Saturday, April 8, 2000,

NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT CONCERNED OVER UNIPOLAR WORLD

By Tadeo Martnez

The following article describes the conference of the Non-Aligned Movement

in which the ICC was discussed: "The statute for the creation of an

International Criminal Court to try war crimes and genocide, agreed in

Rome in 1998, was an important stride forward, and is to be finetuned by a

committee that will submit a report to the U.N. general assembly in

September, added Fernndez de Soto [...] National laws must also be brought

into line with the statute for the International Criminal Court, 'which

contemplates, for example, life sentences, which many countries prohibit.'"

Full text below.

Colombian President Andrs Pastrana called for a new world order inspired

by human rights and peaceful solutions to conflicts, at the 13th ministerial conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which opened today in the resort city of Cartagena.

Pastrana stressed the rights of NAM members to participate equally in

defining a global order that reflects the interests of developing countries.

The president expressed his concern over the tendency towards a unipolar

world led by the United States, and over international interventions staged

without the approval of the United Nations Security Council.

Around 50 foreign ministers and 100 delegations are attending the two-day

conference, as well as representatives of observer countries and

international institutions like the Red Cross, U.N. agencies and the

Organization for Solidarity with the Peoples of Asia and Africa.

U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, Curtis Kamman, is attending the gathering as a

guest.

The aim of the conference is to hammer out a common position between the

more than 130 non-aligned countries with a view towards the U.N. General

Assembly session to start in September, said Colombian Foreign Minister

Guillermo Fernndez de Soto.

Among NAM's chief concerns are the arms race, trafficking of weapons,

globalization, trade, efforts against the drug trade and humanitarian

assistance, said Fernndez de Soto.

Other issues on the ministers' agenda are the conflict between India and

Pakistan, two founding members of NAM, disaster prevention, the human

rights system and humanitarian intervention.

The foreign minister pointed to the new tendency in human rights, by which

states as well as people or groups are held responsible for committing

crimes like genocide.

The statute for the creation of an International Criminal Court to try war

crimes and genocide, agreed in Rome in 1998, was an important stride

forward, and is to be finetuned by a committee that will submit a report to

the U.N. general assembly in September, added Fernndez de Soto.

Concerns regarding international humanitarian interventions in countries at

war will also be discussed at the U.N. General Assembly, he said, adding

that the Colombian government would propose prevention mechanisms aimed at

avoiding military solutions that "tend to be more costly."

"Any humanitarian intervention should be carried out in the framework of

the principles of the U.N. charter," he added.

National laws must also be brought into line with the statute for the

International Criminal Court, "which contemplates, for example, life

sentences, which many countries prohibit."

Fernndez de Soto denied reports that the ministers would discuss the case

of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. "Particular cases are not

included on the agenda, and in a meeting in which more than 100 states are

taking part, differences in viewpoints and positions must be taken into

account," he explained.