Annan Says U.N. Must Be Ready to Take Military Action if Need Be
- Share via
UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday that the U.N. Security Council cannot sit back and do nothing when gross human rights violations occur.
Annan told the General Assembly session that “massive and systematic violations of human rights . . . should not be allowed to stand.”
He said that without at least the threat of enforcement, no one would take U.N. directives seriously.
“If states bent on criminal behavior know that frontiers are not an absolute defense, if they know that the Security Council will take action to halt crimes against humanity, then they will not embark on such a course of action in expectation of sovereign impunity,” Annan said.
The U.N. recently authorized a military contingent to calm violence in East Timor, where the credibility of the world body was at stake after it organized a vote on independence or autonomy for the territory.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
