YouSaid · the spoken record

Kyung-Wha Kang

lines on the record
65
first
2009-11-11
most recent
2015-12-21
sittings or episodes
5
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

  1. “Institutionally, the Council should mandate arrangements on the ground to ensure an enhanced coherence, rather than fragmentation, and to make full use of civilian capacities, with robust human rights components in United Nations peace missions tasked to provide effective protection to the full range of vulnerable persons and groups in conflict and post- conflict countries. The early deployment of human rights officers, the rapid fielding of human rights investigations and the organization of human rights assessments have proved to be valuable interventions, allowing us to identify trends, threats and risks, to document abuse and to hear the concerns of victims and the vulnerable.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  2. “The failure to pursue a credible transitional justice strategy, including holding to account those responsible for the gravest crimes over more than three decades of war and the resulting climate of impunity, is a significant factor in the challenging political context and growing insecurity that now envelop Afghanistan. For 10 years now, the Council has worked under this thematic track to build up a framework for the protection of civilians in armed conflict. That work has better equipped the Council, and all of us, to address that vital issue.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  3. “During the first 10 months of 2009, the United Nations Mission of Assistance in Afghanistan recorded 2,021 civilian deaths, compared with 1,838 for the same period in 2008 and 1,275 in 2007. The intensifying conflict has had a disastrous impact on the enjoyment by many Afghans of basic rights to health, food, shelter, a livelihood and education. In addition, there continues to be an urgent need to improve overall accountability procedures, including through criminal prosecution when warranted, as well as redress for victims, while bringing the legal framework governing conflict-related detention by all who take and hold detainees into line with human rights law.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  4. “The situation also necessitates the employment of a broader human rights approach with a focus on the entire spectrum of rights beyond physical protection. The conflict in Afghanistan has repeatedly caught civilians in the crossfire. The recent attack on a United Nations guesthouse in Kabul, killing five United Nations staff members and injuring numerous others, is a stark reminder that United Nations personnel continue to put their lives at risk, while protecting war- affected civilians and working to build an environment that is conducive to respect for human rights. Civilian casualties continue to mount, with hundreds killed every year by armed anti-Government elements, Government forces and international forces carrying out both air strikes and ground assaults.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  5. “The Council has again emphasized the protection of civilians as a priority in renewing the mandate of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur. In 2005, the Office of the High Commissioner supported the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, which concluded that Government forces and militias were responsible for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and which led to the referral of the situation by this Council to the International Criminal Court. But justice remains elusive and violations continue. Darfur illustrates that, even with robust mandates, there are political, structural, operational and resource issues that limit the effectiveness of United Nations peacekeeping missions.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  6. “This situation is further compounded by concerns that well-known human rights violators, including an individual indicted by the ICC, continue to occupy high-level command positions within the Congolese army. Recent public statements by senior Government officials demonstrate a lack of political will to investigate high ranking officials and raise doubts regarding the zero-tolerance policy against sexual violence proclaimed by the President. Under these circumstances, the sustained and unequivocal support of the Council to the fight against impunity is urgently needed. Efforts to bring effective protection to the long- suffering people of Darfur have occupied countless hours of this Council's work over many years now, but without satisfactory progress towards a sustainable solution to the conflict.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  7. “The situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is a horrifying reminder of the depths to which inhumanity can spiral if left unchecked. Military operations against residual armed groups, such as the Lord's Resistance Army and the Forces Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda, have led to massive displacement, and several hundreds of civilians have been killed this year alone. Sexual violence, including rape, has increased drastically. Support provided by the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Congolese Army in the context of these operations needs to be reviewed whenever there is a risk of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  8. “Collective punishment, as evidenced by the crippling Israeli blockade and the devastating military offensive, is a violation of international human rights and humanitarian law, as are the forcible evictions of Arabs, the demolition of homes and the expropriation of occupied East Jerusalem lands for Israeli settlements. Until meaningful steps are taken to end impunity for these violations and to assert the applicability of international law, peace and security will remain elusive for all the people of the region. The Council is urged to embrace the recommendations in the report, so as to secure accountability for all perpetrators and to fully integrate human rights guarantees into peacemaking efforts.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  9. “The report lays out in detail the nature and scope of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law perpetrated against the civilian population of the occupied Palestinian territory, where, in Gaza earlier this year, Israeli forces killed well over one thousand civilians and attacked homes, schools, mosques, food and water installations and United Nations facilities. The report also documents the indiscriminate launching of rockets and mortars into southern Israel by armed Palestinian groups in Gaza, killing Israeli civilians and causing terror and trauma among communities in disregard of international humanitarian and human rights norms.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  10. “The dispatch of credible, independent, law-based commissions of inquiry that are focused on accountability and which report their findings publicly has proven to be an important catalyst in the Council's efforts to combat impunity, and more use could be made of such mechanisms. The corrosive effect of impunity on both human rights and peace is evident in the case of the occupied Palestinian territory, as documented in the report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission (A/64/640) headed by the distinguished international jurist Richard Goldstone, which has been transmitted to this Council.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  11. “To be sure, the politics of conflict cannot be ignored. But where conflict entails the abuse of human rights, the international community must act to identify the facts and then to apply the law. But law without enforcement is of little moment to would-be perpetrators. To be effective in the protection of civilians, the Council must consistently work to ensure accountability for perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other gross violations of human rights. The establishment of tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and elsewhere, as well as the referral of specific cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC), has helped to send an important signal that, even in the fog of war, impunity is not assured.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  12. “It is now axiomatic that the resolution of conflict and the maintenance of peace and security will be neither achieved nor sustained without due attention being paid to redressing grievances, ending impunity and protecting the human rights of civilians. But this requires greater clarity in our concepts and expeditiousness in our action. To be clear, when we say protection, we are talking about protection of the human rights of individuals as contained in international law, including international human rights law, international humanitarian law, international refugee law and international criminal law. The authority of international law and the obligations of duty bearers - among all the parties to conflict - cannot be replaced by more amorphous notions of protection, or by less obligatory notions of charitable action.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  13. “It will also mean seeking creative solutions to the political obstacles that have at times kept critical situations off the Council's formal agenda and to those obstacles that have stalled action or blocked the Council's protective response all together. And it will mean moving beyond narrow notions of what constitutes an imminent threat. If the cause of protection is to advance in the next ten years, a higher level of political will must be mobilized to take timely and effective action to prevent atrocities, protect the vulnerable, hold perpetrators to account and ensure redress for victims.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  14. “By keeping the protection of civilians in armed conflict on its agenda during the past ten years, the Council has significantly advanced our understanding of the crucial importance of the protection of civilians and human rights to the cause of international peace and security at the normative and policy level. Translating that policy into more effective action on the ground is the challenge that we must now confront. As the report of the Secretary-General (S/2009/277) points out, this will mean enhancing compliance with international law, bolstering protection through more effective and better resourced United Nations missions, securing humanitarian access and pursuing accountability for violations.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source

  15. “Ms. Kyung-Wha Kang: I have the honour to deliver the following statement on behalf of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay. The particular vulnerability of human rights in situations of armed conflict means that the daily work of the Office of the High Commissioner includes a significant focus on the full range of situations under the Council's review. For this reason, and for more than a decade, successive High Commissioners have been called to brief the Council, and we are pleased to continue this tradition of collaboration in our common cause of protecting civilians exposed to the horrors of armed conflict. The constitutional responsibility of the Council under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security is one of the greatest trusts of humankind.”

    2009-11-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6216 (2009) · source