Justice, Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform

Remaining seriously concerned by violations of international humanitarian law and the widespread human rights violations and abuses, notably by Seleka elements, including those involving extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, sexual violence against women and children, rape, recruitment and use of children and attacks against civilians,

Stressing in this context the importance of further progress by the Afghan Government in ending impunity and strengthening judicial institutions, in the reconstruction and reform of the prison sector, and the rule of law and respect for human rights within Afghanistan, including for women and girls, and in particular women's rights under the Constitution to fully participate in the political, economic and social spheres of Afghan life, and welcoming, in this regard, the National Police Plan and the objectives set therein for increased training in human rights, including gender issues, and increased recruitment of women, as well as continuing ISAF support for the ANSF towards increased recruitment, training and retention of women,

Recalling that women play a vital role in the peace process, as recognized in Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and related resolutions, welcoming the commitment by the Government of Afghanistan to develop and implement Afghanistan's Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) National Action Plan and to identify further opportunities to support the participation of women in the Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process, the presentation by the Government of Afghanistan of its first progress report on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and efforts to continue to accelerate full implementation of the National Action Plan for Women in Afghanistan, to integrate its benchmarks into the National Priority Programmes and to develop a strategy to implement fully the Elimination of Violence Against Women law,

Expressing its serious concern with the high number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, in particular women and children, the increasingly large majority of which are caused by Taliban, Al-Qaida and other violent and extremist groups and illegal armed groups, condemning in the strongest terms the high number of attacks targeting schools, including their burning and forced closure, their use by armed groups, and the intimidation, abduction and killing of education personnel, particularly those attacks targeting girls' education by armed groups including the Taliban and welcoming, in this context, the listing of the Taliban in the annex of the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (S/2013/245) pursuant to Security Council resolution 1998 (2011), condemning also the increased targeted killing of women and girls, in particular high level female officials, reaffirming that all parties to armed conflict must take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of affected civilians, especially women, children and displaced persons, including from sexual violence and all other forms of gender based violence, calling for all parties to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law and for all appropriate measures to be taken to ensure the protection of civilians, and recognizing the importance of the ongoing monitoring and reporting to the United Nations Security Council, including by ISAF, of the situation of civilians and in particular civilian casualties, and noting in this regard the work of the ISAF Civilian Casualties Mitigation Team,

18. Strongly condemns the grave violations against children affected particularly by criminal gang violence, as well as widespread rape and other sexual abuse of women and girls, and calls upon the Government of Haiti, with the support of MINUSTAH and the United Nations country team, to continue to promote and protect the rights of women and children as set out in Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1612 (2005), 1820 (2008), 1882 (2009), 1888 (2009), and 1889 (2009), and encourages all actors in the Haitian Government, the international community and civil society to renew their efforts to eliminate sexual and gender-based violence in Haiti; as well as to improve response to rape complaints and access to justice for the victims of rape and other sexual crimes; encourages national authorities to promote national legislation in this regard;

16. Requests the United Nations country team, and calls upon all actors, to complement security and development operations undertaken by the Government of Haiti with the support of MINUSTAH with activities aimed at effectively improving the living conditions of the concerned populations, in particular women and children;

14. Encourages the Haitian authorities to continue to implement justice reform by taking the necessary steps, including through ongoing support to the Superior Council of the Judiciary, to ensure the independence and effectiveness of the judicial institutions, and to continue to address the issue of prolonged pretrial detentions and prison conditions and overcrowding, with special regard to women and children held in detention;

8. Recalls its resolution 1325 (2000) and encourages the Government of Haiti, with the support of relevant stakeholders, to promote increased women's political participation in Haiti, in accordance with the Constitution of Haiti;

Recognizing that strengthening national human rights institutions as well as respect for human rights and due process and combating criminality, sexual and gender-based violence, and putting an end to impunity are essential to ensuring the rule of law and security in Haiti; welcoming in this regard the establishment of the inter-ministerial commission on human rights,

to combat impunity for perpetrators of such crimes and to provide redress, support, and protection to victims, including through public information campaigns and by continuing to strengthen national police capacity in this area and to raise awareness of existing national legislation on SEXUAL violence and encourages the Government of Liberia to reinforce its commitment in this regard, including by funding the implementation of its national action plan on SEXUAL and GENDER-based violence and improving WOMEN's and girls' access to justice;