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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 October 1999 Issue No. 450 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 October 1999 Issue No. 450
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Interview Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A thin line that should not be crossed
By Dina EzzatWhat does Egypt make of a recent proposition put out by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan suggesting that the UN Security Council should be given the right to intervene in the national policies of countries in cases of serious breaches of human rights? And, are the promotion of human rights and the maintenance of state sovereignty necessarily contradicting? These were the two main questions which Foreign Minister Amr Moussa tried to provide an answer for through a speech that he made before the Arab seminar on the Role of the Media in Promoting Human Rights late last week.
The message put across by Moussa's speech was clear: human rights should be respected and promoted, but so should the sovereignty of the independent states.
Also, the foreign minister was clear in expressing unease about a statement in the secretary-general's report that read, "State sovereignty in its most basic sense is being redefined by the forces of globalisation and international cooperation."
Indeed, said Moussa, "the concepts of humanity could not substitute for the concepts of sovereignty."
The foreign minister said this while admitting that the UN secretary-general's proposition did not, as such, constitute an open invitation for UN intervention in the affairs of independent sovereign states.
Addressing the case of Kosovo, to which the UN secretary-general had referred in arguing his case for humanitarian-based intervention, Moussa said that as saddening as it was, Kosovo is not the only example of shattering human tragedy -- since there were similar recent experiences in Rwanda and Cambodia -- but it was the case where NATO chose to intervene.
Asked by one of the participants if he was categorically rejecting the concepts of Annan, Moussa answered that, while insisting on the need to respect the sovereignty of independent states, he "would not want to immediately formulate a stance on these propositions". He explained that these are "long term propositions that I would not want to respond to right away". According to the foreign minister, these propositions should be subjected to lengthy debate, in which civil society should be engaged.
"Despite the scepticism reflected in my speech regarding this proposition, I have not as yet decided to reject what is being proposed. There is no use in reacting irrationally... we have to realise that the much-talked-about new world order is now taking shape... the [negative aspects of] this new world order cannot be faced through rhetoric... what we need to do is to carefully examine what we are offered... we need to deliberate with like-minded states... we need to make an educated response," said Moussa.
And, as Moussa explained, this proposition "does not represent the point of view of the UN secretary-general only". This proposition, he argued, also reflects the point of view of the developed countries and it is attributed, to a great extent, to globalisation and its political and economic consequences.
In any case, the foreign minister insisted that the world in its entirety, and not only a handful of countries, should decide what it wants to do with the proposed ideas and the future of international efforts to protect and promote human rights away from all double standards.
In keeping with this line, Egypt suggested that the UN secretary-general and the president of the General Assembly should form a committee to deliberate and better formulate the proposition related to the concept of intervention on the basis of dire human needs.
Moussa was also critical of the fact that some countries were trying to use the concept of human rights as a tool to sustain their trade and economic interests on the international level. "It is not possible to accept the conditional nature that is being proposed about the relation between human rights and development, since [in this relation] some countries are playing both the arbiter and opponent at the same time."
So, while admitting the many and increasing challenges that civil society in the Arab world has to deal with, Moussa was also drawing the attention of Arab human rights activists to the fact that the thin line between international promotion of human rights and international violation of the sovereignty of independent states might be crossed.
