Other peacekeeping-related matters.

Bougainville: Hailing the political agreement between the Government of Papua New Guinea and leaders from the island of Bougainville, the Secretary-General on 30 August urged combatants to turn in their weapons and clear the way for post-conflict peace-building activities. He said the United Nations was ready to assist the parties in the task of implementing the historic Agreement, which would help "ensure that the people of Bougainville benefit materially from the return of peace to the island".

Cambodia: Noting that King Norodom Sihanouk had signed the law on a special court to try Khmer Rouge leaders, bringing the legislation into effect, Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 10 August said the United Nations looked forward to reviewing the adopted legislation to determine that it conformed to a draft memorandum of understanding governing the Organization's participation with Cambodia in a trial.

Central African Republic: Deeply concerned by the "precarious" situation in the Central African Republic, the Security Council on 26 September called on all parties in the country to engage in political dialogue, national reconciliation and respect for human rights. It urged the authorities not to aggravate inter-ethnic relations and to follow internationally accepted standards for due process in the investigations of the coup attempt of 28 May. On 17 July, the Council had strongly condemned the killing there of the security coordinator for the UN system, and urged the authorities to "bring those responsible to justice". Noting that since the coup attempt, the situation in the country had been marked by sharp political tensions and economic decline, the Secretary-General on 20 September recommended extending the mandate of the United Nations Peace-building Support Mission in Central African Republic (BONUCA) through December 2002.

Colombia: Pointing to new difficulties in the talks between the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Colombia, Jan Egeland, on 18 October warned that the peace process in the country was in crisis. Drawing attention to the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and massive human rights violations, he said a rupture in the peace talks "would only lead to even much more massive civilian suffering".

Fiji: The UN Fijian Electoral Observation Mission concluded on 10 September that the voting results of the general elections, held from 25 August to 1 September, reflected "the will of the Fijian people". UNFEOM is consolidating its compiled data on the impartiality of the electoral authorities and on voting procedures. The information will be included in a report to the General Assembly.

Georgia: On 29 October, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said recent events in Georgia showed that unless "meaningful negotiations on the future political status of Abkhazia" were restarted, the entire peace process could be jeopardized. The fighting in the Kodori Valley and surrounding areas of Abkhazia, as well as the shooting down on 8 October of a helicopter of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), killing all nine on board, represented a "serious deterioration of the situation and a setback in efforts to achieve a political settlement", Mr. Annan said. "The perpetrators of criminal acts targeted against UNOMIG must be brought to justice." On 31 July, the Council had extended the Mission's mandate until 31 January 2002.

Guatemala: The Secretary-General on 12 October recommended renewing the mandate of the United Nations for the Verification of Human Rights in Guatemala Mission (MINUGUA) until 31 December 2002. In his report to the General Assembly, Mr. Annan said the timetable until 2004 was a new challenge for the Guatemalan peace process. He observed that technical cooperation to support the institutions created under the peace process needed strengthening, "especially those in the country's interior, where the effects of peace need to be more visible and generate more participation". He said the profound inequalities that still persisted among the population contributed to a climate of heightened potential conflict and jeopardized the sustainability of the peace process.

Guinea-Bissau: The Security Council on 22 October voiced concern at recent developments in Guinea-Bissau. The Council welcomed the Government's efforts to address the country's economic and social problems, and encouraged the further implementation of the Government programme of demobilization and reintegration. It also called for an integrated and coordinated approach by United Nations funds, programmes and agencies, as well as bilateral donors, to help Guinea-Bissau create an income-generating capacity. The Secretary-General said that he has been exploring with the Economic Community of West African States and other friends of GuineaBissau ways of assisting the Government of President Kumba Yala to stabilize the political situation. Early engagement was crucial to reversing conditions of instability in Guinea-Bissau, Mr. Annan said.

ICTY: On 12 November, Prosecutors confirmed that they had filed a new indictment against former President Slobodan Milosevic charging him with genocide and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Miodrag jokic, a former Vice Admiral of the Yugoslav Navy, surrendered himself to the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which had indicted him for crimes he and others under his command allegedly committed in 1991 in the shelling of Dubrovnik, Croatia. On 2 November, five Bosnian Serbs were convicted by the ICTY for their roles in what the court described as a "hellish orgy of persecution" in three detention camps. On 13 November, ICTY also convicted and sentenced 3 Bosnian Serbs to between 3 and 15 years for crimes against humanity committed at a detention camp in 1992.

Iraq: Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 1 October recommended a continuation of the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission, monitoring the demilitarized zone along the border between the two countries since the Iraqi troops withdrew from Kuwait in 1991. The Secretary-General observed that UNIKOM "continued to carry out its tasks smoothly, thereby contributing to the maintenance of calm and stability in the border area".

Lebanon: Recent clashes between the Hizbollah and Israeli troops in the border area separating Lebanon and Israel were the source of "strong and serious concern". The Secretary-General's Personal Representative for Southern Lebanon, Staffan de Mistura, on 22 October said the clashes exacerbated an already tense situation in the region. Mr. de Mistura said it was crucial for all parties concerned to cease such violations, exercise maximum restraint and avoid any further escalation.

Prevlaka: Welcoming the resumption of talks between the Governments of Croatia and Yugoslavia, the Security Council on 11 July authorized the United Nations military observers to continue monitoring the demilitarization of the disputed Prevlaka Peninsula, extending the United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP) until 15 January 2002.

Rwanda: In his annual report to the General Assembly and the Security Council, Judge Navanethem Pillay, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, reported that 6 trials involving 15 accused had been in progress from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001. He credited the Tribunal with playing a significant role in developing international humanitarian and criminal law, as many of the substantive legal issues adjudicated by its Trial Chambers had not been decided before. "This emerging jurisprudence will serve as precedent and impetus for the International Criminal Court and the judicial Tribunals being established by the United Nations for Sierra Leone and Cambodia", he said.

Somalia: The Security Council on 31 October said the Arta peace process remained the most viable basis for peace and national reconciliation. It urged the Transitional National Government, political and traditional leaders, and factions to help complete the peace and reconciliation process. Acknowledging Djibouti's continuing role in the peace process, the Council called on the concerned States in the Horn of Africa to contribute to the efforts in Somalia, emphasizing that long-term regional stability could most effectively be addressed if neighbouring States played a positive role in rebuilding the country's national institutions. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 15 October announced he intended to set up a Committee of Friends of Somalia that could bring together interested countries and organizations in the search for a lasting peace. He said it was not yet possible to recommend the deployment of a post-conflict peace-building mission in Somalia.

Sudan: After four decades of civil war, the people of the Sudan are in a precarious humanitarian situation that requires unrestricted access by aid workers in order to save lives, the Secretary-General noted in his 23 October report. "Short of a peace settlement and for the sake of the civilian population, the parties to the conflict must work at reinstating humanitarian ceasefires", he stressed. "Those that were in effect from July 1998 to July 2000 contributed, however little, to containing armed 2 confrontation." The Secretary-General's Representative for Internally Displaced Persons, Francis M. Deng, on 20 September encouraged the Sudan, which has the world's largest number of people uprooted from their homes--4 million--to take the lead on the issue. UNICEF reported on 29 August that all but 70 of the 3,551 child soldiers released by the Sudan People's Liberation Army in February 2001 have returned to their home communities. The 70 remaining come from inaccessible areas or places of chronic instability.

Western Sahara: Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 14 November recommended a two-month extension of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until 31 January 2002, to allow time for further consultations with the parties on proposals for a political solution. Such a draft Framework Agreement would confer on the population the right to elect their own executive and legislative bodies and to have exclusive competence over local governmental administration, territorial budget and taxation, law enforcement, internal security, social welfare, culture, education, commerce, transportation, agriculture, mining, fisheries and industry, environmental policy, housing and urban development, water and electricity, roads and other basic infrastructure. Within five years, a referendum on the final status of the Territory would be held.

Children in war: The Secretary-General on 7 September recommended that the international community take concrete steps to protect children in war-affected areas. "In the armed conflicts of recent years, children have featured centrally as targets of violence and, occasionally, even unwillingly, as perpetrators", Mr. Annan noted in his report. "A large number of children have been directly affected by armed conflict, many of them uprooted from their homes and communities, maimed or killed. Others have been made orphans, abducted, abused and exploited", he said. Proposing the monitoring of children's rights within the mandates of peace missions, Mr. Annan also highlighted the impact of war on girls, an issue he called "particularly damaging for future generations". Already disadvantaged in peacetime, girls undergo sexual abuse and enslavement during war, he noted, urging that sexual violence against women and children continue to be prosecuted as a war crime. The report further highlighted the impact of HIV/AID S on children in conflict situations and the role of truth commissions.

Population displacement: On 16 October, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said United Nations operations needed to work harder to address human rights violations as both a cause and a consequence of mass exoduses, although the United Nations had taken important steps to tackle the root causes that force people to flee their homes. "Greater awareness of the link between racism, ethnic conflicts, violation of human rights as the causes of mass exoduses have led to a better response by the international community when such humanitarian crises arise", he said. In his report, he put forward a series of recommendations aimed at strengthening UN capacity to deal with human rights abuses in the context of population displacement. He also called for promoting accession to relevant treaties and compliance with prohibitions against arbitrary and forcible displacement, as well as calling for the establishment of mechanisms to ensure compliance with international law, "in order to end the culture of impunity which currently pr evails". The Secretary-General highlighted the need to bring all partners together in the effort. "The scope and complexity of mass exoduses" called for a "multifaceted response and the active involvement of organizations both within and outside the United Nations system", he said.

Sanctions review: Concluding a two-day open discussion of efforts to improve the implementation and monitoring of sanctions, the Security Council on 25 October heard wide support for an ongoing review process for such measures. Speakers called for the creation of a monitoring body to oversee the implementation of Council resolutions and enhance the effectiveness of sanctions. Delegates welcomed the new steps taken by the Council to impose targeted sanctions of a limited timeframe, aimed at changing the conduct of individuals and groups. The Council heard briefings by three countries on key initiatives to help improve the sanctions process. Germany reported on the so-called "Bonn/Berlin Process", focused on arms embargoes and travel-related sanctions. Switzerland spoke about the "Interlaken Process", concentrated on the identification of basic legal and administrative requirements for national implementation of financial sanctions. Sweden briefed the Council on the 'Stockholm Process", focused on how the Unite d Nations and Member States could ensure effective monitoring of compliance and enforcement, and how best to assist Member States in implementing sanctions regimes.

Small Arms: Underscoring the destabilizing and harmful effects of the illicit trade in small arms, the Security Council on 31 August requested the Secretary-General to submit by September 2002 a set of recommendations on how it could respond to the problem. The Council, chaired by Colombian Foreign Minister Guillermo Fernandez de Soto, noted that the illegal flow of small arms "increases the intensity and duration of armed conflicts, undermines the sustainability of peace agreements, impedes the success of peace-building, frustrates efforts aimed at the prevention of armed conflict, hinders considerably the provision of humanitarian assistance, and compromises the effectiveness of the Security Council." Underlining "the vital importance of effective national regulations and controls for this trade", the Council also discussed the need for innovative strategies to effectively combat the illicit exploitation of natural resources for the purpose of buying illegal weapons. Information on financial or other transa ctions fuelling the illicit flow of arms to those conflicts should be made available to the Council," Mr. Fernandez de Soto said. Welcoming a number of recent initiatives, to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, adopted at a UN conference in July.

Troop-contributing nations: The Security Council on 10 September held a private meeting with the countries contributing troops to the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE. It was the first time the Council had held a formal meeting with troop-contributing nations. Council members usually met informally with Member States contributing military contingents to UN peacekeeping operations. The change results from Council resolution 1353 of 13 June, under which the Council may hold private meetings with troop-contributing countries "to ensure a full and high-level consideration of issues of critical importance to a specific peacekeeping operation."

RELATED ARTICLE: UN Staff Protection

Responding to the ongoing violence against United Nations staff worldwide, Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 11 October put forward a series of recommendations designed to bolster staff security. In his report, Mr. Annan provided stark statistics on the "unabated" violence, noting that since 1992, 201 staff members had lost their lives in the service of the United Nations as a result of malicious acts, while 255 had been the victims of hostage-taking since 1994. UN personnel also continued to be "targets of rape and sexual assault, ambushes, armed robbery, attacks on humanitarian convoys, carjackings, harassment, and arrest and detention", he said. "There is no doubt in my mind that the strongest deterrent to attacks on humanitarian workers is the swift application of justice by Member States, and I must once again call upon those States to take this responsibility seriously."

Conflict Prevention

Reviewing Secretary-General Kofi Annan's report on conflict prevention, containing 29 recommendations aimed at instituting a culture of prevention throughout the UN system, the Security Council on 30 August expressed its commitment to take "early and effective action" to prevent armed conflict by employing all appropriate means at its disposal, including its missions to areas of potential conflict. Stressing that the essential responsibility for conflict prevention rested with national governments, the Council said that the United Nations and the international community could play an important role in supporting national efforts for conflict prevention. It also called on Member States to strengthen UN capacity in the maintenance of international peace and security by providing the necessary resources for timely and preventive measures, including early warning, preventive diplomacy and deployment, disarmament and peace-building. It called upon regional and subregional organizations to support the development o f a comprehensive conflict prevention strategy.