Military

DATE=04/07/2004

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=RWANDA/ANNAN (L-Only)

NUMBER=2-314845

BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed a five-part action plan to help prevent genocide, during a ceremony in Geneva to mark the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.

TEXT: In an emotional speech, Secretary-General Annan spoke of the collective failure of the international community to protect at least 800-thousand defenseless men, women and children who perished in Rwanda 10 years ago.

/// ANNAN ACT ///

If there is one legacy I would most wish to leave to my successors, it is an organization both better equipped to prevent genocide, and able to act decisively to stop it when prevention fails.

/// END ACT ///

To that end, Mr. Annan proposed a plan for preventing genocide. He said it is essential to protect civilians during armed conflicts, to end impunity for the perpetrators of war crimes and to create an early warning system.

He said he would be appointing a special adviser on the prevention of genocide, who would collect information on potential threats of genocide, and alert the U-N system of impending danger.

/// 2ND ANNAN ACT ///

That brings me to my fifth and final heading of the action plan . which is the need for swift and decisive action when, despite all our efforts, we learn that genocide is happening, or about to happen. . By action in such situations, I mean a continuum of steps, which may include military action. But, the latter should always be seen as an extreme measure, to be used only in extreme cases.

/// END ACT ///

The secretary general said he is particularly concerned about the rapidly deteriorating situation in the western Sudanese province of Darfur. He said the United Nations would investigate the alleged atrocities being committed there, and would seek ways to assist the victims.

Mr. Annan is among many international officials who have come under criticism for not doing more to prevent the Rwandan genocide in 1994. At the time, he was in charge of U-N peacekeeping operations.

At the Geneva ceremony, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide spoke about the indescribable grief he and others experienced, when so many people died, as the international community looked on.

/// UWANYIRIGIRA ACT IN FRENCH, ESTAB AND UNDER ///

The survivor, Claudien Uwanyirigira, said those who lived through the killing wonder what they did to suffer such atrocities. He asked what Rwandans could have done to avoid this calamity, and he questioned how it was possible that the victims' neighbors and friends could turn into executioners. He ended his short discourse with those questions hanging in the air. (SIGNED)

NEB/LS/AWP/TW/MEM