Egypt welcomes report of int'l committee for humanitarian intervention

The International Committee for Humanitarian Intervention and State Sovereignty recommended the international community interference in cases where states fail to protect citizen against human rights violations.

Announced at a press conference held in the UN Headquarter in New York Tuesday night, the Committee report said interference should be authorized by the UN Security Council, or by the UN General Assembly once the Council would fail to make a decision.

Egyptian Permanent Representative to the UN Ahmad Abul Gheit welcomed the report, saying that humanitarian intervention was one of the most controversial issues in the last few years.

Abul Gheit went on to say that while the developed countries widely welcomed the report, the developing countries were cautious for fear of exploiting the concept of humanitarian intervention to interfere in domestic affairs. Egypt called for discussing this concept publicly to codify the term according to the international law, he added.

The idea was first stimulated in September 1999 when the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan suggested international intervention for humanitarian purposes, without restrictions of state sovereignty.