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

“It prejudices the Council’s demand for proper investigation and the Sudan’s responsibility, by dint of resolution 1593 (2005), to cooperate and by virtue of the Juba Peace Agreement to make sure that justice is actually delivered. In the report, members will see the new benchmarks that have been detailed, including the requirement to issue multiple entry visas, to help us open an office in Khartoum as soon as possible, to hold monthly meetings with departmental level focal points and provide multiple entry visas not just for the Deputy Prosecutor and myself and my immediate mission, but for the members of the Office who have to collect evidence and build relationships with the Sudanese authorities and the victims. I believe the coming weeks will determine whether or not the mission is a success.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“This afternoon I had the opportunity to meet General Hamden Dagalo, Deputy Chairperson of the Sovereignty Council and tomorrow, God willing, I will be meeting General Al-Burhan. I have and will continue to emphasize the need for cooperation with both of them because I am extremely grateful for the opportunity, and I do not take it for granted as I set foot in this ancient and very important and noble land. I am grateful to be able to brief the Security Council. I am grateful that just a few days ago, multiple entry visas were granted for the small delegation that is with me now. I am grateful for the courtesy of being received at the airport and for the security. However, as is detailed in my report, by every other metric, we have taken a step backwards in terms of cooperation in recent months. That does not prejudice me.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“Very often people do not leave their own camps, never mind their own province. But it matters to them. And for that reason, among many others, it must matter to all of us. This is also an important moment for my Office and its relationship with the Security Council because we have seen first-hand how our partnership can start to deliver. We need to accelerate action. We need to deliver more. It would be a false promise to say that the whole of the events in Darfur rest on the shoulders of Abd-Al-Rahman and Ali Kushayb. It will be adjudicated by judges at the ICC. But there are other cases for which the judges of the Court have issued warrants, and we need to make sure there is cooperation and accountability for them as well.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“At the moment, as I have said, the fact that we have seen the start of the first trial in the first situation referred to the Court by the Security Council is a meaningful one. In part at least, it is an answer to some who say that international criminal justice is impotent, that the hurdles are too large and the impact too small. Much more needs to be done. But I would also suggest that sometimes we are victims of our own cynicism. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. We feel that international justice is not worth the paper it is written on, that it is all politics and high hopes, and we lose sight of the people who actually do not care and have never set foot in the major capitals represented by the members of the Council that I have the honour to appear before.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“I have every confidence that in due course, the judges of the ICC will properly determine whether those allegations laid out by my Office are up to the required standard of beyond reasonable doubt. One of the reasons I was so eager to give this briefing from the Sudan was because of the impact we have had on the people whom we are here to serve collectively, the people of Darfur and the people of the Sudan. It is why have repeatedly said that it is essential for the Office to change its approaches, to be more connected with people in different parts of the world and to have a field presence, because that resonates with them. It matters to them. And it shows that through perseverance, courage, common action, partnerships and stubborn insistence, justice can be delivered. It can.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“The fact that the case of Ali Kushayb, a senior Janjaweed leader, has started — and that the evidence that has been presented to the Court shows that he directly butchered people and that he and his men threw children to the ground, violated women and caused so much devastation and cruelty — has actually given people the space to hope that tomorrow may be different from yesterday. That case, which includes 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, is now under the supervision of independent and impartial judges of the International Criminal Court. The Court has now heard 28 witnesses, and they are representative of accounts that I have also heard in the camps — a microcosm of suffering.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“But words simply are insufficient to give those people their due, because even in the very dark days of non-cooperation with the Sudan, the people believed that a day would come when justice would be delivered. I think that collectively we should pray, and also act to ensure, that this is not only a new day but that we will not allow it to become a false dawn. That requires action, not words. It requires delivery, not promises, because the people are tired of promises. And I think this is the time to move forward.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“Why should people comply with the law? Why should they be concerned about public international law or international humanitarian law when time and time again they see people doing what they want and getting away with it? I think this call to action is long overdue. But in that environment and given all that experience, as well as the people’s high hopes and the reality that we have to do more, we do have a glimmer of hope, which I have seen in the faces of many people in Darfur and in speaking to them. The fact that in April I opened the Ali Kushayb case — the case against Mr. Abd-Al-Rahman, a senior Janjaweed militia leader — has had a tremendous impact on the people of Darfur whose importance cannot be overestimated. It is a massive tribute to the persistence, resilience, courage and belief of the Sudanese people.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“I know that Council members visited Baghdad during my previous mandate with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. I think the opportunity to learn more and hear from some of those survivors — the Darfuris in camps who hold the members of the Council in such high regard and who have such high hopes for it — would help us reawaken our commitment to humankind and to the obligations vested in everyone here, as Council members. One thing that we have seen time and again, and the Sudan is no exception, is that if we do not manage to deal with the historic abuses, the cases that are well known in the Sudan, the cycle of impunity is likely to continue and be followed by other cycles of violence.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“I felt very moved, because their gratitude was not in proportion to what we have done as a Court, as a Council, as the Sudan or as States. We simply still have a great deal to do. I respectfully submit that resolution 1593 (2005), the Juba Peace Agreement of October 2020 and the memorandum of understanding that I signed with the Government in August last year cannot remain adornments disguising inaction. We need collectively to find ways to move forward, because so many are counting on the Council and on us collectively. I respectfully suggest, with the greatest humility, that at an appropriate time the Council consider holding a meeting in the Sudan.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“I also hope that the members of the Council will not forget the people of Darfur, because they have not forgotten the Council in any way. They are extremely grateful to the Council and have high hopes that together, the Council, the ICC, the Sudan and certainly the international community will make sure that our words are not pious hopes but are actually delivered on. One of the abiding takeaways from my experience is how grateful the people of Darfur are for justice, for being remembered and for being able to believe, because of the fact that we are speaking about them today and that a prosecutor came to visit them, that somehow their lives — and the lives of their lost loved ones and those who are living with the physical scars that are there to see — somehow their lives matter, and justice will not be merely a distant promise.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“As a very well-known phrase that is now deep in Security Council convention, recalling resolution 1593 (2005) is perhaps not always the same as remembering the circumstances that compelled the Council to refer the situation in Darfur to the ICC in 2005. Perhaps we should take a moment to reflect and perhaps, in our minds’ eyes, we can recall seeing those pictures of devastation — the caravan of humanity that was that exodus within Darfur to the camps where many thousands remain today and out into the region and the allegations that the Council would remember of rapes and killings and the destruction of property. I hope that I did not speak out of turn when I mentioned the members of all three camps that I visited in both provinces of Darfur.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“After quite some distance — a very long walk for many — we were met by an advance team of people from the camp. They were rejoicing and welcomed us with typical Sudanese and Darfuri hospitality, chanting “Welcome, ICC!” They ushered us in to a camp that was a throng of humanity, with slogans raising from their lips about the need for, and their belief in, justice. I took the liberty of telling them that, while they may be cut off from roads, their actions and their belief in accountability manifestly demonstrate that they are not cut off from hope. It was a moving sign and, indeed, it left quite a deep impression. But one thing is clear: despite the heavy rains that were apparent in their environment, they are still extremely thirsty — not for water, but for meaningful justice.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“The simple truth is that the nightmare for thousands of Darfuris has not ended. The nightmare of their experiences continues, in large part, because meaningful justice and accountability have not been felt in the manner that is required or, in my respectful view, which was anticipated by the Council in 2005. Kalma camp is a good example. It was established in 2004. Today 300,000 people live there, most of them as a result of the activities that compelled the Council to refer the Darfur situation to my Office. Generations have passed away, and children have been born in that camp. As I left the metalled road from Nyala, I took mud roads, navigating donkeys, traversing pools filled with water from the very heavy rainfall that the region had endured and crossing railway tracks.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“While I was in Darfur, she spent the past couple of days meeting senior members of the Government here in Khartoum. I came back from Darfur yesterday. In South Darfur, I had the opportunity to meet the Wali, or the Governor, of South Darfur, and visited the very large Kalma refugee camp. I then flew to Central Darfur and also met the Governor of that province, as well as the members of his security committee. I visited another two camps there, namely, Hassahissa camp and Hamidiya camp. It really was a very impactful experience that reinforced my resolve that the Sudan situation needs to be properly prioritized and that it fully justifies and requires proper resources, as well as a proper focus of activities to make sure we deliver on the mandate that the Council gave us 17 years ago.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“Mr. Khan: It is a great honour to have the opportunity to brief the Security Council once again. I want to give my very sincere thanks to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Sudan, Mr. Volker Perthes, to the United Nations Development Programme for facilitating this video-teleconference from Khartoum and, of course, to the Government of the Sudan for supporting this briefing. This is the first time in the history of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that the Prosecutor of the Court is briefing the Council from a situation country. It is the first briefing from the Sudan. I am delighted that, over the past few days, I have been joined by my Deputy Prosecutor, Ms. Nazhat Shameem Khan, who is just off-camera.”
2022-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9113 (2022) · source
“Finally, nothing undermines the credibility of the Security Council more than the selective implementation and non-implementation of its resolutions. The Council should seriously consider how it can improve that implementation, especially on long- standing issues such as the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and the question of Palestine. The failure to enforce its own resolutions undermines the Council’s credibility and erodes the commitment of States and peoples to the principles of the Charter and the peaceful settlement of disputes.”
2022-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9079 (2022) · source
“It is also increasingly evident that fundamental changes are needed in the global counter-terrorism architecture and the Security Council sanctions regime, especially to ensure, first, a new process and effective remedies in the implementation of sanctions regimes; secondly, the strengthening of the Office of the Ombudsperson to the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities with a view to enhancing transparency in Security Council sanctions; and thirdly, halting and reversing the mistaken practice of transforming soft law standards and practices into arbitrary obligations for all States through the Security Council.”
2022-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9079 (2022) · source
“Article 65 of the Charter provides that the Economic and Social Council “may furnish information to the Security Council and shall assist the Security Council upon its request.” But it is rare that the Economic and Social Council has been requested to play that role, and apart from creating the Peacebuilding Commission, there has been no serious effort to develop a practice of inviting the Economic and Social Council to work with the Security Council in areas and on issues where their mandates overlap.”
2022-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9079 (2022) · source
“The improved timeline in the submission of the report of the Security Council (A/76/2) to the General Assembly is encouraging, but the same cannot be said about the contents of the report itself. The report provides a compendium of the Council’s deliberations on various issues, which is a useful reference, but it does not throw any light on how the Council considers specific situations and the ways in which it reaches its decisions. The disregard of the Security Council’s relationship under the Charter with the Economic and Social Council is even greater.”
2022-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9079 (2022) · source
“There is also frustration about the use of the veto, which is exercised in the Council not only through negative votes by the permanent members but also through the Council’s informal and often unacknowledged processes. It is that reality that reinforces the belief of Pakistan and the Uniting for Consensus group that we cannot achieve reform and improve the effectiveness of the Security Council by adding permanent members to it. Its representation, openness, inclusiveness and decision-making should be improved through the expansion and empowerment of additional elected, non-permanent seats. The Security Council’s relationships with the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council should also be brought into conformity with the letter and the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations.”
2022-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9079 (2022) · source
“That open culture of the Council’s work has been progressively eroded by the even more frequent closed meetings, especially since the end of the Cold War. In our view, enhanced engagement by the Council with the wider United Nations membership is critical. We all have an equal stake in the maintenance of international peace and security. The number and proportion of open meetings of the Council must therefore be increased, and closed meetings must be restricted to a minimum. It is no secret that there is widespread dissatisfaction with what is seen as an exclusivist and elitist culture of the Council, with outcomes mostly determined by its permanent members.”
2022-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9079 (2022) · source
“First, much of the Council’s real work increasingly takes place behind closed doors in so-called informal meetings, which have no records and therefore do not assign responsibility. Explanations for most of the decisions that are taken are not provided by the Security Council. Secondly, that has not always been the case. During the early decades following the creation of the United Nations, meetings of the Council were held in an open setting. They were convened urgently at the request of a Member State or in the face of visible threats to peace and security and were open to the active participation of States non-members of the Council, which could intervene freely on issues of concern to them.”
2022-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9079 (2022) · source
“We thank you, Sir, for organizing this open debate on the working methods of the Security Council. We also thank the briefers for their presentations earlier today. There is wide agreement within the world community that, in order to be able to respond effectively to the increasingly complex and overlapping challenges to global peace and security, the Security Council must become more transparent, accountable, inclusive and democratic. We hope that consensus will be reached in the near future through the General Assembly’s intergovernmental negotiations process on a comprehensive reform of the Security Council. Meanwhile, it is essential that the Council improve its working methods. Allow me to make a few observations about the working methods of the Security Council.”
2022-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9079 (2022) · source
“In conclusion, let me say that the universal and consistent adherence to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter is imperative not only to ensuring the credibility and legitimacy of the United Nations system, but also to strengthening accountability and justice for serious violations of international law.”
2022-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9052Resumption1 (2022) · source
“They have ransacked and pillaged towns, villages and neighbourhoods to impose what India’s own leaders have themselves called a final solution for Jammu and Kashmir. Since 5 August 2019, India has embarked upon a sinister plan to transform occupied territory from a Muslim majority State to a Hindu majority territory, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention and international law. Appeasement by the international community would only encourage further impunity. We call on the Security Council to immediately take cognizance of the compelling evidence of those international crimes in Indian-occupied Kashmir and hold Indian officials and personnel accountable for such activities, atrocities and grave breaches of international humanitarian law.”
2022-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9052Resumption1 (2022) · source
“The Jammu and Kashmir dispute is a glaring example of such a brutal occupation where international law has been flouted for decades. Over the span of the past 75 years, India has not only forcibly denied the right of self-determination to Kashmiri people, but also committed gross and systematic violations of international law. More than 900,000 Indian troops, who have remained deployed in the Kashmir Valley for decades, have resorted to the worst forms of torture, rapes, renditions, forced displacement and other grave breaches of international criminal law, including by using live ammunition against civilian protesters in the form of pellet guns, blinding innocent young people and leaving many others injured.”
2022-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9052Resumption1 (2022) · source
“Selectivity and double standards in the implementation of Security Council resolutions and decisions, especially on long-standing disputes, remain a principal cause of concern. In fact, it has proved to be the system’s Achilles heel. In addition, concepts such as the responsibility to protect, as articulated in paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome document (General Assembly resolution 60/1), continue to remain divisive, particularly because its application remains driven solely by political considerations. As a result, serious violations in situations of illegal occupation with clear Security Council mandates can easily spiral to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the absence of international scrutiny and accountability.”
2022-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9052Resumption1 (2022) · source
“Over the years, in discharging its functions the Council has contributed to the fight against impunity for serious violations and crimes in specific, practical and diverse ways. The seminal moment in the history of accountability for serious violations arrived when the Council, applying a broad sweep of its powers under Chapter VII of the Charter, chose to establish ad hoc tribunals with a mandate to advance accountability for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Despite that often-declared strong stance and commitment of the Council, in many parts of the world violations of international law persist and continue to have an adverse impact on international peace and security.”
2022-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9052Resumption1 (2022) · source
“The world order established after the Second World War is based on three interlocking and mutually reinforcing sets of obligations: the obligations arising from the United Nations Charter that outlaw the use of force and encourage States to resolve their disputes through peaceful means; the principles of State responsibility for wrongful acts committed by a State in the conduct of its international relations; and the responsibility of each State to protect its populations from genocide and other atrocities. In accordance with those arrangements, the prime responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, under Article 24 of the United Nations Charter, rests with the Security Council.”
2022-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9052Resumption1 (2022) · source
“My delegation thanks the Albanian presidency for convening today’s debate on the important topic of strengthening accountability and justice for serious violations of international law. I wish to thank you, Madam President, the briefers and those who have spoken before me for their valuable remarks and fresh perspectives on today’s topic.”
2022-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9052Resumption1 (2022) · source
“That is why we try to get to the truth to vindicate the rights that we should all individually, regardless of politics, hold dear.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“I would suggest that a more appropriate question is whether or not, but for the International Criminal Court, peace and justice would have fallen like manna on the people of Libya. The simple truth is that the Council, the region and Libya itself have somehow not managed to help secure peace. The final comment from the representative of Ghana really must be the last word. The question really is whether or not we collectively provide value. We really care for children, women and men who just want to lead their lives but keep suffering time and time again. The words of the representative of Ghana resonate far more eloquently than I could ever attempt — impunity, when committed, cannot be allowed to stand. That is why we have an International Criminal Court.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“It is all true, perhaps, but is it an excuse for us not to try to raise our gaze collectively to higher values and higher principles? For goodness’ sake and with respect, if we cannot do that in a building such as this, what is the hope? The representative of India raised an important point. He recalled certain concerns that seemed, he thought, to be vindicated by the International Criminal Court and the lack of peace. It is also important to realize, grasp and accept the reality that justice anywhere, and international justice in particular, is not a silver bullet that will solve every malady that afflicts humankind. If one expects that to be the case, we will keep failing and having expectations that simply cannot be fulfilled.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“The clear language of paragraph 6 of resolution 1970 (2011) holds the answer to the representative’s question, as it clearly states that the Council decides that nationals, current or former officials or personnel from a State outside the Libyan Arab Republic which is not a party to the Rome Statute shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of that State. I follow the law. The Council creates the law in terms of the parameters of a referral. The other part that I would like to emphasize, if I may, relates to something my late father from Pakistan used to say when we squabbled as children. He said that when you point a finger, there are three pointing back at you. It is very easy with the history of humankind to engage or be indulgent in the blame game. Someone did this or that.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“It is very important to bear in mind that while we have — and I have — tremendous respect for the promise of the Council, for the purpose of the Council and for all members here, like many normal people there is understandable frustration about the fact that all around the world, away from sophisticated capitals and cities, such as New York, and beautiful rooms such as this one, we still tolerate a world where we are deaf and wilfully shut our eyes to the agony of so many others. There was a question raised regarding focus. I am a lawyer, not a legislator, and I hope that I will never be in a position to knowingly violate the law. Certainly, I will never arrogate to myself authorities that are not vested in me.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“My learned friend, the representative of the Russian Federation, referred to the situation in Libya and asked who actually is to blame for the continuous groans of agony that still reverberate from that troubled land. That is, of course, an open question, and the question is: Who is responsible? The Rome Statute gives clear jurisdiction to us in relation to matters that are referred. The Charter of the United Nations is the principal foundation of world affairs. It makes it clear that the Council has principal responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“Mr. Khan: I am most grateful for the contributions, observations, words of support and, indeed, even the words of concern that have been raised. I am also grateful for the opportunity to clarify or further explain a few matters. I think that, based upon any analysis, the International Criminal Court can be viewed only as an awful testament to the continuous proclivity of humankind to wreak havoc and cause untold suffering upon the most vulnerable children, women and men. Of course, there is a lot of blame to go around with regard to every country. All of us are flawed beings, but that is not really the question. The question is whether we want to live in a world where justice prevails or whether we can somehow sleep and tolerate and accept a world in which so many are in physical agony and emotionally distraught.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“This of course has implications for investigations, but there are always various means — with good will and imagination — of trying to make sure that things move forward effectively. I have tried to be transparent in the report. I have set benchmarks. I will continue to set more benchmarks, so that hopefully we can ensure that the important responsibility given by the Security Council in resolution 1970 (2011) is fulfilled, and, even more importantly, that the victims and the survivors are not an afterthought, that we put them centre stage and make sure that their rights are properly and fully vindicated to the best of our abilities.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“The way to improve and bend the arc towards justice is by working together, as well as by independently and effectively testing evidence received from any source, trying to make sure that evidence is reliable, with the many tried and tested forensic means to do that, and if we do so, we can fulfil our mandate with ever greater efficiency. The twenty-third report is perhaps characterized by a number of things, but what I have tried to do and what I will always endeavour to do to the best of my abilities, however limited, is to be candid. There are challenges: the political and security situation in Libya with which the Libyan authorities are dealing is difficult, dynamic and challenging.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“This two-way street of us getting evidence, conducting investigations and analysing the evidence with technological tools and experts in the Office — using it but also sharing it — is one that will give value for money. It is one that is going to be effective. And ultimately, it will be more effective for victims and survivors. The binding reality is that in these types of crimes we simply cannot act alone. It is often hubris to think that the ICC or any national authority can act alone when the crimes that seem to have taken place could constitute either genocide or crimes against humanity or war crimes. Structures are broken and cannot operate. Witness protection has become a real issue in so many parts of the world.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“We have already had some concrete examples of effectiveness in that regard. I mentioned this point in my last briefing when I touched upon the migration issue and mentioned our partnership with the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation and Italy, and the fact that the Kingdom of the Netherlands has managed to bring cases for crimes linked to the migration issue. We need to look at ways of widening that and feeding more information to national authorities. The idea that somehow the ICC is an apex criminal court is not a sound one. In my view, it is far better to view it as a hub, with every national authority being a spoke in a system that allows the wheel of justice to move more effectively and overcome the bumps that exist in every jurisdiction.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“I have repeatedly said that the ICC is a court of last resort. That is common ground. The Hague should be a city of last resort. But we need to find more creative, imaginative and effective methods to get evidence to courtrooms, wherever they are. For me, it really does not matter if there is the ICC flag behind a judge or if it is a domestic flag. In fact, very often, the latter is preferable. This is part of what I described as “redefining success”. It is a way of us not being beneficiaries of information that we receive from States or that we collect from our own investigations. Rather, it is a renewed impetus to try to receive evidence and use it for our own cases, but also to give it to national authorities to use, assess and narrow what is far too frequently an impunity gap.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“We have already had discussions at a technical level regarding helping the Libyan authorities, as well as having the capacity in terms of forensics and mass graves and moving that forward. It was raised by the Ambassador and Permanent Representative this morning. I also followed up on that, and those discussions have in fact taken place. The assistance of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya is also extremely important. In the past two weeks, my deputy spoke with the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Libya, Ms. Stephanie Williams, and I think that we will try to work, respecting the different mandates, with the United Nations, where possible, so that we can do a better job. Obviously, we cannot view the objectives of the ICC as bringing everything to The Hague.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“Further to that, in the next reporting period I am hoping both to have high-level interactions with the Libyan authorities and to create a more systematic and structured approach to working-level discussions between my Office and the Libyan authorities so that we can move things forward. I hope that a new memorandum of understanding can be devised over the next reporting period. I had hoped to go to Libya during this reporting period, but, with a number of issues — not only schedules and logistics but also the elections — I took advice, and it was not possible. However, I hope that in the coming reporting period I will be able to go to Libya and move things forward more effectively with its assistance.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“Only when a State is unwilling or unable does the Court come into play. I therefore really want to look at ways in which we can assist technically, as well as improve communications regarding what is needed and what the gaps are, to help national proceedings take the strain of responsibility ever more effectively. Wherever any national authority, any authority at all, is willing to step up the office, we would be very delighted and pleased to support that rather than cling to a particular case. I look forward to exploring such options. But a corollary of that is also the case that if a situation or a country is not willing or is not able, I cannot be derelict in my non-derogable obligations to act in accordance with the Rome Statute and, in that process, to investigate incriminating and exculpatory evidence equally.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“But I think that it is really outstanding that the victims and survivors everywhere whom I have actually seen, not just in Libya, despite having lost almost everything in many cases, have the remarkable belief, sometimes in the face of what they see, that justice will not be an illusion but can be rendered something that is effective, solid and meaningful to their lives. The third pillar, quite obviously, is better and closer engagement with the Libyan authorities. I am trying to ensure that, and I have set out in the report — and we also had very good discussions today with His Excellency the Ambassador of Libya — how we can partner with Libya and improve our lines of communication. It is not a favour of the prosecution. The clear foundation of the Rome Statute is built on complementarity and that justice is best done at home.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“Here we are some years from 2011, and I think that, collectively, we can do a better job in communicating with those who are victims and survivors and in managing expectations, but also, within the confines of confidential criminal investigations, in improving communications and hearing from them regarding what their concerns are. Their views and concerns can be presented to the Court, but we also have a responsibility to listen more effectively. Regarding victims and survivors, I think that there is a great deal that could be said, but, in this forum, if I may, I will simply take this opportunity to thank them for their outstanding steadfastness and for their patience. I hope that we will do better. I hope that we will accelerate our work.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“We need to be absolutely alive to the realities of the moment in which different narratives take place, and we need to be able to effectively separate those narratives. We have already identified some putative witnesses who, we think, would be accessible to the Office by way of having a closer field presence. Linked to that, we will partner with the Registrar of the Court — we have an outstanding Registrar of the International Criminal Court — and work in collaboration with him and his Office to devise a more effective outreach strategy because it is critical that victims and survivors know what is happening.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source
“I think that once we work in that way with victims, survivors and States, we will have a better and more accurate compass that will help us navigate a path towards the truth, separating truth from fiction, actually finding out why certain things happened and, where necessary, ensuring that cases are brought that independent judges can establish. Linked to that is something that is critical, and I hope that we will have the support of Libya as well. Something that, I think, is necessary in all our situations is a field presence. We need to be more on the ground, learning, listening and being able to access the undercurrents of a situation so that we are not the least informed person or group in a situation.”
2022-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9024 (2022) · source