YouSaid · the spoken record

Van Bohemen

lines on the record: 705
first: 1993-08-27
most recent: 2016-12-31
sittings or episodes: 114
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

“Since this is, I hope, the last time we will be addressing the Council during our current term, I would like to conclude by commending the Spanish presidency for its outstanding leadership over the past month and by thanking all our colleagues in the Secretariat for the courtesy and cooperation they have shown me and my delegation over the past two years.”
2016-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7855 (2016) · source
“The implications for groups that are not participating should also be clarified. New Zealand would also welcome greater clarity about humanitarian access and the role of the United Nations in the Astana political process. That said, we are pleased that the Council was able to come together to support this important development. New Zealand's term on the Security Council will end very soon. We hope that further clarity will be provided and that this agreement will alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people and help to put Syria on a path to a lasting and enduring peace.”
2016-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7855 (2016) · source
“New Zealand welcomes the efforts of Russia, Turkey and others to reduce the level of fighting in Syria. We also welcome the efforts of the presidency, Russia and Turkey, and all other Council members to work for the adoption of a resolution that all Council members could support. That is a demonstration of what the Council can do when we turn our collective minds to achieving a positive outcome. We are very pleased, therefore, that the Council could put its weight behind a measure designed to reduce civilian suffering in Syria and restart the political process. As others have said, there are aspects of the ceasefire and other agreements that must be clarified. In particular, there are uncertainties about the participation of opposition groups in the ceasefire and the Astana talks.”
2016-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7855 (2016) · source
“The reporting mechanism the resolution establishes should provide a firm foundation for the Council to continue to encourage the parties towards negotiations on a viable two-State solution. We recognize that there is much more that the resolution might have done. The Council must stand ready to provide additional support to the parties, including by setting out the parameters for negotiations when the time is right. But today we have focused on what is achievable right now, and that is what we believe today's text represents.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7853 (2016) · source
“Today's resolution provides important signals to the parties and to the international community about the way forward. It reaffirms the central importance ofpreserving the two- State solution as the only model we have for achieving a negotiated peace. The resolution also prepares the ground for a return to negotiations as soon as possible. The resolution reaffirms, through the United Nations most powerful organ, that settlements in the occupied territories are contrary to Israel's obligations under international law and a major obstacle to peace. It condemns the acts of violence, provocation, terror and incitement that have driven the two sides apart and hardened feelings ofhostility and mistrust on both sides.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7853 (2016) · source
“However, as others have pointed out, the resolution also includes welcome elements on the need to stop violence and incitement and lays the groundwork for a return to negotiations. There is no question that ongoing Israeli settlement in the occupied territories is a significant obstacle to a return to negotiations and a grave threat to the very viability of a future Palestinian State. As my Foreign Minister said earlier this month, those settlements violate international law, and those settlements have created enemies where there should have been neighbours. Every settlement creates false hope for the settlers that the land will one day be part of a greater Israel. Every settlement takes land away from Palestinians needing homes or farmland or roads.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7853 (2016) · source
“Today is a significant day for the Security Council, as the applause ringing around the Chamber earlier this afternoon attests. I was so very pleased that in this last meeting of the year we are able to adopt a very positive step on this most very difficult issue. The applause reflects the pent-up frustration that the Council has been unable for so long to adopt a resolution on the Israeli-Palestine issue, despite regular reports from the Secretary- General and the Special Coordinator that the two-State solution was slipping away and that urgent action was necessary to arrest it. As I noted earlier, the focus of resolution 2334 (2016) is on settlements: the primary threat to the viability of the two-State solution.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7853 (2016) · source
“This message was very clearly delivered to us in the last Quartet report and in regular reports of the Secretary-General. For these reasons, we supported the text circulated on Wednesday and joined the group calling for a vote on that text today, in order to ensure that the Council had a chance to consider it.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7853 (2016) · source
“New Zealand has made no secret of its frustration that it has been almost eight years since the Security Council adopted a resolution on the Middle East peace process. New Zealand has worked hard over the past two years to try to advance a resolution on this issue, which we consider to be one of the most pressing unaddressed issues on the Council's agenda. New Zealand has floated its own ideas for a more comprehensive draft than the one that is before us today (S/2016/1100), and we are grateful for the willingness of other Council members to engage with us on the text. It became apparent to us, however, that the balance of the Council wished to focus on the more pressing issue of the settlements, which, as my colleague from Malaysia has said, is threatening the viability of the two-State solution.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7853 (2016) · source
“We also thank our fellow humanitarian co-leads over the past two years - Spain, Egypt and Jordan - for their generous collaboration and their determination to help improve the humanitarian situation in Syria. While the provision of humanitarian assistance is vital, it is only treating the symptoms of the conflict. External actors must set aside vested interests and narrow allegiances and prioritize action to end the conflict and promote genuine reconciliation. As we all know, only a political resolution with meaningful reconciliation and genuine political and security sector reform can provide a lasting peace to the civilians of Syria.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7852 (2016) · source
“We hope that the Council will be able to unite in welcoming that report and in condemning all attacks on humanitarian workers. We pay tribute to the dedication and commitment of many, including United Nations Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, to achieve peace in Syria, to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and to Under- Secretary-General Stephen O'Brien and Mr. Ging and their teams for their unwavering dedication and efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need and to the courage and sacrifice of humanitarian agencies and workers in Syria and to the generosity of neighbouring countries in sheltering the millions of Syrian refugees.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7852 (2016) · source
“In the longer term, we must ensure that the protection of civilians is prioritized throughout Syria and in the many other towns and communities that remain besieged or undergoing bombardment. We welcome the determination others have shown in recent weeks to act when the Council will not. We hope that the resolution adopted in the General Assembly this week can lay the ground work for action to bring justice for the victims of this conflict. We also welcome the board of inquiry findings on the attack on the United Nations and Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy in Orem Al-Kubra. The information that the attack was highly likely perpetrated by the Syrian air force is deeply disturbing, as was the obstruction and delay by the Syrian Government in issuing visas to the investigators.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7852 (2016) · source
“While that has been most apparent in the case of Syria, in connection with which a series of vetoes has been cast over the past five years, it is equally apparent in the Council's actions and its inability to take effective action with respect to the crises in Yemen, South Sudan and the Sudan. We welcome the recent adoption of the resolutions allowing the United Nations to observe evacuations in Aleppo and the renewal of cross-border and cross-line humanitarian access. The Council's priority must be to address persistent efforts by the Syrian Government to prevent the full and effective implementation of those resolutions, which we have witnessed with depressing regularity over the past two years. As Mr. Ging has reminded us, we must now ensure the protection of the civilians fleeing eastern Aleppo, Fo'ah and Kefraya.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7852 (2016) · source
“However, as we saw graphically last month, when humanitarian objectives do not square with the war- fighting aims of those with decision-making powers on the Council, the humanitarian objectives are the ones that are pushed aside, which is not how international humanitarian law is supposed to work. Last month's vetoes of the simple draft resolution that New Zealand put forward with Egypt and Spain was but the latest example of an attitude that has troubled New Zealand deeply during our time on the Council: that is, the apparent indifference ofa number of Council members to human suffering, even on a large scale.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7852 (2016) · source
“However, in terms of real-world impacts, what has been achieved under those resolutions is a tiny fraction ofwhat has been needed to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people. During our term we witnessed some deeply disturbing trends: systematic attacks on hospitals and on medical and humanitarian workers; obstruction of food and essential supplies to civilian populations as a tactic of war; use of indiscriminate weapons with zero regard for civilians; and use of chemicals as weapons. These tactics of war undermine the basic tenets of international humanitarian law and should concern us all. The need to address Syria's humanitarian crisis should be something on which all Council members can agree; and for, the most part, that has been the case.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7852 (2016) · source
“I thank Mr. Ging and his team for his briefing. As this is New Zealand's last opportunity to address the humanitarian situation in Syria, we wanted to make a few remarks in the open Chamber. Over the past two years, New Zealand has worked with the Security Council to try to improve the humanitarian situation in Syria. We were honoured to work with our co-leads Jordan and Spain last year, and with Egypt and Spain this year. We secured some modest achievements, most notably the two annual renewals of the humanitarian access resolutions first pioneered by Australia, Jordan and Luxembourg. In Council terms, those resolutions and resolution 2286 (2016), on attacks on healthcare facilities and workers, were important achievements, especially when viewed against a background of near paralysis in the Council on the political track on Syria.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7852 (2016) · source
“The country is doing just enough to satisfy the Council - doing the minimum to avoid the imposition of measures that the Council itself had forecast, but not demonstrating any meaningful commitment to changing the dangerous course upon which it has embarked. As New Zealand leaves the Council, we urge Council members not to allow differences over the draft resolution to distract from and prevent unified and effective leadership on the critical issues that face the people of South Sudan and the peacekeeping mission on the ground.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7850 (2016) · source
“However, in our view, those measures would only help create the conditions for peace on the ground and would, in turn, support the political process when it gets underway. Yet, right now we are seeing a lot more fighting and killing than talking. We have been warned by the United Nations of the possibility of much graver developments. Ignoring those warnings and preserving space for a currently non-existent dialogue seems to us to not make a lot of sense. We are concerned that what we are seeing today is another example of a country where a Council-mandated mission is operating under very difficult conditions.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7850 (2016) · source
“New Zealand voted in favour of today's draft resolution. For many months, New Zealand has argued that an arms embargo on South Sudan is needed as part of the international response to the continuing conflict. It is also a measure that has been strongly and repeatedly called for by the Secretary-General and the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations for over a year. We are very disappointed that the Council has failed to respond to those requests. We recognize that an arms embargo will not resolve the conflict. However, it will go a long way towards addressing the overabundance of weapons, which are being used against civilians. It undoubtedly further fuels the conflict. We also recognize the concern expressed by some that an arms embargo and targeted sanctions would upset any political process.”
2016-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7850 (2016) · source
“That is a challenge that New Zealand will not be able to take up as we leave the Council in 11 days, at least not in this organ, but we believe that it is a challenge that needs to be addressed. In conclusion, we hope today's discussions will galvanize our collective efforts to combat and defeat those interrelated scourges by tackling them at their source, while bringing those responsible to justice and providing the necessary support to those affected.”
2016-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7847 (2016) · source
“All States need to ensure that they have appropriate criminal offences that allow such individuals to be brought to justice. Just last week, a New Zealand court handed down the first conviction in New Zealand for people trafficking, imposing a sentence of almost 10 years in prison and ordering the payment of reparations to the victims. Finally, we must not lose sight of the needs of those most affected by conflict-related trafficking and sexual violence - the victims and the survivors. In that regard, Nadia Murad laid down a very specific challenge to the Council today. To establish an effective mechanism to gather and protect evidence of the crimes that have been committed in Iraq and Syria.”
2016-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7847 (2016) · source
“The Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons has a central role to play, as does the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. We look forward to engaging with Member States on options for how such coordination can be further strengthened. Thirdly, regional cooperation has a vital role to play in efforts to confront such issues, given their cross- border nature and scope. New Zealand's experience has demonstrated the effectiveness of such approaches. In our own region, the Asia Pacific, the Bali Process provides a valuable forum for addressing the complex challenges of trafficking in persons and related transnational crime. Fourthly, States need to pursue those responsible for such acts at the domestic level. Traffickers profit from exploiting the weak and vulnerable.”
2016-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7847 (2016) · source
“Within the Plan of Action, the terrorist financing framework has shown its effectiveness in following the flow of money to those responsible and cutting off sources of finance. Organizations such as the International Organization for Migration, INTERPOL, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units also have significant expertise and networks that we can and should be utilizing to their fullest extent. As resolution 2223 (2016)adopted last week underlines, challenging cross-border issues such as this demand cohesion across lines of effort to be effective. It is important, therefore, that such international efforts are effectively coordinated. The United Nations system is well placed to assist.”
2016-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7847 (2016) · source
“To that end, the Secretariat needs to ensure that such issues are adequately reflected in its advice to the Council, including its formal reports and the conflict assessments on which they are based. Secondly, we need to make active and effective use of the other international tools at our disposal. As Ms. Bangura so clearly pointed out today, the effective use of the Islamic State in the Levant/Da'esh sanctions regime is an obvious point of engagement. It was disappointing that we were unable to reach an agreement for her to brief us and our Committee earlier this year. As resolution 2331 (2016) adopted today underlines, the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking provides an essential framework for such efforts, both in terms of international cooperation and State-level implementation.”
2016-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7847 (2016) · source
“The fact that the issue is difficult, deeply distasteful and has social and economic dimensions should not deter the Council from taking it up or be used as a pretext for leaving the issue for other bodies to address. The Council has a responsibility to engage in the full spectrum of international security issues, in all their disturbing dimensions.New Zealand would like to highlight five aspects that we consider warrant particular attention. First, the Council needs to integrate such issues into our work, wherever relevant. That means ensuring that the effects of trafficking and sexual violence against women, men, and children are appropriately reflected in our consideration of specific mandates and country situations. That should not depend on mandate prescriptiveness. Rather, when present, such aspects need to be considered.”
2016-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7847 (2016) · source
“The Secretary-General's annual report on conflict- related sexual violence (S/2016/36l/Rev.l) and the briefings on specific conflicts on the Council's agenda illustrate the ways in which trafficking is both fuelled by and exacerbates conflict situations. However, the evidence presented today on how such phenomena interplay and reinforce each other is deeply troubling. Terrorist groups will, of course, use whatever means they can to pursue their objectives. For some, their motive is profit. In many cases, however, it is about terrorizing and controlling communities to eliminate resistance and, above all, to exercise power over people with no defences. In that regard, those perpetrators are in essence cowards. In any event, we need a shared understanding of that phenomenon and an agreement on collective action to confront and defeat it.”
2016-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7847 (2016) · source
“The callous barbarity of the treatment meted out to innocent people, most often women, girls and young men, is mind-numbing: being kidnapped, forced into marriage, raped, sexually molested and abused; sold into slavery, forced into prostitution; forced to be a suicide bomber, a combatant, a labourer; and even sent into battle with your baby strapped to your back. And, if by some fortunate chance you are able to get free, there is the risk of being rejected by your own family and community for the crimes that were done to you. Listening to those briefings last year were the most harrowing days I have spent at this table.”
2016-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7847 (2016) · source
“That reality has been brought home through today's briefing - and, if I may say so quite graphically and directly - to the Council in the testimony of Nadia Murad, the young Yazidi woman who addressed us last year (see S/PV.7585), as well as in the briefings of Zainab Bangura, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, and Under-Secretary-General Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, on the use of sexual violence in the conflicts in Syria and South Sudan, the Lake Chad region and elsewhere.”
2016-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7847 (2016) · source
“Let me begin by congratulating the President of the Government of Spain, Mr. Rajoy Brey, and the Spanish delegation for this most timely debate and for the successful adoption of resolution 2331 (2016) today. Trafficking in persons, like slavery, with which it is closely associated, used to be regarded as a crime of an earlier era. Sadly, that is not so any more. Indeed, it can be found in many countries, including my own, as I shall note more fully in a moment. It has reinforced to my own country that all States Members of the United Nations must be vigilant in addressing the issue. The problems and effects of trafficking are exponentially and despicably worse in conflict situations.”
2016-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7847 (2016) · source
“New Zealand established an informal group of chairing experts that meets semi-regularly, and last week we hosted a workshop on the practicalities of chairing for incoming members. We hope elected members will keep those alive next year. None of these recommendations require a new resolution or presidential statement; they require courage and behavioural change, and I believe that the whole Council would be better for it.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7845 (2016) · source
“That includes more coherent scheduling of our Council programmes of work and requesting that the Secretary-General report on sanctions in his reports, where applicable. Secondly, when Chairs do brief in closed consultations, we should reconsider the use of formulaic statements approved by the Committee. The substance and utility of our conversations would improve vastly if Chairs were instead able to come with a couple ofpoints for discussion that they had formulated themselves. Thirdly, we must have a serious conversation about the decision-making of our Committees, with a view to reform. Fourthly, the burden of chairing subsidiary bodies should be spread to all Council members. We are a Council not of 5 or 10, but of 15, and chairing should reflect that. Fifthly, the elected members must continue to support each other as Chairs.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7845 (2016) · source
“On how the Council appoints its chairs, I am pleased that the elected members have worked together to secure improvements to the process this year. No longer is that an intra-permanent five decision; it is now a process facilitated by two Council members, including an elected member. No longer will elected members be told which Committee they can chair just a few days before they start their Council term. They will now have time to prepare for the significant responsibilities of being a subsidiary body Chair. That said, there is still room for further improvement in our view. In closing, I would like to offer five recommendations to the Council: First, I would urge Council members to think about how we do our business and the small, practical steps we can take to be more efficient, avoid duplication and maximize the tools we have.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7845 (2016) · source
“I am yet to hear any convincing reason for the Council's subsidiary bodies operating under a far more restrictive set of rules than those that apply to the Council itself under the Charter or under its provisional rules of procedure. That is particularly true in View of the reality that it is almost invariably a permanent member that uses the no-objection procedure to block a decision. I am not cavilling because New Zealand is an elected member, while others are permanent. My objection is that that procedure allows members - usually permanent members - to play politics, either on their own account or on behalf of others, to obstruct the effective functioning of a regime that all United Nations Members are required to comply with. That erodes confidence in the sanctions regime and in the Council itself.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7845 (2016) · source
“Today, I am deeply concerned after learning that the compromise proposal we have worked on for so many weeks has not been accepted. We have been unable to take practical steps to put the Office of the Ombudsperson on a more secure and independent footing, despite the clear directions in resolution 2253 (2015), adopted last year. So far, we have been unable to update our Committee's guidelines to help serve our effective functioning. In the course of the past year, we have seen attempts to extend the no-objection procedure - in other words, the 15-country veto - to even more minor matters including, incredibly, my ability as Chair to invite Committee members to an informal meeting in my own Mission.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7845 (2016) · source
“My colleague Ambassador Ramirez Carrefio also referred to that point in his remarks. What we have done, in fact, has been to confer the right of veto on all Council members, and that right extends to all decisions - procedural and substantive - no matter how minor. In my opinion, that is the single biggest inhibitor to Committee effectiveness. Around this table, we can share endless examples of that, but I will highlight just a few that have arisen in the Committees that I have chaired, where the consensus rule has prevented what I consider to be obviously sensible decisions. First, we have been unable to update the details of the deceased former Taliban leader on our sanctions list so that we can stop his considerable assets ending up in the hands of the Taliban.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7845 (2016) · source
“It would also seem reasonable that when the Council discusses items like the threat from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, we could have the coordinator of the Monitoring Team in the room to brief us and field questions. Yet, making any suggestions for improvement in that area very often encounters active resistance, usually from a permanent member. Secondly, we have allowed the process of those Committees to get in the way of their outcomes. Process is important, but it should not obstruct our primary goal as a Council or the discharge of our obligations under Chapter VII resolutions. That is most clearly illustrated by the requirement - I hesitate to call it a rule because it has no basis in the Charter - that any Committee decision, no matter how minor, must be taken by consensus.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7845 (2016) · source
“Yet the way these committees are established and the procedures under which they operate mean they struggle to discharge their mandates effectively. First, we silo those bodies away from the Council's work and from each other. It would seem logical that when there is a country-specific item in our programme of work regarding a country where there is also a sanctions regime, we should discuss the two together, and indeed we did that this morning. It would seem sensible that where there is a field mission operating where there is also a sanctions regime, the two would be reinforcing and we should discuss them as such.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7845 (2016) · source
“I have been frank about my experiences as Chair, and I will continue in that spirit today, focusing on two working methods areas: the effectiveness of our sanctions committees, and the preparation of and process for appointing Chairs. But as a first order of business, I record my thanks and appreciation to the Committee's Monitoring Team, the Ombudsperson and the Secretariat staff for their hard work and support. On effectiveness, one thing that has struck me is how little consideration or priority the Council gives to ensuring that its sanctions committees are effective. Sanctions are one of the few tools we have, short of force, to respond to situations that threaten international peace and security.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7845 (2016) · source
“I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important and often overlooked aspect of the Council's work: the work of our subsidiary bodies. As an elected member for the past two years, New Zealand has been an active participant in the subsidiary bodies ofthe Council, including as Chair ofthe Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da'esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities, and the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011). I have been honoured to chair those sanctions committees.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7845 (2016) · source
“We need to get the United Nations able to help people - those who want to leave be allowed to leave and those who need humanitarian assistance to get it when they can. Of course we know that peace and stability will be restored ultimately only through a return to dialogue, reconciliation and meaningful political change. But those things seem very far away right now. Let us, right now, concentrate on what has to be done in the immediate hours.”
2016-12-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7834 (2016) · source
“But in another sense, it is a specific failure because a permanent member has used a veto to prevent Council action to address a serious humanitarian crisis. That veto, in our View, is against the deep spirit of Article 27, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, under which we all operate. And it is a cynical attempt to use a provision to advance military aims of one of the participants to the conflict. The Secretary-General has come to us in this urgent meeting and said that we need to act, we need to do something to address the situation. We urge Russia, we urge Iran, we urge Syria to work with us. We can only focus on the immediate right now. But saving lives must be our focus of attention. We need to get the United Nations on the ground.”
2016-12-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7834 (2016) · source
“So it is no good coming back and telling us that you have done all of these reports and investigations, because no one is there to check on you. The tactics being used in eastern Aleppo go against basic humanity. Such short-term tactics do nothing to counter terrorism. They fuel radicalization and, rather than hastening the end of the war, they make peace more distant. We share the criticisms of the Secretary-General of the Council's failure to act. We have called attention to those failures repeatedly over the past months. We have tried to remedy that failure by putting forward draft resolutions to address the issue. And we have failed. We have failed. In one sense it is a collective failure of the entire Council.”
2016-12-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7834 (2016) · source
“This was a scenario we had desperately hoped to avoid when we worked with Egypt and Spain to try to adopt a Council draft resolution to stop the violence and provide orderly access for the United Nations and other humanitarian partners to support the needs of the beleaguered city. We made the same plea in consultations last week when we sort of came to some rough agreement about what we might say to the media, except that the one important point we asked for - that the United Nations must be involved in the access and in the evacuation arrangements - was not allowed to us by Russia. That is the problem we have today. The United Nations is not on the ground. The United Nations is not able to verify.”
2016-12-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7834 (2016) · source
“Twenty-three years ago, I sat behind my Ambassador as the Security Council discussed Rwanda. It was the most horrible experience. As I prepared to come here on my posting this time, I was often asked by my colleagues: What will be your Rwanda moment? I think it has probably arrived. Then, as now, there were credible reports coming in of atrocities being committed. Then, as now, there was someone at the table, a party to the conflict, that had their own View. But in the end the truth came through. I choose to believe the Secretary-General when he comes to the Council and tells us there are credible reports of atrocities being committed. I choose to believe the Secretary-General and the people working for him when they say the issue is not terrorism, but it is barbarism.”
2016-12-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7834 (2016) · source
“We hope that we will see emerge from these current tensions a strengthened and more productive relationship between the Council and African States on matters relating to the International Criminal Court that are of mutual interest and importance.”
2016-12-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7833 (2016) · source
“New Zealand recognizes the unique role of the ICC and the fundamental importance of preserving its judicial and prosecutorial independence. Equally, we know that we all stand to gain from more frank and robust engagement aimed at resolving key challenges facing the Court. That means honestly acknowledging concerns that have been raised by African State parties. It means fostering greater mutual understanding on those and other issues. It means identifying ways in which we can collectively address and strengthen the Court and end impunity. The Council needs to play its part in supporting such a dialogue. However, it goes without saying that dialogue does not mean forgetting our search for justice and ensuring accountability.”
2016-12-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7833 (2016) · source
“We urge Council members to take a more active and consistent approach in response to future reports of non-compliance, and we look forward to working with other Council members in the coming days on how to address to this most recent report. Secondly, we also need to find a way through the current impasse in the Council's relations with the Government of the Sudan. While we recognize the challenges involved in doing so, there is a clear need for the Council to build a new relationship with Khartoum. We hope Council members will give serious thought as to how that might be achieved in the coming year. There is no escaping the fact that referrals made by the Council have contributed to current tensions between the International Criminal Court and some of its African members.”
2016-12-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7833 (2016) · source
“As the Prosecutor reminded us this morning, last year New Zealand made two proposals for action to address this situation. First, we called for the Council to take a more structured approach in considering findings of non-cooperation. There is currently no consistent practice. In our view, the Council should, at a minimum, discuss any finding of non-cooperation with a view to determining which of the tools that it has at its disposal, if any, offers the most appropriate response. As Ms. Bensouda recalled, those options include the adoption of a formal draft resolution or statement, the dispatch of a letter or a meeting with the country concerned. To continue ignoring ongoing acts of non-compliance is neither productive nor credible.”
2016-12-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7833 (2016) · source
“The Government of the Sudan's continued non-cooperation with the Court amounts to non-compliance with Council resolutions and with its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations. And yet the Council has not responded to any of the 13 findings of non-compliance referred to it in any meaningful way. Not every member of this Council is a party to the International Criminal Court. But we all share a common interest - and indeed a responsibility for - in ensuring compliance with the Council's decisions. When that is absent, the credibility and effectiveness of this institution are undermined, and the message is sent that Council decisions can be ignored with impunity. That should be of concern to all those who value the role, legitimacy and authority of this organ.”
2016-12-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7833 (2016) · source
“The Prosecutor's briefing today has underlined the bleakness of the situation. Little has improved in the past six months. All five ICC indictees remain at large. Civilians in Darfur continue to suffer from the shocking consequences of conflict. If confirmed, the recent reports of the use of chemical weapons would represent yet another crime against the people of Darfur. We know that the environment for the ICC in taking forward the Council's Darfur referral remains extremely challenging. Resolution 1593 (2005) requires the Government of the Sudan to cooperate fully with the Court and the Prosecutor and to provide them with the necessary assistance. It also urges Member States to cooperate with such efforts. Those obligations are being ignored. There has also not been any meaningful accountability at the national or regional levels.”
2016-12-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7833 (2016) · source