YouSaid · the spoken record

Prince Zeid Raad Zeid Al-Hussein

lines on the record: 209
first: 2001-06-26
most recent: 2013-10-22
sittings or episodes: 26
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

“Thus the Green Line is the starting line from which is measured the extent of Israel's occupation of non-Israeli territory; originating in 1949 as an armistice line, it became in 1967 the line to the Israeli side of which Israel had to withdraw its forces, and on the non-Israeli side of which territory was 'occupied' by Israel." (International Court ofJustice document CR 2004/3) It is also perhaps worth our recalling how, in negotiating the draft for what became resolution 242 (1967), the understanding reached between the principal interlocutors was for a withdrawal from all non-Israeli territory, with only minor reciprocal border rectifications.”
2012-01-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6706Resumption1 (2012) · source
“In his oral submission, the late Sir Arthur Watts, Q.C, Counsel for Jordan, noted how resolution 242 (1967) "affirmed, unanimously, the principle of Israel's withdrawal of its armed forces 'from territories occupied in the recent conflict' - and that meant, and could only mean, territories on the non-Israeli side of the Green Line.”
2012-01-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6706Resumption1 (2012) · source
“Subsequent events in these territories have done nothing to alter this situation. All these territories (including East Jerusalem) remain occupied territories and Israel has continued to have the status of occupying Power." (see A/ES-10/273) It is also merits noting that there are no territorial exceptions to that finding: all the territory of the West Bank, as described by the Court, is considered "occupied". A closer reading of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) also bears this point out, as we explained before the International Court of Justice on 24 February 2004.”
2012-01-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6706Resumption1 (2012) · source
“Israel's administrative and military regulations, insofar as the West Bank is concerned, can be lawful only if they are utterly consistent with the Fourth Geneva Convention and its control guided strictly by its obligations as the occupying Power. The position of the International Court of Justice on this very last point is unambiguous. It maintained, in paragraph 78 of its 2004 opinion on the Legal Consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory, that: "The territories situated between the Green Line and the former eastern boundary of Palestine under the Mandate were occupied by Israel in 1967 during the armed conflict between Israel and Jordan. Under customary international law, these were therefore occupied territories in which Israel had the status of occupying Power.”
2012-01-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6706Resumption1 (2012) · source
“In the debate held in the Security Council under this item last year, my delegation described in some detail the law applicable to the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, as confirmed previously by the decisions of the Council and by the 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. We wish to summarize our principal point briefly again today: the applicable law in respect of the exercise by Israel of military control over the occupied Palestinian territories is not Israeli law, nor whatever domestic law Israel sees fit to impose there, but international humanitarian law applicable to all high contracting parties, as well as obligations that are erga omnes.”
2012-01-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6706Resumption1 (2012) · source
“We therefore suggest to the permanent members, and we do so most respectfully, to consider refraining, voluntarily, from the use or threat of use of the veto altogether in situations where there are serious allegations of genocide, crimes against humanity and grave breaches of international humanitarian law. The 8-5, in offering the content of paragraphs 18 and 19 of its draft resolution, to be presented in due course to the General Assembly pending final consultations, is basing these recommendations on the right accorded to the General Assembly under Article 10 of the United Nations Charter.”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“Whatever we may say about some of the Council's performances in the past, the permanent members must be given due credit for having prevented, in a nuclear age, the recurrence of the sort of war that devastated very large portions of the Earth twice in the twentieth century. And we are not calling, as the 8-5, for a Charter amendment to have the veto abolished or even restricted. The veto does have an important role. But that role should now be reconciled with Articles 24 (2) and 1 (l) i Articles that should no longer simply be overlooked. And this could best be achieved through the forging of a new understanding.”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“However we interpret the principles of justice, when there are serious allegations of crimes being committed - crimes of a gravity approximating the description found in the aforementioned judgment, and which threaten international peace and security - any member of the Council, and particularly if it is a permanent member, voting against measures otherwise agreed upon by a majority of the Security Council should at least explain how its position is consistent with the Charter - that is, with the purposes and principles of justice - and international law. The 8-5 is aware of the foundational and historic role played by the permanent members.”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“The Tribunal found: "If what the Prosecution maintains is true, we have here participation in a crime of such unprecedented brutality and of such inconceivable savagery that the mind rebels against its own thought image and the imagination staggers in the contemplation of a human degradation beyond the power of language to adequately portray." And this is the second point we need to understand.”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“Are we not entitled, or even obliged, to look towards an understanding that reconciles those provisions? We may be able to continue as we are when dealing with lesser crimes but, when faced with the worst systematic abominations of human cruelty that often threaten international peace and security, such questions become increasingly difficult to ignore, for there is little that is common between normal criminality and the outer extremity of human misconduct. I would ask the Council to consider, for example, the description provided by the Nuremberg Tribunal in its 1947 judgment, following the main proceedings prosecuted by Ben Ferencz in the trial of the Einsatzgruppen.”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“If, however, the use or threat of use of a veto by a permanent member prevents the Council, by virtue of the majority required in Article 27, paragraph 3, from acting to deter, prevent or dismantle alleged serious Violations of the sort that not only threaten international peace and security, but also create an obligation erga omnes on all Member States to address it, the question arises as to whether that exercise by one permanent member subverts the Council's ability to fulfil its responsibilities under Article 24 and to uphold the principles of justice and international law, in accordance with Article 1, paragraph 1. Should we continue, therefore, to read Article 27, paragraph 3, in a manner in which it effectively eclipses the purposes of the United Nations and the responsibilities of the Security Council?”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“That last phrase "and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law" was inserted by Senator Arthur Vandenberg of the United States, on 2 May 1945, and accepted immediately by the "Big Four", and, subsequently, by the rest of the representatives in San Francisco, without argument and by consensus. So, when considered together, Article 24, paragraph 2, and Article 1, paragraph 1, in very abbreviated form, read: in discharging its duties the Council shall act in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and, therefore- my addition - in conformity with the principles of justice and international law. Now, we must understand two issues. The Charter confers those powers on the whole Council and does not specify what each individual member of the Council should do. That much is undeniable.”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“Among the purposes of the United Nations, as defined in Chapter I, Article 1, of the Charter, and of greatest relevance to the responsibility of the Security Council and our discussion today is the purpose elaborated in the first paragraph of Article 1, which reads: "To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law".”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“Article 24, paragraph 2, states: "In discharging these duties the Security Council shall act in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations". It reads "shall act". It does not read may act, or should act. It reads "shall act". In other words, there is no discretion here. What we find instead is an obligation. It is also worth noting that, like Article 24, paragraph 2, the Council's powers pursuant to Chapter VII, set out in Article 39, are similarly couched in obligatory language: shall determine and shall make recommendations, or decide. The second part of paragraph 2 of Article 24 then explains where, in the relevant chapters of the Charter, the specific powers of the Council are laid down, and yet all of it rests - must rest, as I noted a few minutes ago - on the purposes and principles of the United Nations.”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“That discussion has not found consensus between the permanent members and the rest of the membership, and I will not dwell on it today. What was also missing in our previous discussions was a common understanding over the ordinary meaning of the word "responsibility", which has, unfortunately, been regarded by some as conferring rights, without due regard being equally paid to the implied duties flowing from that responsibility. What I would, therefore, like to fix our attention on today is the next paragraph in Article 24 - paragraph 2. I would also like to invite members to read that important provision together with Article 1, paragraph 1, which we believe we are required to undertake for a correct reading of the Charter.”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“I will attempt to explain why we have inserted them into our draft resolution, given that they are of direct relevance to the work of the Security Council and, in particular, to the permanent members. The Security Council derives its rights and obligations from the United Nations Charter. Its functions and powers are spelled out broadly in Article 24 of the Charter, including, inter alia, its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and its obligation to act in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter in the discharge of its functions. While Article 24, paragraph 1, appears to be clear in its ordinary meaning, over the past 65 years, our predecessors have argued - and often - over whether or not "primary" is equal in meaning to "exclusive".”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“I, too, would like to thank you, Mr. President, most warmly for having convened a meeting devoted to working methods of the Security Council, I also wish to congratulate you on your distinguished leadership in presiding over the work of the Council for this month. Placing yourself at the end of today's list of speakers is a gracious gesture that is deeply appreciated. I wish to use my following intervention in this thematic debate not to repeat what the Permanent Representative of Switzerland has offered in the way of thoughts governing the position of the group of five small nations (8-5), which, naturally, we support fully, but to focus on the two paragraphs 18 and 19 of the S-5 draft resolution, which cover the use, or threat of use, of the veto.”
2011-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6672 (2011) · source
“In such a scenario, we would all, but especially the people of Liberia, bitterly lament the end of UNMIL - a terrible outcome in view of the extraordinary services rendered by the tens of thousands of United Nations peacekeepers who have lived with, and have worked for, the Liberian people. I sincerely hope that this will not come to be. It can be avoided.”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“More to the point, if the investment by us, collectively, both in time and in money, could be intensified significantly in the several months following the upcoming elections, particularly where the hubs and the Liberian National Police are concerned, we - and, more importantly, they, the Liberians will be successful. I have no doubt about this. Should we not be able to pull together the resources and resolve to do this decisively, including by urging the Liberian authorities to devote more funding to their justice and security sectors, the Council will have had, in UNMIL, a successful peacekeeping operation, yes, but one that would likely depart a still very crippled country. The possible, maybe even probable, onset of widespread organized crime and the ensuing violence it would bring would overwhelm Liberia soon enough.”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“But here the Member States could do much to help them simply by providing some advice. Similarly, while funding from the international community was used over the past two years to finance platforms for dialogue, falling under the general rubric of national reconciliation, following the PBC's discussions in June with the senior leadership in Liberia, including with Her Excellency the President - and prompted by the acute observations of Ambassador Marjon Kamara - it was agreed this would end, for now at least, until a clearer strategy had been formulated. Yet these examples of the nimble approach adopted by the PBC in addressing Liberia's needs do not vitiate the urgent need for financial support in other equally important areas.”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“The deficit separating what the United Nations can accomplish in such critical areas as transportation and what it would hope the Liberian National Police will soon accomplish in all areas, including not only transportation but in stemming the growth of transnational organized crime, remains numbing. That we must therefore invest more in them directly and urgently is all the more obvious to those who spend time in Liberia. Naturally, not everything needed in the three areas falling within the PBC's portfolio - rule of law, security sector reform and national reconciliation - ought to come in the form of money. Liberia's judiciary, for example, requires a court management system, with oversight to ensure the efficient conduct of trials, and the Liberians are attempting commendably to do this on their own.”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“And, once again, we face this rather bizarre situation of having sufficient money to pay for our peacekeepers, but once our peacekeepers are withdrawn, not even a small percentage of what was previously spent on them can then be redirected to the National Police as they assume virtually all the security tasks hitherto carried out by the United Nations. To present this point perhaps more graphically, there is something remarkable happening to common sense when we, the PBC, weave our way through the middle of Liberia, from one police station to another, in a 13-vehicle United Nations convoy carrying us, the delegation, senior Liberian officials, our colleagues from UNMIL and our security, only to discover time and again that each police station visited had barely enough fuel, if any, to keep even one vehicle on the road.”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“Yet, in the meantime, it was clear to all members of the PBC delegation visiting Liberia from 12 to 17 June - and here I am very grateful to my colleagues from the United States, the United Kingdom, Nigeria and the Ukraine for their commitment - that the Liberian National Police, notwithstanding some very notable improvements in training and infrastructure, will not be ready any time soon to cope with either a possible increase in the levels of organized crime or any sudden spasms of widespread violence unless it is more robustly supported.”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“Once the Government has finalized the levels of expenditure on security and justice, and knowing how much we will expect from the Peacebuilding Fund - an initial contribution of close to $21 million - we expect to have to raise approximately $30 to $50 million. Some part of this may be offset by donor allocations already approved to some of the very sectors covered by the Liberia Peacebuilding Programme. The early signs from exploratory contacts with some Member States are not promising, however, where the PBC slice is concerned. The remaining money for the hubs and indeed the Peacebuilding Programme may indeed be hard to come by.”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“They will be financed by the PBF at the level of $2 million each - roughly half their cost - with the PBC mobilizing funds outside of the PBF to foot the balance. This money must be found soon if our endeavours in Liberia are to prove successful. And that is not all. The Liberia Peacebuilding Programme contains a number of other important projects of a critical nature to the judiciary, the police and national reconciliation, agreed to by all the partners - the Liberian Government, the donor community and the United Nations - and, after some painstaking negotiations, now has a total value of almost $72 million.”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“Do we, as the representatives of Governments, acting individually or collectively here at the United Nations, have the same confidence in Liberia that is shown by the private sector globally? The test will come soon enough in the form of money, of course. The Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), whose top donor is also a member of the Council, will finance the first of the justice and security hubs in its entirety - that located in Gbarnga. We expect to have the entire compound ready, with buildings completed by the end of the year, and we are working with specific partners in the international community to explore the possibility of having key technical personnel trained to be able to provide a creditable service out of the hub to the peoples of Bong, Lofa and Nimba. The four other hubs and their specific locations are just being finalized now.”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“To answer bluntly, I believe that if we as Governments had the same confidence the world of the private sector possesses, given the latter's recent preparedness to invest in the range of $16 billion in Liberia over the next two decades or so - with almost two-thirds of the investing companies coming from eight countries presently represented on the Security Council - then Liberia will succeed, and it will succeed very well. The Liberians have the talent and the desire to retire their country from war, not temporarily this time, but permanently. The true question for Liberia, it would seem to me, lies not entirely with them, but to some extent with us.”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“In other words, given what we know about the state of the State of Liberia now and the security and justice needs that remain extant, what are the prospects that Liberia will survive peacefully and flourish once the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has departed? Or, ultimately, will the time and effort invested by the United Nations peacekeepers, currently led by a remarkable and talented Special Representative of the Secretary-General operating according to mandates established by the Council, be in the end for something or for nothing?”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“Allow me at the outset to express our joy at seeing you, Sir, preside over the Council and your brotherly nation lead the work of the Council this month. We are confident of your wisdom and your talents, and we are sure that we will be able to achieve our objectives. (spoke in English) It has been almost a year since I assumed my role as Chairman of the Liberia configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and, after three visits there and countless discussions here, as well as in Washington, DC, and in Brussels, and numerous meetings attended via video teleconference with colleagues in Monrovia, I wish to share my thoughts about the prospects for a non-return to the sort of violence that has marked so much of Liberia's recent history.”
2011-09-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6610 (2011) · source
“Peace and security for both peoples, Palestinians and Israelis, is necessary, but Israel's obstinate policy hampers peace and leads to further escalation of the situation in the region. In conclusion, my delegation calls on the Quartet and the Security Council to act quickly to persuade Israel to immediately put an end to its settlement policy, to resume direct negotiations and to find a comprehensive, peaceful, just and lasting solution, because the question of Palestine is an international question, not a regional one, and resolving it will benefit all.”
2011-04-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6520 (2011) · source
“The Palestinian Authority is deploying every possible means to fulfil its commitments under the Oslo Accord and the Road Map. However, we see no genuine palpable will or commitment on Israel's part to achieve a political settlement. That stands to undermine what has been achieved to date by the Palestinian Authority in its ambitious plans to build the institutions of a future State. Israel's intransigence in its wish to prevent Palestine from becoming a full Member of the United Nations in the coming session was referred to by President Obama in his address to the General Assembly (see A/65/PV.11). No one can accept the Palestinian people remaining without a State.”
2011-04-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6520 (2011) · source
“Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein (Jordan) (spoke in Arabic): The stalemate in direct negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian sides undermines heartfelt and honest international efforts to achieve progress in the peace process. Peace and settlement policy do not go together. Settlement activity must be stopped in order to enable us to resume direct negotiations leading to the creation of two States, a Palestinian State and an Israeli State, based on the 4 June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian State - two States living side by side in accordance with international resolutions and international terms of reference, especially resolutions adopted by the Security Council, as well as the important Arab Peace Initiative.”
2011-04-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6520 (2011) · source
“I also met with international civil society actors engaged in Liberia and had very interesting meetings with the World Bank. I also held talks in Brussels with European Union officials who are involved in Liberia and was very much impressed by their insights. Here in New York, my meetings with INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Centre for Transitional Justice all were extremely beneficial. In all those discussions, I was encouraged to find a convergence of opinion: we all marvelled at how Liberia has achieved so much since the end of the fighting in 2003, but all realized fully just how breathtaking the challenges confronting Liberia still are, and that, ultimately, we take nothing for granted.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“In View of the threat posed by transnational organized crime to Liberia and other countries of the subregion, I believe this to be an idea worth investigating in greater detail with the Liberian Government. As a general rule, the approach I feel the Peacebuilding Commission needs to adopt is for us to take the excellent ideas generated by the Liberian officials themselves, such as the creation of the hub, the creation of a historical commission or the creation of special courts for serious economic crimes, and to explore with them the manner in which we could most be helpful. Finally, prior to my last visit to Liberia, I had very useful discussions in Washington, DC, with officials from the United States Department of Defense and from the United States State Department, including the United States Agency for International Development.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“I anticipate that several buildings within the hub will have been constructed by the time the configuration visits Liberia this coming June. 11-26479 It remains a great concern of mine that efforts by the Liberians to rebuild their court system will require a considerable amount of time, and so the system itself will likely remain weak and penetrable in the short term. There is, however, an idea being promoted within the Liberian Government - although I hasten to add that it is still in its infancy - that has generated some interest, focusing on the establishment of special courts for serious economic crimes with, potentially, a specialized police force.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“The Government is very much committed to providing judicial services to areas beyond Monrovia, but it must be careful not to export a system which is, in many ways, broken. The authorities must, for example, as a matter of some urgency, put into place a case-tracking system. In my meetings with the very capable Minister of Justice, I was informed that there were also plans to draft a witness protection law and a law broadening the subject-matter jurisdiction of the magistrate's courts, where possible. These steps need to be supported, particularly as progress is now being made on the creation of the first hub - of a total five security and justice hubs - in Gbanga, for which an initial disbursement of funds from the Peacebuilding Fund has already been made available.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“In speaking to a thoughtful judge who was that day presiding over a particular proceeding, it came to my attention that while all cases before the circuit court were jury trials - unless requested otherwise by the Counsel for Defence - funds did not exist for the sequestration or the isolation of the jury, and most, if not virtually all, trials at that level in Liberia suffer from this shortcoming. The upshot is clear, therefore: the justice system remains very prone to potential contamination. The Liberian authorities, of course, are well aware of this, and the Law Reform Commission, whose commissioners appear to be exceedingly able, will by now have begun drafting, together with the Ministry of Justice, a new jury law. I raise this point to underscore the fragility of the judiciary following the many years of conflict and instability.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“Once a memory is established, the Palava Hut mechanism will have greater meaning as an instrument of national reconciliation, in that, hopefully, it will also provide a forum for reckoning, the precursor to reconciliation. With a well-designed youth employment programme in place, surely the foundations for a lasting peace would be more secure. I should add that we are still awaiting a World Bank assessment of its own youth employment programme before agreeing to the pilot project, as provided for in the Statement of Mutual Assessment. When in Sanniquellie, I also visited a circuit court that had recently been renovated by the United Nations.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“The Truth and Reconciliation Commission proposed the establishment of a historical commission, and I believe that should be the centerpiece of and the first step towards the construction of a unified national memory. The Government has, commendably, picked this up, although it has asked the Ministry of Education to undertake this activity. Most respectfully, I believe, however, that this requires a much higher profile, and I will continue to discuss this and other matters relating to national reconciliation with the Liberian authorities in due course, including the establishment of an 11-26479 archive where all the documents of State are housed and safeguarded.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“The land disputes have only amplified what is already there and has existed for a long time; it does not account for them entirely. The Palava Hut mechanism is not a sufficient basis for dealing with the competing historical narratives either. It is a means for resolving fixed disputes, one that the Liberians place a great deal of trust in and which has enjoyed broad success, but it generally works well only until the next crisis, problem or dispute comes along. If it had been sufficient to sort out the deeper resentments, Liberia would not have suffered the upheavals it has over the course of 30 years. What is needed is a firm foundation in the form of a single, uniform historical narrative.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“Many observers, as well as officials both in and out of Liberia, believe that sorting out the numerous land disputes would, as a priority measure and in conjunction with other measures - such as the use of the Palava Hut discussions, youth employment programmes and ceremonies to memorialize the past - be sufficient in leading the country towards national reconciliation. What became clear to me in the course of my discussions with these traditional leaders, however, was the extent to which the problems of Liberia extend some distance beyond the resolution of competing land claims. While it is undoubtedly true that sorting out land disputes would indeed go a long way towards blunting the lingering ill feelings that exist between the two principal communities in the country, they will not remove them.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“Before I focus on my presentation, may I first support entirely what the Special Representative has said with respect to the Ivorian refugees. On 19 February, I visited Sanniquellie in Nimba county - the worst-affected county - and spoke both to the representatives of the county and to the senior Liberian officials who were with me. From all of them, I grasped fully just how quickly the security situation could degenerate either as a result of any further swelling in the number of Ivorian refugees or if no assistance were given to the Liberian authorities - in the form of transportation and communications - to manage this delicate situation as it exists now. While in Sanniquellie, I also met with a number of traditional leaders to learn about the alternative traditional land dispute mechanisms used by them.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“With every visit to the field, I am also reminded of the extraordinary talents of the United Nations staff members, and find myself in a position always of never knowing enough. I would also like, Mr. President, with your kind permission to note publicly What I have said privately to the Council on a previous occasion. What I find encouraging about the future of Liberia is the great number of talented and committed officials and public personalities from the highest levels of Government through the county and down to the district levels; from the judiciary and Parliament to the independent commissions; in the Liberia National Police and the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization; in civil and religious society, and in the media. I have completed two visits to Liberia and I have learned enormously from all of them.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein: I am honoured to present this briefing as Chairman of the Peacebuilding Commission's configuration for Liberia, and to be joining the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia and head of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Her Excellency Ms. Ellen Margrethe Loj. Given my current association with Liberia, I would also like to commend publicly the superb leadership of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in all areas involving UNMIL'S work - and there is not a single person I met in Liberia who does not agree with this assessment - and to acknowledge the very high quality and caliber of her two Deputies, as well as the great contributions of the UNMIL Force Commander and the Commissioner of United Nations Police.”
2011-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6495 (2011) · source
“It has also called upon 'Israel, as the occupying Power, to abide scrupulously' by the Fourth Geneva Convention and: 'to rescind its previous measures and to desist from taking any action which would result in changing the legal status and geographical nature and materially affecting the demographic composition of the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem and, in particular, not to transfer parts of its own civilian population into the occupied Arab territories' (resolution 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979)" 11-21051 The Court went on to remind us that the Council reaffirmed its position in resolutions 452 (1979) and 465 (1980). The Court concludes that "the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have been established in breach of international law."”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“In this respect, the information provided to the Court shows that, since 1977, Israel has conducted a policy and developed practices involving the establishment of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, contrary to the terms ofArticle 49, paragraph 6, just cited." The Court continued: "The Security Council has thus taken the View that such policy and practices 'have no legal validity'.”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“In paragraph 120 of its 2004 advisory opinion (see A/ES-10/273), the International Court of Justice held that, "As regards these settlements, the Court notes that Article 49, paragraph 6, of the Fourth Geneva Convention provides: 'The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.' That provision prohibits not only deportations or forced transfers of population such as those carried out during the Second World War, but also any measures taken by an occupying Power in order to organize or encourage transfers of parts of its own population into the occupied territory.”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“Perhaps we must concede that we could have done more to better understand this point - done more to develop greater trust by, inter alia, better explaining the terms of the Arab Peace Initiative to the Israeli public. On the other hand, the actions of States must also be guided by the rules, which the Council itself must uphold. Our deep opposition to the policy of settlement building and our repeated strong condemnation of it, which we reiterate today, is not founded on some form of primordial enmity or bigotry towards the Jewish people. Any assertion to that effect is itself thoroughly distasteful to us. What it is built on is the continuing three-decade-long violation of international humanitarian law, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice.”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“The Council must therefore show itself strong enough to diffuse and overcome those spinning winds that, through their centrifugal forces, will draw countries - indeed whole regions - into a single colossus of an emergency quite beyond anything we see today. A single violent shock in the heart of Jerusalem could, for example, achieve this on its own. For the Council to simply wait for it to occur is hardly adequate preparation for what gigantic consequences will surely flow from such a transformational event. The Israelis will occasionally say to us that resolving the conflict is less a matter of law than psychology. Given the rhythms and the very real traumas of Jewish historical experience, they are cautious about placing their trust in anybody, let alone, they say, in us, the Arabs.”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“And the deep suffering of the Palestinian people must be brought to an end through the establishment of their own State on the basis of the 4 June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with Israel in peace and security. When the Security Council held its first meeting on 17 January 1946, the very horrors of the Second World War, including the Holocaust, were freshly in the mind of its members. If there was one objective it had to fulfil in the future, it was to preclude the recurrence of the sort of wars that left much of the world in ruin twice in the twentieth century. Sixty-five years and two days later, that objective remains as relevant as ever.”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source