JOINT STATEMENT BY FRANCE AND MEXICO GENERAL DEBATE OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT AND THE PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE, WAR CRIMES, ETHNIC CLEANSING AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

New York, 17 May 2021 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

Thank you, Mr. President. I have the honour to speak on behalf of Mexico and France. States have the primary responsibility to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. This is not a matter of political will, but an obligation under international law. No amount of action by the Security Council can replace this inherent obligation of sovereign States. We welcome the report of the Secretary General and reiterate our full support to his two Special Advisers on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect respectively. Our collective priority must be to operationalize the political commitments on which the responsibility to protect is based, with full respect for international law, in particular the UN Charter. France and Mexico would like to highlight four priorities in this regard: 1/ We must strengthen our efforts on prevention. This is accomplished through a comprehensive and coherent approach including the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the promotion of peacekeeping (initiative A4P), the protection of civilians, the promotion of human rights and the protection of children in armed conflicts. Involving women and young people in our efforts to prevent atrocity crimes is crucial. We must also increase our efforts to prevent and tackle sexual and gender based violence as a tactic of war. Early warning mechanisms play a key role to identify triggers and risks: we must continue to strengthen them and to promote exchange of best practices in this regard. 2/ We must increase the preventive capacities of regional and sub-regional organizations. They play a crucial role in preventing atrocity crimes. We must notably strengthen

1 partnerships between the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and ASEAN, as well as the links with sub-regional organizations, such as ECOWAS and the Latin American Network on Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention. 3/ Early warnings to imminent crises are insufficient is they go unheeded. Beyond early warning, we need early action. For this reason, in 2014, our two governments put forward the French-Mexican initiative to suspend the use of the veto in the Security Council in case of mass atrocities. We are convinced that the veto is not a privilege, but an international responsibility. Our initiative seeks a voluntary and collective pledge by the five permanent members of the Security Council not to use the veto in case of crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes on a large scale, in order to allow the Security Council to take effective action. The initiative is already supported by 105 States. We take this opportunity to call on all States which have not yet done so, in particular the other permanent members of the Security Council, to join this initiative. 4/ Mexico and France fully support all efforts to end impunity at the national and international levels. Accountability for the perpetrators and justice for the victims must be ensured. We call on all States to support and cooperate with fact-finding missions and commissions of inquiry that address mass atrocity crimes, as well as instruments of international criminal justice. We also reiterate our call on all States to adhere to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and to cooperate with the Court. Mr. President, Genocides, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing do not happen spontaneously or accidentally. The commission of these crimes requires a rigorous organization and planning, which involves a considerable amount of resources, people involved and effective control over territories. In addition, they are usually perpetrated in previous scenarios of serious social, economic and political instability, such as armed conflicts, humanitarian emergencies or authoritarian regimes. .There are certain conditions and elements that increase the likelihood that these acts could happen, such as hate speeches, systematic discriminations, structural inequalities and massive human rights violations. They are notorious signs of alarm. Hence, it is possible to affirm that all mass atrocities are avoidable. Protecting populations from these crimes is clearly an individual and collective obligation under international law, and it is also a moral duty. No responsibility is higher than the responsibility to protect the peoples of the world. You can continue to count on the full and unwavering support of our two countries, including as responsible members of the Security Council.

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Thank you./.

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