Put justice before vengeance, Deiss tells US

The Human Rights Commission session took place in the UN's Geneva headquarters Keystone Archive

The Swiss foreign minister, Joseph Deiss, says the "war on terrorism" must be carried out according to international humanitarian law.

In a surprisingly forceful speech to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Deiss called for “unilateral vengeance” to be replaced by “universal justice”.

Switzerland has been among those countries demanding that Washington apply the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of prisoners of war to al-Qaeda and Taliban captives being held at Guantanamo Bay.

“Law must respond to force; reason must respond to murderous madness,” the Swiss minister said in reference to the response to the events of September 11.

He described terrorism as the “abject negation of human dignity”.

Respect for rules

But that was all the more reason, he added, to respect humanitarian principles when combating it. To be credible and to fulfil the declared objectives, the response to terrorism “must be carried out within the universal rules that protect the human person”.

“These rules must never become the indirect victims of terrorism,” Deiss said.

He said a country’s progress in respecting human rights should be measured by the extent to which it protects the weak and marginalized – including those who have committed crimes.

“This is especially true in times of war, when international humanitarian law is applicable in all circumstances,” he said, pointing out that the Geneva Conventions were not a theoretical ideal, but the minimum expected of a combatant.

Human dignity

“Parties to armed conflicts, wherever they are, must never cease to recognise human dignity – even in the enemy,” Deiss added.

He said it was “illegitimate and dangerous to invoke reasons of security to challenge the rules of international law” – a comment directed not only at the Americans, but also Israel.

Deiss recalled that a conference in Geneva in December on the application of the Fourth Geneva Convention in the Palestinian territories had reminded all parties to the conflict – but specifically the “occupying power” – to respect international humanitarian law. The Fourth Geneva Convention covers the protection of civilians in wartime or during military occupation.

“A just and lasting peace, which will bring security and economic development for all, will come through an end to the occupation,” he added.

The US was one of three countries Deiss singled out – China and Saudi Arabia were the others – when he called for a universal abolition of the death penalty, which he described as a “punishment from another age”.

He said he was appealing to these three states because of the number of executions they carry out and because of their size.

Tibet

In a bold move, Deiss also criticised China’s failure to adequately respect religious and cultural freedoms and to guarantee fair trials. He called for “an adequate form of self-determination within China” for Tibet.

He told the Chinese leadership that “pro-independence yearnings would be fewer if human rights were respected”.

Russia, too, was singled out. Deiss acknowledged the efforts made by Moscow, but said he was still “very concerned” by the situation in Chechnya.

“Light must be shed on the exactions committed during so-called cleansing operations, especially extra-judicial executions,” he said, calling for the Russian authorities to cooperate with the UN special rapporteur in this matter.

by Roy Probert