YouSaid · the spoken record

Perceval

lines on the record: 1,097
first: 2012-11-26
most recent: 2015-04-15
sittings or episodes: 125
sources: un-security-council

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“Mrs. Perceval (Argentina) (spoke in Spanish): Ijoin other speakers in expressing my confidence, on behalf of the delegation of Argentina, in Korea's leadership during the month of its presidency. I also express my recognition and gratitude to the Nigerian presidency of last month.I also thank the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Mr. Feltman, for his briefing on the situation in Ukraine. We are meeting for the second time this week to discuss once again the alarming situation in Ukraine, showing that the Security Council has a responsibility to express - and for Argentina, to reiterate - its concern that wide-scale violent confrontations could result from the growing tensions.”
2014-05-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7167 (2014) · source
“We have already said that, and we have not come here to repeat things. We have come to say that it is understandable that the Council is meeting today. The other reason we are here is to reject violence involving two concrete events, namely, the attack against the Mayor of Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine, and, as requested by the Secretary-General, Argentina calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the military observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe who are being held hostage. Again we reiterate that the Council meets in order to promote peace. With a pen in hand and with our good faith, we stand ready to help Ukraine emerge from this difficult situation so that it can achieve the peace that its people deserve.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7165 (2014) · source
“It is for that reason that today my country will merely reaffirm two convictions. That is, that in the dialogue of constructive diplomacy that was initiated on 17 April with a view to finding a peaceful and political solution to this critical situation, Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine all expressed at Geneva a willingness to reach an agreement. What we saw as willingness to agree, the whole world saw as a source of hope. Today, however, we must urge the parties to return to a constructive dialogue. The difficult situation facing Ukraine cannot be resolved through unilateral actions of any sort. It is essential that we strictly abide by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and not intervene in matters under the domestic jurisdiction of States in any way, including military, political and economic.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7165 (2014) · source
“Mrs. Perceval (Argentina) (Spoke in Spanish): I would like to thank Mr. Feltman for his update on the difficult situation in Ukraine. I am wondering, and I would also like to ask the Council, why we are having this meeting. Going over the difficult situation and the worsening of the crisis once again is undoubtedly one reason, although I know there are clear, decisive reasons behind the initiative of the United Kingdom to convene this meeting that brings us all together. I also ask myself another question, not out of false piety but out of sincerity. It is the question Pope Francis asked a few days ago when he received Mr. Yatsenyuk - who has not sped up hatred and violence - and gave him a pen with which he might sign a peace. Are we acting in the Council to help overcome misunderstandings? I am certain that we are.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7165 (2014) · source
“Brahimi as the mediator accepted by the parties so as to contribute to his efforts to help the Syrians find a political solution to the crisis. We have spoken about reports of presumed new attacks with chemical weapons in Syria. We believe that if these reports are well founded they must be investigated, recalling the provisions Chemical Weapons Convention, to which Syria is now party. At the same time, and although they are not yet complete, we welcome the ongoing efforts to remove chemical weapons from Syria, despite the extremely difficult circumstances. We trust in the sustained commitment of the Syrian Government to meeting its obligations. We hope that the mission will conclude successfully and that its achievement will be a catalyst for ongoing efforts to achieve peace in Syria.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7164 (2014) · source
“Therefore, despite the differences prevailing in the Security Council, which are well known and have been expressed, I have the duty to reiterate Argentina's convictions. First, we must seriously consider referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, with its corresponding financing, because the magnitude and nature of the violations that have been committed are due to a great extent to the climate of impunity reigning in Syria. Secondly, since January 2013 we have been saying that we must consider measures to restrict the transfer of weapons to all parties because it is clear that weapons in Syria are being used to commit crimes against humanity and war crimes. Thirdly, we must explicitly support Mr.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7164 (2014) · source
“Millions of Syrians have been displaced within and outside the country, while arbitrary and illegal obstacles deny them of the very basic means for subsistence and ethnic and religious minorities watch with growing fear the growing threat from extremist groups. Against that backdrop, we cannot allow the reports of the commission and the Secretary-General to become bureaucratic routine or ritual. We cannot resign ourselves to the massacres or become accustomed to these massive violations of human rights as if we were at the theatre and allowing the performance on the stage to become an ongoing topic of discussion. On the contrary, every new report we receive is a cruel reminder of the Council's inability to respond collectively, as well as a sign of hope and of a renewed call for action.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7164 (2014) · source
“It is therefore not surprising that the successive reports of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry of the Human Rights Council and the two reports of the Secretary-General (S/2014/208 and S/2014/295) on the implementation of resolution 2139 (2014) confirm that, in their struggle to maintain or gain power, the parties have sought to achieve the military advantage even by violating the fundamental rules governing conflicts. As a result, it has been noted that more than 100,000 lives have already been lost in Syria and the number of victims of torture, forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, sexual violence, arbitrary detentions, hunger, thirst and fear continues to rise.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7164 (2014) · source
“Therefore, we believe that the peace process and intra-Palestinian reconciliation are not mutually exclusive, but rather mutually reinforcing to the extent that the latter takes place under the leadership of President Abbas and in line with the Palestine Liberation Organization's commitments, including the recognition of Israel and a renunciation of violence. Unfortunately, the diplomatic opportunity available in Geneva on 22 January to find an answer to the Syrian tragedy has not yielded the results that we hoped for and the Syrian people need. It is undeniable that, despite having agreed to sit at the negotiating table, the parties and their supporters from outside still believe they can win the war and that they can solve the crisis by military force.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7164 (2014) · source
“However, the victims understand full well what has happened and what we have not done. In that respect, we believe that, in addition to providing the necessary incentives, the international community should speak clearly when acts that are not conducive to peace are committed. Therefore, Argentina stresses that the Security Council, in compliance with its institutional responsibilities, must take a more active role in support of the two-State solution, react clearly when attacks occur against Israel, reaffirm the illegal nature of the settlements, and discuss Palestine's request to become a State Member of the United Nations and follow up on General Assembly resolution 67/19. Finally, Argentina believes that Gaza should be an essential part of the two-State solution.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7164 (2014) · source
“Negotiations have to be substantial, with the clear objective of putting an end to the occupation and achieving full independence for the Palestinian State, living in peace with Israel on the basis of the parameters that enjoy broad consensus among the international community, including the pre-1967 borders. We are convinced that this is the result that will provide the best security guarantees for Israel, because the failure of negotiations will benefit only the extremists on both sides. Argentina furthermore believes that achieving an agreement fundamentally depends on the decisions taken by the parties and the support received from those outside who are genuinely pursuing peace. We must be conscious of the fact that we must speak in good faith in our interpretation of what has happened and of what we have failed to do.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7164 (2014) · source
“There has been an intensification of the illegal settlements campaign; a sustained increase in the displacements and demolitions in East Jerusalem and Area C; an increase in settler violence; an increase in tensions in places ofworship in Jerusalem; and continued clashes between the security forces of Israel and Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. Meanwhile, the indiscriminate firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel has exposed the fragility of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that was reached in November 2012. Argentina supports continued dialogue. There is no other way to overcome the conflict. But dialogue cannot be the excuse nor provide the framework with which to consolidate a status quo that is unsustainable.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7164 (2014) · source
“Following that period, which the parties had established as the period in which to reach a final agreement to resolve all outstanding final status issues in order to achieve ajust and lasting peace, the outlook is not very encouraging, as we can see for ourselves. Not only did they not reach a final agreement, but they did not reach the more modest goal of a framework agreement and, as of a few days, they had not successfully concluded talks aimed at extending the negotiation period. During that period, rather than shrink, the gap between the parties' positions seems to have grown wider, and the situation on the ground has evolved in the opposite direction from that needed to establish the conditions necessary for peace.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7164 (2014) · source
“He said that we would like to see an Israel living in peace and friendship with its neighbours and in safety. That is the dream pursued not just by the founders of Israel, but also by the Palestinian people. The Minister also stated that we recognize Palestine as an independent State. We have therefore always supported, and will continue to support, the inclusion of Palestine in the various international organizations. Knowing that the door to the two-State solution would not stay open for long, exactly nine months ago the international community received with hope - the same hope that we have today 4 the news that Palestinians and Israelis were returning to negotiations.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7164 (2014) · source
“Mrs. Perceval (Argentina) (spoke in Spanish): I thank you, Madam President, for organizing this debate. Our respect and appreciation go to Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Serry for his briefing. I recognize and extend my respect to the Permanent Representative of Israel and the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine for their contributions. This open debate, as others have said, takes place on an important date, and one that is fraught with paradox. A valuable opportunity seems to be slipping away from us, and yet we have come here to hear the actual voices of the international community, which is not resigned to repeated failure. I would like to repeat here what my Minister for Foreign Affairs said yesterday, representing Argentina in remembering the victims of the Holocaust at the Yad Vashem Museum.”
2014-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7164 (2014) · source
“We would have liked for that process to have been more clearly inclusive, as we see security as part of an overall set of reforms. In any event, we convey our congratulations and support as well as our conviction that we must continue to work in this area.”
2014-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7161 (2014) · source
“Important lessons have been learned on security sector reform: from strengthening political governance over the security sector and ensuring effecive security for people, to the professionalization of personnel and strict compliance with human rights as a priority. In the particular case of Argentina, since democracy was restored, and since 2010, with the establishment of the Ministry of Security, security is based on the principles, values and public policies that underpin strict compliance with the rule of law. I would like to conclude by recognizing the remarkable work done by Nigeria as President of the Council in the month of April. We are pleased that we will be adopting a draft resolution on the issue this afternoon.”
2014-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7161 (2014) · source
“We have seen positive developments in that regard with the important potential for innovation in technical cooperation and in strengthening South-South cooperation. We should also underscore the importance of security sector reform in peacebuilding processes, preventing a relapse into conflict, and the role of the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Fund in defining an inclusive national approach to security sector reform. In conclusion, we must move from societies living in fear of instability towards societies free of fear. The recent historical experience of countries in Latin America, as well as in Africa, tells us that they have much to offer to the international approach of the United Nations on this issue.”
2014-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7161 (2014) · source
“We agree with the Secretary-General's reports on the issue when it comes to the importance of focusing on regional arrangements in this area as well as on the primary task to be played by the various regional and subregional organizations in supporting security sector reform processes carried out at the national level by individual countries. Finally, the work of the Organization also requires that, in order to implement new, complex multidimensional mandates when appropriate, peacekeeping missions increasingly depend upon the possibility of deploying specialized personnel, in particular related to police and civilian tasks of varying types, such as experts in human rights, gender, comprehensive treatment of victims of sexual and gender-based violence, security sector reform and institution-building for the rule of law.”
2014-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7161 (2014) · source
“In developing that endeavour, we believe that there should be greater coordination between the entities of the Organization entrusted with reform, and we therefore encourage the Secretary-General to establish concrete operational ties between the inter-agency Security Sector Reform Task Force, the Rule of Law Unit and the "Rights up front" initiative. It is also important to implement the instruments developed by the Organization, such as the Secretary-General's principles to guide activities in support of security sector reform and human rights due diligence policy in the context of the United Nations support of security forces outside the Organization.”
2014-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7161 (2014) · source
“They also provide advice and assistance to national Governments in the investigation of such atrocities. For that reason, security sector reform is also closely related to the reform of the legal system. Thus, the reform process cannot be perceived as an imposition, as wehave often said. We must ensure national ownership of the reform process by taking into account the real and effective particular needs and circumstances of those countries and structure it according to on national decisions. The United Nations must not impose solutions, but instead it must help the societies that so require to rebuild, based on their own experiences, cultures, needs, desires and expectations, and to establish the institutional foundation for achieving a just and peaceful development.”
2014-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7161 (2014) · source
“However, it is clear that only dialogue and the political commitment and involvement of rule of law institutions on a sustained basis can lead to long-term reforms that contribute to conflict prevention. In that regard, in order for such reform to be sustainable, the education and training of civil servants and members of the security forces are needed. Effective and coordinated security sector reform can only benefit the national Governments of the countries concerned, as well as local human rights groups and institutions, in their efforts to promote and protect the human rights of vulnerable populations, particularly women and children, contribute to the eradication of impunity, and ensure that those responsible for human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law will be held accountable before the law.”
2014-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7161 (2014) · source
“Such support requires not only the proper implementation of protection measures for the civilian population, in particular those at imminent risk of physical violence, but also the coordinated inclusion of security sector reform with other aspects related to the rule of law, such as cooperation in institution-building in general; the holding of free and transparent elections; the implementation of inclusive political processes; the design and implementation of effective disarmament, demobilization and reintegration plans; and the effective implementation of gender-based guidelines, and sometimes even leading to the adoption of a new constitution.”
2014-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7161 (2014) · source
“In that regard, security sector reform involves a broad range of public policies aimed at promoting effective, democratic and accountable security policy of the State, leading to greater economic and social development and promoting the trust and participation of the community. It is therefore a question of ensuring that security institutions carry out their functions effectively in a framework consistent with democracy and strict respect for human rights. Security sector reform is increasingly one of the key elements in the multidimensional mandates of peacekeeping missions, which have become more complex and comprehensive, and of special political missions, when circumstances require, in support of national authorities in conflict and post-conflict situations.”
2014-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7161 (2014) · source
“Argentina attaches great importance to recent developments on the issue of security sector reform in the framework of the United Nations. We recognize that the close relationship between security sector reform and the strengthening of the rule of law contributes to the prevention of conflicts. As the Secretary- General's report (S/2013/480) states, reforming the security sector depends on the political climate in which it is carried out, and therefore such reforms are not only related, but are part of broader transformation processes, in particular in conflict and post-conflict societies.”
2014-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7161 (2014) · source
“Mrs. Perceval (Argentina) (spoke in Spanish): I thank His Excellency Mr. Aminu Wali, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for organizing this open debate on a topic concerning which Argentina has been very active since the organization in 2009 of the seminar of Latin America and the Caribbean on regional perspectives on the United Nations approach to security sector reform and, since December 2012, through our participation in the Group of Friends of Security Sector Reform, co-chaired by the Permanent Representatives of Slovakia and South Africa. Your presence here today, Mr. Minister, and that of Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon are a testament to your country's leadership on this issue, which Argentina recognizes and values.”
2014-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7161 (2014) · source
“How could we go back - to say that a boy had been raped?" I hope that all the victims will be heard, as those victims were heard and it was possible to do justice and combat impunity. We hope we will be able to work not just to eradicate this crime against humanity in conflict situations, but also to build equality for women in times of peace. Our friend Ms. Bangura has said it. "We will go out to find them", the children and grandchildren of the State terrorism that took place in Argentina call out in the streets. "As with the Nazis, we will find them, no matter where they are." They call out in the streets for the sake of the memory of their mothers and for the sake of truth, justice and reparation. "We seek them without weapons, without hate or vengeance. We seek them for the sake of truth, memory, justice, reparation and peace."”
2014-04-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7160 (2014) · source
“It was very hard not to be able to wash after being raped and to have to remain soiled. They would give me stale bread. I was able to wash in a bathroom only a couple of times. I have images in my mind of being raped in the bathroom. By the final rapes I was fainting; I do not have a recollection of those. They would blindfold me. I heard a girl screaming, 'Mama, mama, mama'. We were in the same camp, and she was being raped." A man named David said: "They would give us electric shocks to our gums, under our lips, to our genitals. In my case, I had an abcess on my penis the size of a peach. They also placed things in my rectum that would conduct electricity. We were humiliated. I could not bear the agony.”
2014-04-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7160 (2014) · source
“Justice in fact now says that because the victims had begun to be heard. In one horrible case, a woman named Susana was raped in the hospital afterjust having been operated on. To this day I can hear her crying and saying that she had been a virgin. That was a crime against nature. For a woman, rape is an act of the worst possible humiliation. Another woman, Monica, said: "I asked them, when the Red Cross came to see us, I asked, 'As a woman, how is it possible that I did not become pregnant after being raped so many times?' They explained to me that women's periods tended to stop. They said that in concentration camps, like here, we did not become pregant, we were afraid to getting pregnant. We did not menstruate. We did not want to end up pregnant by a rapist." Estela said: "They did not allow us to bathe.”
2014-04-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7160 (2014) · source
“The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights says that acts of sexual Violence against women are crimes against humanity when they are used as weapons to inspire terror. It has defined sexual violence as any physical or mental abuse committed as an act of violence and also characterizes it as a crime of torture. Sexual crimes against women are now internationally codified. There is no statute of limitations, which we should recall here in the Security Council. Crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations. The Belem do Para Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence agaisnt Women says that it is not only an offence to human dignity but also a violation of human rights. Let me speak not just about what the justice system has said, the words I have just read out.”
2014-04-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7160 (2014) · source
“Sexual crimes reported by victims in their testimony were not subject to punitive action until Rwanda, Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone, until the initiatives undertaken in our own countries, because they remained invisible. They were part of war, the spoils that came with vengeance and hate that targeted women's bodies. But while gender-based violence, and sexual violence aimed at women and girls in particular, is not a new phenomenon in history, the adoption of measures to investigate and prosecute it nationally and internationally is very recent. For that reason, we had to continue to work patiently but collaboratively. As my dear Jordanian colleague said, gender-based crimes used to be considered collateral damage in war; their investigation in many cases was peripheral and often resulted in impunity for the perpetrators.”
2014-04-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7160 (2014) · source
“It is worth mentioning it when we in the international community agree to say things in the same way and to work to the same end - in this instance towards the eradication of a problem. Secondly, there is also reason for optimism owing to the international tribunals, such as those for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Today, the International Criminal Court and those tribunals have been building a clear definition of sexual violence as a war crime and as a crime against humanity. Certain countries in my region of Latin America and the Caribbean are also doing so. In my country, 1,083 persons have been prosecuted and 443 have been convicted for crimes against humanity, with a gender perspective and the aspect of women's human rights having been incorporated in all the cases.”
2014-04-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7160 (2014) · source
“Ms. Perceval (Argentina) (spoke in Spanish): I should like to thank the Secretary-General for his report (S/2014/l8l). Our respect, immense appreciation and sentiments go to Ms. Zainab Bangura. Our full solidarity goes to Ms. Rhoda Misaka. I wish to thank them for their briefings and for their commitment to making progress on full equality for women. I am going to take a different angle in relation to referring to how much we have done. I am going to focus not only on what how much we still have to do, but also to add a hint of optimism. First, the international governmental community has agreed that sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity.”
2014-04-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7160 (2014) · source
“We must recall that the Charter of the United Nations is not made up of isolated chapters or loose principles, but is rather an unbreakable whole. With that positive attitude, we express our desire for a positive discussion to be held so that Ukraine can find the serenity it so sorely needs.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7157 (2014) · source
“We insist on the need to avoid any action that would make the situation even more complex and complicate the search for a peaceful political solution to the crisis. All the parties must work together to calm the situation, must show maximum restraint and must contribute to an inclusive dialogue. What can those of us who hope that those who will be meeting in Geneva on 17 April will have a constructive dialogue and that they will find a peaceful political solution to the crisis? As members of the international community, we can do a great deal. We can hope that the much-needed meeting of 17 April will take place in a different climate. Those of us who will not attend that meeting must make sure that we do not detract from it. We must recall that human rights are not anyone's property but everyone's responsibility.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7157 (2014) · source
“At the same time, we believe that the exhaustive investigation into the violations and abuses that have taken place since the beginning of the protests in Maidan Square, regardless of who the perpetrators are, and the sentencing of those individuals will help to restore calm and foster institutional normalization which is needed in Ukraine. Measures undoubtedly need to be taken to build confidence among the various regions and ethnic communities and provide security to all Ukrainians throughout the country that their primary concerns and legitimate demands will be addressed. We must also end the incitement to hatred, discrimination, hostility and violence. We are not saying anything new as a delegation. We are simply recognizing the difficult situation in Ukraine, which cannot be resolved by unilateral actions.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7157 (2014) · source
“Although the report notes that denunciations of human rights violations have eased off since the new authorities in Kyiv assumed power, serious concerns remain among sectors of the population with regard to respect for the rights of minorities, and those concerns and fears have been raised as a result of certain attacks or threats against various minorities. Undoubtedly we need to have more information and we must continue to follow those events closely. In that context, the availability of impartial information on the human rights situation will contribute not just to ensuring accountability for human rights violations and abuses, but will also help to prevent any manipulation of such information, which would only exacerbate a climate of impunity, insecurity and violence.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7157 (2014) · source
“The delegation of Argentina therefore reaffirms once again our belief that we must uphold the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, in particular that of non-intervention - be it military, political or economic - in the internal affairs of other States. We understand that the actions of any State or international organization must show due respect for Ukraine's management of its internal affairs and its future. As Mr. Simonovie informed the Council, human rights violations were reported in Ukraine in the lead-up to the protests of November 2013. Serious human rights violations were also committed during the protests and afterwards.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7157 (2014) · source
“Mrs. Perceval (Argentina) (spoke in Spanish): Allow me to begin by thanking Mr. Ivan Simonovie, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, for his briefing on the human rights situation in Ukraine. What else can we say except to reiterate that Argentina is following with great concern the increasingly tense situation in Ukraine, in particular in the eastern part of the country, and its potential consequences for the region's stability? What more is there to say that to reiterate that we are deeply concerned that the threat of violent clashes may mean paying a heavy price and hamper the possibility of finding a way out of the current crisis and of stabilizing the situation in the country?”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7157 (2014) · source
“I have here a handkerchief of the mothers and grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. But it is not really a handkerchief; it was the diaper of the babies who had been kidnapped or who were born in the concentration camps. We were never victims; we were never pessimistic. We will always work so that power does not humiliate us and so that the world may be ours.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7155 (2014) · source
“One must go into the elegant halls to detect the pessimists. Who are the pessimists? Those who entertain the frightful thoughts that lead to fanaticism, intolerance and the conviction that hell is others. There is no useful moral relativity when we speak about human rights. It is only on the basis of human rights that we can tal about cultural relativism. There can be no impunity when we speak of Violations of human rights, because they are not a matter of opinion. We have talked about this often. Allow me a gesture in commemoration of the genocide in Rwanda and in thanks to the Ambassador of Rwanda. I have brought for the Ambassador and for the people of Rwanda, on behalf of human rights organizations and of my country and Government, a symbol of our fight against the pessimists, because therein lies our hope.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7155 (2014) · source
“If the prevention of the recurrence of genocide in all societies that have lived through it is based on a political and social scenario in which the culture of fear persists and is perpetuated by the mass media, and in which we are overwhelmed by a culture of suspicion against the dark-skinned, the young, the poor or the immigrant, it may be that punitive tendencies will flourish and massacres recur. Let us look at the populations of the prisons in all our countries and how they got there. To the extent that repression is a response to what we perceive as a potential threat, we may be justifying new genocides. Chesterton says in one passage that policemen should be philosophers. It is notjust a matter of looking for criminals in their hideouts, he says; it is not a matter simply of arresting thieves so as to live in peace.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7155 (2014) · source
“To prevent is to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which we drafted with France. To prevent is to recognize the right to truth as a right. To prevent is to strengthen, not to destroy, the International Criminal Court so that it is fairer, more consistent and more effective. I should like to conclude by emphasizing prevention in societies that have experienced genocide. What can we do in its aftermath? How do we imagine the future? How can we believe in the future? How does a society - not individuals, but society as a whole - emerge from this once it has fallen victim? Does it survive by exacting further punishment or by enforcing more human rights? Through more repression or more freedom? Through more discrimination or more equality?”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7155 (2014) · source
“Eliasson, whom I thank for his presence at this meeting, have convened us under a theme that is not a slogan; it is a call to place rights up front. Since it is not a slogan and these are not just words, we must heed this call. To put rights up front is a synonym; it is the antonym of placing disputes over power first. It is to place the human rights of all human beings first. To prevent is to assume responsibility to protect. To prevent is to listen to indviduals, regional organizations and the people of every nation State who can give voice to their experience and not to papers issued from ivory towers that merely imagine what others may be going through. To prevent is to continue to strengthen international human rights law.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7155 (2014) · source
“They may believe that no massacre has occurred. That is why we feel that reality is based on a genuine consciousness. When we truly feel abhorrence towards violence as a means of resolving conflict; when we rebel peacefully against the overwhelming use of power to resolve conflict with weapons or through economic means of humiliation, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide will not only be an excellent legal text, compelling and committing us to act, but also a reality for all humankind. Among the three dimensions of prevention, the strengthening of norms and the culture of human rights and international humanitarian law, and the fight against impunity, I wish to stress that of prevention. The Secretary-General and Mr.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7155 (2014) · source
“Every single day, we hear the prayers being said and we see the tears being shed. What matters is our decision to listen, because these are the voices of the victims. It is not only a question of having a good normative architecture or solid and just legal institutions. We need to fundamentally change the concept of power that is still hegemonistic. We need to change social practices that are still discriminatory. We need to change political cultures that are still based on humiliation. Yesterday, I noted that many need to see to believe, as Saint Thomas said. But in the case of genocide, we need to believe in order to see. We can come here time and time again with our prayers and our tears, we can point to the suffering of the victims, but people may not believe that these things constitute genocide.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7155 (2014) · source
“Secondly, we must strengthen human rights norms and international humanitarian law, democratic institutions and a social culture in which the recognition and respect for differences and diversity alienate us definitively from an ideology of hatred that is not of the left, right or centre. The ideology of hatred is the ideology of hatred, in which hell is other people. We must therefore strengthen not only substantive law but our ethical conscience and the legitimate foundations of national and international democratic society. Thirdly, with respect to the fight against impunity, I recall that my mother used to cite Saint Theresa, saying that more tears have been shed over prayers that have been heard than over those that have not. We live with that reality every day.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7155 (2014) · source
“In July of that same year, when mass slaughter of communities and families - not only majority Tutsi, but also Hutu and others who had denounced the violence and horror - confirmed that the atrocities committed in Rwanda qualified as crimes of genocide, Argentina unequivocally affirmed that crimes of such magnitude must not be covered up or minimized, or enjoy impunity. In that context, and in the memory of the Victims, this commemoration represents a valuable opportunity to reflect on the three dimensions that we must bear in mind when we speak of genocide. First, the protection of populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity - including incitement to hatred - has only one name: prevention.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7155 (2014) · source
“On 16 May of that year, following the introduction of the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Rwanda (S/1994/565), we had no hesitation in saying (see S/PV.3377) that, since the events of 6 April - the atrocious violence, abuse and systematic slaughter that had been unleashed - Rwanda had found itself plunged into a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions and a situation of horror for which there was no justification whatever. At that time, Argentina claimed that systematic and widespread Violations of humanitarian law in Rwanda, as well as all human rights violations that had stunned the world, should be thoroughly investigated.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7155 (2014) · source
“That is why remembering genocide does not mean shedding light on a set of fragmentary experiences or a list of horrors and random events. It would be obscene to do so. Remembering genocide is to seek meaning, for there exists a horrendous abyss within society as well as within ourselves. That abyss separates us from the past that horrifies us and the idea that the future demands that we think, believe and trust that the life to which we want to do justice and the world we deserve to live in can be different. We need to make the world different, beginning today. We can do so with truth, memory, justice and reparations, because for our people the future means the present that exists in our memory. As has been pointed out, Argentina was a member of the Security Council in 1994.”
2014-04-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7155 (2014) · source