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8264th Security Council Meeting: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict - Part 1
Under no circumstances could parties to conflict or their supporters be exempt from the global legal regime protecting civilians, the Security Council heard today, with some speakers urging even stricter adherence to those crucial international norms against today’s complex backdrop of proxy wars and asymmetric threats.
“Conflict around the world is unleashing relentless horror and suffering,” said Secretary-General António Guterres in opening remarks to the Council’s quarterly debate on civilian protection. While more than 128 million people around the globe currently required humanitarian aid — a staggering figure driven mainly by conflict — there were also reasons for optimism. For example, he said, Afghanistan had recently adopted a policy to prevent civilian casualties, Somalia had instituted mechanisms to track civilian harm and 19 African nations had adopted a communiqué on protecting civilians from the use of explosive weapons.
Noting that those and other examples were outlined in his 14 May report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, he also encouraged Member States to consider three pragmatic recommendations contained in that document. First, Governments should develop policy frameworks for protecting civilians in conflict, including in urban warfare; second, Member States should support efforts to engage with non-State armed groups in developing policies, codes of conduct and action plans to support civilians; and third, countries should boost advocacy for the protection of civilians, ensure accountability for serious violations and end impunity.
Yves Daccord, Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), voiced concern over the enormous gap between civilian protection policy and action on the ground. “We all know what reality looks like,” he said, describing children left orphaned or permanently disabled after their homes were hit by air strikes. Governments today often claimed they were fighting terrorists or foreign fighters rather than a conventional enemy, making the case that traditional rules of international humanitarian law did not apply in such cases. Also noting a dangerous trend of denying violations of international humanitarian law — including those committed by proxy partners — or passing off blame, he emphasized that exceptional behaviour by one party could not justify an unlawful response by another.
Hanaa Edwar of the Iraqi Al-Amal Association said civilians in her country had endured armed conflict entailing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for the past 15 years. Describing fierce, costly operations such as the liberation of Mosul — where fighting had taken place in densely populated areas and turned the city into an open cemetery — she said some civil society groups had begun collecting medicine and, in cooperation with the military, delivering it to civilians. Others collected bodies from the streets in order to prevent the spread of epidemics. Calling on the international community to support such local, voluntary efforts, she declared: “We must continue to focus on people, not stones.”
The Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine said that for decades, his people had endured a protection crisis, compounded by the length and depth of the Israeli military occupation. Only blatant impunity could explain how Israel dared to open fire from hundreds of meters away on peaceful protesters, he said, stressing that under international law, an occupying Power could not claim the right to security at the expense of the right to security, protection and well-being of the occupied people. Kuwait, in its capacity as the Arab representative of the Council, had begun consultations on a draft resolution on the protection of Palestinian civilians, he said, urging Council members to seize the opportunity to demonstrate that the principles enacted in its resolutions had no exceptions.
Throughout the day-long debate, more than 80 speakers shared their perspectives on current challenges facing efforts to expand and strengthen international protections for civilians in conflict zones. While some delegates expressed concern that asymmetric security threats and escalating attacks by extremist groups were hampering those efforts, others voiced support for the Secretary-General’s recommendations, noting that national Governments must continue to spearhead efforts to protect their civilian populations — even in the most difficult of environments.
Poland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, presiding over the debate as Council President for the month of May, said in his national capacity that conflict prevention must be the United Nations overarching priority. Promoting good practices and heading off conflicts would both prevent and mitigate harm to civilians, he said, calling for special attention to the inhumane impact of improvised explosive devices and illicit flows of small arms and light weapons. All States and non-State parties to conflict must ensure they complied with their legal obligations, he said, also supporting initiatives aimed at limiting the use of the veto when the Council was faced with war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity targeted at civilians.
Côte d’Ivoire’s representative, recalling that his country had known first-hand the horrors of conflict and their effects on civilians, said since the end of the civil war his Government had implemented concrete plans to raise awareness of international civilian protection standards. Among other things, the security sector was being reformed and Côte d’Ivoire’s armed forces were being trained in line with the principles of human rights and reciprocal trust with the civilian population. Expressing support for the Secretary-General’s proposed reform of the United Nations peacekeeping architecture, he said peace operations could also make positive contributions by monitoring ceasefires as human rights observers and in their support for transitional justice mechanisms.
Echoing that sentiment, the speaker for Rwanda, emphasizing that protecting civilians should be a peacekeeping priority, outlined how the Kigali Principles aimed to strengthen such duties. “In 1994, we were left to fend for ourselves,” she said, recalling her nation’s tragic history and calling for a paradigm shift from conflict management to prevention.
The representative of the Russian Federation, echoing concerns about grave violations committed against civilians around the world, nevertheless said some parties were attempting to politicize the humanitarian sphere. Warning against the current deluge of pre-emptive judgements and accusations — with some allegations even relying on misinformation gleaned from such dubious sources as the so-called White Helmets organization — he also cited double standards in media coverage on such situations as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. There were also attempts to employ a “wilful interpretation” of international norms, he said, recalling that one Council member had referenced the imagined concept of “humanitarian intervention” in order to defend its own military aggressions.
The speaker for the United Arab Emirates, pointing to some of the same crisis, said they were often worsened or prolonged by the Council’s inaction. For its part, the United Arab Emirates, as a member of the Coalition Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen, was respecting international humanitarian law and protections for civilians in that country. But, the Houthis were examples of the problems non-State actors posed and Iran’s decision to arm them to avoid sovereign accountability was pushing the entire region towards a dangerous precipice, she said, calling on the Council to creative, bold steps to counter the threat and the State financiers supporting those groups.
While many speakers aligned themselves with the Secretary-General’s recommendations — including calls for engagement with non-State actors in an effort to promote higher standards of civilian protection — several delegates warned against any negotiation with armed groups. Turkey’s delegate, for one, said those engaged in concerted counter-terrorism activities must refrain from signing agreements with non-State armed groups, as the latter would only use such documents as propaganda tools. While States bore the main responsibility to protect civilians, the international community had a shared duty to do so as well.
Also speaking were the representatives of Kazakhstan, United Kingdom, Ethiopia, United States, Bolivia, China, Netherlands, Equatorial Guinea, France, Peru, Sweden, Ukraine, Argentina, Georgia, India, Uruguay, Brazil, Pakistan, Colombia, Norway (on behalf of the Nordic countries), Germany, Liechtenstein, Hungary, Spain, Iran, Guatemala, Slovakia, Belgium, Italy, Estonia, Chile, Switzerland (on behalf of the Group of Friends of the Protection of Civilians), Saudi Arabia, Panama (on behalf of the Human Security Network), Belarus, Republic of Korea, Iraq, Venezuela (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement), Romania, Austria, Qatar (on behalf of the Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect), Ghana, Ireland, Nigeria, Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Montenegro, Latvia, Kenya, Syria, Yemen, South Africa, Japan, Jordan, Croatia, Algeria, Canada, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Maldives, Morocco, Viet Nam, Myanmar, Portugal, Costa Rica, Armenia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Azerbaijan and Liberia, as well as those of the European Union delegation, the African Union and the Holy See.
The meeting began at 10:06 a.m. and ended at 7:50 p.m.
