VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #6557 1771823
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 261800Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0000
INFO UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 066557 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM UNSC
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE: PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS DEBATE, JUNE 26 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request.  USUN should draw from the 
building blocks in para 2 during the open debate on the 
protection of civilians in the Security Council on June 26. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Begin building blocks: 
 
Thank you, Mr. Holmes, for your briefing.  I would also 
like to thank the Secretary General for his comprehensive 
report. 
 
As the Secretary General's report notes, this year is the 
tenth anniversary of the first debate on protection of 
civilians in the Security Council.  His report cites 
actions that the Council has taken since then, but also 
lays out the many challenges still ahead for the 
international community to take the steps necessary to 
protect civilians, in particular in translating the 
Council's actions into "concrete improvements on the 
ground." 
 
 
 
The Secretary General has made a number of recommendations 
in his report which this Council should review carefully 
to be better able to promote protection of civilians in 
armed conflict worldwide. 
 
Civilian protection must be a core objective in all 
military operations.  The U.S. Government understands that 
protection of civilians is a vital priority. 
 
In Afghanistan, while Taliban and al Qaeda forces 
deliberately employ tactics designed to increase the 
number of innocent civilian deaths, the international 
coalition continues to fight those Taliban and al Qaeda 
forces with as few civilian casualties as possible.  We 
deeply regret every innocent civilian life that is lost. 
U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan operate under rules and 
orders designed to minimize civilian casualties, and we 
will continue to review them to improve their 
effectiveness.   As U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates 
said recently, we are making reduction of civilian 
casualties in Afghanistan a priority.  The new ISAF 
commander in Afghanistan has made it clear he will move 
quickly to implement this priority. 
 
The United States believes that all nations must abide by 
international humanitarian law.  We are determined to act 
to prevent violations of international humanitarian law 
and committed to working with the international community 
to defeat violence in a manner consistent with our values, 
legal obligations, and ideals. 
 
At the 2005 World Summit UN member states reached a mutual 
understanding that all nations have the responsibility to 
protect their civilian populations and that the 
international community has a responsibility to protect 
civilians when states are unwilling and unable to do so. 
The Security Council reaffirmed this commitment in 
Resolution 1674 and the Council has taken this principle 
into account in its actions on Sudan and the Democratic 
Republic of Congo (DRC). 
 
Resolution 1674 also reaffirmed that ending impunity for 
such violations of international humanitarian law is 
essential for a society to come to terms with its past, 
prevent future abuses, establish accountability, and 
promote reconciliation.   The United Nations is involved 
in a number of efforts to promote accountability and end 
impunity. 
 
The war crimes tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and 
Rwanda, and the hybrid tribunals in Sierra Leone and 
Cambodia, are actively prosecuting crimes involving 
violations of international humanitarian law.  As the 
Secretary-General has rightly pointed out in his report, 
to truly end impunity, we must help to establish 
functioning judicial systems so that criminals may be 
tried locally, and senior leadership can be held 
responsible for atrocities committed in their respective 
countries. 
 
Mr. President, we must take special note of the most 
vulnerable populations in conflict - including women and 
children.  In the Democratic Republic of Congo a decade of 
fighting and hardship has left more than 5 million people 
dead, and countless women and girls the victims of rape 
and sexual exploitation.  Sexual violence in this instance 
is a weapon.  This inexcusable sexual violence has been - 
and continues to be - highly prevalent in a wide area in 
the east of the country.  It must be stopped. We are 
redoubling our efforts to address the issue in all of its 
aspects - from prevention measures, including efforts to 
change attitudes about the status of women, to treatment 
of victims, to better accountability for perpetrators. 
 
We also welcome the steps taken to eliminate any 
exploitation of vulnerable populations by peacekeeping 
forces and relief organizations meant to assist and 
protect them, but note that there are still unacceptably 
frequent allegations of such abuse.  In this regard, we 
look forward to the Secretary General?s report on the 
implementation of resolution 1820 on the issue of women, 
peace and security.  The Council must ensure that 
provisions of this resolution, especially those related to 
sexual violence, are implemented and that there are 
clearly understood consequences if peacekeepers or relief 
workers are themselves found guilty of such crimes. 
 
Compulsory recruitment of child soldiers is, sadly, still a 
reality, and we continue to see exploitation of children in 
this way by armed groups in the Congo, Sudan, and elsewhere. 
And now that the fighting has ended in Sri Lanka, we are 
beginning to identify children who were forcibly recruited 
into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). 
 
We have witnessed too many instances in recent months 
where governments and armed groups have not allowed 
sufficient access to vulnerable populations.  The 
Secretary General's report rightly stresses the 
fundamental nature of such access, and makes 15 specific 
recommendations for Security Council action which we 
should consider carefully.  Some of these recommendations 
state what should be obvious and agreed to by everyone, 
such as the need to condemn all acts of violence against 
humanitarian workers, allow safe passage for civilians 
trying to flee conflict zones, and create conditions 
conducive to safe humanitarian action.  The United States 
welcomes the report's annex detailing constraints on 
humanitarian access, and we are certain that it will 
become a useful tool in helping to ensure civilian 
well-being. 
 
In several instances, peacekeeping operations have been 
asked to take on more robust mandates, with protection of 
civilians as a priority.  But peacekeepers must have 
properly defined and realistic mandates and the 
appropriate skills to fulfill their missions.  The 
Secretary General's report says that "the protection of 
civilians" mandate in peacekeeping missions remains 
largely undefined as both a military task and as a 
mission-wide task.?  Given this conclusion, we look 
forward to the upcoming study by the Office for the 
Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the 
Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) - which we 
understand will be released in July - on how best to put 
guidelines for protection of civilians into actual 
practice.  We hope this will also provide guidance that 
will help the Security Council when we consider renewing 
the mandates of specific missions. 
 
Peacekeepers must also receive adequate resources to do 
the job.  For example, the Secretary General's report 
states that the African Union/UN Mission Hybrid Operation 
in Darfur (UNAMID) is only at 67 percent of its military 
strength, and excluding support units, the police 
personnel are at only 38 percent of authorized strength. 
That is unacceptable, given the magnitude of the 
humanitarian crisis in Darfur and the urgent need to 
protect innocent civilians trapped in the middle of the 
warring parties. 
 
Finally, I want to thank the Secretary-General for his 
recommendations, which we will review carefully, and I 
want to extend the United States' thanks and commendation 
to the men and women of those UN agencies and NGOs whose 
dedication and work on protection of civilians in the 
context of humanitarian crises is critical to our ultimate 
success. 
 
End building blocks. 
CLINTON