76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
UN Security Council Arria-formula meeting on Accountability in the Syrian Arab Republic
Statement by Ambassador Sven Jürgenson
November 29, New York
The armed conflict in Syria has entered its second decade. What began as demonstrations and demands for democratic reforms was met with brutal force by the Syrian regime. Since then, Syrian people have gone through unimaginable suffering, and experienced violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. Hopes for the respect of human rights and the rule of law, and an end to corruption were shattered by violence and extremism. The killings, torture, sexual violence and forced disappearances continue to this day. We thank the briefers for their insights, in particular the Syrian civil society representatives for sharing their personal accounts on torture and political detention.
We join previous speakers in expressing our unwavering support to the fight against impunity and need to bring to a conclusion the atrocities in Syria. We recall that all those responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity must be held accountable. Considering that the regime is also perpetrating many of these crimes, there needs to be clear response from the international community. This is a common responsibility.
However, a meaningful response has been lacking from the Security Council. Over the years, 16 Security Council resolutions have been vetoed, including on increasing humanitarian access to Syria. The vetoes also included a referral of Syria to the International Criminal Court in 2014, a draft resolution that Estonia among 65 countries cosponsored and over a hundred NGOs supported. The threat of vetoes has been constant and disruptive.
The Security Council is mandated to stop atrocities and to ensure that the perpetrators of atrocities are held accountable. The vetoes have prevented this from happening. The case of Syria is one of the starkest examples of why we need to limit veto power in cases of atrocity crimes being committed. The Security Council needs to take its responsibility.
To fill the accountability vacuum, the international community has continued to seek to document atrocities for the future, when those responsible would be brought to justice. Estonia commends the work of all of the independent investigative bodies that have been established by the international community both in Geneva and in New York to assist domestic and international justice efforts. We are especially grateful to IIIM for their tremendous efforts and engagement with civil society representatives.
Estonia commends the investigations by extra-territorial jurisdictions, including the important developments taking place in Germany that we heard about today. The universal jurisdiction investigations and prosecutions underway in several European countries and elsewhere will carry forward the hope for justice for victims.
While considerable efforts to gather and maintain evidence into these atrocities are made, inaction by the Security Council continues to fuel the horrific actions in Syria. To regain credibility in the eyes of the international community, this and the upcoming membership of the Security Council needs to hear the victims, stop the ongoing atrocities and ensure the prosecution of perpetrators.