Justice

Prevention begins in times of peace with a strong legal framework and solid institutions. It also begins by effectively using readily available tools, such as the Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes, which we have supported since its inception. It is aimed at identifying and preventing atrocity crimes by using early warning indicators, such as sexual violence.

Prevention will fail if there are no consequences to the crimes. Conflict-related sexual violence cannot be pardoned. The international community has taken increasing steps to put an end to impunity, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) is crucial to that effort. The Statute of the ICC expressly lists various forms of sexual and gender-based crimes as underlying acts of both crimes against humanity and war crimes. The establishment by the ICC Prosecutor of accountability for sexual violence as one of its key strategic goals and the historic verdict of the ICC in the case against Jean-Pierre Bemba are steps in the right direction. We must continue to empower international criminal legal bodies when national jurisdictions fail or are unable to deliver justice.

Similarly, we must strengthen accountability in cases of systematic gross violations by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant/Da’esh, including sexual and gender-based violence, sexual slavery, abduction and human trafficking, as in the case, for example, of the Yazidi population. We agree that the Security Council, in its relevant sanctions committees and subsidiary bodies, should expand designation criteria for the perpetrators of sexual violence in the context of armed conflict or terrorism. We successfully included such a clause in resolution 2339 (2017), on the Central African Republic, earlier this year.