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Joint statement by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania at UN General Assembly Debate on the responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity on Monday, 17 May 2021.

Statement delivered by the Deputy Permanent Representative of Estonia to the UN, Mr Gert Auväärt

I have the honour to speak on behalf of Latvia, Lithuania and my own country, Estonia. We align ourselves with the statement delivered by the European Union.

We welcome the annual General Assembly debate on the responsibility to protect (R2P).

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have supported the principle of the R2P since its adoption at the 2005 World Summit. We take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment today.

We thank the Secretary-General for his latest report on the responsibility to protect that provides an overview of how the R2P has been and is being operationalised through the prevention, early warning and response work of the UN [A/75/863]. We thank the Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and the R2P and the Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect for their important work.

We recognize the progress achieved in operationalizing the R2P concept during the past 15 years. The Secretary-General’s report shows measures taken to strengthen resilience to atrocity crimes at the national and regional levels. At the same time, we admit ongoing challenges, including the negative effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has on societies, including the most vulnerable populations. In this regard, we fully support the Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire.

The Baltic States are staunch supporters of rules-based international order based on respect  and promotion of international law, including human rights law and international humanitarian law, democracy, rule of law and fight against impunity. We reaffirm that the primary responsibility to protect its populations lies with the State. Sadly, we continue to see negative trends in implementation of this responsibility. Atrocity crimes are being committed in many parts of the world, often without accountability. We remain especially concerned about deliberate attacks against civilians, civilian infrastructure, journalists, humanitarian and medical personnel and infrastructure in conflict.

The international community, states and organisations alike need to step up their efforts to protect populations against atrocities. While doing so, prevention needs to remain at the core of this agenda.

Prevention of violence and ultimately the worst atrocities is closely linked with the protection of human rights, adherence to the rule of law and good governance. This is also connected to implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal No 16 on promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies. This includes strong national institutions, transparent and accountable political leadership.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stand behind the Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights that puts human rights considerations at the center of protection and prevention efforts. Regional and international human rights mechanisms, as well as the Human Rights Council can provide useful support and guidance to Member States. We welcome the dedicated intersessional discussion held in the Human Rights Council last week to mark the 15th anniversary of the R2P.

Populations are best protected under a whole-of-society approach. A strong and diverse civil society, pluralist media and journalists positively contribute to developing early-warning and response systems by raising public awareness about human rights violations and crimes against humanity, and by helping foster resilient societies. We welcome the prioritisation and strengthening of women’s role in atrocity prevention by the Office on Genocide Prevention and the R2P. We all need to do more of this. It is also vital that all of these aforementioned actors be able to voice their concerns, communicate and cooperate with the UN without fear of reprisals.

Mr President,

The Security Council has a vital responsibility in the prevention of atrocity crimes. There are times when the Council does not live up to this crucial responsibility. In order to more effectively protect populations everywhere, more support is needed for initiatives that aim to deter the use of veto especially in cases of atrocity crimes. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania strongly support the mutually reinforcing initiatives of France and Mexico to voluntarily limit the use of the veto at the Security Council in situations involving mass atrocity crimes, and the code of conduct regarding Security Council action against genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. We are encouraged by the major support for those important initiatives, and call on States that have not yet joined to do so.

Prevention and prosecution of atrocity crimes is also linked to the mandate of the International Criminal Court that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fully support. Furthermore, accountability mechanisms such as the IIIM, the IIMM (“Myanmar Mechanism”) and other commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions play an important role collecting evidence and uncovering crimes. We also note national initiatives to hold regimes accountable for serious crimes under universal jurisdiction.

In order to enhance protection of all populations, we call on those States that have not yet done so to join key international instruments, including the human rights instruments, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Finally, as we have mentioned in this hall on previous occasions, we are of the view that the implementation of the responsibility to protect should be a standing item on the General Assembly agenda. This would provide an opportunity to take stock and hold a dialogue among the States Members of the United Nations on this important topic. These deliberations are best informed by annual reports on the R2P by the Secretary-General. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fully support the resolution under consideration today, and encourage on all States in this room to do the same.