20. January 2012.

UN Secretary-General's remarks on Rule of Law and Transitional Justice

The remarks of the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council meeting on the Rule of Law and Transitional Justice in Conflict and Post-Conflict Settings. The United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina supports these objectives through capacity building activities and projects that promote the implementation of legal norms and standards and a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, including the State itself, are accountable to law that are equally enforced and independently adjudicated. Our efforts therefore draw upon the meaningful participation of all national stakeholders; inter alia, government officials, national legal authorities and practitioners, marginalized groups and civil society.

UN Secretary-General:

"Distinguished members of the Council, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank you, Ambassador Baso Sanqu, President of the Security Council, for organizing this important meeting.

Today's open debate comes at a time of breathtaking political change driven by peoples' calls for accountability, transparency and the rule of law. Women and men everywhere want their rights to be respected. They are risking their lives in peaceful protests to demand the opportunities, dignity and secure future that every individual deserves. There is no silencing this cry for justice. Repression only raises the volume.

Our task is to 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. Never has the UN's rule of law sector faced such great challenges – or such historic opportunities. This Security Council meeting is part of a broader international push to rise to this moment. Earlier this week, the United Nations gathered officials, ambassadors and distinguished thinkers on the rule of law for a two-day meeting dealing with justice, human rights, peacekeeping and related issues. In September, we will convene a high-level meeting on the rule of law -- the first event of its kind and the first time, since 2005, that these issues will be discussed by top leaders. The UN's work to promote the rule of law extends to more than 150 countries.

Our efforts to combat transnational crime, build confidence and capacity in State institutions and battle discrimination against women, are all part of this effort. United Nations programmes have already helped tens of thousands of vulnerable individuals to obtain justice. We are supporting legal aid. We are training public defenders. We are raising awareness, since it is often those who most need the rule of law who also know least about their rights. We are working on strategies to counter the growing threats posed by piracy, drug trafficking and organized crime. For societies traumatized by years of fighting and gross violations of human rights, nothing is more critical than establishing the rule of law.

When the guns fall silent, the United Nations is often the first organization on the ground helping fractured countries to start building peace and strengthening key institutions. Our goal is to quickly demonstrate the value of the rule of law. That builds public confidence in political settlements.

Our approach has three basic components. First, promote accountability and reinforce norms through transitional justice. Second, build justice and security institutions to promote trust. Third, focus on justice for women and girls to foster gender equality. The Security Council has helped bring these priorities to the top of the international agenda. But this Council can do more. I encourage the Council to include the promotion of transitional justice measures more broadly in the mandates of peacekeeping and political missions.

I also encourage the Council to reject any endorsement of amnesty for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. I urge you to bring justice closer to the victims. That means giving them the opportunity to speak out to truth commissions and to participate in judicial proceedings. It also calls for supporting remedies and reparations. And it requires strengthening national prosecutions for serious international crimes.

The primary obligation for accountability rests with domestic justice systems. It will require the development of security institutions that are accountable to laws and to the people. It will take more funding for women's access to justice. And it will demand greater attention to the economic and social roots of gender inequality."