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7606th Security Council Meeting: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict - Part 1
The situation of civilians in armed conflict zones — who were increasingly becoming targets themselves — remained “grim and bleak” even in the twenty-first century, stressed high-level briefers as the Security Council took on the issue of protection of civilians today.
Many of the more than 70 speakers addressing the 15-member body during the debate emphasized that, following a year of reflection on the Organization’s peace operations, 2016 must be a time to turn rhetoric into concrete action to mitigate civilian suffering.
“Even war has rules,” stressed Jan Eliasson, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, as he addressed the Council at the meeting’s outset. While progress had been made over the past 40 years in establishing international norms to enhance the protection of civilians, large numbers of civilians today were still deliberately or recklessly killed, maimed, tortured or abducted, and sexual violence was rampant.
The world had recently witnessed the horrible reality of the Syrian town of Madaya, where thousands had been denied food and medical treatment for months, he said. However, that was just one town out of many where such tactics — “shamefully” — were being used. The international community, with the Council’s leadership, must remind parties to armed conflict of their obligations to uphold international law to respect and protect all civilians and civilian objects, including humanitarian workers and facilities. More must also be done to prevent conflicts, and there was a need for greater accountability.
The recent report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, released in 2015, had pointed to a significant gap between expectations and reality when it came to the ability of missions to protect civilians, he went on, adding that a subsequent report of the Secretary-General had announced several measures to close that gap. States should also build on the Kigali Principles on the Protection of Civilians through peacekeeping, which were agreed in 2015.
Christine Beerli, Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said the main challenge of protecting civilians centred on greater compliance with international law by all parties to armed conflicts. Violations, including the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, exacerbated the suffering of civilians, and States and non-State armed groups must comply with obligations to meet the basic needs of populations under their control and allow access for impartial humanitarian organizations. Practical recommitments to international humanitarian law on access, protection and assistance would be particularly important in 2016, because of the unprecedented number of internally displaced people, refugees and vulnerable groups fleeing due to armed conflict.
Also briefing the Council, Eveline Rooijmans, a senior humanitarian policy adviser with OXFAM, said the global report card on civilian protection was bleak, with daily examples of failure, from Yemen to South Sudan. World leaders must recommit to upholding international humanitarian law and urge parties to refrain from bombing or shelling populated areas. When civilians faced violence, such as in Burundi, it was crucial that the Council acted upon the early warnings in a timely manner and implemented existing resolutions, including in Syria. While many elements to protect civilians had already been agreed upon, implementation was needed to turn rhetoric into reality.
A number of speakers throughout the debate said that, while States bore the primary responsibility for the protection of civilians, United Nations peace operations must be able to assist them in fulfilling that responsibility and help play a preventive role. Nevertheless, speakers differed on various issues, including the flexibility of protection mandates and the use of force by Blue Helmets.
Sweden’s representative, speaking on behalf of the Nordic countries, said that currently 10 out of 16 United Nations peacekeeping operations had the protection of civilians at the core of their mandates. To reduce risks in the field, cooperation with local and national authorities must be improved and United Nations peacekeepers must be properly trained and equipped, he said, adding that national caveats should be avoided in order to allow missions to operate effectively. “If 2015 was a year of reflection and providing recommendations, 2016 should be the year of implementation and concrete action,” he stressed.
Recalling the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi people in his country, Rwanda’s representative said that, time and again, the United Nations struggled to deliver on the promise to protect. A repetition of 1994 could not take place. He went on to underscore the need for effective and rapid deployment of United Nations peacekeepers, as well as the need to act boldly, strategically and flexibly, applying tailored approaches. The benchmarks set out in the Kigali Principles offered proactive and practical ways to address current challenges in implementing civilian protection mandates.
The representative of the Russian Federation, on the other hand, warned against such “flexible” interpretations of the protection of civilians mandate. Overcoming contemporary migratory challenges caused by conflicts was only possible through political agreements and the improvement of conditions on the ground. Meanwhile, “unflinching compliance” with international law and eschewing politicized approaches to the protection of civilians was critical.
India’s representative stressed that, as civilian protection was primarily a national responsibility, the priority should be on national capacity-building, rather than on intervention. Approaches devised during peacekeeping should build on an appreciation for the “social capital” of host communities to manage their own protection. In addition, frequent and regular consultation among the Council, Secretariat and troop-contributing countries would enhance effectiveness.
Also speaking today were the representatives of Uruguay, United Kingdom, Spain, Ukraine, China, France, Malaysia, United States, New Zealand, Senegal, Egypt, Venezuela, Angola, Japan, Brazil, Thailand, Hungary, Mexico, Israel, Kazakhstan, Iran (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement), Luxembourg, Switzerland (also on behalf of the Group of Friends of the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict), Germany, Australia, Belgium, Iraq, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Italy, Pakistan, Romania, Poland, Indonesia, Slovenia (on behalf of the Human Security Network), South Africa, Syria, Croatia, Chile, Latvia, Republic of Korea, Georgia, Canada, Austria, Slovakia, Morocco, Paraguay, Netherlands, Guatemala, Armenia, Argentina, Montenegro, Bangladesh, Lithuania, Gabon, Albania, Turkey, Peru, Qatar and Nigeria.
Observers of the State of Palestine and the Holy See also spoke, as did representatives of the European Union and the African Union.
The representative of Azerbaijan took the floor to respond to remarks by the representative of Armenia.
The representatives of Ukraine, Israel and Armenia took the floor a second time.
The meeting began at 10:08 a.m. and ended at 6:58 p.m.
