Moeen Qureshi, co-chairman of the UNA-USA sponsored International Task Force on UN Security Council Resolutions.

• Author: Rutsch, Horst
• Position: The Chronicle Interview - Includes related articles - Interview

In its Final Report, the Task Force you co-chaired argues for a better use of enforcement in Security Council resolutions. What kind of enforcement machinery is the Report recommending?

The main focus of the Report is on enforcement measures under Chapter VII and the kind of machinery the Security Council needs in order to be able to improve and strengthen the enforcement machinery. There are three other major areas of concern to the Task Force: the sanctions regime; the use of military force; and regional arrangements. These are the areas in which the Report has a number of things to say. We also talk about joint initiatives between the Council and possible regional and sub-regional arrangements that might be taken under Chapters VI, VII or VIII.

We are not at all suggesting that the only thing that is important is to strengthen the enforcement machinery under Chapter VII. The Report says that a high priority should be assigned to "strengthening the capacity of the United Nations for early warning and preventive diplomacy, so that fewer conflicts will reach the point at which enforcement action by the Security Council is required to maintain international peace and security." Nevertheless, we feel that the role of the Security Council, which is really the primary body that has been entrusted under the Charter with the legal authority to mandate enforcement actions, should be the focus of the Report, so that we could deal with this one particular issue with some specificity.

The first point we make is on how to improve the decision-making capabilities of the Council. What we have suggested, in the situation of a conflict, is that the mandate that the Council gives in order to resolve a conflict should be clear, consistent, specific and unambiguous. Now, that is easier said than done. What we are recommending is that the Council should have at its disposal absolutely first-rate, worldclass advice from experts in a number of disciplines and professions, in order to be able to undertake this charge. We have also suggested that, under Chapter VII resolutions, the Council should include a very specific operational plan, indicating how that mandate is to be carried out. And it should undertake the steps to set up the procedures on how it is going to provide oversight, to make sure that the implementation is done in accord with the actual mandate of the resolution.

In terms of trying to achieve clear mandates, we have pointed out two directions in which further actions need to be taken. One is the broadening and intensification of the consultation machinery; and the second is underpinning the Security Council with an information and analysis team that can provide both evaluation and intelligence capabilities. We recognize very clearly that the United Nations Secretary-General has already been moving in both these directions, initiating a broadening of the consultation procedure, both with Governments, as well as with non-governmental agencies. There has not been a lack of awareness of this particular problem; but we do feel that whatever is being done in that particular area needs to be regularized.

At the present time, Security Council members do not have at their disposal the same level of information. They are not "reading off the same brief" in arriving at decisions. This may reflect divergent interests, but, nonetheless, Council members should have access to the same kind of intelligence and evaluation. The permanent members, in most cases, have their own independent sources of information and intelligence. We have suggested that they should be more forthcoming in sharing that information with the non-permanent members of the Council. This information, in many cases, is considered to be very confidential and sensitive information. In that connection, we have suggested that the Secretary General review how the United Nations is to handle sensitive information and make it available to the other members of the Council. These are, if you wish, efforts aimed at strengthening the decision-making capabilities of the Council.

I would just...