PRESS BRIEFING ON UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

PRESS BRIEFING ON UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

“The era of peacekeeping operations is changing”, said Major-General Patrick Cammaert, Military Adviser to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), at a Headquarters press briefing today.

Addressing correspondents on peacekeeping operations, in general, and the military aspect of the UN operation in Liberia, in particular, he said that conflict situations had evolved over the last 30 years, and today often involved armed groups, rebels and broken agreements.  This required a new attitude and a new way of operating in the business of peacekeeping.

At present, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations was preparing for a major operation in Liberia, he said, with approximately 15,000 troops plus 900 civilian policemen taking part.  It would be taking over the mission from ECOMIL  -- the military force of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) -- on 1 October.  This placed a great deal of pressure not only on DPKO, but also on the Member States that were to provide resources and support.  It had been agreed, he said, that DPKO would asses the standard of those troops to ascertain whether they met United Nations standards.

This afternoon, there would a second troop-contributing meeting for Liberia, he continued.  It was the first time that so many Member States had indicated their willingness to participate in a mission even before a Security Council resolution had been issued.  The Security Council resolution would, hopefully, be adopted on 19 September, and then DPKO could start deploying the forces, he said.

Turning to the planning and organization of this mission, he stressed that DPKO would be very careful to incorporate the lessons learned from previous missions.  In particular, the integration of the civilian and the military component of the staff was very high on the agenda.  One of the lessons learned over the years was the need to avoid an incremental approach.  Another was that peacekeeping forces should be well equipped and sustained so they could be rapidly deployed.

Between the establishment of the mission on 1 October and the hoisting of the flag on 1 November, he said DPKO had asked a number of countries to provide staff officers to man the interim headquarters during which time the full headquarters would be training in Freetown.

Asked which countries had expressed interest in contributing troops to the new mission, he said he was reluctant to reveal that information, as most of those countries had only informally expressed their interest, and some of them were still considering the matter.  There was also some pressure to provide troops to Iraq, and he did not wish to compromise countries that may change their minds.

To further questions on possible contributions, he replied that the United States was indeed considering a contribution, and India and Pakistan were already on the list of possible troop contributors. 

Asked whether there would be sufficient United Nations funds to buy back weapons from child soldiers and help in the demobilization of the militias, he said he was not sure whether buying back weapons was the best idea, although it was imperative to get the weapons off the streets.  Soldiers could hand in their weapons, sell their weapons or exchange them for bags of rice, but if there was no opportunity to earn money in a decent way, the problem could not be solved.

Asked about the possibility of setting up a standing force, he said no Member States would give up sovereignty over their forces, so it would be an illusion to dream of such a standing force.

To a question about the issue of contractors, he said that DPKO had been using contractors, either locally or internationally organized, for a long time, to provide logistic support, and security in mission headquarters.  To use contractors for peace enforcing would be a totally different matter, however, because it would lead the United Nations into the mercenary business.

Asked if there was a way of creating a mechanism whereby DPKO could more effectively, more quickly and more efficiently get forces and personnel together, he said that the “on call” list (a list of staff officers provided by the Member States who were available within a very short time frame) had been enhanced, and DPKO would be able to react very quickly if need be.

The initial force in Liberia would not consist of more than the ECOMIL forces that were already on the ground, he said, replying to a question about the potential strength of the peacekeeping force in Liberia on 1 October.  Hopefully, however, the first battalions, engineers and level II hospitals would appear in the course of October and November.

Asked about the alleged theft of sacred objects from a church in Uruguay by United Nations troops, he said that in the training of troops a high standard of behaviour was emphasized.  The huge majority of soldiers in the field did act according to the code of conduct.  There were always a handful who did not do so, however, and they were investigated and sent home.  The papers were full of stories of the few who broke the code, which did a great disservice to those who worked so hard to do a proper job.

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