Strengthening UN police mandates.

At the annual session of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno, in his opening remarks on 31 January 2005 said that the establishment of a standing civilian police capacity and a military strategic reserve force were "two investments" that could help make United Nations peacekeeping operations more efficient and effective. "Imagine if we were able to deploy within 72 hours 20 highly skilled police specialists, geographically and gender-balanced, who had trained and worked together before, to plan and kick start UN police mandates? They could probably make more of an impact than 10 times their numbers of generalists, trickling in, piecemeal, over the course of several months," he said.

This proposal is set to become a reality after Member States approved a clause in the 2005 World Summit Outcome document, allowing for "a standing police capacity to provide coherent, effective and responsive start-up capability for the policing component of the United Nations peacekeeping missions". Mark Kroeker, Police Advisor for the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), said that his department was "very proud" of the response that the proposal generated, adding that it was "a classic case of problem-solving the UN way", involving contributions from DPKO, the Civilian Police Division and Member States, and incorporating recommendations made by past investigations into UN peace and security activities.

Mr. Kroeker acknowledged that the past deployment period for traditional peacekeeping operations had been disappointing and the existence of a standing police unit would effectively address this issue, as its staff would be "ready to go, rather than be waiting for the nominations and the process, which takes many months". He believes that a UN standing police unit will "help to put behind us those problems that have plagued us in some of the missions", which have to do with sexual exploitation and abuse. An investigation into this problem was conducted in July 2004 by Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein, Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations. A subsequent report stated that the United Nations "should encourage troop-contributing countries to send established units to peacekeeping operations, as they are usually managed and disciplined better than units assembled specifically for the peacekeeping operation".

Mr. Kroeker also said that a standing police unit would allow for more control over peacekeeping missions, adding that "it is a way of recruiting top quality people, of providing a solid leadership for them and also of establishing the operating procedures in a mission, so that you can get a hold of discipline and order in a good way, putting your rules and procedures into place early". The proposed unit will start with a pilot group of 25 and is envisioned to increase to about 100, with initial recruitment to begin in early spring of 2006. Mr Kroeker is optimistic about the venture, saying that "when you get full involvement and consultation, [the concept of a standing police unit] has a certain power of its own, and it's that power that I believe will propel it forward".

RELATED ARTICLE: Defining Terrorism

On 14 September, the opening day of the 2005 World Summit, a car bomb in Baghdad killed 114 people and injured more than 156 in the capital's second worst suicide bombing since a coalition of States occupied Iraq in March 2003. Two days later, more than 150 Heads of State and Government, the largest-ever gathering at UN Headquarters in New York, adopted the World Summit Outcome document, which included a clause strongly condemning terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes".

However, disagreements among Member States over what constitutes an act of terrorism meant that its clear definition was not included in the document. The United States wanted strong language, stipulating that there was no justification for acts of terrorism, whereas representatives from some Islamic nations called for an additional paragraph distinguishing terrorism and the right of people living in occupied States to fight for their independence and self-determination.

Charles B. Strozier, Director of the New York-based Centre on Terrorism, told the UN Chronicle that "conceptually, the definition of terrorism is clear, but it has become blurred due to political posturing". He believed that a terrorist act is simply defined as "political violence committed by non-state actors directed against civilians with the intent of instilling mass fear". He further stated that because "terrorism transcends national boundaries, it's the kind of issue that is ideal for the United Nations, as it can work to find collective ways of dealing with the problem".

Member States at the World Summit agreed to meet again within the year for the Comprehensive Convention on Terrorism to further discuss the wording of a clear and common definition of terrorism.