The United Nations Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, yesterday inaugurated a five-week UN conference aimed at establishing a permanent international criminal court to punish war crimes and crimes against humanity.Mr Annan said he hoped the Rome conference would produce a strong and independent court which would be capable of protecting the weak. The permanent court would replace the ad hoc tribunals that are currently trying people accused of atrocities in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.The work of the conference is likely to be an uphill struggle, with sharp divisions over the powers and procedures that should characterise the court. Mr Annan said the ad hoc tribunals had shown that there is such a thing as international criminal justice, but they were not enough."People all over the world want to know that humanity can strike back - that whenever genocide, war crimes or other such violations are committed, there is a court before which the criminal can be held to account; a court that puts an end to a global culture of impunity; a court where `acting under orders' is no defence; a court where all individuals in a government hierarchy or military chain of command, without exception - from rulers to private soldiers, must answer for their actions," Mr Annan told the opening session of the conference.The UN secretary general described the conference as an opportunity to take a monumental step in the name of human rights and the rule of law."We have an opportunity to create an institution that can save lives and serve as a bulwark against evil. So let us rise to this challenge. Let us give succeeding generations this gift of hope. They will not forgive us if we fail," he said."The stakes are high here," said Mr Richard Dicker, a representative of Human Rights Watch. "Establishing an effective and independent court will help to end impunity and deter the commission of these crimes in the next century," he said.Mr Dicker rejected suggestions that the creation of the court would only add a new level to an already bloated and costly UN bureaucracy. He said ad hoc tribunals had not worked effectively and the last half-century was full of major violators of human rights who had never been called to account, such as the late Pol Pot in Cambodia and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.Ireland is among the 156 nations represented at the conference and the Irish government is optimistic that the hurdles to a good agreement can be overcome. "It's an historic opportunity and there is a strong political will for a successful conclusion," a member of the Irish delegation said."We have long been a firm supporter of the court. We hope this conference will result in the opening for signature of a statute which will establish an independent and effective court, with all the powers necessary to deal with the crimes it will have jurisdiction over," the delegate, who asked not to be named, said.