YouSaid · the spoken record

Khan

lines on the record: 485
first: 1992-11-16
most recent: 2023-11-08
sittings or episodes: 38
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

“I think that the commitment I have given is one that we can try to deliver on together — not by polemics but by way of partnerships. I just wanted to address that as the issue was raised by two representatives. The meeting rose at 11.50 a.m.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“It is what the Director-General of the World Health Organization has emphasized, and it is a fundamental requirement under the Geneva Conventions that we ensure that civilians, children — who could be our children, we must view them as if they were our children — people old and young, the healthy and the sick, feel the law in action. I am seized of the matter. We are moving things forward, but I cannot give a running commentary on the investigation. However, it is one that requires proper attention. I will end where I started in my earlier remarks — every human life matters equally. And as I emphasized in Cairo, there is no such thing as children of a lesser God. Everybody has worth, every life is precious and every life must feel the protection and the value of the law.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“I am aware of the international concern and the seriousness of the allegations that we are seeing, and I have stated repeatedly that the hostages should be released, there should be no missile strikes targeting civilians from Palestine into Israel or from Israel into Palestine, and the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution must be honoured. I have also said, and this is very important, that humanitarian relief supplies must be allowed in, without further delay. That is what the Secretary-General has underlined and what Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has emphasized.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“Libya has a particular role to play in apprehending individuals on the territory of Libya, and we can work together in partnership to fulfil the obligations of complementarity. Two representatives mentioned the situation in Palestine. Of course, the focus of today’s briefing is Libya. But as the subject has been raised, I will simply emphasize what I said publicly at Rafah and in Cairo, five days after 7 October, which is that this is an active investigation. I appointed a senior lawyer to the Palestine investigation only a few months ago, in addition to the other members of the team.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“Mr. Khan: I thank the Council for the opportunity to brief it again. I have listened attentively to the observations and comments from the representatives and will reflect on them. I could not agree more that complementarity is at the heart of the Rome Statute in the situation in Libya, and in many others. We are seeking to give effect to it. I want to underline what I said in my remarks and in the statement, which is that very real progress has been made. But I am an officer of the Court and bound by obligations of confidentiality. I am also subject to judicial orders, so I cannot say more except that real, discernible progress has been made, and that I look forward to engaging with the Libyan authorities to ensure that we can work together and discharge our mandate so that people can be apprehended.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“I really look forward to working together with each and every member of the Council so that we can strive to meet and fulfil the legitimate expectations of the victims and their families in Libya, the hopes and aspirations of the people of Libya and, of course, the trust that the Council placed in the ICC when the referral was made all those years ago.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“In the coming months, I intend to continue to rely upon our engagement and cooperation with the Council, with survivors, with Libya and with all international partners. If we work together, if we try to put the interests of victims first, and if we believe that injustice is not inevitable but justice is the birthright of every child, we will have a hope of improving the situation in Libya and discharging our responsibilities more effectively and more completely than we perhaps have in the past.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“Reflecting that approach and as noted in the report members have before them, it is my intention to work in the next six months with relevant key stakeholders to prepare a plan for the completion of activities by the Office pursuant to resolution 1970 (2011). I hope and will aim to be able to complete the investigative activities in relation to the key lines of inquiry that I have previously detailed by the end of 2025. Whether that goal is achievable will depend on if we can collectively deliver on the plans outlined in the report and if cooperation with Libya can move forward in the way that is necessary. While we chart that path together, my Office will continue with our activities pursuant to all our lines of inquiry with commitment and dedication in relation to the resolution.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“But that does not prevent us from setting out a course aimed at fulfilling the core mandate that the Council tasked the ICC and my Office with engaging with, pursuant to resolution 1970 (2011). I believe it is essential that we pursue that path in order to enhance the trust between us and demonstrate a willingness, an ability and a road map that will enable us to close the situation in a way that ensures that we have discharged our responsibility as effectively as we can. That will require deeper engagement with national authorities, based on complementarity, while continuing to strengthen my ability and that of my Office to prosecute those subject to public and non-public arrest warrants before the ICC.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“While my hands are tied to some extent with regard to what I can say publicly because of the duties of confidentiality that I owe to the Court and orders of the Court, I am of the view that the results of this new strategic approach are significant and clearly discernible. But as we continue to build on that momentum, it is critical that my Office continue to proactively and meaningfully engage with the Council, the Government of Libya and, of course, with survivors, to begin to chart a path that leads to the successful completion of our investigative activities in relation to the situation as a whole. The legal basis for my Office to investigate crimes connected to this referral, underpinning our investigative strategy, is clear and ongoing.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“In my first briefings to the Council as Prosecutor, I underlined the fact that for survivors and for the communities and families affected, for those looking for their loved ones or grieving their passing, I have to provide a clear vision as to what my Office’s ultimate collective goal is, pursuant to the mandate it was given by the Council and pursuant to resolution 1970 (2011). I made it very clear in my very first briefing to the Council (see S/PV.8911), with regard to the situations both in the Sudan and in Libya, that referrals cannot be a never-ending story. Through the new investigative strategy that I have placed before the Council, which I have touched on today, I sought to provide much greater clarity with regard to what we are doing and what we are focusing on.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“God willing, in December, at the Assembly of States Parties that will take place in New York, I will be making a request to all States parties to the ICC to demonstrate their continued commitment to the proper application of international law and to giving the men and women of my Office the resources needed so that we can vindicate the rights not only of survivors in the Libya situation but of all those in every other situation — because, of course, every human life matters equally.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“Based on a fundamental strategic review of our work — and I recently launched our new 2023–2025 strategic plan — I have identified significant resource shortfalls and have made a request to the Assembly of States Parties for an increased budget in 2024, particularly with regard to our ability to investigate financial flows that are relevant to the Libya situation and proceeds of crime.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“The resource constraints that my Office is facing are real and profound and are putting increasingly critical pressure on our ability to deliver on our mandate across the various situations we face. During the reporting period we received valuable extrabudgetary support from States that has benefited our work, including the secondment of national expert specialists on sexual and gender-based crime, for example, and the provision of financial contributions supporting the technological reforms that I have already referred to. However, while these contributions have had a tangible positive impact and have allowed us to make progress, the past six months have made it even more apparent to me that we are facing certain challenges due to what can only be described as an inadequate, insufficient core budget for my Office.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“God willing, that will also mean that my next report to the Council will be given from the territory of Libya. I hope that can take place. I am pleased to confirm to the Council that this cooperation will hopefully form a solid basis for us to report on more significant progress over the next period. In the past six months, through our partnership with the communities affected, the Libyan authorities and international partners, we have continued our positive momentum in relation to the situation in Libya and are actually seeing real results. With the greatest of respect for the Council, I want to emphasize that we cannot take that progress for granted.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“Despite much effort, we were unable to obtain visas to enter Libya for operational-level field missions, which would have served to accelerate our collaboration with Libya and the Libyan authorities even further and would have helped to enhance our work in the area of forensics and our continued field presence in Tripoli. But there has been discernible improvement and I think it is only right to bring that to the attention of the Council, particularly since the arrival here in The Hague of Ambassador Ziad Daghim. In line with the instructions that were transmitted to the Ambassador by the President of the Presidential Council, Mr. Mohamed Menfi, the Embassy confirmed that it would extend its full cooperation to the Office. I received my own visa for Libya and visas for members of my Office only this morning.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“An expert-level meeting of the joint team was held at the end of October to share updates and information and to prepare for the strategic-level meeting that will be held next month. Based on that collective work, the Office has been able to provide tangible support with respect to ongoing investigations and prosecutions and to key suspects in human trafficking investigations and prosecutions in Italy and the Netherlands. As is also reflected in my report, our engagement and cooperation with Libyan authorities remains at the heart, the absolute centre, of our strategy with respect to the situation. In the last reporting period, I confess that we had some challenges with cooperation.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“The Office must work as a hub, not as an apex, and we work in partnership with any State or national authority that wants to join hands in the quest for more justice and accountability and less impunity. In line with that approach, my Office has continued to work closely over the past six months with the joint team that is investigating crimes against migrants on the central Mediterranean route, a team that we joined last year. Our membership of that joint investigative team represents a fundamentally new way of working with national authorities. In the past six months we have completed several joint investigative missions. We have held weekly information-sharing meetings with those key partners and are accelerating collective action.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“It really does not matter which flag is behind a judge or a prosecutor. As I have said — and I hope members will not tire of hearing it — the central objective under the Rome Statute is that, wherever possible, the flag behind a judge or prosecutor should be a flag of a State Member of the United Nations, and not the International Criminal Court. We should judge our success not only by the number of prosecutions before the ICC but by our integrity and resilience and by the rigour and professionalism of our independent investigations. Our ultimate assessment of the impact of the Council’s referrals for survivors and the families of victims must actually incorporate the results that we have helped to deliver and have supported collectively in the domestic jurisdictions of Member States.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“During the same period, we also launched OTPLink, which is a digital platform that allows for a more secure transmission of information from external stakeholders, including witnesses. That is something that has become available not only to witnesses in the Libya situation, but also others addressed my Office as well. As highlighted in my report, our work has not been restricted to simply accelerating our own independent investigations and prosecutions. I have said it before and want to underline my commitment: deepening collaboration with national authorities through a more dynamic approach to cooperation and complementarity is central to my vision of the work of the Office everywhere. That renewed approach has had particular impact with respect to our investigations into crimes against migrants in Libya.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“That is part of a joint endeavour — the partnership that I mentioned previously — to try to bring everybody onboard, not have spectators, and ensure that we try to more thoroughly and completely investigate crimes under our jurisdiction. We are also continuing our progress in harnessing advanced technology in the quest for wider and more meaningful justice. Major steps forward during this reporting period included revolutionizing our approach to the use of technology in our investigations. That included, for example, transitioning our evidence holdings into a cloud-based evidence management system, which will allow the Libya team to draw on artificial intelligence and machine-learning tools, such as automated transcription and translation of video and audio material.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“We have been significantly aided in that objective by the continuous presence my Office has had in the region. A presence in the region is absolutely essential to effective investigation and the prompt delivery of our mandate. That increased engagement has enriched and helped to further accelerate the investigation, providing access to key new potential evidence and witnesses. As part of those efforts, in July my Office also held a multi-day training seminar with many different Libyan civil society organizations to discuss and explain the application of the guidelines for civil society organizations that we developed with European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“We have made particular progress with respect to the crimes related to the 2014 to 2020 period. Those lines of inquiry against key suspects have successfully concluded. The Office is now approaching the stage where investigative activities in relation to this priority line of inquiry, which I detailed in my previous reports, can be assessed as complete. Positive progress has also been made with respect to lines of inquiry such as those pertaining to investigations of detention facilities and crimes against migrants. Critically, we have deepened our engagement with those affected by alleged Rome Statute crimes. We have increased contact with victims, victims’ associations and representatives and other civil society organizations on the situation in Libya.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“I am pleased to be able to confirm to the Council again today that we have made significant progress in the implementation of that strategic plan over the past six months. As reflected in my report, that has included a number of key steps towards the realization of the targets and objectives that I set 18 months ago. To give an example, we have continued to accelerate our investigative activities. During this reporting period, the Team undertook over 15 missions in three regions, collecting over 4,000 items of evidence, including video evidence, audio material, forensic information and satellite imagery, as well as conducting numerous witness screenings and interviews. I am pleased to say that we are reaching our key benchmarks as part of our key lines of inquiry that I set out 18 months ago.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“I simply wish to express my solidarity and that of my Office with the Libyan authorities and the people of Libya as they continue their recovery. It is now 18 months since, in the twenty-third report presented by my Office on the situation in Libya, I set out a renewed plan for action, a completely new strategy through which we would seek to finally deliver on the hopes and legitimate expectations of survivors in Libya. The new plan reflected an overall approach that I have sought to introduce across the various situations addressed by my Office, based upon a targeted, field-focused and dynamic approach to investigations that seeks to fully harness cooperation with all stakeholders and which measures our progress based on clear objectives.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“Mr. Khan: First of all, I thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to brief the Security Council today. I also wish to acknowledge and express my personal thanks to His Excellency the Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations for his attendance in New York at this meeting of the Council. If I may, with your leave, Sir, I would wish to begin by offering my most profound condolences to the Libyan families and communities affected by the unprecedented flooding in Derna and other parts of Libya that the world saw in September. I am well aware that that led to the tragic loss of the lives of thousands of Libyans and the destruction of hospitals, schools, residences and infrastructure. That represented further misery and tragedy endured by the Libyan people for years.”
2023-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9469 (2023) · source
“And I reiterate, and that must be my final word, a call on both parties to the conflict and any individual, for the good of the Sudan and for their own sake, to cooperate with me even at this eleventh hour and provide information to fulfil the promise of justice, because that is an opportunity that will not perhaps come again. I thank the Security Council for the opportunity to say those final remarks.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“The point is complementarity is the foundation of the Rome Statute, but there is another important part that we should not look away from: that if there is a determination that a State is unwilling or unable to ensure that international obligations are fulfilled, that if there are not active investigations in relation to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, we must make sure and we must be resolute to ensure that there is accountability to make sure that the promise of “never again” is given effect to. It therefore pains me and I have no joy in saying that, unfortunately, I am compelled to the conclusion that, at this moment, the Sudan is unwilling and unable to fulfil its obligations. That is why I have announced as clearly as I can that we are progressing to look at and investigate the current allegations.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“They should be as close to the people as possible, and I went further, in fact, and said, subject to judicial orders, I would be open, of course judges would decide, to the trials taking place even by video link from Khartoum. Trials can take place in The Hague with accused appearing by video link, perhaps subject to judicial orders.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“As a candid and honest assessment, it is not the case that the events over the past 90 days can gloss over or muddy the waters of non-cooperation that we have seen over a significant period, and particularly from October 2021, because even before April, at the beginning of this year, after my last report, after I appeared in the Council, two missions to the Sudan were cancelled because we did not get visas, and I have raised that issue many times. That is the simple truth and the reality. I am a real proponent of dynamic complementarity, and when I met General Al-Burhan face to face, it is not the case that I insisted that trials take place in The Hague. I have been on record to say trials should be in the region.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“In my last report (see S/PV.9249) and in my address to the Council, I made it very clear that, unfortunately, despite all the promises and all the protocol at the airport, for which I am very grateful, there was on any analysis a clear trend of no cooperation from some cooperation. And what cooperation there was had its high point before October 2021. So, the words that have been uttered have not actually been met, with the greatest of regret, in terms of fulfilment of international law obligations. An example is that there are 34 requests for assistance that remain outstanding, and those requests have not just come yesterday; they have been outstanding since 2020.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“There is no higher authority in the world in terms of maintaining international peace and security than the Security Council. And it was the Security Council, in 2005, indeed, in paragraph 2 of resolution 1593 (2005), that made it absolutely clear in black and white that the Government of the Sudan and all parties to the conflict shall cooperate fully with and provide necessary assistance to the Court and the Prosecutor pursuant to that resolution. That is an international obligation, which, unfortunately, has been much more honoured in the breach than in the observance. The writing has been on the wall. I am not making things up.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“Mr. Khan: I thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to say a few final words and for the comments and observations and also largely support from the members of the Security Council. I would love to be able to give positive news and to commend cooperation. I would take any opportunity to commend any country, any State, any individual that is bending towards justice and away from criminality. But, unfortunately, I have not been given that opportunity today. I will try to be brief, because I know that there is an important meeting after this one. It is a basic principle of international law that every single member knows — that a national authority, a Government, a country cannot pray in aid a lacuna or domestic impediment to fulfil an international law obligation.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“To quote the Qur’an, which makes it clear, “Be upholders of justice and witnesses of truth, even if it be against yourselves or against your parents, or the rich or the poor. If you distort justice, Allah knows all that you do.” (The Holy Qur’an, CXXXV:4). There has to be a day of reckoning in this world. And that is another reason why I encourage each and every person, however high their status is in any party to a conflict, or any civilian, to speak the truth and to avail themselves of the opportunity now to take the hand of justice and allow there to be some accountability — the accountability that has been often promised and has not been delivered by the Government of the Sudan. I think that only if we work in that way of humility will we vindicate the promises we have now been making since 2005.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“But if authors are intent on writing further chapters of despair and further pages of misery, we will not close this book. We will keep reading, and we will ensure to the best of our ability that there is justice and accountability. Because if we fail to deliver here, I think that the implications would be very severe, as we see in other situations. It would call into question the relevance of the Council. And I make no apology in making my final remark. I am a Muslim, and many actors in this conflict, in both of the parties, proclaim to be Muslims. I recall not only their responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations and resolution 1593 (2005), as well as their commitments with respect to Juba and in the memorandum of understanding they signed, but also in terms of the religion they profess to uphold, which is Islam.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“And as I have said, that is going to be determined not only by the potency and effectiveness of investigations — nor even by the issuance of arrest warrants if judges of the ICC scrutinize any applications we present and are compelled to issue such warrants — but we need to see actual justice in court to separate truth from fiction and to give confidence to the people of Darfur that their lives mean something at all, and that what took place is going to be justiciable. As I have said repeatedly to the Security Council, I do not want these Council referrals to be never-ending stories. I have tried to engage with the Government of the Sudan with road maps and different options to ensure that justice in any forum is delivered in a way that can satisfy the objectives of the Council and the demands of justice.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“And I am pleased that because of the excellent trial management of the judges of the ICC, this has been the most effective and efficient trial in the history of the Court. But we must ensure that it can come to a conclusion. I call on the Government of Sudan to join me by providing every assistance to the defence, the legal representatives of the victims and the Court so that that trial can come to a final determination, following an assessment by the judges of the ICC. But we need to show that we are delivering more than words and promises. We need to show demonstrable action.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“We want those who destroyed us to be held accountable. Those people destroyed our future and the future of our generations. And in this moment, I am presenting to you my voice and the voice of all Darfurian refugees present everywhere around the world, and I would like to tell you that we want peace. We want to return to our homeland. It is enough now.” How could anybody be more eloquent, sincere and simple than that individual, who spoke understandable truths? He is right. It is enough now — by any benchmark or metric. The power of that testimony and its tragic relevance today underlines the fact that the trial of Mr. Abd-Al-Rahman continues to make progress, despite all the difficulties and the current increased hostilities.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“That is a key milestone, and I would like to take the opportunity to commend my team — the men and women of my Office who have persevered, in very difficult circumstances, in discharging their responsibilities with honour and integrity, and extraordinarily efficiently. The voices of victims have been heard. Recently, victims called by the legal representatives of the victims have been heard before the Court. For 20 years they have been yearning for an opportunity to present their views. One example is worth repeating because it speaks both to their misery of the past 20 years and to what is befalling them now. I would like to repeat the words of one witness, who said, “I would like to say that we like justice, and we want justice. We want all those who turned our lives into humiliation and suffering and exhaustion to be held accountable.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“We will be redoubling our efforts to make sure that we can penetrate any obstruction we may face. As the sky darkens over Darfur, and indeed over the people of the Sudan, we must hold on to the light that justice can bring, not because of blind hope or faith, but steered by determination, focus and the willingness to make a decision to change things that we have seen in the past. And there has been hope. In the past six months, tremendous progress has been made in the ICC case of Prosecutor v. Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman. We have closed our case after presenting 81 witnesses who have been tested by the defence and heard by the judges of the ICC.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“I have tried over the past months to engage, and we have received messages from the leadership of the various armed groups, the Government of Sudan and the RSF. And I will continue to make those efforts, but any engagement has two key conditions. It is essential that those involved in the hostilities recognize, however late in the day, that they must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law. There cannot be further excuses, prevarications and justifications for what is intolerable and unjustified — the targeting of humankind’s most vulnerable. It is essential that those involved in the hostilities engage in genuine communication and meaningful cooperation with my Office, both in relation to the current hostilities that we are investigating and with respect to the previous crimes committed in Darfur.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“That compels my Office to look at how it can more effectively render justice at this moment in a way that will not allow any errors of the past, obstruction or non-cooperation to sabotage the prospects for justice or render impotent the will of the Council, with the heavy responsibilities that are placed on it. By any measure, a failure to meet international legal obligations and the absence of any meaningful justice in the Sudan for the serious crimes committed in Darfur 20 years ago have sown the seeds that have grown into the weeds of woe that are now the misfortune of so many Darfuris. I remain open to engaging with all actors to prevent further backsliding into ever deeper violence.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“But for all those reasons, all those instruments speak to a fundamental reality that justice must be and is a foundation for any prospect of sustainable peace and real security. That failure of recognition reflects a fundamental disregard for and breach of clear, repeated commitments that have been made to the people of the Sudan by their Government. One can go through a whole litany of instruments and promises made, but it can simply be reduced to two things, the unfulfilled Juba Peace Agreement of 3 October 2020 and the commitments made to myself and my Office by the Government of the Sudan, by dint of the memorandum of understanding signed on 12 August 2021.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“The question is what we are going to do about it. This reality, the fact that children are rendered orphans, women are violated and buildings are burned, is the result of an unwillingness, over a significant period — despite the reports that I and my predecessors have brought before the Council, the work of the Office of the High Commissioner, the work of various United Nations organizations, and of UNITAMS in the more recent past — to give value to the accounts of the lived experiences of so many of our Sudanese and Darfuri brothers and sisters. In my respectful view, it stems from a fundamental failure to recognize that justice is not simply required for upholding normative values and principles of public international law, or even to vindicate essential principles of the Charter.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“But God willing, we will ensure that justice is not merely spoken about in this Chamber but is felt, so that civilians and the vulnerable can see their rights vindicated in ways that they have not seen sufficiently in their lived experiences. Today I can also announce our launch of a new public campaign in which we are asking and encouraging civilians, members of the various groups and any other individual with information to provide it to my Office through a secure channel, using a portal that we have set up. At this critical moment — and I think by any analysis, that is the blandest way we can put it — we need a very honest assessment. This outcome has been staring us in the face. It has been staring the Council in the face. It has been staring the Sudan in the face for an awfully long time. We could see it coming.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“I would like to take this opportunity to commend the excellent leadership and cooperation of Volker Perthes, as Special Representative of the Secretary-General, in the most recent period. I have given clear instructions to my Office to prioritize crimes against children and of sexual and gender-based violence. While I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the various reports that we have received at this juncture, we are already looking at new, imaginative and innovative ways to verify what is the truth and subject it to scrutiny. I have said that during my term as Prosecutor, I will not apply for warrants unless there is a realistic prospect of getting a conviction.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“They feel that the law and the pronouncements and resolutions of the Council are not taken seriously or delivered on to protect or shield them as the Charter of the United Nations requires. The investigations that we are looking at also encompass many allegations of crimes in West Darfur — looting and extrajudicial killings and the burning of homes — and in North Darfur. With regard to those allegations, I have already mentioned the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights today, but they also emerge from other sources, such as the report of the Secretary-General (S/2023/355) on the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in the Sudan (UNITAMS).”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“This is a moment in which we should really bring together the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the principles hard won at Nuremberg, the Rome Statute obligations and the authority of the Council itself, which made a determination in 2005 that such acts represented a threat to international peace and security. It applies not only in relation to acts committed in the Sudan. Any individual outside the Sudan who aids, abets, encourages or directs crimes that may be committed in Darfur will also be investigated. This is a moment that should bring some clarity in terms of where it is going, the legal options available and the moral and legal responsibility that we owe to people who feel invisible and have felt invisible for almost 20 years.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“I want to send a clear message to all the belligerents, commanders and foot soldiers who have guns, or who believe that they have the power to do what they want, that intentionally targeting civilians, especially women and children, and their homes or businesses is a crime prohibited by the Rome Statute. The attacks on schools and on humanitarian supplies and facilities must cease, because the harm that such activities are causing is so profound that it goes beyond words. I think that reality deserves that we pause for thought and contemplate the lot of people who are not in rooms or in a Chamber such as this.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source
“If the oft- repeated phrase “never again” is to mean anything, it must mean something here and now for the people of Darfur, who have lived with uncertainty, pain and the scars of conflict for almost two decades. With respect to the role of my Office, I want to be very clear that our mandate pursuant to resolution 1593 (2005) is ongoing with respect to crimes within our jurisdiction, that is, the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Any individual who is found to have committed any of those crimes within our jurisdiction will be investigated. Depending on assessments by the independent judges of the ICC, we will strain every sinew and leave no stone unturned to ensure that they are held accountable in fair and independent trial. We have already started investigating, as I said.”
2023-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9375 (2023) · source