peacekeeping operations should be left to the General Assembly, he said. The Security Council should stop acting in spheres outside its mandate. It was necessary to study all aspects of rapid reaction capacity. Permanent military bodies incompatible with the nature of the Organization should not be established in that context, but mandates and terms of reference should be discussed. The dilemma of humanitarian intervention in the light of national sovereignty was important. Mexico firmly rejected the existence of the supposed right of interference, and believed it was indispensable to make a clear distinction between humanitarian activities and peacekeeping.

ANTONIO INACIO JUNIOR (Mozambique), associating himself with the statement of the Non-Aligned Movement, said that the Organization of African Unity (OAU)’s Central Organ for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, together with other subregional initiatives, if properly used and endowed with adequate resources and assistance, might constitute the backbone of the search for durable peace throughout the continent.

He said that Africa would require that sustainable development be promoted in all countries of the region. Therefore, peacekeeping operations should assist war-torn nations and societies to restore peace and initiate the transition from emergency to reconstruction and from reconstruction to sustainable development. Such peacekeeping should end when peace and stability were achieved in the country or territory concerned, and when only a minimum possibility remained of a return to violent conflict.

It was clear, therefore, that peacekeeping operations were not an end in themselves, he said. It was necessary to address the root causes of conflicts by, inter alia, providing debt relief or cancellation, reversing the decline of official development assistance (ODA), and improving the terms of trade in order to allow access by weaker economies to the world market. The United Nations must also concentrate on conflict prevention by further enhancing early warning systems and preventive diplomacy.

He said that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) had been playing its role in contributing to the search for peace and stability in the subregion. For that purpose, it had established the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security. However, in order to successfully play that important role, the SADC required the international community’s support. The countries of the subregion were now working together in search of solutions to the conflicts in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

GENNADY GATILOV (Russian Federation) said that there was no alternative to maintaining the central role of the United Nations in the area of peacekeeping. His delegation was concerned at the recent trend towards an increase in enforcement measures and military engagement while ignoring available political and diplomatic means of conflict settlement. Serious lessons should be drawn from the latest crises, and first of all from Kosovo. The principal lesson was that non-legitimate power methods only aggravated the problems, bringing them to a deadlock. It was important that, by joint efforts, the international community had been able to bring the settlement of the Kosovo problem back into the political and legal framework of the United Nations, under the control of the Security Council.

Operations of a coercive nature, carried out in accordance with Chapter VII of the Charter, could be justified under certain circumstances, but should be limited in nature and carried out only in accordance with the decisions of the Security Council and under its political and operational control. Safety of peacekeeping personnel should be taken into strictest account. All cases of attacks against such personnel should become the subject of careful investigation, and the perpetrators should be duly punished. However, the use of force to provide for the security of United Nations personnel required an extremely responsible approach. Rules of engagement should be clearly defined in the mandates of the operations.

Regarding peacekeeping operations with a humanitarian profile, he said that violations of international humanitarian law could not be stopped by actions contradicting the Charter. That position determined his delegation’s approach to the concept of humanitarian intervention. Russia was ready to work on specifying criteria and a legal framework for the enforcement actions of the international community pursuant to the Charter, including the cases of humanitarian emergencies. That work should be carried out collectively on the solid basis of the Charter, which would allow the international community to find agreed decisions, the legitimacy of which should not be questioned. United Nations peacekeeping operations had incontestable advantages as compared to coalition operations or actions of multinational forces. Although such actions were reasonable in some cases, they must be carried out in full compliance with the objectives and principles of the Charter and must be accountable to the Security Council.

Key functions of peacekeeping operations should be clearly reflected in their mandates, he said. The mandates should contain optimum and definite time-frames. Roots of conflicts should be addressed. One of the aspects of United Nations peacekeeping activities involved improvement of the potential for rapid response to a crisis. Complete formation of a standby agreements system was important in that respect. Interaction between the United Nations and regional organizations was of particular importance to Russia in view of the situation in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Russia shared concerns over unjustified delays in reimbursement to countries contributing troops and equipment. There was a need to create a reliable system of logistic and financial support for peacekeeping operations. The issue of a comprehensive reform of the scale of assessments for peacekeeping operations still remained on the agenda. Meanwhile, the principle of special financial responsibilities of permanent members of the Security Council must be observed. Russia paid its contributions in full to the United Nations regular budget and had been making payments to the budgets of peacekeeping operations exceeding current assessments, which meant that it had been consistently repaying its debt to the United Nations for six consecutive years.

ABDALLAH BAALI (Algeria), supporting the position of the Non-Aligned Movement, said that a United Nations role was only possible through the will of its membership, expressed through the Security Council and the General Assembly. While the United Nations was supposed to act on behalf of the entire international community, the reality was that genuine decision-making power was in the hands of a limited number of countries whose motivations were unlikely to reflect the collective will of Member States. The occasional marginalization, or outright exclusion of the opinion of the majority of Member States, was likely to engage the United Nations in activities that did not fall within the Organization’s purview.

He said that humanitarian intervention, and the surrounding media frenzy, was designed to endow that concept with a moral cloak and to give it a legal basis in order to justify interference in the internal affairs of independent States and flout their sovereignty. Aware of the dangers inherent in that concept, the Foreign Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement and those of the Group of 77 and China had firmly rejected, during talks at the current session of the General Assembly, the concept of humanitarian intervention, which had no legal base, either under international law or under the United Nations Charter.

It was necessary to respond promptly to the need for peacekeeping operations in order to avoid the kind of massacres that the world had witnessed helplessly in a certain number of cases, he said. The case of Africa in particular haunted the international conscience. The African people, faced with a resurgence of conflicts and crises in recent years, felt a growing impatience and frustration at the lack of haste displayed by the Organization in shouldering its responsibilities on the continent, while at the same time rapidly deploying considerable means for the benefit of other regions of the world. The international community’s lack of action had cost Africa a genocide and hundreds of thousands of dead, a majority of whom were women and children. That lack of action had also resulted in tens of thousands of cases in which women and children had been mutilated and which would continue collectively to haunt the international community.

He said that the efforts by the Joint Military Commission, meeting in Kampala, to consolidate the ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the efforts of the Chairman of the OAU to find a solution to resolve the dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea; efforts to find a solution to the crisis in the Comoros; and the important role of the OAU Central Organ for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, all attested to Africa’s will to find solutions to its own problems and impose them on the conflicts tearing the continent apart. However, that did not absolve the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, of its obligations towards Africa.

INAM UL HAQUE (Pakistan) associated himself with the statement by Jordan on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement and said that some of the challenges that must be urgently addressed included the questions of an alarming increase in the number of intra-state conflicts; their humanitarian dimension; establishment of uniform criteria for United Nations involvement; rapid response arrangements for crisis situations; the role of regional organizations; and selectivity in the implementation of Security Council resolutions. It was important for the United Nations to act before the outbreak of a conflict rather than to intervene after it had already begun. Root causes of conflicts should be addressed.

Pakistan’s commitment to the United Nations peacekeeping efforts was based on its fundamental belief in international peace, collective security, preventive diplomacy, conflict resolution, peacemaking and post-conflict peace-building, he continued. It was further strengthened by the fact that it was hosting one of the oldest peacekeeping operations -- the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). Unfortunately, peace in South Asia remained fragile. The root cause of the conflict between Pakistan and India was the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. A just and reliable resolution of the Kashmir dispute was particularly urgent in view of the nuclearization of the region. The people of Jammu and Kashmir expected that, like the people of East Timor, they would also be able to exercise their right to choose their own future.

Pakistan believed that peacekeeping operations must have a clear political direction, a precise mandate and effective command and control structure, as well as clearly defined, uniform rules of engagement. After the establishment of a peacekeeping operation, there should be no restriction, limit or arbitrary “sunset clauses” imposed on it. The United Nations must ensure that the conflict had been resolved before it disengaged itself. The role of regional organizations should be in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter, and excessive reliance on them should be avoided. There must also be no impression that certain regional problems and conflicts were of lesser consequence to the United Nations. Such an approach would undermine the credibility of the Security Council and the United Nations.

It was gratifying that logic, reason and collective will had prevailed in the question of gratis personnel, he continued. However, in the past few months, some efforts had been made to accommodate gratis personnel in the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, in violation of the relevant General Assembly resolutions. He opposed the revival of that phenomenon. Procedures established by the Assembly should be followed faithfully. The United Nations standby arrangements system should be developed to allow deployment of peacekeeping missions in the shortest possible time. There was a need to review all aspects of police participation in the peacekeeping missions. The Secretariat should provide appropriate advance briefings to the contributing States, streamline the selection process and enhance coordination between the Police Adviser’s Office and the mission authorities. Delays in reimbursement for troop contributions and contingent-owned equipment caused hardship to countries, especially the developing ones. His country was owed more than $40 million by the United Nations. Poor countries must not be expected to make up for the shortfalls resulting from non-payment of their dues by rich countries.

JELENA GRCIC POLIC (Croatia) said that, rather than wither away, peacekeeping was undergoing significant changes both in scope and character. The role of the United Nations in resolving crises was becoming ever deeper, aimed at resolving not just the symptoms, but the underlying causes. In that respect, while institutional reforms of peacekeeping could be subject to change, the inherent goals of maintaining peace and security could not. New mandated tasks, such as police monitoring and demining, had been added to the more traditional ones in several operations. The experience from previous operations, which was represented by the Lessons Learned Unit of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), had already proven invaluable to the further development of United Nations peacekeeping. Some lessons had been derived from the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES).

Regional organizations and ad hoc coalitions were increasingly shouldering the responsibilities of the maintenance of peace and security, she continued. That represented a challenge to an evolving concept of peacekeeping, because it lay at the root of the tension between effectiveness and the legitimacy of responses by the international community to humanitarian crises. It was a thorny dilemma, but it must be addressed within the United Nations system –- the one and only world organization with a universal mandate for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Preventive peacekeeping represented another example of the expanding role of peacekeeping, she said. Both the volume and the nature of the demand for peacekeeping operations in the current year alone had created a “revolution of rising expectations”. The expectations included a further increase in financial, personnel and reaction-time capacities, professional experience and expertise to match appropriately the tasks being mandated. Croatia supported the Secretariat in its efforts to make ends meet on a streamlined budget and in a newly restructured environment. It recognized an urgent need for a supplementary request regarding staffing. She regretted the way in which the Secretariat had deprived itself of valuable input by Member States on the issue of guidelines for peacekeepers and said that Croatia also hoped that the situation would be remedied in the near future.

She said that neither delay, nor conditions in the payment of assessed financial obligations, should be tolerated. Croatia joined others in calling for shorter reimbursement cycles, in particular for those whose very capacity for participation in United Nations peacekeeping was at stake. Her country took seriously its responsibilities in peacekeeping and was actively considering future contributions. In that respect, it held that consultations between troop- contributing countries and the Security Council should be institutionalized. They should include, whenever appropriate, countries especially affected and other countries from the region concerned, including host countries.

FAYSSAL MEKDAD (Syria), concurring with the statement of the Non-Aligned Movement, underlined the Movement’s position on the need to separate peacekeeping operations from humanitarian assistance. However, the Security Council increasingly created missions under the rubric of humanitarian intervention. Balance should be struck between the envisaged role of the United Nations in peacekeeping and its humanitarian assistance role.

He said that despite modest improvements in procurement procedures, most procurement was still done in developed countries. There was an urgent need to redress that situation by encouraging the signing of contracts with developing countries. That would help them to cope with their financial difficulties.

There was a need for transparency in selecting troops for peacekeeping and for the participation of all troop-contributing States in consultations with the Security Council when preparing for a particular operation, he went on. It was also important to ensure geographical balance in the selection of mission commanders.

ASDA JAYANAMA (Thailand) said that where peacekeepers were confronted with human rights violations in their day-to-day operations, it was imperative that they also assumed the role of promoting and protecting human rights. Peacekeepers with morality and humanitarian responsibility could not turn a blind eye to blatant atrocities going on around them. Whether directly, or through cooperation with other bodies, such as the Commission on Human Rights, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), peacekeeping operations should have the mandate to do all in their power to protect victims from human rights abuses. If peacekeeping were to help lay a secure foundation for the resolution of conflict and the rebuilding of a society, it would be important to promote respect for human rights and humanitarian law.

He said that the invaluable contribution of existing peacekeeping operations in preventing the outbreak of hostilities and laying the basic groundwork for peace was unquestioned. Nevertheless, peacekeeping was not an end in itself, but one among many means to help lay the conditions for peace. United Nations peacekeeping could never, and should never, replace efforts by the parties concerned to address the root causes of the conflict. Peacekeeping could not, therefore, be allowed to become a permanent feature of the global political landscape. If it was still prevalent worldwide, it was, in a sense, an indication that the international community had failed in resolving the fundamental problems of international peace and security.

REVIUS ORTIQUE Jr. (United States) said that this year’s events had made clear the urgent need for significant United Nations involvement in peacekeeping. The Organization was fully engaged in a broad range of peacekeeping activities to meet a widening array of challenges. Recent remarks by Under-Secretary-General Miyet had echoed those by the Secretary-General, who had stated in the Fifth Committee that the Organization had found it difficult to respond promptly and effectively to the new challenges. Thus, the work of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping was more important than ever, helping to ensure that Member States provided the right recommendations to the United Nations.

The Organization must have an effective “surge capacity” to address the demands created by unexpected international crises, he said. The Secretary-General must have the flexibility to ensure that the Organization had the right resources and skills, at the right place and for the right period of time, to accomplish all mandated missions. He supported the expansion and further development of the Standby Arrangements System, which was fundamental to the enhancement of the United Nations surge capacity. That system was an excellent tool, but it should be broadened to provide access to a greater range of capabilities. Also, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations must be equipped with adequate military and civilian police expertise. Furthermore, such expertise must be fully integrated into all aspects of mission development and execution. The establishment of the Rapidly Deployable Mobile Headquarters would improve the United Nations capacity to respond to challenges.

Future peacekeeping operations would continue to require a rapid civilian police response, he continued. That could be best achieved through an emphasis on establishing systematic procedures for Civilian Police recruitment; providing advanced training for the personnel; and giving official status to the permanent cadre. It was also necessary to look into the needs of Member States. His Government, through its African Crisis Response Initiative, aimed to train over 10,000 peacekeepers. Recent publication of the bulletin Observance by United Nations Forces of International Humanitarian Law was a matter of concern to his Government. He had been surprised at the abbreviated nature of the Secretariat’s consultations prior to the publication. Those hurried proceedings had resulted in the release of a bulletin without the collaboration of the parties concerned. He looked forward to a new round of consultations on that important matter.

MEHDI YOUSEFI (Iran), associating himself with the statement of the Non- Aligned Movement, said that the United Nations should not allow factors such as media coverage, politics or geography to play a determining role in the way it responded to crises and allocated resources. While the crisis in Kosovo had dominated the headlines during the past year, equally or more serious crises elsewhere had been largely ignored. It was important that the Security Council approach all conflicts endangering international peace and security, irrespective of their location, with equal intensity and commitment.

He said the Organization must maintain a clear distinction between humanitarian operations and all other activities within the United Nations system, including peacekeeping. Lack of consensus in the Security Council, in the face of crises, did not entitle any country or group of countries to engage unilaterally in dealing with conflicts. The Council’s impotency in the case of Kosovo strengthened the case for limiting the veto power and eventually eradicating it. In addition, strengthening the role and increasing the efficiency of the General Assembly should remain on the agenda.

Peacekeeping should not become an area of competition between the United Nations and regional organizations, he said. Iran adhered to the position of the Non-Aligned Movement regarding cooperation between the Organization and regional bodies and emphasized that such cooperation must be consistent with the letter and spirit of Chapter VIII of the Charter.

He said that while the training of peacekeepers was a national responsibility, the United Nations and its organs should not be relieved of their important role in such activities. In that regard, Iran attached importance to the United Nations Training Assistance Teams and Train the Trainers programme. The availability of such programmes would improve the capacity of Member States to prepare personnel adequately for participation in peacekeeping operations and ultimately improve the effectiveness of field missions.

JAMES DROUSHIOTIS (Cyprus) said a welcome development in relation to the combined strategies of prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping and post-conflict peace-building was the increasing recourse to the International Court of Justice, in parallel with other methods of dispute resolution, where judicial recourse might complement the work of the Security Council and the General Assembly. In that regard, Cyprus was itself a test case of the relevance and effectiveness of peacekeeping and its mutually necessary components, and an example that an intense peacemaking effort must be pursued in parallel with every peacekeeping operation.

He said the lesson to be drawn from the Cyprus peacekeeping efforts was that as long as one of the parties concerned was unwilling to comply with the dictates of the international community, as spelled out in unanimously adopted and binding Security Council resolutions, and as long as the members of the international community were unwilling or unable to act effectively in order to implement those resolutions, peacemaking would lag behind, resulting in the indefinite continuation, if not the perpetuation, of the problem.

That was an unsatisfactory situation to the country concerned, and no less to the United Nations contributor countries, he said. The answer lay not in abandoning or questioning the peacekeeping effort, but, in the face of continued intransigence of one side, to press ahead with effective peacekeeping through the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.

He said that peacekeeping and peacemaking were complementary and that when the peacemaking effort fell behind on account of one party, which flouted the wishes of the international community, the Security Council should act promptly and effectively through all means available to it in the United Nations Charter to redress the situation.

Effective peacekeeping operations must rest on a sure and stable financial footing, he said, reiterating the need for contributions to be paid in full, on time and without conditions. The Government of Cyprus voluntarily contributed one third of the total cost of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and an additional one third more than its assessed contribution to all United Nations peacekeeping operations.

BENEDITO O.B. LEONEL (Brazil) subscribed to the statement made by Uruguay on behalf of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and said that, in recent years, there had been an increase of United Nations activities in the area of peacekeeping; important lessons should be learned in that respect. The Organization’s response capacity should be based on the principles of the Charter. It must also enjoy solid financial and institutional support. The multidimensional nature of new peacekeeping operations should be taken into account. Peacekeeping was not isolated from the continuum of prevention efforts, humanitarian assistance, promotion of human rights and actions to rebuild peace following the settlement of the conflict. Apart from military monitoring of peace agreements, the United Nations was now involved in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of combatants in society, peace-building and demining. That placed an additional burden on the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. It was imperative to establish flexible mechanisms to ensure sufficient resources and personnel for the Department.

Regarding the phasing out of gratis personnel, he said that his country supported the personnel hiring and assignment criteria established in the relevant General Assembly resolutions. Equitable geographical distribution of posts was important. However, his delegation was concerned that the phasing out of gratis personnel could have an impact on the response capacity of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. It was necessary to establish balanced ways to respond to the real situation and think of creative solutions adapted to the current demand for peacekeeping operations. In that context, he noted with interest the intention of the Secretariat to submit a request for additional posts in the near future. The number of posts established to replace the gratis personnel would not be sufficient. It was imperative to continue discussion of that topic. He was also concerned over the negative repercussions of the financial crisis on the needs of the States in the area of peacekeeping. It impeded the ability of developing countries to contribute personnel. The reimbursement of costs was considerably behind schedule, and he stressed the responsibility in this matter of all States under the Charter.

MARIA ROSA NODA-NUNEZ (Guatemala), associating herself with the statement of the Non-Aligned Movement, said her country recognized the role played by the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) as a human rights verification entity in charge of verifying the implementation of the December 1996 peace agreement signed in that country. The stage following the effective cessation of conflict was full of challenges and hopes. In that new stage, MINUGUA had been a catalyst to ease the transition to peace, within the ample framework established by its mandate.

She said that after long decades of instability and conflicts which had been considered endemic to some Central American countries, today Guatemala could speak of peace. In every case, the presence of a United Nations mission had been relevant to the process. What was necessary now was to consolidate that peace, laying it over a foundation of justice, solidarity, equity, dialogue and democratic participation. The causes at the root of past conflict had to be addressed in the first place. Otherwise, it could easily be argued that sooner or later they would appear again.

Issues such as the legitimacy of humanitarian intervention in especially grave cases had to be carefully analysed, with due consideration to serious juridical implications, she said. However, if those efforts were aimed mainly towards development, tolerance and mutual respect, the possibility of conflicts witnessed during this century would diminish considerably. Guatemala was committed to do everything to achieve that goal.

PATRICK ZAHND, the observer for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), welcomed the promulgation of regulations for United Nations forces under international humanitarian law, to which the Red Cross had contributed. The recent increase in the volume of United Nations peacekeeping activities was testimony to the unique role of the Organization in conflict settlement and post-conflict peace- building. The United Nations peacekeepers, as members of their respective States’ armed forces, were already bound by the international humanitarian treaties their home countries had ratified. The conduct of human contingents under international humanitarian law ought to be exemplary. In practice, however, they displayed varying familiarity with the norms of law. The bulletin, Observance by United Nations Forces of International Humanitarian Law, which summarized some of the core rules of humanitarian law, explicitly extended their application to United Nations personnel.

It should be recalled that the bulletin applied only to the peacekeepers under the command and control of the United Nations, he continued. It did not apply to those under command of regional organizations or States. In such cases, the States or the groups of States concerned must comply with the customary and treaty-based rules, by which they were bound. Disciplinary and penal measures against their personnel who violated humanitarian law therefore remained their responsibility. He reaffirmed the importance of respect for international humanitarian and human rights law in all peacekeeping operations and called for the concerned units to receive adequate training in that area.

In that regard, the ICRC was currently taking part in numerous training courses for peacekeeping forces and was preparing a training module specifically designed for peacekeeping operations. It also wished to step up its cooperation with States supplying contingents and the United Nations itself. The Red Cross believed the bulletin was a useful tool for improving compliance with the rules of international law. He saluted the Secretary-General’s request that the minimum age of peacekeeping personnel be established at twenty-one years and under no circumstances younger than eighteen.

He was pleased that in recent developments the humanitarian consequences of armed conflict were being taken into consideration when the Security Council decided to intervene under Chapter VII of the Charter. However, the ICRC wanted to underscore the risks inherent in coordinating humanitarian action from within a structure originally intended for the pursuit of political and military objectives. Since confusion over different roles could only be detrimental to the success of military and humanitarian endeavours alike, it was crucial that all those involved in a given situation acted in keeping with their proper mandates and capabilities. It was essential that all bodies involved in responding to a crisis consulted one another from the outset.

In that respect, he recalled that the report of the Special Committee had stressed the importance of a distinction between peacekeeping operations and humanitarian action: the former were part of a political process aimed at resolving conflict or facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance, whereas the basic purpose of humanitarian action was to protect human life and dignity. In cases when humanitarian action had been constrained due to reasons of security, the deployment of military contingents to carry out humanitarian operations had proven useful -- in the short term. Such action, however, should only be employed as a last resort. Humanitarian organizations must be able to continue their activities in accordance with the principles of humanity and impartiality, and they must be able to preserve the non-political character of their work in order to maintain that distinction. That required independence in the making of decisions and in the taking of any action required. While the ICRC reaffirmed the importance it attached to the drawing of a clear distinction between the respective mandates of military and humanitarian entities, it wished to continue the dialogue it had established with States and with the United Nations.

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