Vol. 498 No. 4
79 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has considered the concerns expressed by Earthaction in relation to the strengthening of the United Nation's capacity to prevent genocide, aggression and mass murder; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27759/98]
I have taken note of Earthaction's concerns with regard to an effective international response to genocide, aggression and mass murder, and particularly regarding the strengthening of the UN's reaction capacity, and will study the proposals put forward. In this 50th anniversary year of the adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, it is an appropriate moment to assess the overall effectiveness of international efforts and mechanisms aimed at preventing acts of genocide and punishing the perpetrators of such crimes.
Speaking on behalf of the EU member states at a UN debate to mark this anniversary on 2 December last, the Austrian Presidency stated that the adoption of the Genocide Convention was an important first step towards the effective prevention and punishment of war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, it was also noted that, despite this basic framework of human rights and humanitarian law, "the world continues to witness massive violations of human rights, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. From Cambodia to the Balkans and the Great Lakes region in Africa, the international community has often failed to prevent and stop such acts".
In this context, recent efforts to prosecute and try perpetrators of such crimes are encouraging — in this regard, I might mention the ad-hoc tribunals set up to deal with the outrageous crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, as well as the agreement reached earlier this year on the establishment of an International Criminal Court. However, we must also examine ways in which the international community can respond more rapidly to developing crises in order to prevent such acts occurring.
In relation to the request to governments to offer troops in a stand-by capacity, I confirm to the House that Ireland signed the UN Standby Arrangements System Memorandum of Understanding on 15 October 1998. This commits 850 Irish troops to the UNSAS; the UN may request deployment of Irish troops as and when a suitable mission arises. While the bulk of the personnel Ireland has committed to UNSAS are already deployed with UN peacekeeping missions, signature of the UNSAS Memorandum underlines Ireland's continued readiness to participate in UN peacekeeping missions.
Ireland strongly believes in an enhanced reaction capacity for the UN to deal with crisis situations and our commitment to UNSAS is a concrete demonstration of our belief. Ireland contributed US$25,000 in 1997 to the trust fund for the establishment of a Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters (RDMHQ) at the UN in
