New York, July 12, 2005

Mr. President,

Let me begin by congratulating you on the assumption of the Presidency of the Security Council, and thanking you for convening this special debate on the role of the Security Council in Humanitarian Crises. In this respect, my delegation would also like to acknowledge the concept paper prepared for this discussion by the Permanent Mission of Greece.

Mr. President,

My delegation would like to state that beyond the Security Council and its immediate purview of the maintenance of peace and security is the wider challenge of confronting the roots of conflict that often lie in the issue of development, or lack of it. It is now common knowledge that both development and security must be pursued together if any progress is to be made in the multilateral context of the United Nations. The lessons that the Security Council has learned in the management of the post-conflict environment therefore, ought to include the need for itself to work coherently with other UN organs and to utilize channels of development to dissuade conflict.

Having said this, let me also state that the issues of conflict, humanitarian crises and post-conflict situations have been the focus of attention of the Security Council for many years. The Council has sometimes responded to such situations by establishing peacekeeping missions. The variety and complexity of United Nations peacekeeping responsibilities of the 1990s have provided ample opportunity for reflection and reassessment of various aspects of the Organization’s humanitarian work.

It is proper, therefore, that the Council has decided, at this time, to undertake a review of its role on this important issue. My delegation shares the view that—in addition to development—the prevention of conflict rests on the extent to which the issues of the rule of law, security reform, and DDR, are adequately and properly addressed.

Mr. President,

Democracy means nothing if it is not well grounded on the rule of law. To that extent, it is of the utmost importance, in the post-conflict phase, that the promotion of the rule of law is made a matter of priority. This should refer to the promotion of respect for and establishment of law and order in general. The lessons learned in many post-conflict situations in recent times may be put to good use here.

It is also important in the rebuilding of justice and the rule of law in a society in transition that adequate recognition be given to differences in national contexts. In this case, strategic planning should be based on national or local realities and not imposing foreign models as clearly pointed out today by the Secretary General in his opening statement.

In the security sector reform, particularly in developing the capability of the national police force, international efforts must follow the important underlying fact that a supportive police service by the national or local community is more capable of upholding law and order as well as addressing insecurity that can have a far-reaching impact on economic, social and political developments.

It is in this context that efforts to sustained peace in post conflict situations should be based on a deep sense of ownership and focus on building the capacity of the local actors. Indeed, it is only through the investment on local participation, ideas and energy that can imbue post-conflict efforts to sustain peace not only by legitimacy, but “building” tools as well.

Mr. President,

With reference to Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration programmes (DDR), my delegation is of the view that such programmes may well be placed in the broader context of the development agenda. In this case, the failure illicit trade in small arms and light weapons will contribute to sustaining criminal economic networks in post-conflict environments, thereby significantly reducing and undermining the strategies and efforts to sustain peace.

DDR programmes, therefore, should always be a key component of peace processes. In view of the fact that former combatants cannot simply be dismissed and asked to return to normal life, since there are no “normal” life for them to return to, a well structured programme based on lessons learned should be put into play, with adjustments for particular situations.

In this regards, we must stress the need for timely, sustained and well-targeted resources at each stage of the peace processes, including DOR programmes, rule of law, and security sector reform. Although high levels of aid do not guarantee success but if they are inadequate, the effort might not be worth it in the first place.

Let me conclude that Indonesia believes that, in providing support for the rebuilding of justice and the rule of law in a transitional society, the international community have a critical role to support conflict prevention as well as the post-conflict peace building processes. However, such a role must be pursued in a supportive and facilitative manner and not substitution. Hence, we must be careful to avoid importing foreign models that may not be of any help to local situations.

I thank you Mr. President.