S/PV.3283 Security Council

At the outset of the meeting, I should like to acknowledge the presence at the Council table of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand, His Excellency the Right Honourable Donald Charles McKinnon, to whom, on behalf of the Council, I extend a warm welcome. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA The agenda was adopted. SECURITY OF UNITED NATIONS OPERATIONS REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (S/26358)

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them the report of the Secretary-General on the security of United Nations operations, document S/26358. Members of the Council also have before them document S/26499, which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council’s prior consultations. I should like also to draw the attention of members of the Council to document S/26444, which contains the text of a letter dated 13 September 1993 from the Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to vote on the draft resolution before it. Unless I hear any objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote. There being no objection, it is so decided. I shall first call on those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the voting. Mr. McKINNON (New Zealand): Thank you very much, Mr. President, for your very warm welcome and for the opportunity of speaking to this draft resolution. New Zealand welcomes the draft resolution on the safety and security of United Nations personnel, which the Security Council is about to adopt. As Council members will be aware, New Zealand has made the issue of the safety of United Nations personnel a particular priority since we began our term on the Council at the beginning of this year. Events since then, particularly in Somalia, Cambodia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, have underscored the urgency of the issue. We must ensure that United Nations personnel are adequately protected - especially those whom this Council mandates to go into difficult situations in the cause of maintaining international peace and security and those who risk their lives in the no less noble cause of delivering humanitarian relief to the victims of conflict. During our presidency of the Council in March the Security Council adopted a presidential statement on this issue in connection with the Secretary-General’s report "An Agenda for Peace". As a result of the request made in the March statement, the Secretary-General produced the excellent report on the nature and adequacy of existing arrangements for the protection of United Nations personnel which we shall approve in the draft resolution we are to adopt today. New Zealand welcomes the Secretary-General’s thoughtful proposals about what further steps should be taken to protect United Nations personnel. We appreciate the Secretary-General’s commitment to undertake additional steps within his area of responsibility to increase the level of protection for his people in the field. The Secretary-General’s report confirms that the protection of United Nations personnel is a multifaceted issue that must be tackled on a number of fronts. It requires concerted action by this Council, by the General Assembly, and by the Secretary-General. The draft resolution before us confirms that attacks on personnel engaged in operations mandated by this Council will be considered interference in the exercise of the Council’s responsibilities. It warns that the Council will take appropriate measures in any such case. It also confirms that if a host country fails or is unable to adequately protect United Nations personnel, the Council will take appropriate action. This might include specific steps to deal with those who attack United Nations personnel. In line with the Secretary-General’s proposals and, I would note, in line with suggestions New Zealand put before this Council in March, today’s draft resolution puts special emphasis on those matters which the Council should address when deciding to establish or to renew a peace-keeping operation. It determines that on each such occasion the Council will require the host country requesting the operation to take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of all persons engaged in the operation, and to conclude without delay an agreement establishing the legal framework under which the United Nations personnel will operate. These practical steps, which too often have been honoured in the breach rather than in the observance, will go some way towards ensuring that there is no misunderstanding between the United Nations and the host country of the responsibilities that go with any request for the dispatch of a United Nations mission. I am pleased to note that even before the adoption of today’s draft resolution, the Council has in recent weeks moved to establish a more consistent practice in this area. One matter that this draft resolution does not address directly is the responsibility of individuals who attack United Nations personnel. It does not do so because it was the consensus of the Council that, while such matters can properly be taken up by the Council in the specific circumstances of a particular incident or operation, a more general pronouncement of individual responsibility for attacks on United Nations personnel is more appropriately the business of the General Assembly. In this connection, as Council members know, at New Zealand’s initiative, the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly has on its agenda a new item on responsibility for attacks on United Nations and associated personnel and measures to ensure that those responsible for such attacks are brought to justice. We will be proposing that the General Assembly adopt a new international convention along the lines of other international conventions establishing criminal responsibility. This new convention should establish beyond doubt that those who attack United Nations personnel, and those who order the commission of such attacks, commit a crime punishable by any country in which they may be found. I am pleased to note that the Secretary-General’s report endorses the conclusion of a new international convention in this area and that the draft resolution we are about to adopt welcomes our initiative in the General Assembly. We look forward to working with all Members of the United Nations in moving as quickly as possible to the establishment of clear international rules in this area. We will then bring home to those who are responsible for attacks on peace-keeping and humanitarian-relief personnel that their actions will never be tolerated and that they will be held personally responsible for the consequences of their actions. Mr. MARKER (Pakistan): The issue of safety and security of peace-keeping personnel is rightly receiving the greater attention of the international community. The sharp rise in the incidence of attacks on United Nations personnel underscores the necessity for the Security Council to effectively address this serious problem. United Nations personnel are increasingly being required to operate in extremely difficult circumstances. New peace-keeping operations have been deployed in conflict situations, exposing such personnel to greater physical risks. As noted by the Secretary-General in his report contained in document S/26358, the rate of casualties among peace-keeping personnel has almost doubled during the current year. Attacks and the use of force against United Nations peace-keeping personnel to prevent them from implementing their mandate are a matter of special concern to my delegation. Pakistani troops serving peace under the United Nations flag have suffered many casualties. They continue to be targeted by elements that seek to undermine the authority of the Security Council. Such reprehensible acts are wholly unacceptable. We fully endorse the draft resolution that is about to be adopted. It should be a clear signal to those who seek to use violence against United Nations personnel to further their own criminal ends that the Council is prepared to take the measures necessary to ensure the safety and security of those engaged in United Nations operations. States or parties to a conflict must fully cooperate with the United Nations to ensure their security and safety. The international community cannot allow any party to create impediments to peace-keeping operations and prevent them, through the use of force or by any other means, from implementing their mandate as authorized by the Council. My delegation is pleased to note the Secretary-General’s intention to introduce measures as indicated in his report which, among other things, would ensure that security matters would become an integral part of the planning for operations and that any such precautions would extend to all the personnel. We share the Secretary-General’s view that both short-term and long-term strategies for enhancing the security and safety of personnel involved in United Nations peace-keeping and other operations must be considered. The adoption of the present draft resolution by the Council today will constitute an important first step in this direction. My delegation welcomes the initiative taken by New Zealand during the current session of the General Assembly on the subject of safety and security of peace-keeping personnel. We view it as most timely. The international community as a whole must resolve to hold persons or parties responsible for their criminal actions against United Nations personnel. Before concluding, I should like to place on record my delegation’s deep appreciation and gratitude to the thousands of brave women and men who are currently engaged in United Nations peace-keeping operations. In particular, I should like to pay a special tribute to those who have lost their lives or suffered injuries in the service of mankind. Their sacrifice should serve to strengthen our commitment to promote and establish peace throughout the world. Mr. OLHAYE (Djibouti): My delegation welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the subject of security of United Nations operations and personnel. With its brief account of United Nations practice, synopsis of relevant factors and issues, and outline of the present situation, it is extremely useful. It is hard to dispute the contention that the nature of United Nations peace-keeping has changed and present-day missions are likely to face dangerous, life-threatening hostility. The Council must focus Member and non-Member attention on this vital matter and consider the necessary steps whereby all parties might lessen this danger. The draft resolution before us is one such step, which is why we support it. We must thank the Secretary-General for the emphasis he places on the safety and security of non-United Nations military and peace-keeping personnel, the civilian personnel, and private staff of non-governmental organizations and contractors who are participating in these operations at considerable risk to themselves. These organizations, when engaged by the United Nations as implementing partners to provide resources, must receive more recognized and official status with regard to safety and security. International law with regard to United Nations and foreign personnel in a country is, as the Secretary-General notes, contained in a collection of documents, multilateral and bilateral treaties, international agreements, historical practices, the United Nations Charter and so on and so forth. It will be very helpful and clarificatory for the international community to enact a new international instrument codifying and consolidating this widely scattered body of law and understanding, specifying the safeguards, privileges and immunities for United Nations peace-keeping and civilian contractors and non-governmental organizations and their personnel, as the Secretary-General also notes. All this is quite good and necessary. But my delegation still wonders if the new international strongmen - the warlord types such as we have seen in Bosnia, Angola and Somalia - will be deterred by such formality. These are situations in which the host Government itself is powerless to act to protect. However, criminals and violators of protected personnel must know that an enforcement mechanism is in place, one which can and will act. In addition to tightening up loopholes now existing in United Nations peace-keeping security operations, which this draft resolution does, we look forward to seeing the new procedural measures for the communications, training and regulations review to be undertaken by the Secretary-General. The frightening rise in United Nations and non-United Nations casualties must be reversed, and these measures are a necessary step in that direction.

I now propose to the members of the Council that we proceed to the vote on the draft resolution (S/26499). If I hear no objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote. There being no objection, it is so decided. A vote was taken by show of hands. In favour: Brazil, Cape Verde, China, Djibouti, France, Hungary, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Spain, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Venezuela

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 868 (1993). I shall now call on those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting. Mr. MERIMEE (France) (interpretation from French): The issue of the security of United Nations operations and the personnel taking part in them is of prime importance for my Government. As members know, France has placed almost 10,000 men under our Organization’s flag; 21 of them have lost their lives in the past two years in the service of the United Nations, while another 311 have been wounded - gravely in many cases - in the cause of keeping the peace. Other countries have, unfortunately, had to mourn the loss of their soldiers in United Nations operations, especially in the recent past. Many of those casualties could have been avoided if the parties to the conflicts in which the Organization is intervening had taken the necessary measures to prevent and halt attacks or acts of force against United Nations operations and their personnel. This is a crucial point, and we should remind the host countries of their responsibilities in this area. Over the past year we have seen the growing concern of our Organization and its Member States vis-à-vis the security of United Nations operations. This interest has been reflected in General Assembly resolution 47/72, in the presidential statement made in the Security Council in March and the subsequent report of the Secretary-General, in the proposals of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations and, finally, in the inclusion of the item in the agenda of the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly. My delegation welcomes the fact that this interest is today reflected in the adoption of a resolution on the security of United Nations operations. This text clearly shows our Council’s will to take appropriate measures to ensure the security of an operation from the very moment that the planning begins, or measures to respond to situations in which the host countries for the operation cannot or will not discharge their obligations in this area. In the latter case, the Council will envisage measures that are called for in each situation, without excluding any a priori. This could, for example, involve a reconsideration of the operation in the context of its possible withdrawal or, on the other hand, of its strengthening. France has always hoped that the security of operations would be guaranteed first through practical measures taken at the very moment when such operations are established. In this regard, my delegation expresses its satisfaction with the Council’s decision to formulate here and now those conditions that must be met during the establishment of future operations: measures taken by the host country to guarantee security, the application of these measures to all personnel participating in the operation, and the signing of an agreement on the status of the operation and of all its personnel in the host country. I can assure the Council, in conclusion, that my delegation will participate actively in all United Nations efforts to improve the security of operations and their personnel, whether it be when resolutions creating or renewing operations are adopted in our Council, or when the drafting of new instruments on the security of United Nations forces and personnel is discussed in the organs of the General Assembly. Mr. LOZINSKIY (Russian Federation) (interpretation from Russian): The Russian Federation, as an active participant in a number of United Nations peace-keeping operations, is seriously concerned about the problem of the security of forces and personnel of United Nations peace-keeping in various regions. Unfortunately, the situation in this regard has recently deteriorated and urgently requires an appropriate response and practical measures on the part of the Security Council and the Secretary-General. The Russian Federation favours the firmest of measures in order to ensure reliably the personal security of the military, civilian and police personnel of United Nations operations, as well as that of the representatives of other international and non-governmental organizations and programmes rendering humanitarian assistance in emergency situations. Their lives, health and dignity must be protected from attacks by extremists. There is a need for resolute and tough action regarding those individuals who bear direct blame for the organization and execution of armed attacks and other acts of violence against international personnel. In our view, the resolution that has been adopted adequately reflects the general approach of the members of the Council to resolving this relevant problem and takes into account the important proposals and recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General (S/26358). The Russian delegation regards as extremely important the resolution’s provision that security matters should be an integral part of the planning for any United Nations peace-keeping operation. There is a need for Governments of host countries to take appropriate measures to ensure the security and safety of United Nations personnel and for all parties to the conflict to cooperate closely with the United Nations on these questions. The Russian delegation voices the hope that the implementation of the provisions of the resolution adopted today will promote an improvement of the situation concerning the security of United Nations personnel. Mr. SARDENBERG (Brazil): The resolution we have adopted addresses an issue of increasing concern to the international community. Brazil attaches great importance to the security and safety of all personnel engaged in United Nations operations. As was mentioned by Foreign Minister Celso Amorim in his statement in the general debate in the ongoing session of the General Assembly, Brazil is currently participating with a significant contingent in the United Nations peace-keeping efforts and intends to expand its presence in this field. We are actively examining ways and means to do so. A special word of recognition is due, I believe, to the Government and delegation of New Zealand for the very constructive role they have been playing in the consideration of this question, both in the Security Council and in the General Assembly. We listened with great attention to the thoughtful statement just made in this Council by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand, Mr. Donald Charles McKinnon. We thank the Secretary-General for the carefully drafted report he submitted pursuant to the request contained in the presidential statement adopted by the Security Council under the New Zealand presidency on 31 March 1993. The Secretary-General’s report constitutes an important input for the consideration of this urgent question by the relevant bodies of our Organization. We are all disturbed by the number of attacks on peace-keepers, the frequency of which, according to the Secretary-General’s report, has more than doubled in the past few years. These unconscionable acts deserve our strongest and unequivocal condemnation. Brazil has experienced casualties of its own nationals serving in peace-keeping operations. In the past 12 months, two Brazilian officers have died while serving in the missions in Angola and El Salvador, and other Brazilian officers have had to be repatriated for serious injuries suffered while serving with the United Nations Protection Force. We sympathize wholeheartedly with other Member States that have suffered even greater casualties. We share the feelings of pain and indignation caused by these senseless losses. These sad experiences should not weaken our resolve to support the role of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security. Brazil fully supports the efforts undertaken by both the Security Council and the General Assembly to enhance the safety and the security of all persons engaged in United Nations operations. We also note with satisfaction that the General Assembly, during its forty-eighth session, will start to tackle the question of the safety and security of peace-keeping operations. In this regard, it is very important that the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Secretariat work in close coordination in order to address the relevant issues within their respective spheres of competence in a mutually reinforcing manner. It should be underscored that United Nations missions and operations are established and deployed in the name, not of the Security Council alone, but of the United Nations as a whole. In the resolution the Security Council has adopted, Brazil particularly values provisions designed to serve as guidelines for the future work of the Council with a view to the achievement of enhanced levels of safety for the personnel assigned to United Nations peace-keeping operations. Just as we have cooperated with New Zealand and other delegations in the Security Council in the consideration of this matter, the Brazilian delegation is also committed to participating in a constructive manner in the deliberations on the item included this year in the agenda of the General Assembly. It is in this spirit that we fully supported the adoption of resolution 868 (1993), a timely decision on a subject of concern to all Member States. Mr. MARUYAMA (Japan): My delegation heartily welcomes His Excellency the Right Honourable Mr. McKinnon and wishes to thank him for his constant and serious interest in the question of the safety of United Nations personnel. The increasing number of attacks and other violent acts against United Nations personnel is a source of serious concern. Although the Secretariat and various United Nations forums have worked vigorously to ensure their safety, we still encounter a lack of cooperation, inadequate precautionary measures and misunderstanding on the part of some authorities and people. The urgent task of the United Nations is to enhance the effectiveness of its activities in the field where assistance is desperately needed. But if not even the minimum requirement of ensuring the safety of peace-keepers and other United Nations personnel can be guaranteed, it will be impossible to enhance the quality of their work or, indeed, even to maintain their presence in the field. Japan condemns any attack against United Nations personnel, regardless of whether the motive is political or criminal or whether the violence is deliberate or random. The complexity of the question requires good coordination among various United Nations organs. Towards this end, it would surely be useful to undertake certain legal measures, operational adjustments and public relations efforts. But Japan places perhaps even greater importance on issuing a political appeal to gain the cooperation of the local authorities concerned. This, quite simply, is the most basic prerequisite. For these reasons, Japan heartily welcomes the adoption of this resolution. It demonstrates the commitment of the Security Council to ensuring the safety and security of the United Nations personnel, and it reaffirms the Council’s determination to discharge its responsibilities. I can only hope that this urgent message will be heeded by local authorities and will somehow reassure United Nations personnel in the field. The Council will remain seized of the matter and will vigilantly follow events in the field. Mr. RICHARDSON (United Kingdom): First and foremost, I should like to join others in warmly welcoming the presence amongst us of the distinguished Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand, and I wish to thank him, his Government and his delegation for bringing to the Council’s attention and sharpening its focus here on a subject which I believe is of growing concern not only to Council members but, more generally, to troop contributors and many other delegations in the wider membership of the United Nations. I should also like to thank and warmly commend the Secretary-General for his excellent report. Not only is it well written; it contains a number of extremely important and very concrete proposals. Our own consciousness of this problem has been heightened just in the past 24 hours, when we were notified by the United Nations Secretariat that two more British soldiers had been wounded in Bosnia following a mortar attack. The subject is very alive for us, as for many others in this room. It is true that peace-keepers have always been at risk; by definition, they are always operating in a tense and unstable environment. But, as the Secretary-General has pointed out, there is a new phenomenon: United Nations personnel are being attacked just because they are working for the United Nations. This is not only worrying, but frankly completely unacceptable. We have to take all possible steps to ensure the safety of United Nations operations. We have to have proper arrangements for the investigation, trial and punishment of those who commit attacks on persons engaged in such operations. It is not only vital for the protection of the individuals concerned - it is also vital if we are to maintain political support for our peace-keeping efforts. I wish to say in this connection that I am particularly glad that the Secretary-General made it clear that safety and security issues are not just a question of protecting United Nations staff, narrowly defined, but of protecting all personnel who work for the Organization - volunteers or those on contract. They share the same risks and they should receive the same degree of protection. The resolution we have just adopted will heighten awareness, we hope, on the part of host Governments and others of their responsibilities in this field. But it is only a first step. What we now have to do is to put it into practice. Here, I believe, we have to distinguish between the short term and the long term. In the short term, we particularly welcome the emphasis of the resolution on the need to ensure that security is an integral part of the planning of an operation and that it extends, as I have said, to all persons engaged in the operation. We also welcome the emphasis on the need for the prompt conclusion of a status-of-forces agreement. It just is not acceptable any longer that host countries should drag their feet on this matter, as has happened in some recent cases, to the knowledge of us all. Taking the longer-term view, however, we also wish to welcome the initiative brought by New Zealand to the General Assembly this autumn, which aims at the elaboration of a new international convention which will deal with the prosecution of those who attack persons engaged in United Nations operations. We hope that the General Assembly, through the Sixth Committee, will work speedily on this subject with a view to the adoption of a convention in the near future. This New Zealand initiative follows the earlier initiative in the Council, which led to a presidential statement here in March. I end as I began. I want to thank the delegation of New Zealand once again for bringing this matter to our attention. I think today’s resolution is important. It is not the end of the story, and I have a nasty feeling that we shall be revisiting this subject in the months and years ahead. Mr. YAÑEZ BARNUEVO (Spain) (interpretation from Spanish): The resolution the Security Council has just adopted is of enormous importance not only because it has a bearing on the effectiveness of United Nations operations, but also, and above all, because of its human dimension. In fact, it relates to strengthening the safety of all the men and women - civilian, military and police - who are so admirably carrying out the arduous tasks involved in United Nations operations under a variety of difficult and unforeseeable circumstances. The recent expansion of United Nations operational activities and the broadening of their scope and their nature imply ever expanding and ever more dangerous mandates that place the personnel involved in increasingly perilous situations. This has led to an increased loss of life among those personnel. To date, 949 persons have lost their lives in United Nations peace-keeping operations, 550 of them in operations still under way. More disturbing still is how quickly the number of victims is increasing. Fifty-one lives were lost in 1992, and we are informed that over a hundred personnel have been killed so far in 1993. In the last year alone, my country has lost 10 of its nationals serving in the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They all deserve our admiration and gratitude for having made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the international community and in the interests of peace. Given the current situation and that trend, it should come as no surprise that in "An Agenda for Peace" the Secretary-General called attention to the need to strengthen the safety and protection of United Nations personnel. And when, in the presidential statement of 31 March, the Council stressed the importance and urgency of this question, it requested the Secretary-General to report on the existing arrangements for the protection of personnel and on their adequacy, and to make recommendations for enhancing security. Those recommendations form the basis of the resolution just adopted. I want to stress, first of all, that the resolution encourages the Secretary-General to ensure that security matters are a fundamental, integral part of the planning for an operation and that any such precautions extend to all personnel engaged in such operations, including civilian as well as military and police personnel, and United Nations staff as well as personnel of non-governmental organizations and enterprises that are playing an integral part in the operation. Secondly, I would highlight the Council’s firm position that the use of force by any party to a conflict against persons engaged in a peace-keeping operation will be considered interference with the exercise of the responsibilities of the Council, as well as the Council’s readiness to consider measures it deems appropriate if the safety of such personnel is not respected. In sum, this resolution sends the clear message that the Security Council is ready to do everything necessary, within its power, to ensure the safety and protection of persons engaged in a United Nations peace-keeping operation. But it is not enough. All Member States must be aware of the problem and act accordingly. For that reason we welcome the initiatives now being taken elsewhere in the Organization, and in particular the proposal by New Zealand - I take this opportunity to welcome the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of that country - that the General Assembly draft a convention on responsibility for attacks on United Nations and associated personnel and on measures to ensure that those responsible for such attacks are brought to justice. We pledge our full cooperation in the speedy adoption and entry into force of such an international instrument. Ultimately, guaranteeing the safety and protection of persons involved in United Nations operations is a responsibility and a task for all of us. In large part, the success of this undertaking will determine the success of future United Nations operations to restore and maintain peace the world over. Mr. CHEN Jian (China) (interpretation from Chinese): In recent years United Nations peace-keeping operations have played their role in alleviating regional tension and promoting peaceful solutions of regional conflicts and are therefore highly regarded by the international community. The rapid expansion of United Nations peace-keeping operations and the increasingly complex nature of their missions have given rise to a number of questions demanding prompt solutions. Among them is that related to the security and safety of United Nations peace-keeping personnel, a question that has been the focus of much attention. Many peace-keeping personnel, including Chinese personnel, have given their lives for the peace-keeping cause. The Chinese delegation is deeply concerned by, and strongly condemns, the violence directed against United Nations peace-keeping personnel. The host country of a United Nations peace-keeping operation and the various parties to the conflict should cooperate closely with the United Nations to create conditions conducive to the successful execution of the peace-keeping operation. They have the responsibility and the obligation to take effective steps to ensure the security and the safety of peace-keeping personnel. We therefore favour the Security Council’s taking appropriate action, within its mandate, to ensure the security and safety of peace-keeping personnel in line with the actual conditions of each operation. On the whole, the resolution we have just adopted reflects that spirit, and we welcome its adoption. We also appreciate the initiative taken by New Zealand and its efforts on this matter, and we thank the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand, who is present at today’s meeting and who made an important statement. In taking appropriate steps to ensure the security and safety of peace-keeping personnel, the United Nations should respect the sovereignty of the host country and refrain from interfering in its internal affairs. It is out of the question to ensure the security and safety of peace-keeping personnel by force alone. A fairly safe environment can be established only with the cooperation and support of the host country and the various parties concerned. We are not in favour of using force indiscriminately or of resorting to excessive force, harming innocent civilians. It is undesirable to stop violence by greater violence. China, as a founding State, is dedicated to the United Nations endeavour in peace-keeping operations. We have participated in many peace-keeping operations of the United Nations. We are ready to continue, together with other Member States, to make our contribution to ensuring the success of United Nations peace-keeping operations and the security and safety of their personnel.

I should like now to make a statement in my capacity as representative of Venezuela. The question of the safety of United Nations personnel participating in operations that are being conducted in areas of conflict has in the recent past acquired increasing importance and undeniable urgency. It is clear that the presence of United Nations personnel, be they military or civilian, in areas of conflict, incurs the risks that are part of the job being carried out, but recently those risks and dangers have included attacks and acts of aggression that demonstrate a lack of respect and, sometimes, an attitude of provocation, towards the noble and selfless mission being carried out by the United Nations in its efforts to preserve peace or to fulfil humanitarian objectives. Venezuela wishes to take this opportunity to pay a tribute to the memory of all those men and women of many nationalities who have given their lives in the service of the United Nations. We also wish to express, for the record, our gratitude to all staff of the Organization who, with courage and in a spirit of sacrifice, are at the present time carrying out tasks in the various theatres of operation in which the United Nations is taking part. The resolution we have just adopted meets the need for a political statement on basic criteria and principles that, it is felt, will meet some of the immediate needs that have already been identified as regards the adoption of measures to deal with the situations jeopardizing the safety of United Nations personnel. Venezuela believes that these general principles must be the subject of thorough, specialized study in various forums so that progress can be made towards establishing a set of rights and obligations for all countries that are participating in or are the objects of such operations. For their part, both the body that carries out the political supervision of those operations - which is the Council’s responsibility - and the Secretary-General should have at their disposal pre-established criteria for determining when, in which circumstances and to what ends they are called upon to exercise their authority if such obligations are not complied with. Recent experience shows the physical and material risks run by United Nations personnel, and also the need to establish parameters for any reaction that the Council must or can undertake in order to deal with unforeseen circumstances or in order to have the authority of the United Nations prevail. It is in our collective interest to strengthen the credibility and acceptance of United Nations forces in solving the conflicts they were created to solve, without adversely impacting on their safety. Venezuela understands that with this resolution, a process of reflection and reform will begin, and is prepared to participate actively in this exercise. That concludes my statement as representative of Venezuela, and I now resume my function as President of the Security Council. There are no further speakers on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on the agenda. The meeting rose at 4.55 p.m.