It is time for the international community to fully recognize the most fundamental human right, the right to life, by international law. Mr. President, Disrespect for democracy and human rights paves the way for crisis and conflict. National sovereignty is firmly coupled with a Government's responsibility to protect and promote human rights of the individual. We cannot idly stand by when people are being brutalized behind national borders. In many armed conflicts, deliberate terror directed against civilians is used to create fear.
Women suffer from violence and rape.
Children are denied their dignity and childhood when forced to become soldiers. Men arc imprisoned in concentration camps, forced to take sides - or killed. Lives and families are ruined, and the perpetrators often go unpunished. Kosovo and Sierra Leone are but a few examples. Strengthening international law and humanitarian law does increase the protection of the individual.