NEW DELHI, Oct 8:
India can play a larger role in protecting civilians all over the world from mass atrocities and crimes against humanity, the head of a UN affiliated body said here today.
“India can play larger role in terms of its obligation to protect populations from mass atrocities, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing,” Bonian Golmohammadi, Secretary-General of the World Federation of United Nations Associations, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on here.
Noting that discussions related to obligations of all states to protect civilians worldwide were taking place mostly in New York, Golmohammadi said the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) initiative was started to expand the debate globally.
“India, as an emerging and influencing power, can play a proactive and constructive role in strengthening and improving the implementation of R2P,” he said.
Suresh Srivastava, Secretary General of Indian Federation of United Nations Associations, which was set up Jawaharlal Nehru in 1960, said India is on the side which aims to protect civilians from mass atrocities.
Golmohammadi said, “Military force should be the last resort. It is the responsibility of every state to prevent crimes within its borders.
“However, when the state fails to prevent atrocities, or is itself responsible for them, what steps should we take? This is the debate we want to bring to India,” he said.
He said governments alone cannot be responsible to decide if and when intervention is necessary.
“We at the WFUNA want civil society members, NGOs and the media to play a more active role when it comes to obligations to protect civilians worldwide,” he said.
The WFUNA head said they have taken the issue to Georgia and Democratic Republic of Congo, and held seminars in China, Venezuela, Kenya before coming to India.
“Recognising the difficulty of situations of mass atrocities such as Syria, we call upon all parties to the United Nations, and in particular the UNSC to take their role in preventing and halting mass violence seriously by seeking a multi-lateral solution to the conflict in a timely and decisive manner,” he said.
Golmohammadi also stressed the need to spread financial burden of the UN more equitably among all member nations so that UN could maintain its own peacekeeping forces which can be used in military intervention in countries like Syria.
He spoke in favour of long-term removal of veto power in the UNSC, saying it has been used less over the past 25 years and should be eventually restricted so that countries cannot use it for vested interests.
He urged key members of UN community, civil society members and government officials to debate on if, when and how it is suitable for the international community to intervene to protect civilians from mass atrocities and to identify the benefits and gaps in the current R2P framework.
R2P is a norm adopted by the UN in 2005 outlining obligations of all states to protect populations from crimes against humanity. (PTI)
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