19 April 2005

Mr. Facilitator,

While fully endorsing the statement made by Luxemburg on behalf of the European Union, I would like to focus on the prevention of genocide, crimes against humanity and massive violations of human rights.

Sweden fully endorses the Secretary-General's view the United Nations cannot stand idly by when faced with genocide or massive human rights abuses.  That is why we fully support the recommendation by the Secretary-General that we must embrace the emerging norm of responsibility to protect.

We are pleased to note the willingness of states from different regions, as expressed in our deliberations today, to continue the discussions on this important subject. We trust that the concept of responsibility to protect will be positively reflected in the outcome document of the Summit in September.
 
As underlined by the Secretary-General, this responsibility to protect lies, first and foremost, with each individual State. It is a duty of every state to protect its population.
 
The responsibility to protect is above all about prevention. It is about providing effective tools to prevent latent threats from becoming imminent, and to prevent imminent threats from becoming reality.

We need to take a comprehensive approach to the prevention of genocide. To this effect we must strengthen the range of tools available to the UN system in the fields of development, human rights and security.

As the Secretary-General has outlined in his five point action plan to prevent genocide we need to focus on

1 - action to prevent armed conflicts,
2 - effective measures to protect civilians,
3 - judicial steps to fight impunity,
4 - early warning through the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and
5 - swift and more decisive action when genocide is happening or about to happen.

This must be a task for the whole UN system. The agendas on freedom from want, freedom from fear and freedom to live in dignity must go hand in hand. The security of individuals and groups must be put at the focus of our attention. As the Secretary-General states in his report, our efforts to reduce the prevalence and risk of war require both the emphasis on development and the strengthening of tools to deliver the military and civilian support needed to prevent and end wars as well as to build a sustainable peace. This link must be reflected in the institutional reforms before us.

A number of the proposals in the Secretary-General's reform report are of special relevance to the promotion of the responsibility to protect. Let me just highlight some areas that need to be addressed:

1-  development assistance that address the root causes of conflict. We must assist states who are willing but unable to assume their responsibility to protect;
2-  enhancement of UN co-operation on responsibility to protect with regional organisations;
3 - strengthening of rule-of-law institutions;
4 - enhancement of the good offices function of the Secretary-General;
5 - effective sanctions that mitigate humanitarian consequences;
6 - full co-operation with the International Criminal Court,
7 - strengthening of the work of the International Court of Justice. 

The international community must always do its utmost to try to prevent conflicts. By assisting states in their efforts to build capacity to promote and protect human rights and the rule of law we can prevent many conflicts from occurring.

If we do not succeed in preventing genocide or other crimes against humanity, I think we all agree that we have a responsibility to help stopping it. The use of force by the international community must always be a question of last resort. But if such force should become necessary, we need to have safeguards to ensure both the legitimacy and legality of such decisions. Sweden fully supports the suggestion by the Secretary-General that any such decision by the Security Council, which has the primary responsibility for international peace and security, should follow principles adopted by the Council on when to use force for human protection purposes. Such principles on the use of force would enhance multilateralism, predictability and the rule of law.

The prevention of human suffering must be a priority for us, the United Nations. Sweden believes that it is of great importance for the General Assembly to embrace the concept of the responsibility to protect. We must remember that this responsibility begins with the responsibility to prevent.

Thank you.