Summary: 13 October 2009, New York - Statement on behalf of the European Union, by Mr Hilding Lundkvist, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations, in the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly on Criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission (Agenda item 78 ), United Nations
Mr Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Candidate Countries Croatia*, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia* and Turkey, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania and Serbia, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia and Georgia align themselves with this statement.
For the EU it is crucial that any person participating in a UN operation who commits a serious crime should not go unpunished, and must be held accountable for such conduct. We believe that the obstacles that exist in holding UN personnel and experts on mission accountable for crimes committed during UN operations should and indeed can be overcome. The EU continues to fully support the 'zero tolerance' policy of the United Nations that has been advocated by the Secretary-General in his Bulletin
on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
The European Union is grateful to the Secretary-General for his recent report presented to the GA.1 Although the number of States that have provided information in response to the note of the Secretary-General is limited, the picture emerging suggests that certain Member States do have the legislation and capacity necessary to exercise jurisdiction fully over nationals participating in UN missions, and that other States have provisions for at least limited exercise of such
jurisdiction.
Member States should therefore continue to work together with the Organization to ensure that UN officials and experts on mission would not be effectively exempt, due to their special status, from being held accountable for serious criminal acts committed by them at their duty station. The Organization and its members must give a clear political signal that the UN will not tolerate criminal misconduct and will actively work for the prevention and prosecution of any such act. If any of the
central documents - be they steering documents or model agreements with hosting or contributing countries - related to these missions can be reinforced, this should certainly be done. The EU offers its support to any such measures.
Jurisdictional gaps have been identified which prevent UN officials and experts from being prosecuted in such circumstances. The EU believes that the challenge is how to fill these gaps and improve cooperation between all parties concerned in a way that blends into the existing national and international structures in the field. We believe we should continue to encourage States to establish, assert and exercise criminal jurisdiction over their nationals participating in UN operations who commit
serious crimes in a host State, in addition to that State, in order to fill a possible jurisdictional gap and ensure that the alleged offender does not escape prosecution.
Mr Chairman,
The Secretary-General's report also demonstrates the variety of steps undertaken and possible further steps at Secretariat level. For all this we are grateful and offer our support. It would nevertheless be useful if the lacunae remaining among States and institutions could be more clearly spelled out and specified, so that any additional measures that may be required can be designed to address these issues accordingly.
The EU supports the dual track approach combining both short-term measures and long-term measures, as this seems to be the most appropriate way to deal with this issue and to encourage Member States to address possible jurisdictional gap so as to ensure adequate prosecution as swiftly as possible.
In the long-term, the European Union remains ready to consider the proposal for an international convention which would clearly list the circumstances under which Member States can exercise jurisdiction, as well as the categories of individuals and crimes subject to that jurisdiction. Among the points to be considered is whether such a convention might facilitate international cooperation on the issue. The EU supports the endeavours of the facilitator in bringing forward the long-term measures
needed.
The EU firmly believes that crimes committed by persons participating in United Nations operations have a serious impact not only on the victim and the host country, but also on the credibility of the United Nations and the confidence and trust that the international community places in the Organization. Therefore, our response to this problem should be comprehensive and resolute with a view to ensuring the credibility and legitimacy of UN operations and the effective implementation of their
mandates.
I thank you, Mr Chairman.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
1 A/64/183
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