Justice, Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform

Furthermore, all parties must respect the achievements of the past decade, in particular Afghanistan's international human rights obligations and core principles enshrined in the Afghan Constitution. Women's rights and the empowerment of women should be critical elements of the peace process, and must remain on the top of our agenda.

Among the most notable successes in Afghanistan of the past decade are the tremendous gains made by Afghan women and girls. Those gains must not be lost. Canada views the status and role of women as a key barometer by which the success of Afghanistan's progress will be measured. The recent Ulema Council statement, as well as cases of heinous abuse of Afghan women, represents a dramatic step backwards for Afghan women.

The United States welcomes and supports the recommendations in the Secretary-General's report, particularly with regard to the need for all parties to conflict to make specific and time-bound commitments to cease acts of sexual violence and bring perpetrators to justice.

In Côte d'Ivoire, the Special Representative received a commitment from the President of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that reparations for victims of sexual violence would be part of the Commission's mandate. In Liberia and South Sudan, the Team of Experts has worked with national justice sectors on sentencing guidelines, the training of police, constitution-drafting and a host of other initiatives.

Mr. President, Rape is increasingly used as a tactic of war and the Security Council should be united in condemnation of it and steadfast in support of the crucial work of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence.

It is important that this Council takes into account information on conflict-related sexual violence when considering post-conflict situations and other situations of concern. However, conflict related sexual violence is not confined to countries on the Security Council agenda as we see incidents or patterns occur in other settings.

Convinced of the urgent need to put an end to impunity for such heinous acts, Tunisia, which acceded to the Rome Statute recently, a few months after the revolution, believes that it is crucial to further promote international cooperation and assistance so as to strengthen, inter alia, the capacities of Governments to develop national early-warning systems aimed at preventing an escalation of violence against women.

To combat and especially to deter the perpetration of such acts, Togo believes that the countries concerned must build an arsenal of justice, such as national or hybrid criminal courts and tribunals, turning, if necessary to the International Criminal Court, with scrupulous respect for the principle of complementarity, which maintains the primacy of national jurisdictions.

In addition to those measures, which are aimed at preventing violence against women in conflict, my country reiterates the urgent need to put an end to impunity if we are to ensure that every society in the thrall of conflict, wherever it may be, draws lessons from the atrocities committed against civilians and prevents such atrocities from being repeated.