Let me at the outset express our sincere gratitude to the Prime Minister of Sweden, Mr. Göran Persson, for convening for the fourth time the Stockholm International Forum – an important initiative dedicated to effective prevention by the international community of crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide.

Today, I address you on behalf of Poland – the country whose territory, during the Nazi occupation, was the scene of the most horrible crime in the history of mankind.

Almost six million Jews, three million of them Polish citizens, were brutally murdered in ghettos and death camps; they were shot, gassed and incinerated. Poland was also the place where millions of other innocent victims from all parts of Europe under the rule of the Nazi criminals were exterminated in such infernal places like Auschwitz and Treblinka.

Our conference is however not devoted to the past, but to the present and future.

Condemnation of genocide, its recognition as an international crime and measures for its prevention and punishment have been already incorporated in international law and the practice of the international community.

Its cornerstone is the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1948.
That profound act of international law also has its Polish roots. It would be impossible here to overlook the contribution of Professor Rafa³ Lemkin – a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent, author of the concept of “the crime of genocide” whose personal involvement was instrumental to the drafting of the Convention of 1948.

The Convention against genocide was signed over 50 years ago. Since then, fundamental changes have taken place in the character of the conflicts that result in genocide. Today, the primary threat to security comes not from wars between states, but from intrastate conflicts. Genocide is caused by state violence against its citizens, and – to a degree – by mega-terrorist atrocities.

Our peoples rightly expect universal, strict and unambiguous condemnation of such international crimes. Chapters 6 and 7 of the UN Charter give the international community instruments to take preventive action against genocide. However, the measures contained in the UN Charter were conceived to prevent and resolve conventional conflicts, involving states as adversaries.

The international community does not have effective instruments at its disposal to avert the crime - when it is caused by internal strife. We support therefore the initiative of the Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan to set up a Committee on the Prevention of Genocide by the States Parties of the Genocide Convention as well as to establish a Special Rapporteur who would report directly to the Security Council.

The international community is seeking new solutions to prevent effectively the crimes of genocide and ensure punishment of their perpetrators. One such attempt is the Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty - “The Responsibility to Protect”. The Commission, co-chaired by Gareth Evans and Mohamed Sahnoun, elaborated the relationship between the principles of “state sovereignty” and “non-interference in its internal affairs”– and human rights.

The main question before us is: who and when has the right to intervene militarily in various regions of the world afflicted by internal conflicts or despotic governments who kill their own citizens?

In essence, the problem concerns the effectiveness of the whole UN system and its ability to cope with new challenges and threats. This requires not so much changing structures and institutions, as adapting political and legal norms to the new requirements.

Precisely that intention was behind the Polish initiative at the UN for preparation of a New Political Act for the UN in the 21st century. Poland welcomed the decision of Secretary General Kofi Annan to establish a High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change and has taken concrete steps to ensure success of the Panel’s work. We have conducted broad consultations, assembled materials for the Panel, and are holding a regional conference in Warsaw this May with participation of Panel members.

We strongly believe that the Swedish initiative to convene the Stockholm International Forum should not be considered to have reached its end but should rather be viewed as part of a broader process aiming at the eradication of most serious international crimes.

The international community needs actions to ensure continuity and effectiveness in implementing the goals specified in the draft Declaration that we are going to adopt.