PRESS BRIEFING - BRIEFING ON SECRETARY-GENERAL’S REPORT ON PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN ARMED CONFLICT

BRIEFING ON SECRETARY-GENERAL’S REPORT ON PROTECTION OF

CIVILIANS IN ARMED CONFLICT

The fact that civilians accounted for up to 75 per cent of war victims these days had made their protection a very important part of the discussion on international peace and security, Carolyn McAskie, Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, told a Headquarters press briefing today.

Speaking at a presentation of the Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, she stressed that although the protection of civilians was primarily the responsibility of States and international action could only be complementary to that, the report recognized the need to protect the physical integrity of civilians.   Because of the internal nature of current conflicts, it was crucial to find ways of engaging, in an impartial way, with armed groups on the ground without legitimizing them. There was also a need to find ways to inform these groups that they too had obligations under the Geneva Convention.

Another key message of the report, she continued, was the need to develop a regional approach to deal with the issue.  She was, therefore, pleased to see that the Security Council was discussing a regional approach to solving the various crises in West Africa, which included issues connected with the protection of civilians highlighted in the report.

Ms. McAskie said that the report, which was a follow-up to a broader, wide-ranging one submitted to the Council in September 1999, took a closer look at current trends in areas of particular concern to the international community.  Those included the criminal prosecution of violations of international criminal law, access to vulnerable populations and the need to separate civilians from armed elements.

“This third issue has become a major problem in the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) with the recent flood of refugees into Zambia and the fact that numerous armed elements of varying stripes are inter-mingled with the refugees.  How do you provide assistance to legitimate refugees while ensuring you are not succouring armed elements?  And how do you ensure that the assistance that goes to legitimate refugees is not taken by armed elements and used to strengthen their position?” she asked.

On the issue of using the media to promote negative messages, she said that there was a need to find ways of dealing with such elements as “hate radio”.  There was also a need to involve all the entities that contributed to the protection of civilians in armed conflict such as non-governmental organizations, the private sector and regional organizations.

 She hoped that the report would encourage States to take specific action and focus attention on implementing its recommendations, since they had all

pledged, in the Millennium Declaration, to expand and strengthen the protection of civilians in conflicts and emergencies.

Responding to a question about the prospects of reversing the trend of more and more civilians becoming victims of armed conflicts, Ms. McAskie said that a major step would be a programme of advocacy aimed at engaging States and non-State actors and informing people of their rights.  Financing was also a major element in reversing this trend, as well as giving the media the right kind of information which it would in turn pass on to ordinary people.  A better understanding of what protection of civilians really meant was also crucial and the fact that some United Nations peacekeeping missions now included human rights and child rights observers was a step in the right direction. 

On the question of dealing with difficult situations like those in Afghanistan, she said that there was need to become more active and imaginative in designing tools needed for such situations.  Citing the example of the rapid response to the Gujarat earthquake, she said she would like to see whether it was possible to have the same kind of mechanism to deal with humanitarian crises.  She admitted, however, that humanitarian crises often required long-term responses compared to natural disasters, which could be contained within a relatively short period of time.  She also acknowledged that although some crisis areas were regarded as “no-go areas”, situations sometimes changed for the better, as they had in the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The report which makes 14 recommendations will be discussed by the Security Council on 25 April, she concluded.

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