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| Wednesday, 22 September 2004 |
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Annan warns US and others to respect rule of law UNITED NATIONS, Tuesday (Reuters) U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned world leaders on Tuesday that international law was being "shamelessly disregarded" around the world and cited prisoner abuse in Iraq as an example of such violations. In a speech prepared for delivery at the U.N. General Assembly, Annan said that "no one was above the law" whether in Sudan, Iraq, Uganda, Russia or the Middle East. "Again and again, we see fundamental laws shamelessly disregarded - those that ordain respect for innocent life, for civilians, for the vulnerable - especially children," the secretary-general said. In Iraq, he said civilians were massacred in cold blood, while relief workers, journalists and others were "taken hostage and put to death in the most barbarous fashion." "At the same time, we have seen Iraqi prisoners disgracefully abused," Annan said, referring to inmates in the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad who were photographed being brutalized by American soldiers. The secretary-general said in a BBC interview last week the U.S.-led war in Iraq was "illegal" because it did not get U.N. Security Council approval, although he said his office was now doing what it could to help rebuild the country. On Tuesday, he said it was the law "including Security Council resolutions, which offers the best foundation for resolving prolonged conflicts - in the Middle East, in Iraq, and around the world." Annan urged nations to sign treaties on the protection of civilians and to strengthen and implement disarmament pacts, some of which, like a nuclear test ban treaty, the Bush administration has disowned. Among the most flagrant violations of law as well as basic human decency, Annan cited Sudan's Darfur region where militia have displaced populations and "rape is used as a deliberate strategy." He spoke of northern Uganda where the Lord's Resistance Army has mutilated and kidnapped children. He also mentioned Beslan in Russia's North Ossetia province where schoolchildren were taken hostage and "brutally massacred." Annan, who previously called on Russia to respect the rule of law while fighting Chechen rebels, said that "at times even the necessary fight against terrorism itself is allowed to encroach unnecessarily on civil liberties." In the Middle East, he said children were deliberately targeted by Palestinian suicide bombers, while Israel destroyed and seized Palestinian lands and caused needless civilian casualties by the excessive use of force. "All over the world we see people being prepared for further such acts, through hate propaganda directed against Jews, against Muslims, against anyone who can be identified as different from one's own group," Annan said. Annan recalled the United Nations was founded 59 years ago on the ashes of a war "that shocked" mankind. "Throughout the world, the victims of violence and injustice are waiting - waiting for us to keep our word," Annan said. "They notice when we use words to mask inaction. They notice when laws that should protect them are not applied." |
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