YouSaid · the spoken record

Fritsche

lines on the record: 34
first: 1999-11-30
most recent: 2008-06-19
sittings or episodes: 4
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

“One of them is the situation in Darfur, which the Security Council has referred to the Court. It is therefore clear that the parts of the draft resolution dealing with the question of impunity are indeed incomplete without a specific reference to the International Criminal Court. We think that the text would have sent an even stronger message if it had included such a reference. We also think that the Council should call for cooperation with all international tribunals and courts that deal with sexual violence.”
2008-06-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5916 (2008) · source
“Both ad hoc tribunals established by the Council have made highly significant contributions in this respect. In the Akayesu case, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda established that rape, under certain circumstances, can constitute an act of genocide. The codification of sexual violence as internationally punishable crime occurred in the context of the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in July 1998. The explicit inclusion of sexual violence in the provisions dealing with war crimes and crimes against humanity was one of the many significant steps forward reflected in the Rome Statute. Today, almost 10 years later, the Court is fully operational and is currently dealing with situations where sexual violence is rampant.”
2008-06-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5916 (2008) · source
“It is therefore crucial to deploy more women in civilian components of peacekeeping missions, empower local women leaders and increase their role in all peacekeeping efforts. Most important, those who are supposed to provide protection must never themselves become perpetrators. All acts of sexual violence committed by peacekeepers, including sexual exploitation of local woman and child prostitution, are unacceptable. Such acts heavily undermine the credibility and effectiveness of any given peace operation, but also of our Organization as a whole. Zero tolerance can be the only answer to such incidents. Indeed, the ultimate goal must be for the attitude and behaviour of peacekeepers towards women to serve as a model for local communities. Very significant progress has been made over the past few years with regard to the issue of impunity.”
2008-06-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5916 (2008) · source
“Peacekeepers are currently providing protection, including against sexual violence, only on an ad hoc basis and under a flexible interpretation of their sometimes vague mandates. Future mandates must provide clear guidance, in particular to commanders, on how to protect civilians, including girls and women, from sexual violence. Resolution 1794 (2007) can serve as an example in this regard. Furthermore, predeployment and on-mission training programmes must instruct police, security and humanitarian personnel on how to recognize and react to incidents of sexual violence. Sadly, girls and women in affected regions often associate uniformed personnel with sexual violence.”
2008-06-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5916 (2008) · source
“It has become a method of warfare that aims to destroy the social fabric of communities in order to achieve political and military goals. The General Assembly addressed this trend as early as in 1995 by adopting resolutions on rape and sexual violence in the context of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the trend has continued unabated. The increasingly systematic use of sexual violence is part of a larger pattern. One of the main consequences of the changing nature of armed conflict is the increasing victimization and targeting of civilian populations, which puts women and girls at particular risk. The protection of civilians must be an inherent task for all peacekeeping missions. This applies in particular to acts of sexual violence.”
2008-06-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5916 (2008) · source
“The success of our cooperation with the Secretary-General in that regard then was very modest indeed and, several years later, it is sad to note that very little progress has been made, in spite of repeated expressions of good intentions from all sides. Nevertheless, we believe that resolution 1325 (2000) has, overall, had a positive impact on the work of the United Nations in this field, while its full potential has yet to be explored. Sexual violence is one of the most important aspects of resolution 1325 (2000) and merits a separate discussion. While sexual violence has always been a part of armed conflict, its systematic and targeted use in numerous situations today is not just a by-product of hostilities or merely a war crime.”
2008-06-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5916 (2008) · source
“In particular, the United Nations must appoint more women to senior positions with regard to preventive diplomacy, mediation and peace operations. This would have a clear impact on the topic under discussion today. Appointing more women to leading positions would, without any doubt, have a catalytic effect and empower women affected by armed conflict. It would strengthen the perception that women are stakeholders, as opposed to mere victims or aid recipients. A few years ago, during my time as Permanent Representative in New York, I had the honour of heading a group of like-minded ambassadors aiming to increase the presence of women in such positions.”
2008-06-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5916 (2008) · source
“We thank you, Mr. President, for convening this open debate and for the personal efforts of Secretary Rice on the issue of women and peace and security, in particular in the framework of the Women Leaders' Working Group. We appreciate the careful preparation of today's meeting, including the early submission of a draft resolution. However, even though we are happy to sponsor the draft resolution, we would have preferred for the debate to have an impact on its drafting. We hope that future open debates will follow that example. My delegation has supported resolution 1325 (2000) in its entirety ever since its adoption, and we believe that it has had a positive impact on the ground. Nevertheless, we agree with the assessment in the concept paper that progress towards achieving its major goals has been slow and uneven.”
2008-06-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5916 (2008) · source
“We believe, both as a State party to the Statute and as a Member of the United Nations, that the answer is obvious and that the preservation of the integrity of the Statute is the only way for the Council to preserve its credibility and effectiveness.”
2002-07-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4568 (2002) · source
“The progressive development of international law and respect for the rule of law, as well as the maintenance of international peace and security, are core activities of the United Nations, and they both must be treated as such. No choice can be made here, and the Council must therefore not impose such a choice on itself. We are aware that many avenues have been explored to find a viable solution to the prevailing deadlock. A magic formula seems not to have been found yet, and I would like to refer to the remarks made by Canada and France as positive contributions in this respect. Whatever options are considered, in the end the question always comes down to whether or not to respect a treaty adopted by a Diplomatic Conference and ratified by 76 States.”
2002-07-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4568 (2002) · source
“This effort was carried out in good faith and with creative thinking flowing from some of the best available expertise in the area of international law. We are disappointed that this genuine effort has not met with the appreciation we believe it deserves, and we have serious difficulties in understanding the substantive reasons for that. Peacekeeping and international justice are, to our minds, complementary concepts. We find it therefore disturbing that some of the discussions under way treat them, in effect, as mutually exclusive. There can be no choice between one or the other, when the international community so obviously needs both.”
2002-07-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4568 (2002) · source
“This could be based only on the untenable notion that the International Criminal Court constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The conclusion must by necessity be that neither of the two approaches is viable, both politically and legally speaking. The concerns expressed with regard to the International Criminal Court are well known. Indeed, they were discussed at length at the Diplomatic Conference in Rome. While not everybody deemed it necessary during the course of those negotiations, the view prevailed in the end that it was advisable to make a massive effort to address these concerns. As a result, the Rome Statute provides for a number of painstakingly drafted safeguards to prevent frivolous and politically motivated investigations and prosecutions, the principle of complementarity being the most crucial one.”
2002-07-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4568 (2002) · source
“Such a situation would have a devastating impact on the credibility of the Council and thus of the Organization as a whole. I would like to comment in this regard on the following two approaches contemplated within the Council to resolve the current impasse. The one under discussion last week invokes article 16 of the Rome Statute, while effectively amending it. As has been said by many over the past few days, and most prominently by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, this would constitute an action outside the mandate of the Security Council and fundamentally affect the process of treaty-making as practiced in the United Nations. The other approach which has been explored is a "generic resolution" which would address the role of the ICC with regard to peacekeeping in general, rather than in conjunction with a specific peacekeeping operation.”
2002-07-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4568 (2002) · source
“There have been few occasions on which an open debate of the Security Council has been more necessary. What is under discussion is not merely the future of the International Criminal Court (ICC) - a landmark achievement in the history of international law - but also, and what is more, the role and the credibility of the Security Council. The mandate of the Council under the United Nations Charter does not lack clarity. A transgression of this mandate as a result of the ongoing debate would have not only disastrous consequences for the ICC, but maybe even more devastating ones for the Council itself. We do not want to see the Council put itself in a position in which the United Nations membership at large is forced to question the legality of one of its decisions.”
2002-07-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4568 (2002) · source
“My delegation is furthermore of the opinion that gender issues need to be mainstreamed into the actions that will result from this debate and, in particular, also in the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Brahimi report, which lacks a chapter on gender. Every attempt towards democratization and peace-building must be based on fundamental values, including the principles of gender equality. Women must therefore be participants in all peace processes and at any stage of these processes. Today's debate is a concrete step towards realizing this goal.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The women Ambassadors to the United Nations began to address this problem in 1996 by establishing and updating a list of female candidates, and we intend to continue our efforts to considerably enhance the role of women in preventive diplomacy. In this context, my delegation welcomes the Windhoek Declaration, issued on the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group, which proposes that an advisory board should be set up within the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to ensure that a comprehensive database as well as existing lists of female candidates be given due consideration.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The Secretary-General's strategic plan of action (A/49/587) calls for an increase in the participation of women at decision-making levels in conflict resolution and peace processes. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action stress the need for an increased participation of women in conflict resolution at decision-making levels. The Beijing + 5 outcome document, inter alia, encourages the involvement of women in decision- making at all levels and the achievement of gender balance in the appointment of women and men with full respect for the principle of equitable geographical distribution, including as special envoys and special representatives and the performance of good offices on behalf of the Secretary-General, in matters relating to peacekeeping, peace-building, and in operational activities.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“These Tribunals have, for the first time in history, punished sexual violence in a civil war and have classified rape as an act of genocide. My delegation is very gratified at the fact that the Statute of the International Criminal Court will have the potential to protect and promote the human rights of women and girls. The Statute also addresses trauma counselling, rehabilitation and compensation to the victims of war crimes and calls for gender and child-sensitive court procedures. Although the contribution of women in peace- building, peacemaking and conflict resolution is being increasingly recognized, the role of women in preventive diplomacy has so far been very limited.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Training in international human rights and humanitarian law, including gender training and instruction on their responsibility towards civilian communities, should be an integral part of the preparatory process. We all know that Violations against women and children have also been committed by United Nations personnel. These offences must be investigated and the offenders punished. The authorization or perpetration of sexual violence during armed conflict constitutes a violation of international law. If these violations happen on a large scale or as a matter of policy, they constitute a crime against humanity. Historic precedents have been set by the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Humanitarian assistance in armed conflict should therefore include psychosocial and reproductive health services, and relief workers have to be trained to respond to needs of victims of sexual violence. My delegation would welcome the establishment of systems for reporting on sexual violence, abuse, exploitation and trafficking of women and girls within military and civilian populations, to be followed by enforcement and monitoring mechanisms for peacekeeping personnel. It is, in our view, also necessary to establish disciplinary and oversight mechanisms in all peace support missions. Peacekeeping personnel must meet the highest standards of conduct.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“A full understanding of the impact of armed conflict on women and girls is necessary in order to effectively promote and maintain international peace and security. Women and children constitute a disproportionate number of civilians affected by armed conflict. An estimated 80 per cent of all internally displaced persons and refugees are women and children. During armed conflict, women and girls are threatened by rape, sexual exploitation, trafficking and sexual humiliation. Every setting presents risks, whether at home, while fleeing or in camps for displaced persons. Sexual violence has devastating effects on the life of women and children, ranging from sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS to humiliation and trauma.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“At the outset, I wish to express my delegation's gratitude and satisfaction to you, Mr. President, and to the Government of Namibia for organizing today's open debate on women and peace and security. You have, in addition, chosen 24 October, United Nations Day, for this debate, thereby underscoring the commitment of the Security Council to pay special attention to the role of women in preventive diplomacy, armed conflict, peacekeeping and peace-building. I would also like to thank Angela King and Noeleen Heyzer for their thought-provoking statements and the suggestions contained therein. The United Nations engagement in peace operations has evolved from peacekeeping in its traditional sense towards multidimensional peace support operations. Despite this, the gender considerations in peace processes have not been adequately addressed.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Prevention simply means the logical expansion of this collective responsibility to the causes of such disasters, in full accordance with the spirit and the provisions of the United Nations Charter. It seems to us that we can no longer afford not to address the causes of conflicts, and it is our hope that this debate will constitute one of the early stages in a new era of United Nations activities.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source
“More often than not, prevention will be most successful if it goes almost unnoticed and is carried out with discretion and efficiency. On the one hand, this lack of limelight and headlines connected with effective prevention is probably one of the psychological obstacles which must be overcome. On the other hand, it also constitutes a major strength in that the discretion that comes with it should help overcome the reluctance of those who perceive prevention as intrusive. Collective responsibility for, and thus action on, the consequences of disasters through burden-sharing is, after all, one of the foundations upon which the United Nations is built.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source
“This could obviously be done in a very flexible manner and within the framework not only of the United Nations, but also of other intergovernmental organizations which are seized of issues of peace and security. We very much see our ideas in this regard as an element of the ongoing process of enhancing the role of the Organization in the area of prevention. Creating a culture of prevention is a process requiring a concerted effort by the United Nations membership as a whole, and indeed a change in our collective mindset, which is so deeply immersed in a responsive approach to crisis management. To this end, we should adopt a flexible notion of the term "prevention" comprising activities as diverse as early warning, disarmament measures and post- conflict peace-building.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source
“We think therefore that it is very timely and necessary for the international community to develop, and indeed to offer, tools by means of which situations of this kind can in the future be addressed more effectively and at an early stage. Liechtenstein presented ideas on the effective and flexible application of the right of self-determination quite some time ago. Those ideas are designed specifically to address such situations in a preventive and pragmatic manner; they are based on existing international law and on dialogue between the parties concerned, and can be carried out, if desirable and requested, with international involvement.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The Secretariat should be able to provide the Council with relevant early- warning information collected from various sources, including regional organizations, and with independent assessments on regions and areas where conflicts are emerging. In many cases, most of the relevant information is already available within the United Nations system, but needs to be presented in a compact and meaningful manner and in the right context. As a final element, we believe that more work needs to be done to provide effective tools to address the root causes of such conflicts. The past few years have been marked by a sharp increase in internal armed conflicts, and tensions among communities and between communities and central governments have time and again proven to be the reasons for these conflicts.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The need for enhanced cooperation and coordination with regional organizations, stated many times in the past in various contexts, becomes particularly obvious in connection with the prevention of armed conflicts. It is clear that regional organizations can and should play a major role through preventive activities if their capabilities in this area are developed accordingly. Avoiding competition between their activities and those carried out by the United Nations, and adapting a pragmatic approach, must be key elements in the joint efforts in this respect. An enhanced role of the Secretary-General seems to us a further key element of successful United Nations action in the area of prevention. Article 99 of the Charter, which I have already mentioned, gives a legally and politically sound basis for such an enhanced role.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source
“International law must have an important function in the area of conflict prevention, and the Council has made a significant contribution to this end, not least by helping pave the way for the establishment of an International Criminal Court. Once operational, the International Criminal Court will have a major preventive effect worldwide. Preventive action taken by the Security Council has been selective in the past, but the success connected with these efforts should encourage the Council to expand its activities based on a preventive approach. We would like to offer several thoughts on how to further enhance the capabilities of the United Nations in the area of the prevention of armed conflicts.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source
“In the cases where the Council has taken preventive action in the past, it has been quite successful. The United Nations Preventive Deployment Force is a brilliant example of the effectiveness of preventive action and is usually hailed as the first preventive United Nations mission ever. There are, however, some other small missions mandated by the United Nations which have been operational for a long time and have had a considerable preventive effect. Prevention has also been one rationale behind the establishment of the ad hoc Tribunals by the Security Council. The most important goal of the fight against impunity is always the avoidance of the commission of further violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Prevention means acting in a timely manner in order to avoid disasters such as armed conflicts altogether, or to minimize their adverse consequences. It requires certain tools, such as effective and reliable early warning mechanisms. But first and foremost it requires political will and the readiness and willingness to realize that prevention is often the best way - sometimes even the only way - to tackle a problem. If it is carried out at an early stage and based on relevant expertise, prevention can be achieved with discretion, efficiency and at low cost. Furthermore, the disastrous consequences of armed conflicts can often be irreversible, and preventing their occurrence is thus the only way to provide effective protection to potential victims.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source
“One impetus - maybe the decisive one - to launch the ongoing debate was given by the Secretary-General in his thought- provoking and ground-breaking report on the work of the Organization. We would like to thank the Secretary-General once again for his courage and commitment and to recall the far-reaching role that he is given under Article 99 of the Charter. The ideas offered by the Secretary-General make it clear that prevention is important with regard not only to armed conflicts but to a wide variety of other areas; hence the call for a culture of prevention. It is of course appropriate that our debate today is focused on the prevention of armed conflicts, given the role of the Council in the area of peace and security. The context within which this debate is taking place, however, is a larger one.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Prevention has thus been given a key position in the conceptual framework of the maintenance of international peace and security by the founders of our Organization. At the same time, it needs to be said that in the practical work of the Council, as well as of other organs of the United Nations, it has so far played only a minor role. The past few years have brought about an increased awareness that addressing root causes must be a crucial consideration in areas such as human rights violations, refugee protection, natural disasters and others. A brutal wake-up call in connection with the importance of prevention was the genocide in Rwanda, where prevention was feasible, but inaction led to the horrific events of 1994.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source
“We wish to thank and commend you, Mr. President, for your timely initiative to hold an open debate on the role of the Security Council in the prevention of armed conflicts. We fully welcome this debate as a first step in a continuing process which we hope will contribute to the enhancement of the capacities of the Council to fulfil its responsibility to maintain international peace and security. It is clear that prevention must be a key element in the work of the Council. Indeed, Article 1, paragraph 1 of the Charter mandates that "effective collective measures for the prevention of threats to the peace" be taken in order to achieve the goal of maintaining international peace and security.”
1999-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072Resumption1 (1999) · source