YouSaid · the spoken record

Van Walsum

lines on the record: 588
first: 1999-01-21
most recent: 2000-12-12
sittings or episodes: 88
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I would like to comment briefly on the statement of the speaker before me. The present conflict will one day come to an end, but if Serbia wants to be part of Europe it will at last have to start realizing why it has been subjected to NATO air strikes. One day the Serbian people will have to understand that our intervention on account of the atrocities committed by the Serbian security forces and the Yugoslav army in Kosovo would probably not have been possible if it had not been preceded by almost eight years of ethnic cleansing, carried out in the name of the Serbian nation, first in the Krajina in East Slavonia, then in Bosnia and finally in its ultimate form in Kosovo. Were it not for our accumulated disgust at this practice, we might not have had the courage to act.”
1999-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4003 (1999) · source
“We accept our share of responsibility for the tragic events that are occurring in this conflict, but we totally reject any suggestion of equivalence or even comparison between the accidental casualties caused by our air strikes and the systematic killings, executions, rape, physical abuse, intimidation, harassment and burning of houses, for which the regime in Belgrade must assume full responsibility.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“Ogata, has confirmed that last year more than a quarter of all asylum requests in Europe were made by people from Kosovo and that up to 23 March her Office was providing assistance to 400,000 people displaced or otherwise affected by fighting inside the province and to 90,000 refugees and displaced people outside Kosovo. It is true that here are many more refugees today, but no civilized Government could have foreseen the scope, the meticulous preparation and the sheer ferocity of Belgrade's determination to drive out the ethnic Albanians. We cannot be held responsible for the fact that Mr. Milosevic seized this opportunity to accelerate and try to complete his final solution to the Kosovo problem.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“As the Embassy was not deliberately targeted, the accident cannot be regarded as a Violation of diplomatic immunity, let alone as an attack on the integrity of the country concerned. All collateral damage is regrettable, and it is a deeply disturbing thought that air strikes in which my country participates have led to loss of life among innocent civilians. It is equally disturbing to realize that Belgrade's ethnic cleansing of Kosovo, which was already well under way by 23 March, has enormously accelerated and intensified since our air strikes began. Yet we do not waver in our conviction that we had no choice but to launch these air strikes after Mr. Milosevic had continued to ignore the Security Council's demands contained in its resolutions of 23 September and 24 October 1998. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mrs.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“As the representative of a country that participates in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, I join the delegation of the United States in expressing our deep regret about the incident involving the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, likewise on the assumption that the incident will be confirmed to have been caused by NATO action. Collateral damage is damage caused by bombs or missiles that have gone astray. It is always deplorable, and it is especially disturbing if it entails loss of life among innocent civilians. It is, however, by definition, accidental and not intentional. Accordingly, collateral damage to an embassy building is not essentially different from other collateral damage.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“If the Security Council should now demand an immediate cessation of the NATO action, it would once again - and once again at the initiative of Russia - give the wrong signal to President Milosevic, leading to a further prolongation of the bloodshed in Kosovo. It is for this reason that the Netherlands will vote against the draft resolution before us.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“Since then, however, at every critical juncture Russia has somehow succeeded in making the pressure less credible, so that in the end NATO had no choice but to make good on its threat, which was initially meant to bring about a peaceful solution to the Kosovo crisis. It is legitimate to make a threat hoping that it need never be carried out, but ultimately one must also be prepared to bring a threat into effect. The alternative, which we could not seriously contemplate, would have been to sit back and simply let the humanitarian catastrophe occur. The NATO action, in which we are participating, follows directly from resolution 1203 (1998), in conjunction with the flagrant non-compliance on the part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Given its complex background, we cannot allow it to be described as unilateral use of force.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“It endorsed and supported the agreements signed in Belgrade between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) respectively, and demanded the full and prompt implementation of these agreements by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Being aware of its strong commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, we were grateful to Russia for having contributed to this pressure being brought to bear on the Yugoslav leadership.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“Just over five months ago, the adoption of Security Council resolution 1203 (1998) was greeted with relief in the Netherlands, because it was felt that with all the pressure applied on Belgrade in that resolution, it should at last be possible to make President Milosevic see reason and accept a peaceful solution to the problem of Kosovo. The resolution clearly stated that the Security Council was acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. In the resolution, the Security Council expressed its deep alarm at the impending humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo, emphasizing the need to keep this from happening.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“The Netherlands feels that this is such a time. Allow me further to refer to the statement issued by the European Council in Berlin on behalf of the European Union. The Permanent Representative of Germany will later draw the Council's attention to that statement.”
1999-03-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3988 (1999) · source
“The Netherlands has been deeply involved in the events in the former Yugoslavia ever since the beginning of the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. In spite of this, we have accepted a situation in which the leading role was played by a Contact Group of which Russia is an important member. Our acceptance of this arrangement was always based on the assumption that Russia had so much influence in Belgrade that it could persuade President Milosevic to accept a reasonable solution. The present state of affairs should convince every delegation that with regard to the problem of Kosovo, the diplomatic means of finding a solution are now exhausted. As stated by the Secretary-General, diplomacy has failed, but there are times when the use of force may be legitimate in the pursuit of peace.”
1999-03-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3988 (1999) · source
“It goes without saying that a country - or an alliance - which is compelled to take up arms to avert such a humanitarian catastrophe would always prefer to be able to base its action on a specific Security Council resolution. The Secretary-General is right when he observes in his press statement that the Council should be involved in any decision to resort to the use of force. If, however, due to one or two permanent members' rigid interpretation of the concept of domestic jurisdiction, such a resolution is not attainable, we cannot sit back and simply let the humanitarian catastrophe occur. In such a situation we will act on the legal basis we have available, and what we have available in this case is more than adequate.”
1999-03-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3988 (1999) · source
“We have participated in and assumed responsibility for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) decision because there was no other solution. As for the Netherlands, this decision was not taken lightly; it was taken with conviction. Responsibility for the NATO action lies squarely with President Milosevic. He is responsible for the large-scale violations of the October agreements with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and NATO. It is President Milosevic's recourse to violence in Kosovo that has finally convinced us that the impending humanitarian catastrophe, at which the Council expressed its alarm in its resolutions of September and October, could not be averted by peaceful means. In some capitals, our determination to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo has apparently been underestimated.”
1999-03-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3988 (1999) · source
“We trust that a more active involvement of the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity will further the cause of peace. The Netherlands is prepared to support the negotiations between the parties to the conflict and the national dialogue in an appropriate way. Ultimately, an international conference on peace and security in the Great Lakes region should bring about a durable peace in that region. We should like to reiterate our view that the illegal flow of arms is one of the root causes of conflicts in the region. Peacemaking makes no sense if the international community cannot address this problem more effectively.”
1999-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3987 (1999) · source
“As for the internal situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a political dialogue, with the participation of all parties in Congolese society, must be launched without delay. The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo should take up its responsibility in this regard. The Netherlands expresses the hope that the Government's announcement of a national debate on a new constitution will pave the way for further democratization of the country. The scope of the crisis and the inherent risk of further escalation require that the international community involve itself and facilitate the process of peace in every possible way. Some of the groundwork for such a process has already been laid in regional efforts.”
1999-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3987 (1999) · source
“Widespread Violations of human rights on both sides and the collapse of the economy are plunging ever more inhabitants of the Democratic Republic of the Congo into misery. We are convinced that a structural political solution can be found only through a process of negotiations. We call on President Kabila to enter forthwith into a dialogue with all parties involved in the conflict. The success of these negotiations depends on the political will of all sides to confront the key issues, in a common endeavour. Respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity is one of those key issues at stake here. Respect for the legitimate security concerns of the countries neighbouring the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the east is another.”
1999-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3987 (1999) · source
“The Netherlands is deeply concerned about the further deterioration of the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We therefore welcome the opportunity to address this question in an open debate of the Security Council. It goes without saying that we associate ourselves entirely with the position of the European Union, as it will later be expressed by the German Presidency. It is particularly worrying that, after a promising start, the peace process has reached an impasse. We must collectively find a way out of this impasse before the conflict develops into a full-scale war of unforeseeable proportions. It is not only the fighting itself that demands our immediate attention.”
1999-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3987 (1999) · source
“They are in desperate need of aid and relief. We call, therefore, upon both parties to cooperate fully with the humanitarian organizations and to allow them to reach these victims without any hindrance.”
1999-03-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3986 (1999) · source
“The Netherlands welcomes the signals from both sides which seem to indicate an interest in pursuing such a dialogue. We urge the parties to enter into talks without delay. We further wish to commend the efforts of ECOMOG, and in particular the countries that contribute to its present strength, for their perseverance in creating conditions for a peaceful settlement. It should be clear that these troop-contributing countries do not stand alone. They deserve our strong support. In the case of the Netherlands, this support has so far consisted of $4 million for the ECOMOG operations plus $2 million for humanitarian assistance. Meanwhile, let us not lose sight of the real victims of the conflict: the thousands of innocent civilians killed, wounded or maimed for life, who deserve more than just our compassion.”
1999-03-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3986 (1999) · source
“I join previous speakers, as well as yourself, Mr. President, in expressing my country's sadness at the passing of His Highness Shaikh Isa, Amir of Bahrain. The Netherlands will vote in favour of the draft resolution on Sierra Leone, which enables the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) to continue to play its key role in the peace process, in tandem with the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) to restore peace and security in Sierra Leone. The situation in that country continues to be volatile. Accordingly, a credible military presence should be maintained in order to allow the parties involved - Government and rebels alike - to use the present window of opportunity to enter into a dialogue and work towards a peaceful solution.”
1999-03-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3986 (1999) · source
“After all, the opening words of the Charter do not refer to sovereign States but to the peoples of the United Nations. It must be the peoples who are entitled to the protection we are discussing today. Nothing contained in the United Nations Charter authorizes a State to terrorize its own citizens.”
1999-02-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3977 (1999) · source
“In all internal conflicts - leaving aside the extreme contingency that a State has ceased to exist - we are faced with a recognized, sovereign State on the one hand and a rebel movement or insurgency on the other. We cannot hope to promote respect for humanitarian law in what common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions calls "armed conflict not of an international character" if we do not allow ourselves to establish contact with the non-State party. The problem becomes even more intractable when the recognized, sovereign State is itself the terrorizing party. The Netherlands disagrees with those who believe that even then Article 2, paragraph 7, of the United Nations Charter provides us with the ultimate answer. That article should never be read in isolation.”
1999-02-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3977 (1999) · source
“At times a warring party may be tempted to obstruct a relief operation if it considers it predominantly beneficial to the other party. Relief agencies will be able to deal with such situations only if their operational decisions are based on a sound and transparent set of humanitarian principles. This is what is meant by principled programming, and it is our view that in the context of a strategic framework the Security Council may legitimately ask for it to be applied by all humanitarian actors. If we want to salvage anything of the concept of the law of war in this modern age, when most wars are internal conflicts, we must finally find a solution to the problem of maintaining contact with both warring parties.”
1999-02-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3977 (1999) · source
“The Security Council certainly would not wish to interfere with the work of other members of the United Nations family, but it could take the initiative in requesting the establishment of a strategic framework to guide the work of the various United Nations organs in complex emergencies. Although the peaceful resolution of any conflict will always be the ultimate goal, protection of civilians should be one of the pre-eminent short-term aims of such a strategic framework. Although one might argue that this approaches the limit of the Security Council's competence, we could urge the humanitarian relief agencies to apply principled programming so as to preserve the credibility of their humanitarian activities. It is clear that relief agencies depend on the parties in the conflict to reach the victims they want to help.”
1999-02-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3977 (1999) · source
“One thing the Security Council can and should do is to keep drawing special attention to the problem of security for humanitarian workers, not because humanitarian workers deserve more protection than the people they are supposed to protect, but because attacks on them put the whole concept of humanitarian assistance in jeopardy. We have seen in Angola how two attacks on aircraft carrying humanitarian workers have almost succeeded in bringing the United Nations presence in that country to a halt. In addition, the Security Council could see to it that for every United Nations-led intervention a clear mandate is drawn up. Whenever Chapter VI or Chapter VII operations are planned, the need for civilian protection should be given a prominent place in a specific mandate.”
1999-02-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3977 (1999) · source
“Law of war, like international law in general, is, of course, never complete, and many studies and seminars are devoted to its further development. The Security Council, however, should not try to add more documents to the already impressive list of available texts. It should be our aim to obtain a wider acceptance of existing legal instruments, to promote a strict application of their provisions, to bring about an early entry into force of the International Criminal Court, and most of all to identify feasible, practical steps that by their nature lend themselves to being taken by this Council rather than by other organs, bodies or agencies.”
1999-02-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3977 (1999) · source
“What makes it difficult to continue to believe that we are in the process of gradually alleviating and restraining the horrors of war is the fact that two important distinctions seem to be simultaneously vanishing: that between international wars and civil wars, and that between combatants and non-combatants. Of all the armed conflicts currently being discussed in the Security Council, only one is a war between two States, and it is generally estimated that more than 75 per cent of the casualties produced by a modern armed conflict are civilians. If this trend continues, the law of war will slowly cease to play its regulatory role, and we will witness a return to the days when war was a phenomenon of unmitigated barbarity. This is not due to a lack of legal instruments.”
1999-02-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3977 (1999) · source
“The modern concept of the law of war - the notion that war is not a total surrender to barbarity, but that certain norms of behaviour continue to apply even after the outbreak of hostilities - is also closely linked with the Netherlands, thanks to the epochal work of Hugo Grotius, De Jure Belli'ac Pacis (On the Law of War and Peace), published in 1625. These norms of behaviour under conditions of armed conflict are the subject of our open briefing today. As we approach the end of the twentieth century, we are disturbed to find that there is little left of the relative optimism which prevailed at the Hague Peace Conference a century ago.”
1999-02-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3977 (1999) · source
“It also accepted three declarations: one prohibiting the use of asphyxiating gases, another prohibiting the use of dumdum bullets and a third one prohibiting the discharge of projectiles or explosives from balloons. Its most important achievement, however, was that it was generally seen as the first in a series of peace conferences which would gradually eliminate the scourge of war. The second Hague Peace Conference was held in 1907, and the third was planned for 1915. The latter failed to meet, due to the outbreak of the First World War, but the rhythm of the Hague Peace Conferences provided the impulse for the subsequent creation of the League of Nations, the forerunner of our present United Nations.”
1999-02-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3977 (1999) · source
“Like speakers before me, I would like to commend you, Mr. President, and your delegation for organizing this briefing on a very important, specific aspect of the concept of human security, to which you are so personally committed. We would also like to thank the three briefers, who have provided us with a large number of new ideas. Just over 100 years ago, on 11 January 1899, the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Count Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov, dispatched a circular to all independent States, convening what was to become known as the first Hague Peace Conference. Although the Conference, which was attended by 26 States, failed to achieve its primary objective - the limitation of armaments - it did adopt a number of conventions relating to war on land and sea.”
1999-02-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3977 (1999) · source
“The Netherlands congratulates OCHA in general and Mr. Vieira de Mello in particular on the progress achieved so far. We will continue to support the important humanitarian work of this Office and look forward to close cooperation in future.”
1999-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3968 (1999) · source
“In this framework, the Netherlands and the Russian Federation will organize commemorative and seminar sessions in May and June in The Hague and St. Petersburg, respectively, in accordance with the relevant General Assembly resolutions. The Secretary-General of the United Nations will attend part of these events. The non-governmental organization community will also hold a major event in May in The Hague on the subject of peace as a human right. It is important to address the deficiencies in several areas of the law, and a number of highly respected international lawyers are in the process of preparing reports which will serve as the basis for discussions in The Hague and St. Petersburg with a view to reporting and suggesting recommendations for progress in the new millennium to the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly.”
1999-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3968 (1999) · source
“One example would be that the International Humanitarian Fact-finding Commission, pursuant to article 90 of the First Additional Protocol to the 1949 Geneva Convention, would be systematically called in whenever a breach of humanitarian principles is reported. As the representative of the country that a century ago hosted the Hague Peace Conference, I should like to conclude by briefly commenting on the centennial of that event. This centennial, together with the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions at the end of the Decade of International Law, provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the item we are discussing today. It is important in this respect to note also that the Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration will celebrate its one-hundredth birthday this year.”
1999-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3968 (1999) · source
“Secondly, we should try to enhance the performance of special representatives of the Secretary-General by facilitating more interface and coordination with special envoys of, for example, the European Union or the United States. Thirdly, we should promote a coherent approach from all United Nations institutions to a given crisis, for example through the establishment of strategic frameworks. Fourthly, we should devise more sophisticated sanctions, with minimum impact on the civilian population and maximum impact on warlords and their assets. Fifthly, we should try to do the same with our military capability, that is, improve procedures to avoid collateral damage involving innocent civilians. And sixthly, we should make better use of existing instruments of international humanitarian law.”
1999-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3968 (1999) · source
“Some progress has been made in this respect, for example the establishment and mandate of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as part of the United Nations reforms and the formulation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/ Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) guidelines on conflict, peace and development cooperation of 1998. But more needs to be done to bring about a truly integrated approach. Allow me to suggest six steps in that direction. First, we should always aim for coherent and adequate decision-making in the Council. The question of the protection of humanitarian workers is a case in point. We cannot expect humanitarian organizations to provide aid without adequate political or military backing.”
1999-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3968 (1999) · source
“Modern communications technology facilitates the dissemination of images of indiscriminate violence to the public at large, which puts pressure on policy makers to do something. What we have learned from the genocide in Rwanda is that humanitarian action cannot serve as a substitute for political action, but it is not easy to put this lesson into practice. Unfortunately, most of our Governments are better at providing humanitarian aid to Victims of violence than at taking political action to prevent such violence from breaking out. There is a growing awareness of the need for a more integrated approach to crises. A coherent set of diplomatic, political and military measures has to be complemented with measures related to economic, humanitarian and development aspects of conflict management.”
1999-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3968 (1999) · source
“This phenomenon is doubly unacceptable, because in addition to threatening the lives of the humanitarian workers concerned it also jeopardizes the whole concept of humanitarian assistance. At this time the Security Council is discussing a situation where this is precisely what is likely to happen. The nature of armed conflict has not fundamentally changed over the past decade. Indiscriminate use of violence, even the intentional targeting of innocent civilians, has characterized many conflicts since the end of the Second World War. What has changed, however, is the quantity. The number of intra-State low- and medium- intensity conflicts has increased substantially over the past 10 years. Another change concerns the impact on public opinion abroad.”
1999-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3968 (1999) · source
“We, too, are grateful to Under-Secretary-General Vieira de Mello for his informative and stimulating briefing. Having spent three weeks on the Security Council this time round, we are struck by the dominant role that humanitarian issues play on the Council's agenda. Almost every subject discussed in the Security Council has a clear humanitarian side to it. It is difficult to imagine a security issue that does not entail human suffering, either as a direct result of armed conflict or indirectly, for innocent civilians, refugees or displaced persons as a consequence of the use of violence. In this connection, the Netherlands is particularly concerned about the growing number of attacks on humanitarian workers.”
1999-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3968 (1999) · source