Justice, Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform

The international community cannot remain indifferent to such atrocities, nor accept the myth that rape is an inevitable by-product of war. Doing so would paralyse any attempt to eradicate such actions. Sexual violence must be considered a violation of the victims' human rights; that being the case, the perpetrators must be prosecuted, judged and punished.

Regrettably, sexual violence is a constant at all stages of armed conflict. Often, it is not a matter of isolated incidents, but instead includes related crimes such as kidnapping, indiscriminate killing, torture, looting and forced displacement. The international community must continue to urge armed groups to end such abhorrent practices and to work with States to end the impunity surrounding them.

Similarly, we reiterate that all humanitarian responses must be sustainable and take the development perspective into account so as to ensure the required capacity-building at the national level in this critical area.

We understand far better than we did a decade ago what protecting civilians in armed conflict truly entails. We are developing more tools and mechanisms to implement lessons that have been painfully learned. We must remain vigilant and address future challenges together more consistently. We still have far more to do to save the lives of civilians in conflict zones.

Fourthly, we must hold accountable groups and individuals that flagrantly violate the laws of war, including those who use rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war.

The issue of protecting civilians in armed conflict is a cause that the international community must pursue with unwavering determination. We believe that, in order to ensure long-term and lasting protection of civilians, human rights, the rule of law, democracy and good governance should be strengthened. We should also ensure that perpetrators of violence against civilians are held fully accountable for their actions.

Israel has committed crimes for decades and has violated the most basic principles of international humanitarian law. It is not held accountable for its activities and its barbarous occupation and military and political leadership.

Amid its aggression in international waters against the Turkish freedom flotilla — which was bringing humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, besieged for four years — the bombing of the United Nations headquarters and the death of civilians sheltered there, today Israel openly states its rejection of all humanitarian principles of international humanitarian law and conducts its feverish quest to try to reverse humanitarian

First, Switzerland agrees with the Secretary- General's evaluation of the need for greater respect for the law by non-State armed groups and stresses the importance of preventing obstacles to the efforts of humanitarian organizations in that regard. We are concerned by the impact that the adoption of lists of terrorist groups may have on efforts to strengthen the protection of civilians.

While encouraging non-State actors to adhere to the principles of international humanitarian law in order to better ensure the protection of civilians is a laudable objective, this may prove to be a double edged sword, as it could also confer unintended legitimacy on violent perpetrators of terrorism and terrorist groups.