New York, 1 July 2024
EU statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States delivered by H.E. Ms. Hedda Samson, Ambassador and Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to the UN, at 78th Session of the UN General Assembly: Responsibility to Protect and the Prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity:
Mr. President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Albania*, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina* and Georgia, as well as Andorra, Monaco and San Marino align themselves with this statement.
We thank the Secretary-General for his recently published report on the Responsibility to Protect. We also thank the Secretary-General’s Special Advisers on Genocide Prevention and on the Responsibility to Protect and their office, whose work we actively support.
The concept of the Responsibility to Protect emerged in reaction to the horrible experiences of mass atrocities we witnessed in the 20th century, notably the Holocaust, the genocide and crimes against humanity committed on the killing fields of Cambodia, and the genocides in Rwanda and in the former Yugoslavia. There is a link between the fact that two of the examples I just listed took place in the area of the European Union and its immediate neighbourhood, and the fact that today we are among the most committed and outspoken advocates of the Responsibility to Protect. The imperative need for each State to protect its population from genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing, and to use our best efforts to prevent such crimes, including their incitement, is a lesson that stems from these experiences, and from our own history.
As the Secretary-General’s report reaffirms, atrocity crimes tend to be preceded by serious human rights violations and abuses by state and non-state actors. This is why we must be vigilant against systematic violations of civil and political rights, as well as of economic, social, and cultural rights, and of the civic space needed to protect and promote these rights.
To this end, the EU uses conflict analysis tools and the EU Early Warning System to identify and tackle underlying causes of mass atrocities. It gathers inputs from EU Delegations around the world and relevant EU services working on development, peace, security, humanitarian affairs and human rights, to ensure that our development cooperation with partner countries takes risks of conflict and mass atrocities into account. We encourage the UN and its Member States to link R2P and development through prevention, and to consider measures for detecting and responding to early warning signs of atrocity risks in their development plans and programming.
The effective operationalisation of R2P also requires a multi-stakeholder approach that recognises the role of both state and non-state actors, and comprehensive data on situations on the ground. We reiterate our call upon the Secretary-General to include in his future reports on the topic an analysis of trends regarding risks of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing and their prevention. We would also appreciate the inclusion of concrete recommendations for the full implementation of the Responsibility to Protect, as well as the follow-up assessment of the recommendations of past reports.
Prevention of atrocities must be a non-negotiable priority, both at national and international level. If and when prevention efforts fail, we must collectively ensure a timely and decisive response. The Security Council, as the primary bearer of the duty to maintain international peace and security, needs to assume its responsibility and take urgent action to protect civilian populations at risk of mass atrocities.
The EU urges all Security Council members to better utilise the Council’s working methods to bring potential atrocity situations under consideration as early as possible. We also encourage UN Member States to support the French-Mexican initiative on the use of veto in cases of mass atrocities, and to join the ACT Code of Conduct regarding Security Council action against genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Lastly, we emphasise the need to redouble our efforts to end impunity and to ensure accountability for atrocity crimes and other gross violations of human rights, and reiterate our strong support for the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
Ahead of the Summit of the Future in September, the approaching Peacebuilding Architecture Review and the 20th anniversary of R2P in 2025, today’s debate provides a timely opportunity to reaffirm and strengthen our collective commitment to international law and R2P principles.
Let us keep in mind that the Responsibility to Protect is a commitment to act for each of us. Each State is to assess its own situation and specific challenges, to prevent mass atrocities and protect its population. As the Secretary-General states in his report, failure of the international community to prevent and address atrocity crimes and protect civilians erodes trust in our multilateral system. It is time for us all to achieve more tangible results in this regard.
Thank you.
* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
Source – Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in New York