YouSaid · the spoken record

Boisson

lines on the record: 32
first: 1999-08-25
most recent: 2003-01-14
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Secondly, crimes and violations against girls and boys of less than 15 years of age should not be excluded from the criminal definitions contained in the Statute of the International Criminal Court as they relate to the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, under articles 6, 7 and 8 of the Statute respectively. Thirdly, it should be possible to apply, without reservation, the principles of the Convention on the Non-Applicability of the Statute of Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity of 26 November 1968, as well as, when justified, those of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“The clear and unambiguous desire of the Government of the Principality is quite clear in this regard: justice must be done, and international law, which deals with this question extensively and in detail, must triumph so that the murderers of children are punished for their crime - the worst crime of all: turning children into criminals and transforming their innocence into barbarism. Here, we believe that there are three crucial elements. First, when internal judicial proceedings have been exhausted, or in cases where such proceedings have not been used, the competence of international bodies, in particular the International Criminal Court, should naturally come into play.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“For, as this author wrote of his mother, "after 30 years of suffering, smoke and tears, there was still something marvellous in the hollows of her face". The moving observation by this child, a criminal despite himself who found again his place in human society, should lead us to be optimistic and give us, with hope, the will to act that naturally follows from this. In that spirit of optimism and hope, we must have the courage of our convictions and take the necessary decisions in order to ensure that the recommendations of the Secretary-General are effectively followed up and his expectations fulfilled.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“The appointment of advisers in certain of the programmes under way seems to be bearing fruit and therefore is an interesting path to pursue and encourage. As the Secretary-General has also recalled, the creation during armed conflicts of protected zones in which women, children, the elderly, the wounded and the disarmed can find asylum and protection is one solution to impose. It is a solution that the highest authorities in Monaco have always wished to see encouraged and promoted by the United Nations. Such zones should benefit from secure access routes to allow for the intervention of humanitarian personnel. Ahmadou Kouroma, who has recounted his adventures as a child soldier in a very beautiful novel that received several literary prizes, clearly shows that reinsertion is always possible and often crowned with success.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“However, it is undeniable and encouraging to note, undoubtedly for the first time in such a report, references to Governments, paramilitary organizations and armed groups that are guilty of kidnapping children and training them, despite their will, to become war criminals, murderers and torturers. We now know the perpetrators of these crimes, or at least some among them. We have the legal means to prosecute and punish them. Without a doubt, we must see to it that there is the political will to act and find the financial and law enforcement resources to intervene effectively. Undoubtedly also, we must strengthen the programmes for reinsertion of child soldiers and develop new ones, while seeing to it that these programmes become integral elements of any post- conflict reconstruction and development projects.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“I would recall furthermore that article VI of the Convention on genocide had already provided for an international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction over such crimes, and article VII stipulated that such crimes would not be considered political for the purpose of extradition, which would also be agreed by the contracting parties in accordance with their laws and treaties in force. Article II (c) of this same instrument also considers - and this is noteworthy - that genocide also extends to an act of forced transfer of children from one national, ethnic, racial or religious group to another, committed with intent to destroy them. Today, as the Secretary-General stated in his report, the true challenge lies in the implementation and the effective application of existing international instruments and norms.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“Defining as a war crime by the Statute of the International Criminal Court of forced recruitment of children under the age of 15 in hostilities, including in internal conflicts, as well as attacks on hospitals and schools, or serious, repeated sexual violent acts, should help us. This definition is decisive insofar as the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, of 26 November 1968, explicitly stipulates in article I that war crimes and crimes against humanity are without statutory limitation, like genocide, which the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, of 9 December 1948, considers as a crime against the rights of nations, jus gentium, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“They greatly welcome the provisions that he advocates, given that they are without a doubt a decisive stage in the protection of children during armed conflict, internal as well as international, and regardless of the parties involved. In particular, we note with satisfaction the list of parties involved in conflicts contained in the report's annex - parties against which there is proof that they continue to recruit and arm minors and use them without restraint or caution in situations of extremely brutal hostilities. The resolution to be adopted at the initiative of France at the end of this exchange of views should grant all the necessary legitimacy and authority to its provisions to follow up specifically on the previous Security Council resolutions, in particular resolutions 1261 (1999), 1314 (2000) and 1379 (2001).”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“This will involve, without academic disputes, trying to determine, in a realistic way, the most efficient legal and judicial ways and means to allow for prosecuting, beyond time and space, the most serious crimes against children. The report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict will also be, of course, at the heart of the symposium and the meeting with civil society. The Monaco authorities, which have contributed to the special fund for children involved in armed conflict since its inception, pay due tribute to the activities of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in this area.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“The symposium should contribute to increasing awareness, which is needed now more than ever on the global level, of this serious issue, given that we now have today - with the entry into force of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the two Optional Protocols to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child - indispensable specific instruments to combat this ultimate form of barbarism that affects children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as its Optional Protocol on children in armed conflict - which the Principality has signed and ratified - and the very valuable experience gained by the international criminal tribunals will indeed be the basis for this exercise in reflection, as will the role of the International Criminal Court, which is awaited with great hope.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“Effectively headed by Crown Prince Albert, who since May 1993 has chaired the Monaco delegation at the General Assembly sessions, and by Her Royal Highness Princess Caroline of Hanover, this initiative should make possible a better grasp of the concepts and the legal contexts involved nationally and internationally in the protection of children, as well as the ways of facilitating legal proceedings and strengthening sanctions in the case of serious, flagrant and repeated violations of their basic rights and fundamental freedoms.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“The Principality of Monaco, on the initiative of both its highest sovereign authorities and its people, has consistently put the protection of childhood, physical as well as moral, at the forefront of its concerns and national and international commitments. The public authorities have devoted many efforts to this. Many non-governmental organizations, with the support of the royal family, the Government and the parliament, are also making unflagging efforts to contribute to the protection of children in danger and the improvement of their plight, particularly when it is affected by poverty, violence and a destructive lack of a future. An international law symposium, which will be followed by a public meeting with civil society, is now being prepared in Monaco on the initiative of the World Association of Friends of Children (AMADE).”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“These are tragic and pathetic situations that, beyond the emotions they give rise to, undermine the principles of humanity on which our cooperation is built and on which rest our hopes and our deepest convictions. Using children as a tool of war, of suffering and death, is intolerable. This idea revolts and disturbs us. As a crime against children, a crime of genocide, a war crime, a crime against humanity, the use of children in armed conflicts makes it incumbent on the international community and the Security Council, which is its authorized voice, to embark on a new stage. The report of the Secretary-General and his message today, and the message that his Special Representative has just given us, as well as that of Ms. Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF, emphasize the urgency and need for action.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“This public meeting of the Security Council, in this first month of the year 2003, under the French presidency, of which we appreciate both the initiative and quality, gives us the opportunity to express our unreserved support for the Secretary-General and his Special Representative, and the opportunity to encourage them to continue and strengthen their action in favour of this noble cause. As the principal organ under the United Nations Charter with responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, the Security Council indeed urges us to undertake some soul-searching that should lead us to take decisive decisions in order to put an end to the painful situation of child soldiers.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“Like many heads of delegation, the Chairman of the delegation of Monaco to the special session of the General Assembly on children, His Serene Highness Crown Prince Albert, last May referred to this painful issue, which, naturally and quite wisely, was fortunately taken into account in the very important final declaration adopted on that occasion. The Secretary-General's report of 26 November 2002 (S/2002/1299) had already alerted us to the difficulties which the Under-Secretary-General, Mr. Olara Otunnu, had encountered in carrying out his lofty mission, but also, we are pleased to see, to the undeniable progress achieved, which is extremely encouraging.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“Mr. Boisson (Monaco) (spoke in French): I am particularly pleased to see you, Sir, in the Security Council presidency this month, and to congratulate you. Once again, we come to the Security Council to plead a cause which affects the human being in his very nature, as well as in his future. The recruitment of children in armed conflicts is an intolerable and unacceptable violation of the rights of the child, a violation clearly condemned by the universal morality to which the States of our Organization adhere.”
2003-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4684Resumption1 (2003) · source
“Wars, we believe, are not inevitable. They are in no way predetermined. They are, like famine or epidemics, the result of events that can be known, analysed and even controlled if we provide ourselves with the means to do so. Any knowledge acquired to combat war could therefore, in our view, be reflected not only in terms of action and negotiation but also, as is advocated in the report of Mr. Otunnu, in programmes to raise the awareness of world public opinion, whose moral weight and influence on political decision-making, are undeniable today. The gravity and the magnitude of the question on the agenda of the Security Council this 25 August therefore completely justifies a public meeting which is addressed even beyond civil society to international opinion in the broadest sense of the term.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Dispute and peace studies undertaken both from an academic and practical standpoint regarding the sources of conflict or the causes of violence represent steps which can undoubtedly contribute to overcoming the most formidable obstacles to the restoration and maintenance of peace in many regions. Towards this end, the science of peace must go beyond conventional thinking. Mr. Otunnu, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, certainly understands this concern, since for many years he presided brilliantly over the destiny of the International Academy for Peace, which succeeded the International Peace Institute founded in Monaco in 1903. The science of peace should in this context be viewed as an applied science aimed at preventing conflicts by analysing in depth, and on an ongoing basis, their origins and their development.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“We are also aware that, while it seems indispensable to protect children from armed conflicts and from their consequences, it is also Vital to make preventive efforts to avoid the outbreak of these conflicts which bring tragedy and chaos in their wake. The strengthening and the increase of the forms and methods for the peaceful settlement of disputes must therefore also be given the attention of the international community. Here, in the Security Council, whose main task is the constant quest for peace and security in the world, it is undoubtedly superfluous to recall this, but it may be less superfluous to underscore the importance of research in this field.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“We have provided, within our means, through voluntary contributions, our support for the United Nations and have endeavoured to help the international non- governmental organizations that are dedicated to the protection of children, some of which have their headquarters in Monaco. For example, the Monaco authorities encourage the deployment of long-term educational, health and social programmes designed to improve the condition of children and, in particular, in the needy regions. The Government of Monaco is completely determined to continue its efforts in this direction, aware as we are that the actions undertaken, however modest, are indispensable and that they must continue for many years after the end of fighting.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The resolutions adopted by the General Assembly on the item "Children and armed conflict", including resolution 48/157 dated 20 December 1993 and resolution 51/77 dated 12 December 1996, as well as the remarkable debate that the Security Council already devoted to this issue last year and which concluded with a presidential statement, have made it possible very substantially to deepen our knowledge and our thinking in this respect. The Principality of Monaco, which has always shown special interest in children in difficult situations, is very sensitive to the situation of children both during and after hostilities.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Producing an awareness of the necessary and continued efforts for the social reintegration and physical and mental rehabilitation of children who are orphans, refugees, displaced, disabled for life, victims of or actors in armed conflict, with a View to improving their plight, also represents a major stage of considerable proportions. Education, professional training and attentive treatment and care are, in our view, indispensable if we are to shape and re-shape the children of war and make them full-fledged human beings for whom violence would not be the sole means of expression or the sole means of obtaining social recognition.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child now under preparation, or the fact that the Statute of the International Criminal Court qualifies as a war crime the recruitment of children under the age of 15 and their involvement in hostilities, are accomplishments and bear hope for the future, as long as, once these texts are enforced, we see to it that they are strictly implemented and as long as, when necessary, offenders are prosecuted. In fact, we in Monaco believe that the development and the strengthening of international norms for the protection of children should proceed even though the implementation of norms already adopted sometimes seems difficult and faces real obstacles.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The Convention on the Rights of the Child is also broadly and regularly violated, in particular the provisions of its article 38, but also those of its articles 19 and 34. The entire range of international instruments devoted to the protection of human rights is completely ignored and scorned in the armed conflicts of our day. To bridge the growing gap between existing international norms and their implementation and compliance with them must therefore be an absolute priority of the international community and of its institutions.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“While the establishment of an international ethic and of a value system is a longstanding endeavour with constant advances and setbacks, it is nonetheless an endeavour that needs to be steady and conducted without discouragement. This is a guarantee for the future, and the Government of the Principality is deeply convinced of this. We have just commemorated, on 12 August, the fiftieth anniversary of the four Geneva Conventions that constitute the basic instruments of international humanitarian law, but their provisions seem to be increasingly ignored. We note with dismay that present conflicts no longer take any account of the distinction between combatants and the civilian population and therefore children, as required in particular by the Fourth Geneva Convention and the 1977 additional protocols.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Children's relative weakness and their lack of experience and military training no longer constitute a serious handicap for the transport and the handling of today's weapons, in particular small arms. Like the campaign against anti-personnel landmines that led to the Ottawa Convention, the convention in preparation against light weapons and small arms, of which children are also the first Victims, should, we firmly hope, at least lead to stronger controls in order to reduce their use, if it is impossible to prohibit these weapons. These steps and all initiatives taken in this respect deserve to be seriously encouraged.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Their roots are numerous and varied: political, economic, social and even cultural. Poverty, exploitation, excessive inequalities and social upheaval, as well as changes of all types, which are sometimes overly rapid, are clear sources of destabilization and of conflicts. They encourage in particular the most immoral and unscrupulous power-hungry individuals whose desire for domination is unbridled to slake, with probable impunity, their ambitions, if not their perversions. Technical progress and its consequences, particularly with regard to the characteristics and the nature of weapons that become increasingly deadly while being lighter and easier to handle, have also had an impact on the growing number of children involved in armed conflict.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“It is true that because of external influences many societies are inexorably changing, and at the same time losing the moral terms of reference - without being able to replace them - that in many cases constituted the underpinnings of personal relations both within communities and among communities. Consequently, a self-centred and selfish attitude often prevails over the general will, breaking down and undermining the very functioning of these communities and the human and social relations that bind them. The same applies to the frightful and frequently reported evidence of the development of violence in today's societies and, worse yet, the fact that violence has become so commonplace. Many studies and research efforts have dealt with the causes of this violence.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“For example, we share without reservation the idea that there is a crisis in the values of civilization, whose causes are difficult to understand with certainty, but whose consequences worsen day by day not only for the communities concerned, but also undoubtedly for the societies of the future whose youth will not find ethical and moral foundations for their social behaviour. All human societies have a tendency first and foremost to protect women and children not only because of their vulnerability, but because they consider them to be the source of their destiny. However, this traditional and very effective protection is tending to decline in proportions that are today alarming.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“They become for the belligerent parties, for the warlords who are arrogant and totally unscrupulous, pliant instruments of the most ignoble violence. The reports that the Secretary-General has presented to us recently - that of Mrs. Graga Machel in 1996, the expert he had appointed upon the invitation of the General Assembly to study the impact of armed conflict on children, and the more recent report of Mr. Olara Otunnu, his Special Representative - provide us with elements of information and reflection whose calibre and accuracy we wish to commend. Among the thoughts put forward to explain the magnitude of this unacceptable phenomenon, some deserve special consideration.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“It is all the more so since the moral rules of the law of war and humanitarian law seem less and less respected, paving the way for a brutal return to barbarity. It seems to the most careful and qualified observers that this twentieth century, which is coming to an end, has seen a slowing, but we hope not an end, to the advances of humankind and the hopes placed in its moral progress. The plight of a growing number of children involved in armed conflicts is in this respect very revealing of this phenomenon, whose causes are not always very precise or well determined. Indoctrinated, used as messengers, spies, combatants, unwilling torturers or, worse yet, in the grasp of threats or drugs, as human bombs, these children are no longer their own masters.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Mr. Boisson (Monaco) (spoke in French): Mr. President, the delegation of Monaco is delighted to see you presiding over the Security Council during the month of August, and we warmly congratulate you. We are extremely grateful to you for having taken the initiative to place on the Council's agenda this important question of children and armed conflict. We also express sincerest thanks to Mr. Otunnu for his statement. He has displayed not only great competence but also great sensitivity of the individual appointed by the Secretary-General to be his Special Representative on this painful question. The information that regularly reaches us on armed conflicts that now strike so many parts of the world is horrifying to us.”
1999-08-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4037Resumption1 (1999) · source