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Written statement submitted by the Republic of Lithuania for the UN Security Council Open High-Level  VTC on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.

Lithuania aligns itself with the statement of the European Union.

Protection of civilians has been systematically addressed by the Security Council for more than twenty years, yet thousands of civilians are still dying as a result of armed conflicts that too often are in blunt violation of the international humanitarian law. Undoubtedly, the international community has taken a number of important steps on the protection of women, children, internally displaced persons, refugees, journalists and media professionals. Nevertheless, we need to keep strengthening both the normative framework and its implementation and continue to examine what further developments could be made. In this context, I would like to address three protection of civilians’ related aspects, most pertinent to Lithuania: 1) protection of journalists, 2) peacekeeping, 3) fight against impunity.

Protection of civilians is not possible without protection of journalists in conflict. Today we mark five years since the Council unanimously adopted resolution 2222 (2015), its draft submitted by Lithuania, putting out a call on all Member States to create a safe environment – both in law and in practice – for the journalists to carry out their important functions. Attacks against journalists and media workers, as any attacks against civilians, constitute crimes against humanity and the ability of the international community to understand and to respond effectively to conflicts that threaten the international peace and security. 

Spread of radical extremism and terrorism undeniably add a highly dangerous dimension to the threats facing journalists and media workers. However, many of the journalists killed in the past decade were local journalists targeted for covering conflict, corruption or gang violence in their own community. Impunity remains widespread. With over 1,000 journalists and media workers killed in the world during the last decade and only one case out of ten judicially solved, the level of impunity for crimes against journalists remains appallingly high. Subsequently, that creates a climate of fear among journalists and has a negative impact on the whole society, as impunity for crimes against journalists is detrimental to freedom of opinion and expression (online and offline) in general. It demonstrates that despite significant progress in international legal framework, situation with safety of journalists on the ground remains worrying and deserves international community’s attention.

Lithuania co-founded the cross-regional Group of Friends for the Protection of Journalists in 2016, primarily inspired by the goals of resolution 2222(2015) and in response to the dire situation of the safety of journalists in the world. The Group is working closely with the UN entities, representatives of media organizations and NGOs, promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including through appropriate implementation of the resolutions on the protection of journalists as well as to the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, adopted under the auspices of UNESCO. It also seeks to increase international attention to severe violations of the human rights of journalists and media workers in different parts of the world. In April 2020, four Groups of Friends for the Protection of Journalists (at the UN in Geneva and New York, UNESCO in Paris and the OSCE in Vienna) released their first joint statement, denouncing attempts by States to use the fight against COVID-19 as the pretext to limit freedom of expression and persecute journalists. 

Let me also underline that Lithuania remains grateful for the continuous leadership of the Secretary General in the area of protection of journalists and for his activation of the relevant Focal Points Network within the UN system. 

Allow me to turn to the peacekeeping. Given the increasing complexity of today’s conflicts, effective implementation of protection of civilians is as challenging as ever. In many ways, it has become the most visible standard by which the performance of UN peacekeeping is often judged. Lithuania is a strong supporter of the Secretary-General’s Action for Peacekeeping initiative (A4P) in which strengthening the protection provided by peacekeeping operations is one of the priority areas.

Pre-deployment and in mission training of peacekeepers remain essential. Training in behavioral, social, and attitudinal skills, as well as other relevant skills and tools such as intelligence and communication, is critical.  These tools offered by the UN or TCC’s/PCC’s help to ensure that peacekeeping personnel are equipped to interact with vulnerable people and at-risk populations and that through that interaction they are able to provide appropriate protection. Lithuania takes training of peacekeepers extremely seriously. Currently, nearly 300 Lithuanian peacekeepers received comprehensive pre-deployment training on the practical and legal commitments in respect to the civil population on the ground as per UN guidelines.   

The Security Council’s efforts to give practical meaning to the protection agenda would be fruitless without enhancing accountability for serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. We cannot succeed protecting civilians when those who commit abuses, crimes and atrocities know they can get away with crime. This Council has a critical role to play in bringing the perpetrators to account, by taking a strong and systematic position on ending impunity for war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and gross violations of human rights. My delegation reiterates the call to restrain veto use in situations where such crimes are committed.  

Perpetrators of crimes against civilian populations, and those who attack and kill humanitarian and medical workers, journalists must know that there is no escaping justice. National and international justice mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court, have an important role to play in this field.  In this regard, we congratulate the international cooperation leading to the arrest and trial of Félicien Kabuga for genocide and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Rwanda in 1994. Ending impunity is essential also for protecting the civilians. Lithuania is determined to persecute perpetrators of the mass atrocities. We are among countries where national courts are imposing real sanctions on the perpetrators of the war crimes.  

To conclude, we must admit that current international efforts to ensure accountability remain insufficient and do not meet the bar set by legally binding international treaties.  In this regard, we call on all States and non-State actors to strengthen their efforts to ensure accountability for the violations of international law. We urge the Security Council Members, the UN Secretary-General, and all UN Member States to take determined action to strengthen the protection of civilians and stand up for the norms and laws that are essential to safeguard civilians in conflict.

New York, 27 May 2020