U.N. - REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON
THE WORK OF THE ORGANIZATION - 1998

V. Strengthening the international legal order

169. The idea that the international order should be based on legal norms and rules is fragile and fragmentary, but it is steadily gaining ground. A growing body of trade law, and other rule-based frameworks, allows global markets to expand. Multilateral treaties address problems related to the global commons as well as to arms limitation and disarmament. The United Nations plays a unique role in the definition and protection of human rights. Indeed, in 1998, the year which witnesses the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we are more than ever conscious of our responsibilities in this field.

170. It is fitting, therefore, that 1998 also saw the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Rome Conference succeeded in creating what had long been described as the missing link in the international legal system: a permanent court to judge the crimes of gravest concern to the international community as a whole - genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.

The human rights regime

171. While gross violations of human rights remain an issue of concern, the notion that the interests of the many can be advanced by violating the rights of a few is an illusion which, happily, is far less widespread at the close of this century than it was in earlier periods. If individual rights are not protected, the whole of society suffers. Personal freedoms are however rendered largely meaningless by civil wars, or by economic, social or cultural deprivation - often, indeed, by a combination of all these.

172. It is for these reasons that I have repeatedly stressed that the promotion of human rights must not be treated as something separate from the Organization's other activities. Rather, it is the common thread running through all of them, particularly through every stage of our work in peace and security, from conflict prevention to post-conflict peace-building and beyond. Human rights bodies are involved in early-warning and preventive activities, and human rights considerations are increasingly embodied in our response to crises. We aim to provide human rights training for all participants in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, and to put complementary human rights field operations on a firmer financial basis. Building, or rebuilding, a national infrastructure for the protection of human rights is central to the whole concept of post-conflict peace-building. Finally, we aim to continue providing support for human rights institutions even after a country moves beyond the peace-building stage. The crucial connection between human rights and international peace and security is becoming more widely understood. Large-scale human rights violations are not merely the product of civil and ethnic conflict, they are also a major cause of such conflicts.

173. The year has also seen the United Nations begin to implement the rights-based approach to development, which is intended to help States and international agencies redirect their development thinking. The United Nations Development Programme has designated the right to development as a fundamental objective, and promotion of respect for human rights as central to development assistance. UNICEF has similarly employed the Convention on the Rights of the Child to guide its work.

174. The rights-based approach to development describes situations not simply in terms of human needs, or of developmental requirements, but in terms of society's obligation to respond to the inalienable rights of individuals. It empowers people to demand justice as a right, not as charity, and gives communities a moral basis from which to claim international assistance where needed.

175. On 26 June 1998 the international community observed the first United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture channels humanitarian assistance to an increasing number of organizations that help victims of torture every year. Thanks to a substantial increase in the contributions received from Governments, the Fund will disburse more than $4 million in 1998-1999 for medical, psychological, social, financial and legal assistance to about 100 organizations that assist some 60,000 victims of torture worldwide. To further this vital work, I call upon those Member States that have not yet done so to ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The international tribunals

176. The two ad hoc international tribunals, the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague and the International Tribunal for Rwanda, have demonstrated that the institutions of international justice can have teeth.

177. Indeed, these judicial proceedings are of immense historical significance. The Tribunal for Rwanda is the first international tribunal to deal specifically with the crime of genocide. Its judgement in the trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu and the sentencing of a former Prime Minister of Rwanda, Jean Kambanda, who had pleaded guilty, mark the first time ever that such decisions have been rendered for the crime of genocide by any international court. Without this Tribunal and the international cooperation it has been able to command, these and other individuals still awaiting trial - who all fled Rwanda -would almost certainly have escaped justice.

178. As at August 1998, public indictments had been issued by the two Tribunals against almost 100 people - 60 by the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and 36 by the International Tribunal for Rwanda. In the case of the former Yugoslavia, 28 of the accused were in custody, five trials were under way and two defendants had been sentenced. In the case of Rwanda, 31 were in custody, including many of the alleged ringleaders of the Rwandan genocide, in addition to former Prime Minister Kambanda, five former ministers and other senior political and military figures.

179. To cope with the substantial increase in the workload of the Tribunals, and to prevent undue delay in the trial process, the capacity of both has been expanded, and elections will soon add new judges.

The International Criminal Court

180. On 17 July, after more than 50 years of hope interspersed with despair, and following five weeks of deliberations among representatives from 159 States, the Rome Statute was adopted by the United Nations Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court. Its aim is to put an end to the global culture of impunity - the culture in which it has been easier to bring someone to justice for killing one person than for killing 100,000. More than 200 non-governmental organizations took part in the process - an unprecedented level of participation by civil society in a law-making conference.

181. Although many would have preferred the Court to have been vested with more far-reaching powers, one should not minimize the breakthrough that was achieved. The Statute provides that States parties to the Statute accept the jurisdiction of the Court with respect to genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.

182. We have before us an opportunity to take a monumental step in the name of human rights and the rule of law. The main challenge now is to encourage States to ratify and implement the Statute. The Statute will stay open for signature until 31 December 2000. It is my fervent hope that by then a large majority of Member States will have signed and ratified it, so that the Court will have unquestioned authority and the widest possible jurisdiction.

183. The United Nations is an association of sovereign States, but the rights that it exists to protect and promote are people's rights. It follows that individuals everywhere have a responsibility to help defend the ideals of human rights. The role of civil society in the establishment of the International Criminal Court was an inspiring example of what can be achieved by people driven by faith in those ideals. The voice of the people brought us to Rome; the voice of the people gives this gift of hope to succeeding generations.

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