UNITED NATIONS, Aug 27: Overcoming the US objections, the UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution to protect the UN staff and other humanitarian workers in conflict zones, following last week’s bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.
The US delegation had held up the Mexico-sponsored resolution for days insisting that the language involving the International Criminal Court (ICC) be dropped. The Bush administration vehemently opposes the Netherlands-based tribunal.
The Mexican-drafted resolution, co-sponsored by France, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria and Syria, was first circulated in April and then recirculated after the bombing of the UN headquarters on Aug 19 that killed 23 people and wounded many others.
The resolution adopted with a 15-0 vote urges nations to prosecute perpetrators of crimes against the UN workers and those from other relief or nongovernmental organizations engaged in humanitarian efforts. It says states should adopt laws ensuring that violence against humanitarian workers is treated as a war crime.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the council that the “vicious attack” on the UN headquarters showed what to expect “if we allow the impression to continue gaining ground that international workers are a soft and cost-free target”.
“Impunity for those who commit such unpardonable crimes cannot stand.” Annan said: “There must be action” through prosecution by states of those responsible for such crimes.
Mexico and the other co-sponsors of the resolution dropped specific mention of the court, whose statutes spell out what a war crime is. But they then faced US objections about defining war crimes, particularly if an aid worker is injured unintentionally.
Diplomats here said underlying debates on the resolution was bitterness among some council members over US position on Iraq as well as on the International Criminal Court, with France and Mexico especially challenging the United States.
