I thank the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for her report and for her continued engagement with the Security Council on the importance of accountability for atrocity crimes committed in Libya.
Libya’s ongoing crisis provides a climate of impunity for such crimes. More broadly,…
The United States thanks President Meron for his report on the work of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (see A/71/262) and for his leadership and contributions to advancing justice for victims of the worst atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. We also t…
I thank High Representative Inzko for his service in representing the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and for his stewardship of the Office of the High Representative.
The United States welcomes the unanimous adoption today of resolution 2315 (2016). Among its provisions, the reso…
I want to thank Minister Ndiaye and Senegal for highlighting the risks posed by extremists and militia to civilians and to peacekeepers. I think one can tell by the packed Chamber that this conversation is overdue, and we really thank him for leading and putting the issue on the map. Although the Co…
The Human Rights Council is a critically important institution; it ensures that human rights remain a focus of our work at the United Nations.
In recent days, we have grown concerned at the manner in which some Member States have dealt with the report (A/71/53) of the Human Rights Council. The Unit…
I thank Special Envoy Cheikh Ahmed, Under-Secretary- General O’Brien and World Food Programme Regional Director Hadi for their briefings. I pay special thanks to Mr. Hadi for bearing witness on behalf of Yemenis whose voices, as we all know, are too rarely heard in this conflict.
Recently, a father…
I thank President Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for her presentation of the Court’s report on its activities (see A/70/342) and for her continued leadership as President of the Court.
The United States has long viewed the end of impunity for mass atrocities …
The United States welcomes the decision of the Security Council to extend the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM). This brief extension is intended to give the Council additional time to ensure the renewal of the JIM mandate for another year.
The Council faces some very difficult dec…
First, I want to thank the Secretary-General for his briefing and for his leadership in building strong partnerships between the United Nations and regional organizations. I thank the Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Mr. Bordyuzha; the Secretary-General of the Shangh…
Today is one of the many days that I feel very privileged to represent the host country of the United Nations so as to have the chance to address those present on such
an important occasion. On behalf of the United States of America, I wish to convey our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to He…
We thank President Abraham for his thorough report today. President Abraham’s report reminds us that international justice is alive and well. We welcome the fact that States are increasingly resorting to the International Court of Justice and to other international judicial bodies to resolve their b…
For more than 50 years, the United States had a policy aimed at isolating the Government of Cuba. For roughly half of those years, Member States voted overwhelmingly for a General Assembly draft resolution condemning the United States embargo and calling for it to be ended.
The United States has al…
I had not intended to speak today. I thought this would be one of the occasions when we would go into closed consultations and talk to one another rather than to the gallery. But I feel compelled, owing to the statement by the Russian representative and the attack on the United Nations, which has be…
I thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Under-Secretary- General Mlambo-Ngcuka and Ms. Lopidia for their briefings and reality checks from the real world. I have two impressions from this debate so far.
First, the energy in the Chamber is palpable — it is not an energy we often feel here — and it is…
In his memoir, Twelve Years a Slave, Simon Northup, a free American who had been enslaved in 1841, wrote,
“In an hour, perhaps two, my heart leaped to my throat, as the key rattled the door again. I, who had been so lonely and who had longed so ardently to see someone, I cared not who, now shuddere…
As has been noted by many, human rights is a core pillar of the Charter of the United Nations. In the Preamble of the Charter, the Member States “reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and…
I thank Special Coordinator Mladenov and Under-Secretary- General O’Brien for their briefings today. Let me begin by discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before moving ont o Iraq and Syria.
We appreciate the briefing that we received today on the troubling political, security, humanitarian a…
President Obama spoke of the centrality of Africa during a speech on 24 September to the United States- Africa Business Forum. He said that with so many of the key challenges we face — our security, our prosperity, climate change, the struggle for human rights and human dignity and the reduction of …
I have the honour today of speaking on behalf of the Government of the United States, the country that has the privilege of hosting the United Nations. I offer our deepest condolences to the people of Eritrea, and particularly to the family and friends of Ambassador Girma Asmerom Tesfay.
The diplom…
As the proud host country of the United Nations, the United States joins all the other delegations in this Hall in welcoming the appointment of António Guterres as the next Secretary-General.
Let me start by saying a word about Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon, who over the past 10 years has shown th…
