(As delivered)

Statement by H.E. Ambassador Koro Bessho
Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations

At the Security Council Meeting on
“Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Human Rights and Prevention of Armed Conflict”

18 April 2017

 

 

Madame President,

         

          I appreciate and commend the leadership of the United States in convening this meeting. I would also like to thank Secretary-General António Guterres for his impactful remarks.

 

          The three pillars of the UN, peace and security, sustainable development and human rights are not independent of each other. This is no less true with regard to the relationship between human rights and international peace and security.

 

          In fact, the Security Council has already been discussing and taking action on human rights in various regional situations, as well as on many cross-cutting issues. Therefore, we welcome that the Security Council has rightly decided to have a briefing under this theme, in order to foster a comprehensive discussion on the nexus between the two pillars.

 

Madame President,

 

          The international community has seen many cases in the past, as in Rwanda and Bosnia, and today, as in Syria, where a dire human rights and humanitarian situation destabilizes the surrounding region. In too many cases people face being abused or being brutally killed because of their ethnicity or religious beliefs. Escalation of such attacks, retaliations and conflicts may lead to even war crimes or crimes against humanity.

 

          We have also seen the case of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea where the authorities pursue development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at the cost of the fundamental human needs and welfare of people in its territory.

 

          In addition, with regard to the DPRK, its abduction of foreign nationals is a grave human rights violation. At the same time, it undermines the sovereignty of the concerned countries and threatens the lives and safety of their citizens. Such deliberate human rights violations as a method to threaten international peace and security can also be seen in other places. ISIL or Boko Haram uses human rights abuses, such as abduction, rape and human trafficking, as tactics of combat.

 

          These examples remind us that the discussion of serious human rights violations falls within the mandate of the Security Council, as long as they may affect international peace and security. Whether such a linkage exists in a particular case or not can also be discussed in the Council.  

 

Madame President,

 

          Discussions mean nothing unless they lead to a positive change towards a stabilized world, in which each person’s human rights are protected. In this regard, it is the obligation of the Security Council to make full use of the options which the Council possesses. Currently, more than half of the U.N.’s peacekeeping and political missions have human rights-related mandates. Since, regrettably, human rights abuses occur often in instable contexts and they also become root causes of destabilization, certain situations compel us to integrate human rights components into peace operations.

 

          The Security Council could also utilize various mechanisms outside the Council, especially those of the Human Rights Council, in order to acquire sufficient information for making appropriate decisions related to preventing and ending conflict and atrocity. With this in mind, Japan joined the Appeal of 13 June 2016, entitled “To put Human Rights at the Heart of Conflict Prevention” during the 32nd Session of the Human Rights Council, and we support the recommendation made therein to intensify the exchange between the two Councils.

    

Madame President,

 

          Most of the conflicts which we are facing today are not “classical” wars between sovereign states. Most of them are asymmetric conflicts, driven by non-state actors. In such cases, the risk that civilians will become victims of atrocious attacks is significantly higher than in inter-state wars.

 

          Today, we are also facing cases where systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have become essential components of political systems and, though not comprising active conflicts, such systems pose serious threats to regional stability.

 

          Under such circumstances, focusing on human rights aspects is essential to seeing the overall picture of a threat or conflict. It is the responsibility of the Security Council to decide whether or not certain cases of human rights violations pose a threat to international peace and security, and if so, to decide how the international community should respond.

 

I thank you, Madame President.