UN General Assembly
2008

strongly advocate the strengthening of the Secretariat’s mediation capacities. The mediation efforts in Kenya, for instance, have demonstrated that this form of conflict prevention can work. That brings me to the subjects of the responsibility to protect and of prevention of genocide. Switzerland welcomes the fact that these subjects have been institutionally anchored more firmly within the United Nations. The concept of the responsibility to protect was recognized in September 2005 in the framework of the World Summit. It is obvious that the operational implementation of the concept can only be realized progressively. Nevertheless, Switzerland will commit to ensuring that the concept is not partially assimilated into that of humanitarian intervention, thereby calling into question the consensus achieved in 2005. Justice is necessary for building lasting peace. In other words, peace and impunity are incompatible in the long term. The arrest and extradition of Charles Taylor and Radovan Karadzic to The Hague have once again confirmed the importance of international criminal justice. Alleged war criminals must not be allowed to live in serenity. They must answer for their