Niels Annen
SPD · Germany
“Auch hierzu ist vieles von meinen Vorrednerinnen und Vorrednern gesagt worden. Der Jemen ist durch die aktuellen Ereignisse ein bisschen aus dem Fokus geraten. Deswegen muss man auch hier daran erinnern: Die Bevölkerung im Jemen leidet Not. Ernährungsunsicherheit prägt den Alltag im Jemen.”
“Wenn Sie mir noch eine Bemerkung erlauben, muss ich sagen, wenn ich ein bisschen zurückblicke – das tut man ja, wenn so eine Zeit endet –: Ich hätte mir als Arbeiterkind nicht vorstellen können, dass ich einmal in New York eine Sitzung des UN-Sicherheitsrates leiten würde. Das ist eine Erinnerung, die bleibt.”
“Ich erinnere die ersten Besuche bei den improvisierten Zeltstädten syrischer Flüchtlinge in der Bekaa-Ebene und das, was in meinem Wahlkreis geleistet worden ist. Ich hoffe einfach, dass wir die Menschen, die auf unsere Unterstützung angewiesen sind, in dieser Situation nicht im Stich lassen.”
“Sie bietet die Möglichkeit, das zu begleiten und herzustellen, was wir auch aus Sicht der Entwicklungspolitik dringend benötigen, nämlich einen Sicherheitsrahmen, der uns überhaupt erst ermöglicht, als Akteure der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit mit unseren Instrumenten wirken zu können. Worum geht es?”
“Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen, dies ist meine – jedenfalls voraussichtlich – letzte Rede im Deutschen Bundestag. Ich finde, es passt eigentlich ganz gut, dass wir hier über ein Bundestagsmandat miteinander sprechen.”
“Vielen Dank. – Frau Präsidentin! Für die Wehrbeauftragte: Frau Petzold! Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Die Staatsministerin hat die Situation im Südsudan geschildert. Dort herrscht – das müssen wir uns immer wieder vor Augen führen – eine der größten humanitären Katastrophen weltweit. Millionen von Menschen sind auf der Flucht.”
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“As we all know, the Charter endows the Council with special stature, powers and responsibilities. Its functioning is essential not just for its own reputation but for the reputation of the United Nations overall. The Council has lost trust because it was not able to find clear words on a joint approach to COVID-19 over a period of months, and to date progress in implementing resolution 2532 (2020) has been insufficient. Let me be very clear: when the Council is exclusively seen as a gallery for the great Powers, we all lose. It is up to all of us, permanent members and elected members alike, to keep the Security Council relevant and functional. It has become glaringly obvious: the Council needs to be reformed. Only then can we ensure its authority and legitimacy.”
“In order to mitigate and prevent the heavy impact of global crises such as COVID-19, strong institutions and multilateral cooperation are needed. We must ensure the vitality of those institutions. Reform is an important aspect of these efforts. The founding principles of the United Nations need to be upheld, including the Charter’s call on all Members of the Organization to refrain from the threat of the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State. Many of the Charter’s principles are timeless. At the same time, we must not be complacent; we need to be innovative so that our institutions are capable of tackling today’s challenges. The Security Council has a central role to play in bringing to life the value of international cooperation.”
“I thank you, Mr. President, for having convened today’s open debate on the issue of global governance after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and for providing us with an opportunity to build on the discussions held during the past months, including during the German presidency of the Security Council. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, His Excellency Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, for their insightful briefings. We are at a critical moment for the rules-based multilateral order. We need to refocus on the positive potential of cooperation instead of on putting our own countries first. If one of us fails, we all fail. We need to cooperate across our regions and continents if we want to successfully fight today’s problems.”
“If we manage to overcome traditional thinking and siloes and find integrated and coherent solutions, we will be able to defeat a deadly virus, eventually halt climate change and hopefully realize a world where everybody can live in peace and security.”
“We will be able to build resilient societies that can better withstand the impact of pandemics only by working in lockstep with affected countries. Respect for human rights and political processes that are inclusive and allow all parts of society, especially women, youth and marginalized groups, to participate in a meaningful way, are crucial in building up such resilience. Let me conclude on a hopeful note. This pandemic, just like other multidimensional challenges, is providing us as an international community with an opportunity — an opportunity to strengthen cooperation, reinforce multilateralism and show international solidarity.”
“Through this window, local women’s organizations in countries in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe can apply for funding that enables them to sustain themselves through the crisis and for programmes responding to the pandemic and its gendered dimensions. But these efforts are not enough. To create sustainable and predictable financing for peacebuilding, we need strengthened partnerships with international financial institutions, regional banks and the private sector. Further, as donors, we should not forget: to make a difference: donors should coordinate better, use pooled funding if possible, and engage in good peacebuilding donorship. Fourthly, inclusive approaches are needed to build resilience. All efforts will be in vain if they are not based on national ownership.”
“With its flexibility and catalytic function, the PBF plays a crucial role in meeting such critical peacebuilding needs as those relating to gender and inclusivity, cross- border collaboration and, in particular, in contexts of transition. On a bilateral level, Germany has contributed to the Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire by supporting additional efforts of its mediation partners on the ground. Gender equality gains are at a risk of being lost as many Governments are diverting funds that were originally earmarked for the support of women and girls and their participation in peace processes. As a member of the Funding Board of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund, Germany supported the establishment of an emergency response window within the Fund and made $2.5 million available to this emergency window.”
“We believe there is value in incorporating those lessons in the ongoing process of reviewing the United Nations peacebuilding architecture. Thirdly, peacebuilding and sustaining peace urgently need funding. The COVID-19 pandemic has had massive, immediate socioeconomic repercussions. Peacebuilding needs are underfunded even now, despite the fact that a prevented crisis is much less costly than an acute crisis. Germany continues to contribute to peacebuilding and prevention. For instance, we continue to support the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), to which we have just made an initial contribution of €15 million for 2020.”
“This is particularly important in the context of transitions, such as those currently taking place in Darfur and Guinea-Bissau. This is the Security Council’s core business. Secondly, we underline the need for coordination and coherence. We need integrated peacebuilding efforts to respond to challenges such as COVID-19. The Secretary-General’s briefing today (see annex 1) and his recent report on peacebuilding and sustaining peace (S/2020/773) have demonstrated how the United Nations system as a whole has adapted to the pandemic. However, we need to ensure further progress in achieving better coordination and coherence within the United Nations system, its agencies, funds and programmes. There are lessons to be learned from the impact and response to the pandemic.”
“It must follow up on resolution 2532 (2020), in which it explicitly recognized that COVID-19 might reverse peacebuilding gains. We should encourage the Secretary-General to fully integrate in his reporting the impact of the pandemic on security. Such reporting would support prevention and early warning. The Council should further empower the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), which has a unique mandate within the United Nations system, to enable integrated and cross-pillar approaches. We commend the PBC for its rapid response and excellent track record since the outbreak of the pandemic. We need to ensure that the United Nations and its presence on the ground, especially its peacekeeping operations and special political missions, are sufficiently equipped and mandated to address the direct and indirect challenges of the pandemic.”
“A comprehensive approach to peace and security means also addressing root causes and mid- and long-term challenges, as opposed to only acute crises. It means needing to find integrated solutions for interconnected challenges and strengthening prevention, peacebuilding and sustaining peace — no matter if we are facing the multidimensional challenges related to human rights violations, pandemics or climate change. COVID-19 continues to rage across the world. It is a multidimensional challenge that adversely affects humanitarian, health, political, social, economic and environmental aspects. It also affects peace and security and undermines peacebuilding efforts in conflict-affected countries and countries in transition. What needs to be done? Allow me to focus on four brief points. First, the Security Council needs to be active and engaged.”
“I thank you, Sir, for convening today’s open debate on pandemics and the challenges for sustaining peace. I would also like to thank Secretary General António Guterres, Mr. Ban Ki-moon and Ms. Sarah Cliffe for their insightful briefings. Six weeks ago, the Security Council held an open debate on pandemics and security (see S/2020/663), chaired by the German Foreign Minister. Recently, we also had an informal exchange of Council members, with representatives of the Peacebuilding Commission, on the impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on peacebuilding. In both meetings, we called on the Council to adopt a comprehensive understanding of peace and security. I am therefore grateful to Indonesia for providing us with an opportunity to build on these discussions today.”
“Our message is clear: whoever commits crimes against humanity or war crimes cannot feel safe anywhere and will eventually be held accountable. I call on all other States to use all legal means at their disposal to go after the perpetrators, and I call on the Security Council to finally live up to its responsibility, join the fight against impunity and ensure that those responsible for torture and killing in Syrian prisons and for other atrocities are held to account. The victims deserve justice.”
“It is their responsibility that those who S/2020/743 S/2020/743 committed and are still committing the most serious crimes in Syria cannot be brought to justice before the ICC. However, national jurisdictions are starting to fill the void. Two former officials of the Syrian regime’s repression apparatus have been charged with crimes against humanity at a court in Koblenz, Germany. For the first time, abductions, torture and abuse by the Syrian regime are being prosecuted in Germany. At the same time, members of Da’esh are being brought before German courts; several have already been sentenced. Furthermore, German authorities recently arrested two men for their support of Jabhat Al-Nusra and for the commission of war crimes in Syria.”
“Germany continues to support all efforts, in particular those of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Those Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011 and of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry, to ensure that the most serious crimes and atrocities committed during the Syrian conflict do not go unpunished, that perpetrators will be held accountable and that victims receive justice. There has to be a follow-up to the findings of all these reports. We must not tolerate impunity. Russia and China blocked the referral of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC).”
“This reporting as well as the findings of the Investigation and Identification Team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and of the United Nations Headquarters Board of Inquiry demonstrate that the Syrian regime and its allies are responsible for indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in north-west Syria.”
“Finally, the Syrian regime must inform the families of the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared. I would also like to thank Special Envoy Pedersen for his briefing. We fully support his analysis that peace and reconciliation in Syria can only be achieved through a political process under the auspices of the United Nations in line with resolution 2254 (2015). I therefore welcome Mr. Pedersen’s intention to finally resume the work of the Constitutional Committee. I urge all parties to take up the invitation and engage constructively. Further, I echo Mr. Pedersen’s call for a complete, immediate, nationwide ceasefire. In its latest report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic has detailed human rights violations and war crimes in Idlib.”
“Resolution 2254 (2015) calls for the immediate release of arbitrarily detained persons, particularly women and children. But since its adoption in December 2015 (see S/PV.7588), arbitrary detention, forced disappearances, torture and sexual violence in Syrian prisons and detention facilities continue unabated. Today, the Security Council should be united in urging all parties to immediately release all arbitrarily detained persons, starting with the most vulnerable, namely, women and children, the sick, the wounded and the elderly. This call should be loud and clear and directed particularly at the Syrian regime, which holds the overwhelming majority of detainees. I also call on the Syrian regime to allow immediate, unconditional and unhindered access for relevant humanitarian organizations to all its prisons and detention facilities.”
“I would like to thank Ms. Mustafa for her testimony today and for her call for justice. Few people have shown her courage in pressing for accountability. According to the numbers provided by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, almost 150,000 people have disappeared, and Syrian regime forces account for almost 90 per cent of them. Where are they? More than 14,400 Syrians have died as a result of torture, almost 99 per cent of them at the hands of Syrian regime forces. The stark “Caesar photos” show their agony. We must not forget these faces. We owe it to them to make progress on justice and accountability. Wafa Mustafa and all families of detainees and missing persons have a right to know what happened to their loved ones in Syrian prisons.”