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Agshin Mehdiyev: It is an absolute priority to ensure strict compliance by parties to armed conflict with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law

20 January 2012 10:01 (UTC +04:00)

New York. Isabel Levine â€“ APA. Agshin Mehdiyev, Azerbaijanâ€™s Permanent Representative to the UN made the remarks when addressing a Security Council open debate on Thursday, on the question of justice and rule of law, APAâ€™s correspondent reports from New York.

While speaking during discussions on â€œThe promotion and strengthening of the rule of law in the maintenance of international peace and securityâ€, Mr. Mehdiyev reaffirmed his countryâ€™s commitment to an international order based on the rule of law and international law.

â€œWhile more attention was being paid to such issues, greater efforts were needed to ensure a unified approach to the rule of law to address major threats and challenges that continued to affect the basic elements of the international legal order, undermined national unity and the territorial integrity of States, and which promoted a disregard for human rights normsâ€, Ambassador said.

He emphasized that it was an â€œabsolute priorityâ€ to ensure strict compliance by parties to armed conflict with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law.

â€œIndeed, law and justice were more important than force and that fact the illegal situations continued because of political disagreements did not mean that such situations were, therefore, rendered legalâ€.

Mr. Mehdiyev said efforts to promote the rule of law must take into account the situation of the most vulnerable, including women, children and displaced persons. Ensuring the right of return constituted a categorical rejection of ethnic cleansing and offered an important measure of justice to those that had been displaced from their homes and lands. â€œReparations mechanisms that compensated returnees for the illegal occupation of their property had shown promising results and should be replicatedâ€

Turning to the combat against impunity, he said that justice was a fundamental building block to sustainable peace and, as such, mechanisms that provided access to it should be further strengthened.

Peace talks or mediation efforts should never promise amnesty or encourage any forms of immunity for the most serious crimes of concern in international law. Here, he emphasized the responsibility of states to comply with their obligations to end impunity and to thoroughly investigate and prosecute persons responsible for such crimes.

As a result of the debate, the Security Council pledged its commitment to upholding international law, and reaffirmed its strong opposition to exempting from punishment those responsible for committing serious violations of humanitarian and human rights norms.

According to the Councilâ€™s report, the United Nations approaches in strengthening the rule of law have become more clearly articulated over the past 8 years. In conflict and post-conflict societies, the Organization assists countries in establishing the rule of law by ensuring accountability and reinforcing norms, building confidence in justice and security institutions, and promoting gender equality. The Organization is increasingly focused on emerging threats to the rule of law, such as organized crime and illicit trafficking, and the root causes of conflict, including economic and social justice issues.

The Council recognized the need for enhanced efforts aimed to build the capacity of justice and security institutions, and noted also the need for increased efforts to ensure that conflict-affected countries were able to access a broad range of relevant expertise, from developing countries in particular, in order to effectively build the capacity of those vital institutions.

In his remarks Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said the UN must usher in an era of respect for the law in every field: from peace and security to trade and development, from the high seas to local communities.