Pope calls for sanctions on Leaders who violate Rights by ABC News Online 1:15pm 17th Dec, 2003   17th December, 2003    Pope John Paul II has called for political leaders who violate human rights to be punished, in a World Day of Peace message released amid worldwide debate over how Saddam Hussein should be brought to justice.    The pontiff also questioned whether the US-led invasion of Iraq was just as it had not been sanctioned by the United Nations.    "International law must ensure that the law of the more powerful does not prevail," the Pope cautioned in his statement entitled "An Ever-Timely Commitment: Teaching Peace".    "Its essential purpose is to replace 'the material force of arms with moral force of law', providing appropriate sanctions for transgressors and adequate reparation for victims," he said, just three days after US troops captured Saddam hiding in a hole near his home town of Tirkit, in northern Iraq.    The Pope said it was necessary for states to avoid the "temptation to appeal to the law of force rather than to the force of law".    "Democratic governments know well that the use of force against terrorists cannot justify a renunciation of the principles of the rule of law.    "This must also be applicable to those government leaders who violate with impunity human dignity and rights while hiding behind the unacceptable pretext that it is a matter of questions internal to their state."    The Pope added that the "fight against terrorism cannot be limited solely to repressive and punitive operations".    The use of force had to be "accompanied by a courageous and lucid analysis of the reasons behind terrorist attacks", he said.    But the Pope acknowledged that international law was hard pressed to provide solutions to situations arising from "entities" which could not be considered states in the traditional sense.    "The scourge of terrorism has become more virulent in recent years and has produced brutal massacres which have in turn put even greater obstacles in the way of dialogue and negotiation, increasing tensions and aggravating problems, especially in the Middle East," he said.    The pontiff said the war on terror had to be conducted "on the political and educational levels ... by eliminating the underlying causes of situations of injustice which frequently drive people to more desperate and violent acts".    He also recalled the UN charter, which "confirms the natural right to legitimate defence to be exercised in specific ways and in the context of the United Nations".    The UN Security Council had responsibility for collective security with "competence and responsibility for the preservation of peace, with power of decision and ample discretion".    - AFP
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