The Hindu : National : Annan calls for norms on use of force

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Friday, Apr 29, 2005

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Annan calls for norms on use of force

Diplomatic Correspondent

"U.N. institutions need to be in tune with realities of 21st century"

NEW DELHI: The United Nations' Security Council should adopt a resolution setting out the principles to be applied when the use of force is, for any reason, on the table, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said.

"All states have a vital interest in a functioning collective security system, based on a consensus about what constitutes a threat to international peace and security, when force should be used, and who should decide," he said during a public lecture.

Such a resolution, he said, should guide decisions across the array of threats — including the threat of genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. "The responsibility to protect citizens falls, first and foremost, on sovereign governments. But, as we learned in Rwanda over a decade ago, it cannot be right for the Security Council to stand idle if governments are not willing or able to protect their citizens from appalling crimes."

According to Mr. Annan, the world needed more than a new consensus. "We also need more effective instruments to strengthen our security and protect basic human rights. No part of humanity feels this need more acutely than the citizens of the developing world."

Peace-building Commission proposed

The Secretary-General said he wanted to bring U.N. institutions in tune with the realities of the 21st century. "I suggest that this should be done not only by enlarging the Security Council but also by creating two new inter-governmental bodies — a Peace-building Commission, which would bring together the various actors involved in helping countries move from war to lasting peace, and a Human Rights Council, in which states from all regions would participate."

Asked whether the U.N. had been able to have enough representation of women and men in different bodies, Mr. Annan conceded that this had not yet happened. He, however, reiterated the need to have women in senior positions in the U.N.

The Secretary-General said representation of women was also a problem as far as individual nations were concerned.

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