Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect (Geneva)
Item 3 - Joint Statement during the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrenc.
11 September 2024
Mr. President,
I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of members of the Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect.
Special Rapporteur, we thank you for this report, including your commitment to continue to establish victim and survivor-centred, inclusive, gender and child responsive approaches to transitional justice for serious human rights violations and abuses, including those which may amount to atrocity crimes, as well as your interest to study the impact of emerging technologies in this context.
We particularly appreciate your emphasis on the importance of using transitional justice strategies in the context of negotiations and political transitions in ongoing conflicts or authoritarian regimes – often overlooked in traditional conflict prevention frameworks. Holistic processes of accountability are important to address root causes of atrocity crimes, providing access to an effective remedy and reparation for victims and contribute to preventing their recurrence. This may include truth-telling, establishing an accurate historic record of events, documenting patterns of behaviour by perpetrators, verifiable casualty recording, acknowledging the testimonies of victims and survivors, and holding those responsible to account, while promoting the rule of law.
We recognize that the UN Human Rights Council – including the mandate of the Special Rapporteur - can play a particular important role in this regard. We therefore call on all UN Member States to actively and systematically use the recommendations issued by investigative mechanisms and Special Procedures, where appropriate, to maximise the impact the UN Human Rights system has in advancing accountability for atrocity crimes.
Thank you.