News

Written statement submitted by the Republic of Lithuania for the High-level Open Debate of the UN Security Council on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: Turning commitments into compliance.

We commend Germany as the President of the Security Council for the month of July for convening this important annual debate. Lithuania aligns itself with the statements of the European Union and the Group of Friends of Women, Peace and Security.

Lithuania remains a strong advocate of the highest standards of conduct and continues to call for strong measures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse. Once again, we express our principled position in support of zero-tolerance policy as well as full accountability approach for all civilian, military and police personnel both in UN and other international peace operations.

We strongly support the Secretary-General’s leadership in dealing with this difficult challenge, which calls for a system-wide response based on the pillars of prevention, enforcement, victim support and accountability. We commend the Secretary General’s commitment to ensure that tackling sexual exploitation and abuse remains at the top of the UN’s agenda, including through the work of the Circle of Leadership to combat sexual exploitation and violence in conflict. We also welcome efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, her office and all others across the Secretariat working on this issue.

To address today’s topic, we would like to focus on three major issues: 1) addressing root causes of sexual violence in conflict-related settings; 2) fighting impunity; 3) responsibilities of the UN peacekeepers.

Firstly, addressing root causes of sexual violence in conflict-related settings. Sexual violence in armed conflict, to major extent and in essence, remains an issue that plagues and exacerbates many contemporary conflicts. Women, girls, men, boys and members of the LGBTQI community can all be victims of sexual violence in conflict-affected settings. Many studies have shown how unequal gender relations and patriarchal norms exacerbate crises. While women and girls remain the largest group of victims affected by the conflict-related sexual violence, there is a growing number of sexual violence incidents reported by boys and men, as well as violence on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Lithuania stresses the utmost importance to address the root causes of sexual violence in conflict-related settings. Sexual violence in conflicts cannot be solely perceived as a stand-alone social problem arising wholly because of the conflict situation and which will naturally die down when peace is restored. Sexual violence is closely connected and interlinked   with the pre-existing power relations, social orientation and other forms of gender-based violence preceding the descent into conflict. These fundamental issues must be addressed in order to eradicate conflict related sexual violence and to shift the paradigm. In this context, it is crucially important to uphold human rights standards and improve respect for human rights. Full implementation of the UNSC resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and all subsequent Security Council resolutions especially those focused on conflict related sexual violence remains utmost important. We must double our efforts and consolidate all political will to maintain a course towards eradicating unjustifiable acts of sexual violence, which has many faces – it is used as a tactic of war and terrorism, occurs in post-conflict settings, etc. Holistic approach towards addressing root causes of sexual violence in conflicts is needed.     

Secondly, fighting impunity. Combating impunity for sexual violence is a central aspect of deterring and preventing such crimes. It is essential that all reported allegations are promptly and fully investigated in order to ensure the justice to victims and accountability for perpetrators. Unfortunately, current conditions and situation on this front is only getting harder. Already a chronically under-reported crime, conflict-related sexual violence has been further obscured by the COVID-19 pandemic. Researches show that COVID-19 has a significant and detrimental impact on increased violence against women in domestic background, including sexual violence; conflict settings creates even more vulnerable environment with, unfortunately, less possibilities to get support due to the physical contact restrictions. COVID-19 affected aspects of the rule of law response, including accountability for conflict-related sexual violence. All COVID-19 related additional challenges should be fully evaluated and taken into account in the context of fight against impunity.

 Furthermore, all efforts should be taken to give victims all the assistance and support they need to report the allegations and to ensure that there will be no repercussions for those speaking out against their abusers. More women in police force, or prosecutorial bodies, could make women and girls feel safer to report about sexual violence, rape and other abuses without fear to be exposed for further violence. Accountability cannot be achieved if civilian population is afraid to report or do not know their rights and whom to complain to. Building trust, ensuring timely assistance and access to information on national judicial processes is crucial. At the same time, it is important to use all opportunities to disseminate information about UN and national processes put forward in order to respond to the sexual exploitation and abuse. To that end, there is a need to ensure close cooperate with local NGOs working with the victims, to improve the protection of whistleblowers and to ease the reporting and investigation of allegations. Lithuania continues to be trusted partner and donor of Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund, which supports local NGOs, including those working on the issue of sexual violence in conflict.

UN SG in his last annual report on conflict-related sexual violence stressed that strengthening national rule of law institutions is critical in order to fight impunity and also prevent sexual crimes related to conflict in the future.  Good examples on the ground prove that there is a possibility to turn words and statements into positive action on the ground. For example, Criminal Code of Colombia did include extensive references of sexual violence in the context of armed conflict. In this case, legal base brings needed attention to the sexual crimes in conflict and creates procedure of how to bring perpetrators to justice.

Thirdly, responsibilities of the UN peacekeepers. Lithuania attaches great importance to peacekeeping – a core task of the Organisation and its flagship activity in extremely challenging environments around the world. The protection of civilians is at the centre of peacekeeping, and any act perpetrated against those most vulnerable is intolerable. It is devastating that in certain instances those most vulnerable suffer sexual abuse from those who are there to protect them. Sexual misconduct of peacekeepers undermines the fundamental goals of peacekeeping operations. A number of studies has shown how sexual exploitation affects the perceived impartiality of peace operations and contributes to the mistrust of host societies.  Therefore, the deployment of women protection advisers, the provision of human rights and gender-awareness training for staff to be deployed in peacekeeping missions and the inclusion of sexual violence issues in the peacekeeping mandates should be further expanded.

It is important to note that the actual responsibility for investigating and punishing misconduct by uniformed personnel falls to member states. We call on all TCC’s/PCC’s to address – within national jurisdictions – all sexual misconduct by peacekeepers proactively and to ensure justice for the victims.     

To conclude, we must galvanize our efforts to address root causes of sexual violence in conflicts, to work towards full gender equality in law and in practice and to continue the implementation of existing commitments. There must be no backsliding on what has been agreed. We owe it to the victims and our own contingents to set high standards and to stick to them. We must stand by the objective to enhance the credibility and the effectiveness of the United Nations to deliver.

New York, 17 July 2020