December 12, 2001
In Nobel Talk, Annan Sees Each Human Life as the Prize
By SARAH LYALL
December 12, 2001
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| (Agence France-Presse) |
| United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, co-winner of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize along with the organization he heads, was honored in Oslo on Monday with the traditional torchlight parade. |
OSLO, Dec. 10 — Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the United Nations, used the occasion of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize lecture today to make an impassioned case for the continued importance of the organization as a promoter of peace and a champion of individual rights in an unstable and unequal world.
"In the 21st century, I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion," Mr. Annan said. "From this vision of the role of the United Nations in the next century flow three key priorities for the future: eradicating poverty, preventing conflict and promoting democracy."
Mr. Annan, a 63-year-old Ghanaian aristocrat who has spent most of his career at the United Nations and who was elected to a second five-year term in June, is the co-winner of the 2001 peace prize, along with the organization itself, and received his award today.
Making his address at a ceremony in Oslo City Hall, Mr. Annan said the United Nations, established in the idealistic aftermath of World War II, was needed more than ever in a world that "entered the third millennium through a gate of fire."
"The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the states in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being," he said. "It is the nearest thing we have to a representative institution that can address the interests of all states and all peoples."
It was a grave, contemplative speech, looking back on the war- scarred 20th century as "perhaps the deadliest in human history" and anticipating a new epoch already tainted by the terror attacks of Sept. 11 and their bloody aftermath. But the attacks proved beyond doubt that the world is interconnected, he said, that the problems of one nation are the problems of the rest.
"If today, after the horror of Sept. 11, we see better and we see further, we will realize that humanity is indivisible," Mr. Annan said. "New threats make no distinction between races, nations or regions. A new insecurity has entered every mind, regardless of wealth or status."
The threats that come with the changed world have clearly been felt in peaceful Oslo this past week, with tight security surrounding the Nobel events. Some 600 police officers, most with submachine guns, guarded the city today; visitors' bags were examined by bomb-sniffing dogs.
From its base in Geilenkirchen, Germany, NATO sent an Awacs surveillance plane to patrol a no-flight zone over Oslo. Four Norwegian Air Force F-16's patrolled the perimeter of the zone for most of the day.
But the quintessentially diplomatic and carefully spoken Mr. Annan seemed an island of calm, steering well clear of particular criticisms against any one country or policy. Even when he touched on more-contentious topics in an interview with CNN later today, intimating that he did not agree with the United States' proposal to set up closed military tribunals to try suspected terrorists, the secretary general did it gently, with honey instead of fire.
Mr. Annan acknowledged that the Sept. 11 attacks had been deeply traumatic for the United States, resulting in "almost a loss of innocence for the American people." But in the rush for justice, he said, it was important not to lose sight of principles the country holds dear.
"If one is going to err, one should err on the side of liberty and freedom," he said. "The question is how much liberty and freedom you give up for safety and security. And if you do give up liberty and freedom for security and safety, do you then have security? It's a tough issue."
The United States has had its problems with the United Nations, delaying paying its dues despite repeated entreaties. But the events of Sept. 11 have forced even the skeptical Bush administration to acknowledge that the United Nations has an important role in the war against terrorism and in shaping a future for Afghanistan.
Referring to Congress's recent decision to pay the dues it owed and to confirm John D. Negroponte as the country's new representative at the organization, Mr. Annan said that the United States was "back in the fold of the family" and that "the important thing is to keep them there."
Speaking of the daunting task of helping get Afghanistan back on its feet, Mr. Annan also warned that it would be a mistake to force Afghanistan to grant more rights to women — nearly as elusive a goal now as it seemed to be under the Taliban — as a condition of aid.
"If you condition assistance to a whole population on that kind of criteria, you are probably likely to compound the problem and make it worse," he said.
The $947,000 that comes with the Peace Prize is to be shared equally between the secretary general and the organization he runs, but Mr. Annan said the money would be pooled for a single project to benefit the United Nations. And he said it was important not to forget other goals at a time when the world is focused on terrorism.
"The old problems that existed on Sept. 10, before the attack, are still with us: the elimination of poverty, the fight against H.I.V. and AIDS, the question of the environment," he said. "We need to think of the future and the planet we are going to leave to our children and their children."
The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901, and its centenary year has been marked by a public examination of the ever elusive goal of peace in the world and an invitation to previous laureates to return for a series of events.
Not all have gone without rancor.
Elie Wiesel, the 1986 laureate, attacked Yasir Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority and a winner of the 1994 prize, saying he did not think Mr. Arafat "is now a worthy holder of the Nobel Peace Prize."
Mr. Arafat, attending to trouble at home, did not come to Oslo.
And Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, an Argentinian campaigner for human rights who won the 1980 peace prize, attacked the United States because, he said, it failed to grasp the nuances of the present conflict. "That kind of black-and-white thinking, where good is set against evil, reminds me of cowboy films," he said.
Presenting the award today to Mr. Annan, Gunnar Berge, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, seemed to be considering the whole past century when he praised the mission of the United Nations, and he reminded the audience that in the aftermath of the cold war, the United Nations has a precious opportunity to fulfill its early promise.
"In connection with this year's centenary, the committee once again felt the need to emphasize the continuous theme of the history of the Peace Prize, the hope for a better organized and more peaceful world," Mr. Berge said. "Nothing symbolizes that hope, or represents that reality, better than the United Nations."
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
