U.N. Backs Accountability for Attacks on Peacekeepers

New York, June 23 (Jiji Press)–The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday requiring host states to prosecute perpetrators of attacks on U.N. peacekeepers, after seven peacekeepers had been killed in Lebanon since March. The resolution, presented by Denmark and Pakistan, attracted 151 co-sponsors including Japan. Condemning in the strongest terms attacks on U.N. peacekeepers and U.N. facilities, the measure said that host countries must take all necessary steps to investigate violence against them and prosecute those responsible. It also asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint “a senior focal point” to coordinate efforts to ensure accountability for crimes against peacekeepers. In Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has continued in the south since March, seven peacekeepers serving with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, were killed. “(The resolution) sends a clear message: Our men and women who serve under the U.N. flag will have the council’s full backing. Attacks against them will not be met with silence or impunity,” Pakistani Ambassador to the United Nations Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]