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

“And if there were to be no negotiated settlement over Jerusalem because the settler organizations will have rendered the point moot through their actions, then the peace we all desire - a comprehensive, just and durable peace - will have been murdered by an avoidable circumstance; and Israel will be alone to chart an impossible course for itself in de facto control over an Arab population soon to be in the majority. If those individuals on the right in Israel believe in more noxious measures for addressing the reality soon to be staring them in the face, the international community, specifically the International Criminal Court, will possibly have a say in the matter too. The actions of the settler movement in the occupied Palestinian territory must therefore be stopped.”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“Because even if its legal status cannot be changed, so near are we to seeing East Jerusalem sealed off from the rest of the West Bank, from the cumulative effect of both the separation wall and the actions of the settler movement - all supported by the Israeli Government - it will shortly simply not be believable to us that any future Israeli Government could reverse it. For even if there were to be a peace deal struck between Israel and the Palestinian Authority requiring Israel to cede East Jerusalem, will there be an Israeli Government willing to implement such a deal and be prepared to go to war with its settler community over the latter's increasingly entrenched position in East Jerusalem, no matter what other occupied territories Israel has withdrawn from in the past?”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“For the latter to offer to hold talks with the Palestinian President while simultaneously allowing groups like El Ad and Ateret Cohanim to continue their usurpation of Palestinian lands under the veil of Israeli law, the very imposition of which is ultra vires, is contemptible and not becoming of a people who themselves have historically suffered greatly at the hands of others. That settlement building has continued unabated over many years is true, notwithstanding the rising chorus of indignation on the part of the international community towards it. Yet there was hope that comprehensive peace could be secured before it was foreclosed altogether by the growth in the number of settlements. That hope is being extinguished fast. Why?”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“It is also perhaps worth recalling that in negotiating what became resolution 242 (1967), the principle interlocutors reached the understanding that there would be a withdrawal from all non-Israeli territory, with only minor reciprocal border rectifrcations. For decades, Israel has been settling on territory that does not belong to it, against the wishes of the Palestinian people, to whom the territory does belong and who yearn for their freedom. While it is now readily accepted, the settlement policy can only be undone through a negotiated agreement between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government.”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · 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 the territories occupied in the recent conflict". That meant, and could only mean, territories on the non-Israeli side of the Green Line. Thus the Green Line is the starting line from which is measured the extent of Israel's occupation of non-Israeli territory. Having originated 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.”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“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. 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." It also merits noting that there are no territorial exceptions to this finding: all of the territory of the West Bank, as described by the Court, is considered occupied. A closer reading of resolution 242 (1967) also bears this point out, as we explained before the Court on 24 February 2004.”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“And yet the applicable law in respect of the exercise by Israel of military control over the occupied Palestinian territory is clear: it is not Israeli law that reigns supreme there, but international humanitarian law applicable to all high contracting parties as well as obligations that are ergo omnis. Israel's administrative and military regulations insofar as the West Bank is concerned must therefore be 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 that "The territories situated between the Green Line .”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“The actions undertaken by Ateret Cohanim last week in demolishing the Shepherd Hotel cannot therefore, as much as Ateret Cohanim may seek otherwise, change the legal status of East Jerusalem as occupied territory or, to put it more succinctly, cannot turn it from territory that is not Israeli into territory that is. However strenuously it may justify its actions in supporting the settler agenda, the Israeli Government is virtually alone in the world in recognizing these actions by Ateret Cohanim and other groups, like E1 Ad, to be lawful under, it would have us believe, a combination of Israeli military and administrative law.”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“(spoke in English) In its advisory opinion of 9 July 2004 relating to the Legal consequences of the construction ofa wall in the occupied Palestinian territory (see A/ES-10/273) the International Court of Justice recalled, in paragraphs 74 to 76, the position of the Security Council in respect of the city of Jerusalem. The Court noted specifically in paragraph 75 how the Council, in resolution 298 (1971), advanced "all legislative and administrative actions taken by Israel to change the status of the City of Jerusalem, including expropriation of land and properties, transfer of populations and legislation aimed at the incorporation of the occupied section, are totally invalid and cannot change that status".”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein (Jordan) (spoke in Arabic): At the outset, I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month. We trust that your expertise and wisdom will guarantee the success of the Council's work this month. We would also like to express our appreciation to your predecessor, Ms. Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, for her effective management of the work of the Security Council last month.”
2011-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6470 (2011) · source
“Yet, while a presidential statement was issued on that occasion, the members of the Council refrained from taking the floor individually. And so, under your guidance, Sir, we are breaking new ground. That is welcome, for we must on occasion have an open and responsible discussion of this troubling subject in all forums within the United Nations system and without prejudice to the General Assembly's leading role on this. Again, Sir, I thank you and the members of the Council for devoting some of your valuable time and your much-appreciated thoughts to this crucial subject.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein: I too am grateful to you, Mr. President, and to all those who took the floor this morning for the kind remarks addressed to my team and to me. I, too, welcome the many constructive thoughts and observations presented this morning by all my colleagues who spoke, all of which will serve us well as we press on in our work in the context of the deliberations currently taking place in the General Assembly. The representatives of the Congo and Brazil mentioned the acute sensitivities that ordinarily accompany any discussion of this subject. I can attest that, five years ago, this sort of debate would have been absolutely impossible, and so I pay tribute to the Permanent Representative of Denmark for having arranged the Council's first formal meeting dedicated to this subject last year.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“Despite what I have just noted about current allegations, Member States - and in particular troop-contributing countries - have also been supportive as regards the agreements reached in the General Assembly last year and the implementation thus far of the first phase of our work. Finally, one cannot - must not - forget that there are peacekeepers, representing all parts of the world, who are dying every year in pursuit of the objectives being established by the Council. They and their surviving colleagues perform a service to the international community of immense worth, a fact that must never be lost in all of this. It is because we know that that it is all the more urgent for us to remove the blight of sexual exploitation and abuse from what is otherwise distinguished and appreciated performance.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“I must also acknowledge, however, how hard it is to change a culture of dismissiveness, long developed within ourselves, in our own countries and in the mission areas. We can often legislate a response swiftly when reacting to crises of this sort, but our rate of absorption - absorbing these changes to the point where we can say we have changed our attitudes or a culture - is, as we all know, still problematical. Yet that cannot, of course, be held up as an excuse for the persistent nature of these alleged abuses, because there can, of course, be no excuse for such phenomena. DPKO, OIOS and OLA have all responded to the challenges imposed on us by sexual exploitation and abuse in a manner deserving of our acknowledgment and gratitude.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“Moreover, with every improvement in the mechanisms designed to facilitate complaints, it is likely we will see occasional spikes in the number of accusations. Nevertheless, the numbers of allegations currently being registered in some locations still cause us considerable concern. We, the Member States, must therefore, together with all personnel serving in the field, exert even greater efforts in all the missions concerned to drawn those numbers down. We also need to ensure that more resources are provided to OIOS, so that it can carry out its preliminary investigations efficiently, in conjunction with troop contributors. Ultimately, we must continue to view sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peacekeeping operations not as some ephemeral issue simply of passing importance, but as the serious issue it in fact is.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“Once that text is presented to the Committee of 34, sometime over the coming days, it will be important for Member States to remain cognizant, in the course of their ensuing discussions and negotiations, of a sense of responsibility towards the victims of United Nations abuse. As I noted at the outset of this brief presentation, the number of allegations being lodged against United Nations peacekeeping personnel remains high, and unacceptably so. But, as we have made clear to all Member States repeatedly over the last year, that is not entirely unexpected. Until we are able pin down all four corners of our strategy - and, as I said earlier, our work is not yet complete - we should expect at least some allegations.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“It also requested the group to propose a way of standardizing norms of conduct applicable to all categories of United Nations personnel. Regrettably, our current experts are unable to assume that undertaking, owing to their other commitments, and a new group of experts will therefore be assembled shortly for that purpose. The Secretary-General is also about to release a United Nations policy statement and comprehensive strategy on assistance and support to victims. That document is a thoughtful proposal, prepared carefully over the last nine months by members of the Secretariat, and it will likely contain some bold recommendations.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“can be achieved, namely that United Nations staff and experts on mission would never be effectively exempt from the consequences of criminal acts committed at their duty station, nor unjustly penalized, in accordance with due process" (A/59/19/Rev.l, part two, para. 40 (a)). The group has, as I understand it, a full draft ready before it, requiring only its final review, and once the experts have adopted their text, it will eventually be sent to the Sixth Committee. The Committee of 34 also required the group of legal experts to answer the question as to whether the standards drawn up in the Secretary-General's bulletin could bind contingent members prior to the conclusion of a memorandum of understanding.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“Turning to individual civilian staff members and the question of impunity for crimes of a sexual nature committed on mission, the difficulty for the United Nations arises whenever grounds for an investigation into suspected criminal conduct begin to emerge, but neither the host State nor the sending State are in a position to exercise their jurisdiction, either because of circumstances in theatre - that is, when there is no functioning judiciary - or because of legal constraints on the part of the State whose national is under suspicion. The Committee of 34 therefore asked the group of legal experts "[t]o provide advice on the best way to proceed so as to ensure that the original intent of the Charter...”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“That topic was not given more than a cursory reading last year and was put aside because some countries said they could not exercise their jurisdiction extraterritorially. Nevertheless, over the last few months, two major troop contributors have in fact completed courts martial in a mission area, and have done so successfully. And, as expected, in rendering justice before the local populations they are there to serve, the troop contributors and the United Nations were able to retain the confidence of those local populations. More Member States need to be encouraged to follow that example, and the Committee of 34 should, through the General Assembly, invite all those countries that are able to conduct courts martial in the mission area to in fact do so. The Committee of 34 should also establish modalities for that purpose.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“When I had the honour of addressing the Committee of 34 on 4 April 2005, I said that I expected the entire reform effort, where sexual exploitation and abuse are concerned, to last two or so years, and I advised then that it would be wise for the Committee to treat the simpler, more practical proposals immediately and to confront those more complex legal, technical issues at a later date, once the preparatory work had been achieved. We will therefore proceed soon to tackle the second phase of our work. The Committee of 34 will in due course be invited to revisit the recommendation, contained in the comprehensive strategy, that the troop- contributing countries conduct their courts martial in the mission area itself.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“What remains before us now, in rounding out the work of the last 10 months, is to finalize the revisions to the 1997 model Memorandum of Understanding, to reach an agreement between Member States on the national investigations officer concept - a concept being refined currently by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) - and to receive two rather sophisticated documents: the product of the group of legal experts relating to the de facto impunity enjoyed by some civilian staff members, and the United Nations policy statement and comprehensive strategy on assistance and support to victims.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“That assessment may seem out of place, in View of the continued receipt by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) of a high number of allegations relating to sexual exploitation and abuse - a matter I will touch on shortly. Nevertheless, I believe it to be the correct assessment. The Secretariat and the Member States have by and large completed or are about to complete the changes called for by the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations - the Committee of 34 - following the latter's review of the report submitted by my team, entitled "A comprehensive strategy to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peacekeeping operations". Members heard 6 from Under-Secretary-General Guehenno on those achievements this morning.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein: I am honoured once again to brief the Security Council on this important subject and I am grateful to you, Sir, for having arranged this meeting. I will try, for the most part, not to repeat the points presented to the Council at our last briefing, and so request that my comments be viewed as an update to what was stated here on 31 May 2005. I believe it is safe for me to conclude that, of all the items on our reform agenda, sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations peacekeeping personnel are the one item we - the Member States, acting with the Secretariat - have been able to treat quietly, without much fuss and with some measure of success.”
2006-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5379 (2006) · source
“Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein (Jordan) (spoke in Arabic): I should like to extend to you, Sir, and to the members of the Security Council our sincere thanks and appreciation for your adoption of a presidential statement strongly condemning the terrorist attacks on innocent civilians yesterday in Amman. We also thank you for your expressions of condolence and sympathy with the families of the victims, the people and Government of my country. In reiterating the determination of the Jordanian Government to pursue the perpetrators and bring them to justice, I reaffirm my country's commitment to cooperating with the Security Council and to stepping up its efforts to combat the scourge of terrorism, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005).”
2005-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5303 (2005) · source
“Sexual exploitation and abuse would carry with it the most serious consequences for the future of peacekeeping if we were to prove ourselves incapable of solving this problem. I therefore applaud you, Madam President, and the rest of the Council for taking this decisive action today, for you have brought us that much closer to removing this dreadful stain on the reputation of the United Nations generally and on United Nations peacekeeping in particular.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“However, that will not be possible as long as there are colleagues in the general membership, as well as in the Secretariat, who would have us believe that the furore regarding sexual exploitation and abuse is an exaggeration - a media-inspired public relations issue and nothing more, which will surely soon lapse into the past. With the adoption of the draft presidential statement and the measures contained in it, the Council's position will be read as being equally clear: such an opinion is profoundly mistaken. Sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping operations is a most serious and tragic issue, especially for the victims, many of whom are young women living in the most difficult conditions.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“Similarly, my hope is that the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations will next year take up those recommendations and ideas found in the comprehensive report which were not addressed at the Committee's April session, either for lack of time or because it was deemed more appropriate for us to visit those items at a later date. In that context, I intend to propose again the holding of in-mission courts martial for the worst offences, and I will argue before the Committee that, at the very least, we should encourage those countries that can do so to, in fact, do so. In conclusion, we will eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse from United Nations peacekeeping operations only when we have put into effect most, if not all, of the recommendations contained in the comprehensive report, over the next two years.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“However, I would like to repeat what both of them have said on previous occasions: that, despite the progress we have seen, it would be prudent for us to expect that further allegations will emerge over the next year and beyond, due to the Secretariat's strengthening of the systems by which complaints can be lodged in United Nations operations. As the weeks ahead of us unfold, we can also expect that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) will continue to coordinate smoothly on developing a standing procedure for how investigations are to be launched. In due course, the relationship between the OIOS and the troop-contributing countries on investigations will also need further refinement.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“We expect the Secretary-General to announce, soon, the appointment of a group of legal experts required, by the Committee, inter alia, "To provide advice on the best way to proceed so as to ensure that the original intent of the Charter can be achieved, namely that United Nations staff and experts on mission would never be effectively exempt from the consequences of criminal acts committed at their duty station, nor unjustly penalized, in accordance with due process". (A/59/19/Add.], para. 40 (a)) The expert group is invited to make available its views to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session. In the meantime, Jean-Marie Guehenno and Jane Holl Lute have worked with extraordinary determination over many months to resolve the difficulties on the ground, actions for which they must be commended thoroughly.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“Only days ago, the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly examined and adopted a significant number of the recommendations put forward by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions for the posts submitted by the Secretariat relating to sexual exploitation and abuse following on from the adoption by the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations of the first set of recommendations contained in the comprehensive report. This is all very encouraging.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“While those are two of the worst cases, sadly, there have been other allegations, and for those reasons the Jordanian Government, and Jordan's military and police authorities, are completely committed to seeing an end to this. Again, if we are to overcome these difficulties, we the Member States must resolve ourselves as best we can to recognize the truth openly and be closer friends to it, however painful that may sometimes be.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“I have worked in the field with my compatriots - military and police peacekeepers alike - and know what good they do. I have seen them perform extraordinary feats of courage and kindness, often in the most trying conditions. And they, like many others, have done so with an unswerving sense of dedication to this world Organization. But I also recognize - and now do so publicly in the Security Council - that on occasion my Government has had to confront some appalling cases of criminal conduct by a few of our own peacekeepers, including, a few years ago, the brutal rape of a local woman by a Jordanian in what was then East Timor and, more recently, in Kosovo, the murder by a Jordanian civilian police officer of a fellow officer.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“Because sentiments of pride, mixed in with a deep sense of embarrassment, have often produced in us only outright denials. And yet almost all countries that have participated in United Nations peacekeeping operations have, at one stage or another, had some reason to feel deeply ashamed over the activities of some of their peacekeepers. If all of us are therefore guilty, so to speak, should it not then be easy for us - each Member State - to visit the transgressions of its own personnel openly, with some measure of honesty and humility? Surely we owe that to the victims of our abuse. Naturally, if one is to propose such a change to the manner by which we confront this problem, then one is obligated also to set a good example. I once served as a United Nations peacekeeper.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“A peacekeeper who would exploit the vulnerabilities of a wounded population - already the victim of all that is tragic and cruel in war - is really no different than a physician who would violate the patient entrusted to his or her care or than the lifeguard who drowns the very people in need of rescue. Actions of that sort puncture, violently, the hope embodied by the very presence of the person who is there to help those in need. However rare they may be, therefore, not only are abuses by peacekeepers repugnant to us, but they strike at the very credibility of both the operation in question and this Organization as a whole. And we, the Member States, have refrained from opening up that subject to public discourse over the past 60 years because of what?”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“It takes courage for Member States to send their personnel to participate in such an undertaking, and even greater courage for the men and women nominated, military or civilian, to actually go and serve. And we can rightly be proud of what United Nations peacekeepers have accomplished through the years. Moreover, in most instances, whatever the abuses of United Nations peacekeepers, they cannot compare to the viciousness the parties to the conflict often invite on one another. But that can hardly be the point. It would be offensive for me to suggest that the United Nations should hold itself to anything but the highest standards of ethical conduct, and certainly we should never measure the United Nations against those who would treat civilian populations maliciously.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“It was well known to many in the Secretariat in the early 1960s that the United Nations Operation in the Congo faced difficulties relating to the ill- discipline of some of its personnel; and ever since the United Nations Transition Assistance Group was mounted in 1989, a steady stream of similar reports have surfaced in relation to practically every subsequent mission and were brought to our notice by the Secretariat, humanitarian non-governmental organizations and the press. What must be emphasized, and is emphasized in the Council's draft presidential statement, is the context into which we place all our words. United Nations peacekeeping, in almost all theatres, is dangerous, no matter how benign and peaceful conditions may appear to be at certain times.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“In reviewing all the information gathered for the report, we also began to grasp the complexity of the attendant legal questions - so much so that we were concerned at how certain United Nations civilian personnel could enjoy, by virtue of a specific set of circumstances unforeseen at the time the United Nations was created, complete impunity, even when committing frightful offences, such as murder. We also realized that, in the event that we could create the right administrative and legal framework for addressing that issue, we would solve many of the problems associated not only with sexual exploitation and abuse specifically, but also with other forms of misconduct. Our growing understanding of sexual exploitation and abuse led us also to ask the obvious question: Why had we left this and other similar issues unresolved for so long?”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“When we first began to take a close look at sexual exploitation and abuse, what became obvious to us was that sexual exploitation - predominantly prostitution - in at least some United Nations operations appeared to be widespread. The scale of sexual abuse - that is, when the exploitation becomes criminal - was somewhat more difficult to gauge. We inferred, however, that given the apparent prevalent nature of the exploitation, both by civilian as well as by military personnel, the levels of abuse were probably more serious than was previously thought. Some of the possible reasons for why that has been so are enumerated in detail in the report itself, and so I will not repeat them here.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“It is the contributions of all those separate components, together with the opinions offered by our United Nations colleagues in the field, that enabled my team and I to respond promptly to the Secretary-General's request just over two months ago for a report, which we entitled: "A comprehensive strategy to eliminate future sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peacekeeping operations". Before I turn briefly to the most recent developments, where the work of the General Assembly is concerned, and what lies ahead of us, I would like, with your permission, Madam, to offer just a few observations that I believe deserve specific mention.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“Over the past several months, and in reaction to first reports from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, some members of the Council were of the opinion that an immediate and open discussion by the Council on sexual exploitation and abuse was merited, and the argument for it was indeed strong. After some reflection, however, those members deferred to the General Assembly, so that a broad strategy for dealing with sexual exploitation and abuse could be put into place - a strategy based on consultations between all the major troop- and equipment-contributing countries, the Secretary-General, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Office of Legal Affairs.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein: May I congratulate you, Madam, and the members of the Security Council on preparing an excellent draft presidential statement on the subject of sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peacekeeping operations. I am most grateful to the Council for having organized this briefing and for having invited me to participate. This is the first time in its history that the Council has ever had a public meeting of this sort, devoted exclusively to sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peacekeeping operations generally.”
2005-05-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5191 (2005) · source
“Rather, it would contravene the norms of international law and signed agreements, and would, indeed, be fatal to the two- State solution. Once again, we condemn the killing of civilians, whether on the Palestinian or the Israeli side. We maintain that the essential problem in our region is that of occupation. The time has indeed come to address that problem in a serious and sustained fashion. We adhere to the principle of ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-State solution, the road map, the terms of reference and the principles of the peace process. We therefore welcome the Quartet's adherence to the two-State solution and to the need to achieve progress within the peace process, as expressed in the statement recently issued by the Quartet in New York.”
2004-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5049 (2004) · source
“The international community must thus take the necessary measures to prevent Israel from persisting in the deplorable, destructive policy it has begun in Gaza, and must stress its rejection of all such Israeli practices, which are a violation of international law and international humanitarian law. The Palestinian people have the right to self- determination and to exercise their sovereignty over their territory. The Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip must therefore be complete and carried out on the basis of the road map. It must be a step towards ending Israeli occupation of all the occupied Palestinian territory. However, carrying out plans that aim at converting the Gaza Strip into a besieged province isolated from the rest of the Palestinian territory would not mean an end to occupation.”
2004-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5049 (2004) · source
“The Government of Jordan stresses the need for the Israeli Government fully and immediately to halt its acts of violence and destruction in the Gaza Strip and throughout the occupied Palestinian territory, to put an end to its policy of deliberate destruction of Palestinian infrastructure and homes and to cease forthwith its acts of extrajudicial killing, the imposition of collective punishment and its other practices against the Palestinian people. We reiterate our call to Israel to comply with the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israeli military policies will only lead to a further deterioration of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and will escalate tensions in the region.”
2004-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5049 (2004) · source
“Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein (Jordan) (spoke in Arabic): Allow me, Mr. President, at the outset, to thank you for your prompt response in convening this meeting to discuss the question of Palestine and the issue of Israeli acts of military aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, specifically in the Jabaliya refugee camp. I wish to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for the current month. I am fully confident that you will conduct the work of the Council with your customary efficiency. I would also like to express to Ambassador Juan Antonio Yafiez-Barnuevo, the Permanent Representative of Spain, our thanks for his stewardship of the Council last month.”
2004-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5049 (2004) · source
“At the same time, we call upon the Council to assume its responsibilities and provide the Palestinian population under occupation with the protection it needs, in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
2004-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4929 (2004) · source
“Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein (Jordan) (spoke in Arabic): As the Security Council meets to discuss the grave crime committed by Israel under the direct supervision of its highest government authorities against Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza yesterday, I would like to express my Government's strong condemnation of that assassination. That act makes clear the brutal nature of Israel's policy of organized assassinations and extrajudicial killings. That murder will lead only to an escalation of violence and to the deterioration of conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories. Furthermore, it is a threat to the security and stability of the region as a whole. We call upon Israel to cease its inflammatory policies and to work to achieve calm and to maintain stability.”
2004-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4929 (2004) · source
“Furthermore, in view of our collective and, in many respects, lamentable past - with recurring episodes of genocide as well as the never-ending commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity - this could not come sooner. We appeal therefore to the Security Council to give some thought to the few modest points that we have attempted to put forward here today.”
2003-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4772 (2003) · source
“The Court will stay permanently in the background, deferring to the national jurisdictions of States that are willing and able to investigate claims and prosecute those accused of perpetrating the offences enumerated in the Rome Statute. It will only come to the fore and itself exercise jurisdiction when States that should be taking up their responsibilities are unwilling or genuinely unable to do so. The ICC does not, therefore, seek to replace national jurisdictions; rather, by its permanent presence, it will remind them of their legal and moral obligations, and thus reinforce national court systems. We also believe that the Court will, in good time, become the surest companion of global peace and a more welcome future.”
2003-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4772 (2003) · source