YouSaid · the spoken record

Wensley

lines on the record: 215
first: 1998-06-06
most recent: 2001-07-30
sittings or episodes: 19
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

“A new chapter that she added to the review, on the role of women and the peace process, recognized that building peace from the grass-roots level is an important aspect of women's participation- that even as they are trying to hold their families together in war and post-war conditions, women are creating and sustaining peace at the community level. But this chapter went further, to argue that the role of women must go beyond this informal grass-roots level; that women have potential to make a greater contribution to peacemaking and peace-building; and that they should be given an active role in the formal processes of conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction. I am very happy that so many speakers in the debate have picked up on this new chapter.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Australia certainly can support many of their key conclusions and recommendations: that the gender dimensions of peace processes have not been adequately recognized; that women have so far been denied their full role in national and international peacekeeping and peacemaking operations; that the mandates of United Nations preventive peace missions, peacekeeping operations and peace-building should include provisions for women's protection and address gender issues; and that peace support operations should include appropriately staffed and integrated gender units and gender advisers. The recent review on war-affected children by Graga Machel is also very important.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The Windhoek Declaration of May 2000 and the Namibia Plan of Action on "Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in Multidimensional Peace Support Operations", which were informed by the laborious three-year study conducted by the Division for the Advancement of Women and by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, were another very important step.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“As we have heard, the Council itself gave a valuable boost to this in March this year, in the statement it issued on International Women's Day, when it recognized publicly the link between peace and equality between men and women. Today's debate builds on that acknowledgement - that equal access and full participation of women in power structures and their full involvement in all efforts for the prevention and resolution of conflicts are essential for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“But I want to focus more today on women not so much as victims of armed conflict, as sufferers, as vulnerable people whose rights need protecting, but as contributors and active participants in problem solving. This is the important direction in which our thinking, as an international community, is evolving and where the Council can bring much needed momentum and muscle. Just as we came to recognize- not so long ago- the critical link between gender and development, and to recognize that achieving sustainable development required the active participation and involvement of both women and men in the development process, so we are moving, I think relatively rapidly, to recognition that the same, Vital linkage exists in relation to effective conflict resolution, peacemaking, peace-building and post- conflict activities.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“This debate could inform our thinking on how to deal with all these major areas of concern. Of course, we are not starting from scratch. The building blocks are there, going back to the codification of the laws of armed conflict in the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their additional Protocols of 1977, in which the special needs of women in situations of armed conflict, both as combatants and as civilians, were recognized through clauses providing for their special protection. As so many of the preceding speakers in the debate have recognized, the negotiation of the Statute of the International Criminal Court represented a quantum leap forward, recognizing specific crimes against women as both war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Secondly, it helps us to move forward our broad agenda for the advancement of women, raising awareness of gender factors, moving consideration of so-called women's issues out of the enclaves of the Third Committee and the Commission on the Status of Women and into the central, vital organs of the United Nations. Thirdly, this thematic debate should assist the United Nations in dealing with a range of other major challenges that it is confronting. There are real and practical linkages to be made here with implementation of the Millennium Summit report and of the Brahimi report on peace operations; with the effort to establish the International Criminal Court; with the United Nations development agenda; and with the efforts to reform the United Nations and make it more effective.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Thank you, Mr. President, for organizing this open debate. As violence continues in the Middle East - and the United Nations and its Member States struggle to service a growing number of peace operations around the world - some may wonder about the value of the Council holding a thematic debate such as this. What does it really achieve? Well, my delegation certainly thinks it worthwhile and welcomes the opportunity to participate. We consider it valuable for several reasons. First, it contributes to the ongoing process of opening up the Council, not just to non-members, but to new ways of thinking about what constitute threats to international peace and security and, more important, how to deal with them.”
2000-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4208Resumption1 (2000) · source
“At this very critical time, it is also important that local West Timorese authorities take effective measures to ensure the well-being of refugees, including through effective distribution of food supplies and the other necessities that were mentioned by the Permanent Representative of Brazil.”
2000-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4203 (2000) · source
“The international community has already indicated its willingness to provide assistance in implementing Indonesia's proposal to close the refugee camps. However, provision of effective security by Indonesia remains an essential prerequisite for us to proceed with such assistance, and only Indonesia can ensure this. Even as we are concentrating on this problem of the militias, we all need, as the Permanent Representative of Canada reminded the Council, to keep our focus on the situation of the refugees now, without the presence or the protection of UNHCR or other international personnel.”
2000-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4203 (2000) · source
“Resolving the militia problem in West Timor is clearly a matter of importance not only to the international community, not only to East Timor and not only to the East Timorese refugees remaining in camps, but to Indonesia itself. The activities of the militias in West Timor are adversely affecting Indonesia's internal security and are having a negative impact on international perceptions. Ultimately, resolving the security problem in West Timor will be critical for resolving the refugee situation there. Australia reiterates the importance of Indonesia providing effective security to ensure that there is no militia intimidation, that there is unimpeded access to camps for UNHCR and that there is a credible registration process.”
2000-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4203 (2000) · source
“They include the permanent surrender - voluntary or forced - of all weapons by militia, the arrest and trial of suspects in the UNHCR staff killings, the arrest of key militia members, and the disbanding of the militias. It is incumbent on the Indonesian authorities, in particular the Indonesian Military Forces (TNI) and the police, to take whatever steps are necessary to deliver on Indonesia's undertakings to the Security Council. Australia and, as has been made abundantly clear by the speakers who preceded me in this debate, the international community are closely watching what concrete steps are being taken on the ground, and we look forward to the achievement of tangible results.”
2000-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4203 (2000) · source
“We note that Indonesia is in the process of working through this timetable, and we recognize that the process still has some way to go before it is fully implemented. In this context, however, reports of militia members continuing to act with impunity during implementation of the process that Indonesia has laid out, as in the events which followed the disarmament ceremony in Atambua on 24 September, are, to say the least, extremely disturbing. Recent incidents of militia contact with the UNTAET peacekeeping operation in East Timor in recent days also underline the need for further action. More needs to be done if the disarmament process is to succeed. Specifically, there are a number of steps which my Government believes need to be taken for this process to be successful.”
2000-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4203 (2000) · source
“We condemn the militia attacks which resulted in the deaths of three staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Atambua in early September. My Government conveys its sincere condolences to the Governments and the families so sadly affected. We look to the Government of Indonesia to ensure that the perpetrators are brought swiftly to justice. Australia strongly supports Security Council resolution 1319 (2999) of 8 September, and we look forward not only to its early, but to its full implementation. We have welcomed the Indonesian Government's undertakings to resolve the security problems in West Timor and, in particular, the timetable that it set out for disarming the militia.”
2000-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4203 (2000) · source
“This open meeting obviously provides a timely opportunity for members of the Council and other members of the international community to voice their continuing concerns about the security situation in both East Timor and West Timor. We continue to place a high priority on the emergence of a future independent East Timor which is stable, democratic and secure and which has good relations with Indonesia and with its neighbouring region. The situation in West Timor is of deep concern to Australia because it continues to undermine progress towards all these goals. My Government is extremely concerned by the ongoing militia activity and the obvious deterioration in the security situation in West Timor since the last open debate in the Security Council.”
2000-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4203 (2000) · source
“We congratulate him and all members of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) most warmly on their continuing and effective management of the transition process, despite the many continuing challenges to their work. We also want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to, in addition to the UNTAET team on the ground in East Timor, all those Secretariat officials at United Nations Headquarters who support UNTAET activities from this end. They have many competing pressures and demands to deal with. Yet they continue to handle their responsibilities very effectively, showing real commitment and dedication to making this unique United Nations operation succeed.”
2000-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4203 (2000) · source
“Thank you, Mr. President, for arranging this open meeting of the Council, which has given non-Council members and others whose interests are vitally and directly engaged in these matters, such as the very welcome Jose Ramos-Horta, the opportunity not only to hear directly from the Secretary-General's Special Representative, but also to hear the views of all Council members in what I might describe as an unfiltered and unabbreviated fashion. Through you, Mr. President, I would also like to thank Mr. Vieira de Mello for his candid and, indeed, compelling briefing. My Government values greatly the progress which has taken place under his leadership as the Transitional Administrator in East Timor.”
2000-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4203 (2000) · source
“Nor, I would suggest, can we allow the profound promise sanctioned by this Council of a smooth transition to independence for East Timor and for the East Timorese people to be broken.”
2000-08-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4191 (2000) · source
“It is our earnest hope that this first anniversary of the popular consultation, this timely open Council meeting, and the concerns that we have listened to this morning as expressed by Council members and those that we will be hearing from other Member States today about ongoing problems will all help to bring the situation in East Timor into sharper focus for all Member States. In particular, international attention and effort need to be engaged, directly and urgently, in the worrying security situation and in the serious problems in the refugee camps. We cannot allow - especially at this time and on the eve of the Millennium Summit, when the report on United Nations peace operations has just been released - the success of so many aspects of the effort by the United Nations and UNTAET in East Timor to be jeopardized by these problems.”
2000-08-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4191 (2000) · source
“We are prepared to offer further constructive, practical assistance to help people in the camps and to facilitate the repatriation of those wishing to return to East Timor. I want to emphasize that it is of fundamental importance that repatriation and resettlement of the remaining refugees be based on free choice. Australia urges the Indonesian Government and TNI to redouble their efforts and to take all necessary steps to end militia activity in West Timor by disarming and disbanding the militia once and for all, by removing them from the refugee camps and by helping to bring to justice those who have committed crimes.”
2000-08-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4191 (2000) · source
“It was for this reason that my Government welcomed the Indonesian Government's recognition that dealing effectively with the West Timor refugee camps is fundamental to solving the problem of militia activity. We consider that the Indonesian Government's proposal to close the camps is a step in the right direction, and we very much welcome Indonesian discussions with UNTAET on taking this forward. My Government, along with a number of other members of the international community and the United Nations, is working closely with the Indonesian Government to explore the practical steps that are needed to implement Indonesia's proposal. Over the last 12 months Australia has provided assistance of over 7 million Australian dollars to the refugees in these camps.”
2000-08-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4191 (2000) · source
“My Government has conveyed its sincere condolences to the Governments and families so sadly affected. We are particularly concerned by continuing militia intimidation, especially militia harassment and threats in West Timor refugee camps, which forced UNHCR temporarily to suspend its operations in West Timor. Also we are concerned by the very disturbing suggestions we heard this morning of a change in the pattern of activity by the militia, of increased sophistication and a sense of greater organization. Ultimately, it is the Government of Indonesia which is responsible for ending militia incursions into East Timor and for providing effective security to ensure that there is no militia intimidation, that there is unimpeded access to the camps for UNHCR, and that there is a credible registration process for refugees in West Timor.”
2000-08-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4191 (2000) · source
“We would also like to pay tribute not just to the people on the ground in East Timor, in UNTAET, but to the people here at United Nations Headquarters, the Secretariat, who have an enormous workload but who have continued to anchor UNTAET operations at this end in an extremely effective way. Despite some of the positive things we heard this morning, it is also clear that very serious problems remain. Australia is deeply concerned by, and condemns, the attacks on United Nations peacekeepers on the Indonesia-East Timor border, which have risen in number and in frequency in recent weeks. The tragic deaths of peacekeepers from Bangladesh, Nepal, New Zealand and my own country in recent weeks, and the attacks on humanitarian personnel, all point to continuing dangers.”
2000-08-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4191 (2000) · source
“It is also a timely opportunity to review the progress achieved and to appreciate what remains to be done. In that context, certainly my Government welcomed the Secretary-General's latest report on developments in the transition to independence, as well as the update that we were given today by Assistant Secretary-General Annabi. Under the able leadership of the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, UNTAET has continued to carry out its mandate in a thoroughly professional and committed manner and to tackle the many challenges it has confronted with commendable decisiveness.”
2000-08-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4191 (2000) · source
“A matter of days later, representatives of many, many United Nations Member States gathered in this Chamber to voice their concern at the awful turn of events in East Timor and to urge - and indeed, to bring about - a rapid and effective international response to those events. After an extraordinary year the people of East Timor can, we believe, mark the anniversary of that ballot, confident that their democratically expressed wish for independence is well on the way to being realized. The efforts of UNTAET and the East Timorese to prepare for independence have certainly been considerable and have been carried out in the face of substantial challenges and obstacles. The anniversary of the ballot is in many respects an occasion for satisfaction, one in which all United Nations Members should rightly have the opportunity to share.”
2000-08-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4191 (2000) · source
“Australia wishes to see the emergence of a future independent East Timor that is stable, democratic, secure and has good relations with Indonesia and with its neighbouring region. All of these outcomes can be achieved only with the continuing active support of the international community for the transition process. It is also particularly appropriate that this meeting, on the eve of the anniversary of the population consultation, should be open to all Members. One year ago the international community watched as the people of East Timor prepared to express their will on the future of their territory, ignoring the threats and the intimidation which they had faced in the months leading up to the ballot.”
2000-08-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4191 (2000) · source
“Thank you, Mr. President, for arranging this open meeting of the Council. Non-members of the Council are always appreciative of such opportunities, but particularly when they enable countries with direct interests in and close knowledge of a particular issue or situation to participate in a purposeful way - not just to have their say or to put something on record, but actually to help shape Council decisions and actions. For my own Government, East Timor's transition to independence, the ongoing challenges faced by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and East Timor's future prospects as an independent nation remain very high priorities.”
2000-08-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4191 (2000) · source
“Its welcome adoption will represent another important step in the Council's ongoing efforts to enhance international security, not only in the broad geopolitical sense but in a very practical way that can benefit people right down to the village level. That is to say, to benefit the ordinary citizens and civilians whose safety and well being is the subject of today's open debate.”
2000-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4130Resumption1 (2000) · source
“But effectively maintaining peace - and in so doing guaranteeing the security of civilians - also requires confidence-building measures at the grassroots level to defuse tension and confrontation and to lay the groundwork for political reconciliation. Here, we believe Australia's experience in the Peace Monitoring Group in Bougainville, in company with other South Pacific countries, offers some lessons. The role of the Peace Monitoring Group has largely been one of building confidence between parties and ensuring continued commitment to peaceful settlement of the dispute. Australia supported the provisions of the draft resolution before the Council today on the protection of civilians.”
2000-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4130Resumption1 (2000) · source
“INTERFET benefitted from a robust mandate that left no question as to its authority to enforce peace if required, and from strong support from the international community. The capacity for rapid deployment and force projection are essential to peacekeepers' ability to stabilize conflict situations and to extend protection to civilians. Australia considers that the recent report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations contains a number of useful ideas and suggestions on how the United Nations capacities in these areas might be improved, and we look forward to opportunities to consider those ideas and suggestions further.”
2000-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4130Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Australia supports the Secretary-General's recommendations to include explicit provisions for the protection of civilians within United Nations peacekeeping mandates where warranted and where the United Nations missions are provided with the resources to fulfil those responsibilities. In this context, it is especially important that United Nations peacekeeping mandates be clearly and realistically defined, in terms of both responsibilities and objectives. Where peace enforcement powers are entrusted to United Nations operations, they must be backed up with the necessary resources. The International Force in East Timor (INTERFET) demonstrated that a well-equipped, mobile force can have an immediate, positive impact on the physical security of civilian populations, as well as perform a critical, longer- term deterrence function.”
2000-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4130Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Although humanitarian relief workers are entitled to the same protection as civilians, their operations - we have all acknowledged - make them especially vulnerable to attack in conflict situations. We look forward to the Secretary-General's comprehensive report on the safety and security situation of humanitarian personnel, when it is submitted during the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly, and beyond that to further international cooperation in enhancing the protection of those humanitarian workers who are not specifically protected under current international humanitarian law instruments or under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel. There is also scope for the international community to improve the physical security of civilians through its peacekeeping activities.”
2000-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4130Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Those measures should include greater use of preventive action, increased use of the specific mechanisms for the protection of civilians provided for in international humanitarian law instruments, increased use of United Nations Charter provisions to investigate conflict situations and, as a last resort, sanctions targeting delinquent parties, but - as we discussed earlier this week in another equally welcome open debate - such measures should be tailored to minimize adverse impact on the civilian population. Another important component is the sustained use of political and diplomatic pressure to ensure that parties guarantee access for civilians to humanitarian assistance and necessary protection for United Nations and related personnel, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and humanitarian relief workers.”
2000-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4130Resumption1 (2000) · source
“It reinforces the obligations of States to investigate and to prosecute those responsible for major violations; and, where no State is able or willing genuinely to do so, it provides a mechanism for the investigation and prosecution of crimes. In our view, more emphasis needs to be placed on developing and implementing concrete measures to improve the physical security of civilians caught in conflict situations, with particular attention to be given to the vulnerable groups of women, children and displaced persons.”
2000-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4130Resumption1 (2000) · source
“It also means support for efforts to develop national institutions to disseminate laws of armed conflict through education and training, both of armed forces and of civilian administration, and for monitoring and enforcement of laws. Strengthening the legal protections for civilians also involves ensuring adequate recourse to justice where violations have taken place. We have heard many speakers address this issue, but it is certainly vital that we have effective institutions to bring to justice perpetrators of crimes against humanity. It is for this reason that Australia welcomed the establishment of the special tribunals and views the International Criminal Court as a particularly powerful instrument in this regard.”
2000-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4130Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The Secretary-General's report and also the statements we have heard from others today underline that strengthening protection for civilians requires a multi- dimensional approach, addressing legal and physical assurances, conflict prevention and post-conflict peace- building activities. It is clear that Member States, the United Nations and regional bodies must all focus more attention on ways of improving implementation and enforcement of existing humanitarian and human rights laws and norms, including the Geneva Conventions - particularly the fourth - and the 1977 Additional Protocols, and of promoting observance of these instruments at all levels. This means support for efforts to develop consistent national laws.”
2000-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4130Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Today's debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict is a welcome opportunity to consider more fully, and to hear the considered views of a substantial number of Member States - including, importantly, non-Council members - on the issues and recommendations raised in the Secretary-Generals report of September 1999. It was under Canadian leadership a little over a year ago that Council attention was refocused on the issue of protection of civilians. We want to commend Canada for its initiative in holding this follow-up meeting and for its firm commitment to pursuing this very specific aspect and dimension of the more general and, I would say, still- evolving concept of human security.”
2000-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4130Resumption1 (2000) · source
“I would simply like to note that there may be other areas of relevant expertise that could be called upon, particularly in relation to looking at assisting Member States in implementing sanctions and in the capacity of the United Nations Secretariat, expertise in training and capacity-building and human resource management, in financial and budgetary issues and how to find the appropriate resources to service what might be the recommendations emerging from this working group are all areas where the working group might benefit from looking beyond the immediate membership.”
2000-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4128 (2000) · source
“Finally, Australia supports and indeed welcomes the decision to establish a Council working group to develop recommendations for improving the effectiveness of sanctions. It is a crucially important issue that goes to the heart of the way the Council discharges its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. We very much look forward to its report in due course. As a final point, we trust that creative ways will be found to engage non-Council members in its work. In this respect I note the element in the decision that the working group should benefit from all available sanctions expertise, including by being briefed on case-by-case basis by appropriate experts.”
2000-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4128 (2000) · source
“The Security Council has of course already agreed on a number of steps to improve the work of the sanctions committees, notably those set out in the presidential note adopted by the Council in January last year. But much more importantly, the Council has started to put these measures into practice. Most telling has been the work of the Angola UNITA sanctions Committee under the active leadership of Ambassador Fowler of Canada, our President. While this is going to be the subject of more detailed discussion in the Council tomorrow, we would like to take this opportunity to place on record our appreciation for the work of this Committee. Its groundbreaking approach sets an admirable example, and it offers important lessons for other committees and for the administration of sanctions in general.”
2000-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4128 (2000) · source
“These, however, are untested and may not be appropriate in all instances, but they should be looked at closely by the Council. It is axiomatic to say that sanctions can only be as effective as their enforcement by Member States. But this underlines two key points: the importance of assisting countries where necessary with the implementation and enforcement of sanctions, including drawing up appropriate laws; and the importance of the Council taking action quickly to investigate and act upon reports of violations. There are obvious resource implications here, and certainly my Government believes that consideration should be given to augmenting the resources of the Secretariat available to service the sanctions committees.”
2000-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4128 (2000) · source
“These include more clearly defining in Council resolutions the objectives of sanctions; ongoing assessment of the humanitarian impact of sanctions and of other unintended impacts, including on third parties; more efficient administration of exemptions by the sanctions committees; and periodic assessment of the overall effectiveness of particular measures in changing the behaviour of the target State. So-called smart sanctions also warrant careful assessment. In this regard Australia was pleased to participate in the series of Interlaken seminars organized by the Swiss Government on targeted financial sanctions, which produced a number of practical recommendations for developing and implementing sanctions that would more effectively isolate the assets of target elites.”
2000-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4128 (2000) · source
“The Secretary-General reminded us of this in a recent Council debate when he noted that vulnerable groups are often victims of their own Governments, as well as of the measures taken against them by the international community. The critical conclusion is that the State in question must return to full compliance with the decisions of the Council, so that the sanctions can be ended quickly and its people allowed to return to a normal life. Extensive debate and analysis has been conducted, involving Member States, academics, the business community, non-governmental organizations and other representatives of civil society on how to make sanctions more effective. Many measures have been identified that warrant careful consideration.”
2000-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4128 (2000) · source
“It is a regrettable matter of historical record that the Council has been forced to invoke Chapter VII of the Charter on 14 occasions to impose sanctions on States whose behaviour threatened peace and security. Important lessons can certainly be learned from the United Nations experience with these sanctions regimes. There is no question that more can be done to render sanctions more effective, to minimize their humanitarian impact on vulnerable populations and to target them more effectively on the political decision-makers in target States. It is a sad but inescapable reality that innocent civilian populations will be affected to some degree by the imposition of sanctions. But it is also important to remember that much of the hardship suffered by such populations can also be attributed to the policies of the target regimes.”
2000-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4128 (2000) · source
“This debate on the question of sanctions is very timely, coming during a period of renewed attention both to the humanitarian impact of sanctions and their effectiveness as an instrument for dealing with threats to international peace and security. I would emphasize that these are matters of immediate interest to all Member States, and we particularly commend Canada for its initiative in holding this open debate. The common criticism that sanctions can be a blunt instrument is in some respects true. But it is equally true that they remain a necessary instrument and an integral part of the graduated set of responses available to the Security Council in discharging its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.”
2000-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4128 (2000) · source
“Argentina's initiative in convening this debate, in our View, will greatly assist the Council and Member States to consider further how to deal with this issue. We appreciate the earlier report that was provided by the Secretary-General on the related issue, and we very much look forward to the follow-up report of the Secretary- General, which, we are very confident, will give us more valuable ideas.”
2000-02-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4100Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The ICC will do this not only by providing a mechanism for the investigation and prosecution of such crimes where no State is able to do so, but also through the imperative that it will place on States, through the complementarity regime, to investigate and prosecute such crimes themselves. Even more important, we believe, will be the deterrent effect of this interlocking of national and international jurisdictions. We therefore consider, as an important part of these several measures that the international community could take on this subject, that States should be urged to begin their domestic processes for ratification of the ICC Statute to ensure its early entry into force. Much more still can and must be done to improve protection for United Nations and humanitarian personnel.”
2000-02-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4100Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The enforcement of international humanitarian law must also be strengthened in order to bring those responsible to justice and to send a clear message of the international community's intolerance of this violence. Intentionally attacking humanitarian personnel who are legitimately going about their business is a war crime, and has been specifically codified as such in the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). We support the ICC as a powerful instrument for bringing to justice perpetrators of crimes against humanitarian personnel, as well, obviously, as perpetrators of other war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
2000-02-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4100Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The international community must make efforts to strengthen those protections already provided for, in particular the 1994 Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, to which the Deputy Secretary-General referred in her statement at the beginning of the debate this morning. My own Government signed this Convention in December 1995 and is currently in the process in our federal system - and it is quite laborious - of enabling its ratification. Subject to our parliamentary and federal system processes, the necessary legislation is expected to be passed later this year, with the aim of full ratification by the end of 2000. We strongly urge Member States that have not already done so to take the necessary steps to ratify this basic and very important Convention.”
2000-02-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4100Resumption1 (2000) · source
“It is for this reason that Australia supports the use of Chapter VII authority to ensure the protection of United Nations personnel where this is warranted, as we did, for example, in the case of recent Security Council resolutions for the International Force in East Timor and the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor. The authority of the United Nations and the Security Council must be brought fully to bear when violence is committed or threatened against United Nations staff or personnel of legitimate humanitarian organizations. The importance of international humanitarian law in protecting United Nations and humanitarian workers has been referred to by almost everyone in this debate and cannot be overstated.”
2000-02-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4100Resumption1 (2000) · source