19 June 2003
LEGAL AND RIGHTS EXPERTS DRAW UP DRAFT LAWS FOR POST CONFLICT SITUATIONS
Legal and
human rights experts meeting in Geneva have presented acting
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan with
groundbreaking draft legislation for use in post-conflict justice systems.
Speaking
on 18 June at the conclusion of a three-day conference in Geneva
attended by 80 eminent judges, prosecutors, defenders, human rights experts
and academics, Mr. Ramcharan said the draft legislation "represents
a point
of departure and the creation of an essential instrument that will be
of
immense use in the promotion of the rule of law and respect for human
rights as societies emerge from conflict".
"Promptly
establishing an effective system of justice is essential to
securing the peace and ensuring the free exercise of rights", he
continued. "This package, which integrates the lessons of numerous
transitions in recent years, will make that goal more readily achievable."
The project
gives life to a recommendation in a report to the United
Nations Secretary General prepared in 2000, under the direction of Lakhdar
Brahimi, on the reform of UN peacekeeping operations.
The heart
of the project is a Penal Code and a Code of Criminal Procedure,
designed to be used by peace support missions as they attempt to restore
peace and order. Model statutes dealing with police powers and detention
also form part of the materials, which
are the culmination of an 18-month effort.
"These
codes represent a tool kit to be used on the ground in the difficult
post-war environment, and will necessarily be adapted depending upon the
specific circumstances," said Neil Kritz, director of the Rule of
Law
Program at the United States Institute of Peace, which sponsored the
meeting. "They will be a valuable point of reference for both local
authorities and international peacekeeping missions."
A rich body
of experience in Kosovo, East Timor, Cambodia, Sierra Leone
Haiti and other post-conflict situations forms the basis of the work.
The
participants, from 24 countries, represented an enormous reservoir of
practical knowledge in the implementation of post-conflict justice in
such
situations.
The meeting
was held in partnership with the Irish Centre for Human Rights,
which has coordinated the preparation of the draft codes, and the Office
of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and was a component of the larger
programme on peacekeeping and the administration of justice organized
by
the United States Institute of Peace.
For more
information, please contact David Marshall, Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, tel. +41 22 917 9732, dmarshall@ohchr.org.