Mr. President
It is with sincere regret we see the amendments proposed by the Russian Federation (A/79/L.34 and A/79/L.35) to delete preambular paragraph 38 and operative paragraph 9 of the important draft resolution on the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel (A/79/L.32).
The concerned paragraphs recall that attacks intentionally directed against personnel involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission are listed as a war crime in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Furthermore, the paragraphs take note of the role that ICC plays in bringing to justice those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law, and call upon all States to consider becoming parties to the Rome Statute.
Norway strongly disagrees with the proposals to delete these paragraphs.
In a year with another tragic record of killings of humanitarian personnel, we believe it is more important than ever, that the global community shows its commitment to IHL and its rules protecting such personnel, including the national and locally recruited personnel. Humanitarian workers are not a target. They must be protected and ensured full, safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access to all civilians in need.
And we must galvanize our support for the institutions established to uphold IHL and ensure accountability for violations of the law. Norway therefore stands firm in our support of the ICC and its mandate to uphold justice as an independent institution.
As a Court of last resort, it was established with the determination to put an end to impunity for the most serious crimes to the international community as a whole - and by that contribute to the prevention of such crimes. Norway thus regrets the attempt to undermine the role of the ICC which these amendment proposals represent.
For these reasons, Norway will vote against the proposed amendments, and we call on other delegations to do the same.
Furthermore, in keeping with the usual tradition of consensus for this resolution, we encourage all States to support the text as it stands. It is important that we, the Member States of the United Nations, send a strong signal of unified commitment to the safety, security and protection of humanitarian and UN personnel.
I thank you.