UN: Kofi Annan Reappointment Welcomed

(New York, June 27, 2001) "Of all the secretaries-general to date, Annan has best understood the
centrality of human rights to
the work of the United Nations," said
Joanna Weschler, Human Rights Watch's United Nations
representative. "His reappointment is a real victory for human rights."

From the moment he took his job in January 1997, Annan has spoken
frequently, forcefully and
truthfully about human rights. In his first press conference as
Secretary-General in what was at the time a revolutionary statement, he
stressed the importance and role of human rights in four main areas of
U.N. activity: peace and security, humanitarian affairs, economic and
social affairs, and development. Since then, he has taken numerous
practical steps to integrate human rights into these areas of work.

The Secretary General has been particularly forceful in linking human
rights with security issues
and has repeatedly emphasized the
imperative to address human rights issues when addressing
conflict situations.

He has been unequivocal in his support of international justice. For
example, he backed the creation of the International Criminal Court
despite opposition from some of the U.N.'s most powerful members. He
also instructed his negotiator to write a disclaimer renouncing an
amnesty for a Sierra Leonean rebel group with an atrocious human rights
record, at the conclusion of a Sierra Leone peace accord in 1999.

In what has come to be known as the "Annan Doctrine," he has repeatedly
stated that state sovereignty must not shield states in the face of
crimes against humanity. During the wave of post-referendum violence in
East Timor in the fall of 1999, he warned that senior Indonesian
officials risked prosecution for crimes against humanity if they did not
consent to the deployment of an available multinational force. They
quickly relented.

He also undertook several important initiatives meant to revise the
internal workings of the United Nations on matters of significance for
human rights. Among other things, he commissioned an independent report
to investigate the role of the world organization in failing to prevent
the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and in 2000 he asked for a thorough review
of the U.N.'s peacekeeping operations.

He has not shied away from confronting leaders of major powers about
their human rights practices. For example, last month in Moscow, he
urged Russia's president Putin to allow U.N. investigators to conduct
missions to the region of Chechnya, something the Russians
have resisted for more than a year.

Some of Annan's human rights efforts have yet to bear fruit. Several of
his panel's recommendations on peacekeeping, in particular those
regarding a substantial enhancement of the planning and preparation
capacity of the Office of the High Commissioner and its ability to
second personnel to mission task forces in New York, have yet to be
implemented. His "Global Compact" for integrating human rights and other
social values into the operations of multinational corporations has yet
to move from a talk shop to a forum for developing enforceable
standards.

Despite much effort, he has yet to secure funding for a Sierra Leone
tribunal, personnel for a human rights component of the U.N. mission in
the Democratic Republic of Congo, and increase the share of the U.N.'s
regular budget that goes to human rights. These are among the challenges
facing Mr. Annan in a second term.

"We hope Annan's second term will allow him to consolidate some of the
work that has only begun, such as the implementation of the
recommendations regarding peacekeeping, or making his human rights
global compact with the business community more meaningful," Weschler
said. "In order to make his human rights legacy lasting, he also needs
to work on significantly increasing the still woefully inadequate
resources for the Office of the High Commissioner." The General Assembly
is expected confirm this decision on Friday.