WORLD ACADEMY OF INFORMATICS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
ISSN : 2278-1315
In September 2001 the Canadian government established an
In 1998, Annan was deeply involved in supporting the
ad-hoc committee to address this balance between state
transition from military to civilian rule in Nigeria. The
sovereignty
and
humanitarian
intervention.
The
following year, he supported the efforts of East Timor to
International Commission on Intervention and State
secure independence from Indonesia. In 2000, he was
Sovereignty published its final report in 2001, which
responsible for certifying Israel 's withdrawal from Lebanon,
focused on not on the right of states to intervene but a
and in 2006, he led talks in New York between the presidents
responsibility to protect populations at risk. The report
of Cameroon and Nigeria which led to a settlement of the
moved beyond the question of military intervention, arguing
dispute between the two countries over the Bakassi peninsula.
that a range of diplomatic and humanitarian actions could
Annan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
also be utilized to protect civilian populations.
disagreed sharply on Iran's nuclear program, on an Iranian
In 2005, Annan included the doctrine of "Responsibility to
exhibition of cartoons mocking the Holocaust, and on the then
Protect" in his report Larger Freedom. When that report was
upcoming International Conference to Review the Global
endorsed by the UN General Assembly, it amounted to the
Vision of the Holocaust, an Iranian Holocaust denial
first formal endorsement by UN Member States of the
conference in 2006. During a visit to Iran instigated by
doctrine of Responsibility to Protect.
continued Iranian uranium enrichment, Annan said "I think
IRAQ
the tragedy of the Holocaust is an undeniable historical fact
In the years after 1998 when UNSCOM was expelled by the
and we should really accept that fact and teach people what
government of Saddam Hussein and during the Iraq
happened in World War II and ensure it is never repeated".
disarmament crisis, in which the United States blamed
Annan supported sending a UN peacekeeping mission to
UNSCOM and former IAEA Director Hans Blix for failing
Darfur, Sudan. He worked with the government of Sudan to
to properly disarm Iraq, former UNSCOM Chief Weapons
accept a transfer of power from the African Union
Inspector Scott Ritter blamed Annan for being slow and
peacekeeping mission to a UN one. Annan also worked with
ineffective in enforcing Security Council resolutions on Iraq
several Arab and Muslim countries on women's rights and
and was overtly submissive to the demands of the Clinton
other topics.
administration for regime removal and inspection of sites,
Beginning in 1998, Annan convened an annual UN "Security
often Presidential palaces, that were not mandated in any
Council Retreat" with the 15 States' representatives of the
resolution and were of questionable intelligence value,
Council. It was held at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF)
severely hampering UNSCOM's ability to co-operate with
Conference Center at the Rockefeller family estate in
the Iraqi government and contributed to their expulsion from
Pocantico Hills, New York, and was sponsored by both the
the country. Ritter also claimed that Annan regularly
RBF and the UN.
interfered with the work of the inspectors and diluted the
LUBBERS SEXUAL-HARASSMENT INVESTIGATION
chain of command by trying to micromanage all of the
In June 2004, Annan was given a copy of the Office of
activities of UNSCOM, which caused intelligence
Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) report on the complaint
processing (and the resulting inspections) to be backed up
brought by four female workers against Ruud Lubbers, UN
and caused confusion with the Iraqis as to who was in
High Commissioner for Refugees, for sexual harassment,
charge and as a result, they generally refused to take orders
abuse of authority, and retaliation. The report also reviewed a
from Ritter or Rolf Ekéus without explicit approval from
long-serving staff member's allegations of sexual harassment
Annan, which could have taken days, if not weeks. He later
and misconduct against Werner Blatter, Director of UNHCR
believed that Annan was oblivious to the fact the Iraqis took
Personnel. The investigation found Lubbers guilty of sexual
advantage of this in order to delay inspections. He claimed
harassment; no mention was made publicly of the other charge
that on one occasion, Annan refused to implement a no-
against a senior official, or two subsequent complaints filed
notice inspection of the SSO headquarters and instead tried
later that year. In the course of the official investigation,
to negotiate access, but the negotiation ended up taking
Lubbers wrote a letter which some considered was a threat to
nearly six weeks, giving the Iraqis more than enough time to
the female worker who had brought the charges. On 15 July
clean out the site.
2004, Annan cleared Lubbers of the accusations, saying they
During the build-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Annan
were not substantial enough legally. The internal UN-OIOS
called on the United States and the United Kingdom not to
report on Lubbers was leaked, and sections accompanied by
invade without the support of the United Nations. In a
an article by Kate Holt were published in a British newspaper.
September 2004 interview on the BBC, when questioned
In February 2005, Lubbers resigned as head of the UN refugee
about the legal authority for the invasion, Annan said he
agency, saying that he wanted to relieve political pressure on
believed it was not in conformity with the UN charter and
Annan.
was illegal.
OIL-FOR-FOOD SCANDAL
OTHER DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES
In December 2004, reports surfaced that the Secretary-
General's son Kojo Annan received payments from the Swiss
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