The UN Security Council on Tuesday said it is committed to addressing the impact of armed conflicts on civilian populations, particularly the use of rape as a weapon of war.
The council is “gravely concerned” about the lack of protection afforded civilians caught in the crossfire of war, said Michel Duclos of France, reading a presidential statement for the council.
The council also recognizes “the urgent need for providing better physical protection for displaced populations as well as for other vulnerable groups, in particular women and children,” said Duclos.
Jan Egeland, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator who briefed the council on a war’s impact on civilians, said, “Today it is much more dangerous to be a civilian than to be a soldier in most armed conflicts.”
Egeland cited the case of rape victims in Darfur, Sudan who had been put on trial themselves for the sexual assaults commited against them, and who in addition were sometimes abused by police forces.
“This is not the way civilians should be treated,” said Egeland. “This is an affront towards humanity.”
The council called on Secretary General Kofi Annan to come up with recommendations on ways to better address the challenges of protecting civilians in peacekeeping situations and said that, if necessary, it would table a resolution on the issue.
