Today's Missing News

Friday, June 20, 2008
1:52:00 PM EDT

 

 

From debate toward adopting Resolution 1820

Concerning Violence against Civilians in Conflict Zones excerpts

 

 

 

• Burkina Faso Minister for Foreign Affairs DJIBRILL YIPÈNÈ BASSOLE: Violence against women in conflict zones was persisting, despite the Council’s adoption of resolution 1325 (2000) and all other international efforts.  Women and girls were increasingly targets of some of the most abominable and inexcusable abuse and treatment.  The consequences of such violence were severe, including unwanted and early pregnancies, the spread of HIV/AIDS, psychological trauma ― and all of that was if they even survived the violence.

 

• Mexico SOCORRO ROVIROSA: Resolution 1325 constituted a milestone in gender mainstreaming but… still [there is] widespread and systematic sexual violence in armed conflict situations.  [If] that appeal [is to] be morally effective, it must remove the causes of the sexual violence.  Although the United Nations had made progress in developing standards of conduct for peacekeeping staff and for protecting victims of sexual abuse committed by United Nations personnel, much[remains] to be done to ensure an effective international response mechanism to deal with gender violence. …

 

• Iraq HAMID AL BAYATI: … women … had suffered systematic abuse under the previous regime and [are] now victims of terrorist attacks and recruited as suicide bombers. …

 

• Afghanistan ZAHIR TANIN: … [Armed] groups often [use] violence against civilians, especially women, as a deliberate war tactic.  Under the Taliban regime, atrocities against women had occurred constantly, such as the “slaughtering” of women at Kabul stadium and their “bludgeoning” in the street for “un-virtuous behaviour”.  Sexual violence was not systematically employed by armed groups in Afghanistan in times of war because of certain cultural limits, but it was, indeed, being used by some individuals and groups as an instrument of war.  It was also true that, in both conflict and post-conflict situations, violence against women [extends] beyond sexual violence.  The international community should duly acknowledge the wide variety of violence inflicted on women.

 

• Philippines ELMER CATO: … [Sexual] abuse committed against women and girls was deeply rooted in a pervasive culture of discrimination, highlighted by the unequal power equation that denied equal status to women, which was manifested during conflict through the social, political and cultural norms identifying women and girls as the property of men, as well as sexual objects.  The inequality also [finds] form as a tool of war, with the violence directed at women regarded as an attack against the values and honour of a society.

 

• France Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights RAMA YADE: {The] history of men [has] long merged with the history of their violence and the wars of men [have] often also been associated with violence against women.  Against that barbaric violence of man, that inhumanity, the 60-year-old Declaration of Human Rights was a reaffirmation of the inviolable dignity of the human being― men and women.  Some doubts had been raised: was a debate on sexual violence in armed conflict to be included in the Security Council, which debated peace and war?  For France, the debate had been decided: peace could not be re-established while remaining silent about the violence done to women.…

 

• Iceland (speaking also on behalf of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) HJALMAR W. HANNESSON: [While] women were often the victims of armed conflict, they could also play a central role in preventing and resolving violent conflict, as actors in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.  The ongoing high incidence of horrific sexual violence against women and girls in conflict [demands] the attention of the international community.  Towards that goal, resolution 1325 required full implementation, which was all the more critical, because it was becoming clear that the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon war meant that the impact of such crimes lingered long after hostilities ended.  Sexual violence left deep scars on individuals, families and societies, making reconciliation and peacebuilding difficult.

 

• Liechtenstein CLAUDIA FRITSCHE: [Appointing] more women to senior positions with regard to preventive diplomacy, mediation and peace operations would have a catalytic effect.  It would empower women affected by armed conflict and it would strengthen the perception that women were stakeholders, not mere victims or aid recipients.  A few years ago, a group of like-minded ambassadors, which she had headed, had aimed to increase the presence of women in such positions.  It was sad to note that almost no progress [has] been made in that regard.  Sadly, girls and women in affected regions often associated uniformed personnel with sexual violence.  It [is] therefore crucial to deploy more women in civilian components of peacekeeping missions, empower local women leaders and increase their role in all peacekeeping efforts.

 

 

 

Security Council’s Resolution concerning Violence against Civilians in Conflict Zones excerpt

 

 

 

“[Rape] and other forms of sexual violence can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide, stresses the need for the exclusion of sexual violence crimes from amnesty provisions in the context of conflict resolution processes, and calls upon Member States to comply with their obligations for prosecuting persons responsible for such acts, to ensure that all victims of sexual violence, particularly women and girls, have equal protection under the law and equal access to justice, and stresses the importance of ending impunity for such acts as part of a comprehensive approach to seeking sustainable peace, justice, truth, and national reconciliation…;

 

[The] Secretary-General [is asked] to submit a report to the Council by 30 June 2009 on the implementation of this resolution … on situations of armed conflict in which sexual violence has been widely or systematically employed against civilians; analysis of the prevalence and trends of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict; proposals for strategies to minimize the susceptibility of women and girls to such violence; benchmarks for measuring progress in preventing and addressing sexual violence; appropriate input from United Nations implementing partners in the field; information on his plans for facilitating the collection of timely, objective, accurate, and reliable information on the use of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict,… and information on actions taken by parties to armed conflict to implement their responsibilities … in particular by immediately and completely ceasing all acts of sexual violence and in taking appropriate measures to protect women and girls from all forms of sexual violence…

[http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2008/sc9364.doc.htm].

 

 

 

UN Security Council Membership 2008

 

Permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States

 

Non-permanent members (with end terms):  2008: Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama, South Africa; 2009: Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Viet Nam [http://www.un.org/sc/members.asp].

 

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