Terrorist attacks on US galvanized UN response, Annan says in annual report

The terrorist attacks perpetrated against the United States one year ago today galvanized international action in response to the menace, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his annual report on the UN's work.

"In the past year, the Organization intensified its work in the fight against terrorism," Mr. Annan writes, recalling the Security Council's historic resolution, adopted shortly after the attacks, obliging all States to suppress and prevent terrorism and setting up a committee to ensure their compliance. Other UN activities included efforts to promote the ratification and implementation of the 12 universal legal instruments against terrorism.

While voicing his firm belief that the terrorist menace must be suppressed, the Secretary-General underscores the need to ensure that counter-terrorist measures do not violate human rights.

The past year also saw renewed attention to the challenge of reconstructing weak or collapsed States, like Afghanistan, which provide fertile breeding grounds for terrorism, he points out. At the same time, there has been a sharp escalation of violence and tension in the Middle East, in South Asia, and in central Africa.

Highlighting positive developments on the international scene, Mr. Annan observes that East Timor gained its independence, while Sierra Leone held elections. In the arena of development, recent international conferences outlined steps that can help to meet the goals set by the UN's 2000 Millennium Assembly.

The report also hails the entry into force of the Statute of the International Criminal Court as "an unprecedented step forward for world order and justice." The Secretary-General says he remains optimistic that even governments which are sceptical about the Court "have not fully closed the door to accepting the Rome Statute." He also emphasizes the need to understand "that the risks posed by the Court and its Statute are minor compared to inaction in the face of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity."

Problems such as terrorism, mass refugee movements, HIV/AIDS, overpopulation, environmental degradation and pollution transcend national borders, and require international solutions, Mr. Annan notes. Given the need for a multilateral response, the UN, although imperfect, is uniquely well-placed to deal with critical global problems that require the collective resources and cooperation of all countries.

"The choice before us is clear," he says. "We can continue to increase our efforts to achieve international order and justice through negotiation and consensus, or we can return to an earlier age when conflicts of interest between States were resolved by other means."