Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,

The veneer of civilisation that separates us from barbarism sometimes seems terribly thin. How is it that human beings, who are capable of so much intelligence, so much aesthetic sensibility and spirituality, can at the same time show so much inhumanity? How is it that this culture that we have been building up for millennia provides no better protection against our own aberrations?

We may never know. But let us above all not draw the conclusion that the darkness of the human soul, which has sometimes proved capable of decimating entire peoples, is an immutable given. Let us never accept that the international community capitulate, that it fail to make united efforts to put a stop to genocide. Even if the recent past has bequeathed to us alarming signs of such resignation.

For, unlike a natural disaster, genocide does not turn up out of the blue: most of the time, it is prepared, organised, planned. Its general scheme satisfies the appetite for power of a few; these few recruit hundreds or thousands of hangmen, who will make victims of even more. When warning systems make it possible to detect the harbingers of a probable crisis, it should be possible to prevent genocide. To this end, the international community should equip itself with the means to react promptly, effectively deploying peacekeeping and security support measures as soon as the threat becomes clear. This is primarily a task for the Security Council. Let us not forget, however, that the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide makes prevention a legal obligation that rests on every State.

The power of deterrence is another factor. In recent years, the international community has made it clear that it does not intend to allow those with prime responsibility for atrocities to enjoy impunity – as witness the establishment of special tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, or the setting up of the International Criminal Court. The message is unequivocal: the vicious circle of violence must be broken.

Having said that, the best way to prevent genocide is plainly to plant the roots of peace in society. We all know what lasting peace requires to sustain it: democracy, human rights, the rule of law, respect for minorities, social justice, prosperity. Every advance in any of these areas strengthens the fabric of society and so pushes the risk of genocide a little farther into the distance. Giving ideas that are this abstract concrete form in daily life is a long-term enterprise. Switzerland, for its part, is ready to participate in the endeavour.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I end, I would like to address my sincere thanks, in the name of the Swiss Government, to the organisers of this fourth Stockholm International Forum, and in particular to Mr Göran Persson, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sweden. I will close by expressing a wish: that our all being here today will be evidence in the eyes of the doubters that the nations of the world share an absolute commitment to the values of civilisation.

Thank you.