Letter: Crimes in Kosovo

Sir: Debate about "ethnic cleansing" and the bombing of Serbia has focused on symptoms rather than causes.

What is long overdue is a new world order in which the ideology of peaceful coexistence is forced, at the earliest possible stage in a crisis, upon those who repeatedly and brazenly flout basic human-rights principles. Polemics about territorial integrity and sovereign nations will have to take second place to the basic human rights of those facing imminent persecution and massacre.

To enforce such measures, the UN must have readily available on stand- by its own permanent rapid-deployment military force, directly accountable to the UN Secretary General. Furthermore, we need a fast-track method of dispensing justice to the perpetrators of large scale and systematic human rights abuse via the World Court, with the sequestration of the personal fortunes of those found guilty.

The acceptance of the above principles needs to be made a condition of membership of the UN and of receiving any form of aid from UN agencies.

JAYANTA BAKSI

Lewes, East Sussex