President's Corner: A Challenge to the New UN Secretary-General
Monday, December 11, 2006
I will miss Kofi Annan. He will step down as the Secretary General of the United Nations at the end of the year. For 10 years, he has been the conscience of the world, fighting for the rule of law, the peaceful resolution of disputes and making the UN a stronger voice for the protection of human rights. His successor, Ban Ki-moon, must immediately show his commitment to these same values.
Last week Annan gave a major speech on human rights. His tone was subdued, focusing more on what he has failed to accomplish than what he did accomplish. Ban should take Annan’s speech as a starting point for his work by announcing a program to build on the foundation that Kofi Annan is leaving behind.
The most important contribution Annan made in the human rights field was nurturing and promoting something called the “Responsibility to Protect.” This concept, adopted by the UN World Summit in 2005, holds that each nation has an obligation to protect its own population from “genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.” When “national authorities are manifestly failing to protect their populations” the UN asserts the right to take “collective action” to safeguard human rights and prevent loss of life.
President Bush and the U.S. Congress have accused the government of Sudan of committing genocide in Darfur, where hundreds of thousands of people have died and more than two million people have been displaced during three years of fighting. Yet the U.S. and the rest of world have not acted on the responsibility to protect by stopping the fighting, although the humanitarian response has been generous and effective.
In his speech last week, Annan said that “we must develop the responsibility to protect into a powerful international norm that is not only quoted but put into practice, whenever and wherever it is needed.”
This must be Ban’s first task—to put in place a mechanism for moving from the rhetoric to the reality of protection. This involves reaching a consensus on how and when to impose the responsibility to protect; crafting a continuum of political, diplomatic and economic measures designed to convince governments to reverse destructive policies; and developing the standards and capabilities for using military force as a last resort to end massive human rights abuses. As Kofi Annan said, “We must give real meaning to the principle of Responsibility to Protect.”
Last week Refugees International sent Ban a letter asking him to do just this — to “make the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect your highest, most urgent priority.” The entire world is waiting for Ban Ki-moon’s answer, for it will demonstrate whether he plans to strengthen or weaken Kofi Annan’s efforts to expand human rights.
Last week Annan gave a major speech on human rights. His tone was subdued, focusing more on what he has failed to accomplish than what he did accomplish. Ban should take Annan’s speech as a starting point for his work by announcing a program to build on the foundation that Kofi Annan is leaving behind.
The most important contribution Annan made in the human rights field was nurturing and promoting something called the “Responsibility to Protect.” This concept, adopted by the UN World Summit in 2005, holds that each nation has an obligation to protect its own population from “genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.” When “national authorities are manifestly failing to protect their populations” the UN asserts the right to take “collective action” to safeguard human rights and prevent loss of life.
President Bush and the U.S. Congress have accused the government of Sudan of committing genocide in Darfur, where hundreds of thousands of people have died and more than two million people have been displaced during three years of fighting. Yet the U.S. and the rest of world have not acted on the responsibility to protect by stopping the fighting, although the humanitarian response has been generous and effective.
In his speech last week, Annan said that “we must develop the responsibility to protect into a powerful international norm that is not only quoted but put into practice, whenever and wherever it is needed.”
This must be Ban’s first task—to put in place a mechanism for moving from the rhetoric to the reality of protection. This involves reaching a consensus on how and when to impose the responsibility to protect; crafting a continuum of political, diplomatic and economic measures designed to convince governments to reverse destructive policies; and developing the standards and capabilities for using military force as a last resort to end massive human rights abuses. As Kofi Annan said, “We must give real meaning to the principle of Responsibility to Protect.”
Last week Refugees International sent Ban a letter asking him to do just this — to “make the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect your highest, most urgent priority.” The entire world is waiting for Ban Ki-moon’s answer, for it will demonstrate whether he plans to strengthen or weaken Kofi Annan’s efforts to expand human rights.
Labels: President's Corner, United Nations
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