Statement by H.E. Robert Hill, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations, to the Security Council on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict
14 January 2009
(As delivered)
Mr President
Thank you for convening this important debate. We welcome the opportunity to engage on this issue in the Council. Given the prevalence of the protection of civilians in so many aspects of the Council’s agenda, this thematic debate is a valuable opportunity for the Council and the broader membership to take a step a back from the task of implementation in country-specific situations, and to consider the issues in a more strategic fashion.
In this regard, we commend the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the Council, for your efforts in updating the aide-memoire on the protection of civilians, which provides a conceptual framework for addressing these issues. We also thank Under-Secretary-General Holmes for his comprehensive briefing in this regard earlier today.
Mr President
This is a very broad debate. Given the constraints of time, I will focus my remarks on three areas of importance for Australia which were touched on by the Secretary-General in his 2007 report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.
First, I would like to turn to the mandated task of protecting civilians, which has increasingly become a central feature of UN peacekeeping. Recent events in eastern DRC have highlighted the critical importance of this mandated task. These events demonstrated the expectations of host populations and the international community associated with a protection mandate, and they also starkly illustrated the constraints and challenges faced by UN peacekeepers. The Council is to be commended for its clarity in renewing the mandate of MONUC and the authorisation of additional capacity. It has provided that mission with a very clear political mandate to prioritise protection of civilians tasks.
The challenge remains, however, in implementation. Too often we have witnessed a disconnect between the political understanding reached in the Council, and the practical reality on the ground. At times, this disconnect is due to capacity constraints. At other times, it is due to different interpretations of the mandate, and the absence of a common understanding regarding the types of tasks permitted and required by the mandate. This disconnect between the strategic and operational levels needs to be reconciled in order to ensure that reasonable expectations are being set and that UN peacekeeping remains a dynamic and effective instrument of international peace and security.
As a contribution to addressing this challenge, Australia, in partnership with Uruguay, will co-host a one-day workshop on 27 January focused on the implementation of protection of civilian tasks in peacekeeping missions. The workshop is intended to provide a forum for dialogue among Member States, the UN and NGOs, with a view to promoting a common understanding of the challenges faced in the implementation of such mandates. In so doing, we hope to work towards closing the gap between mandate and implementation. We invite all Member States to participate in the workshop and to contribute to addressing this important challenge.
Mr President
Secondly, I would like to emphasise the need to end impunity for violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. As the Secretary-General noted in his 2008 report, where we are unable to prevent such abuses, we must at the very least ensure that the perpetrators, and those who bear political responsibility for violence against civilians, are held accountable for their actions. This is particularly the case in relation to sexual and gender based violence. We must renew our commitment to end impunity for such crimes.
In this regard, Australia urges all States that have not yet become a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to do so. We also urge all States to cooperate fully with the ICC. The Court needs our full support and cooperation to bring individuals responsible for the most serious violations of international law to justice without delay.
Mr President,
Finally, I would like to touch briefly on the responsibility to protect (R2P) principle which is relevant to the protection of civilians generally including during armed conflict. We look forward to receiving the Secretary-General’s report on R2P in the coming days. We expect this report to contribute to a shared conceptual understanding of the principle that was agreed by our leaders at the 2005 World Summit – a principle based on the primary obligation of States to protect their own populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, with a parallel obligation on the international community to assist States to build their capacity to meet their obligations, and, in appropriate circumstances, to take timely and decisive action through the Security Council to prevent such mass atrocity crimes. We also expect the Secretary-General’s report to contribute to a shared appreciation of what is required by Member States and the UN to implement R2P.
While implementation of R2P requires action by a wide range of actors, the World Summit Outcome, and the UN Charter, gives the Security Council a specific role to play in the implementation of R2P. To prevent mass atrocity crimes, the Council must ensure it uses the means at its disposal in timely and innovative ways. To take forward the Council’s role, there is a need for it to be more receptive to early warning information from a range of sources; more willing to put country situations in which people are at risk on to its agenda; and more prepared to take early action designed to address the situation at hand. And Member States need to support such Council action.
Mr President
We trust that all Member States can agree on the central premise that underlies this debate – namely that civilians deserve our protection. Civilians deserve to have their inalienable human rights and basic humanitarian needs protected. Australia remains committed to working with partners in the international community to ensure that this premise is realised.