UNA-UK has signed a joint letter encouraging Philip Hammond, UK Foreign Secretary, to attend a ministerial meeting at the UN General Assembly on the use of the Security Council veto in situations where populations are at risk of atrocity crimes.
The Association joined six other NGOs to voice their support for high-level UK participation in the meeting, due to take place on 25 September. It will be co-hosted by the French and Mexican Foreign Ministries and aims to encourage dialogue on setting out a voluntary 'code of conduct' restraining the use of the veto in crises like Syria where atrocity crimes are taking place.
UNA-UK believes that Mr Hammond's engagement with this initiative would send a strong message in support of raising the cost of using the veto in cases where genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing are taking place. In the past, the threat or use of the veto has frustrated efforts in Council to address and effectively respond to crises. This diplomatic paralysis undermines the standing of the UN as an arbiter of legitimacy and damages the credibility of the Council's five permanent members (P5).
Similar letters have been written to the Foreign Minister of France and the American Secretary of State in a bid to encourage Western states that are permanent members of the Security Council to strengthen their resolve to uphold their commitment to prevent and respond to atrocity crimes. This commitment is outlined in the responsibility to protect (R2P) principle, endorsed by all member states at the World Summit in 2005.
Click here to read the joint letter.
This is the second time this year that UNA-UK has engaged the UK Government on the issue of the veto and our earlier letter and its response can be viewed here. UNA-UK has also written a briefing on the topic, including the development of the call for a 'code of conduct', which can be viewed here.
