Honorable Mr. Prime Minister,
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Bulgarian Embassy
Stockholm
We are gathered here today to address some of the most acute humanitarian, political and moral concerns of our time – the pervasiveness of mass atrocities, and the responsibilities of the international community to prevent such phenomena from happening ever again. I would like to extend words of gratitude to the Government of Sweden for its initiative to convene this conference, as it gives us the opportunity to re-examine our approaches towards combating mass atrocities, led by our commitment for a better future.

The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted in 1948, like other key international documents, was born out of determination that the world should never again experience genocide. Alas, subsequent events, such as the atrocities in Cambodia and Rwanda, teach us that we need to build up our preventive capacity.

The rationale of prevention has been described very well by the late Anna Lindh, the former Swedish Foreign Minister, and in full respect for her memory, I would like to quote her words in full:

“In all cultures and every society, prevention is something normal. Measures are taken to avert crop destruction by flood or rodents. Cattle are protected from predators. Warning signals are placed at rail crossings, and air traffic is controlled to avoid accidents. Insurance policies are developed in almost all areas of human activity. All this is a result of preventive thinking, based on the assumption that accidents and disasters can be avoided if you think ahead while preparing for the worst… It is high time to transfer and strengthen the sophisticated preventive habits we know so well at home into the field of international security”.

In our efforts to build up a culture of prevention and to transform the existing human rights mechanisms into an effective early warning system, we have – it seems to me - three points to start from:

- Drawing strength from the memory of the victims of genocide, we must reinforce our political will to prevent atrocities like the Holocaust or genocide, or other crimes against humanity from happening again;

- Taking into account that the responsibility for the security and prosperity of the individual lies primarily with the State, we need further concerted actions at inter-governmental level. The fostered synergy in the work of the various international organizations and national actors will help us consolidate our approach and further mainstream and integrate human rights within the work of institutions, strengthen capacities on a national level, facilitate the provision of technical assistance, etc.

- And last but not least – we need awareness raising campaigns to promote democratic principles, good governance, and rule of law. To this aim, we must work together with the structures of the civil society, and foster responsible behavior by the media.

The essential strategies of prevention which we can adopt as complimentary and inter-related include:

- Firstly, social and economic programmes which focus on human development. Atrocities do not suddenly happen. They often start with minor acts of discrimination which lead to the ultimate exclusion. We need a human – centered approach to development which recognizes the importance of individual’s lot;

- Secondly, accountability for atrocities as an indispensable weapon to prevent further human rights violations. Impunity is a curse upon all of us, no matter in which country exactly a perpetrator of atrocities goes free. The setting up of the International Criminal Court was the logical next step following the work done by the Tribunals on Rwanda and former Yugoslavia. The message is clear: Nobody who commits atrocities should expect to get away with it. At the same time, we need to foster – despite the campaigns of terror at times - the normal processes of justice within the countries in post-conflict situations. The road to progress is the road to justice, and it must be that of a genuine respect of human rights, in law and practice.

- Thirdly, capacity building. There are clear linkages between participatory democracies and freedom of atrocities. We need, therefore, functioning democratic institutions and strong civil societies, rule of law and effective justice systems, human rights culture and promotion of tolerance and non-discrimination.

- And fourthly, human rights education and training. The first step in establishing a human rights culture is to know what your rights are. In the past years, we all have been engaged in quite a number of initiatives aimed at tackling this information deficit, but the problem still remains. That is why it is among the priorities of Bulgaria as a Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE in 2004, and in our initiatives within the OSCE we will rely on the support of your respective Governments and Organizations.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Each year, by the votes of our delegations at the UN General Assembly, we confirm the intransient validity of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and its lasting significance as a basic preventive instrument of the international community. Our contribution during this conference will be to identify areas of preventive action where each one of us can make a difference. I have outlined some possibilities, and I know that we need more. We need a change of mind-set. We need to be far more persuasive, when it comes to the value of the preventive approach, as the results do not come easy and may not be visible. But each small step we make in this direction means - atrocities avoided, and human suffering prevented.

Thank you for the attention.