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Mr President, New Zealand welcomes the comprehensive and forward-looking report of the Council’s High Level Assessment Mission on the human rights situation in Darfur.
New Zealand concurs with the Mission’s assessment that the situation in Darfur is “grave and the corresponding needs profound”; we concur also with the comprehensive and practical approach the Mission has taken to finding a way of moving forward to address in a meaningful way the “gross and systematic violations of human rights and grave breaches of international humanitarian law” which characterise the situation in Darfur.
Despite being denied access to Sudan, the Mission has used a wide range of other resources at its disposal to present a highly credible report which should now be used as the basis for follow-up action. By placing its analysis of the human rights situation within a “responsibility to protect” framework, the report conveys a strong message. It underlines the responsibility of the international community to resolve the crisis in Darfur.
New Zealand applauds the leadership displayed by the Mission and its comprehensive and concrete recommendations to the Council for follow-up action, notably that it should establish a dedicated procedure or mechanism to monitor the situation in Darfur and that the Council should call for, and support actively, the establishment of a “credible, independent national human rights commission for the Sudan”. New Zealand strongly supports such initiatives and, in due course, would welcome further information on how these recommendations might be progressed.
The report notes the lack of cooperation by the Government of the Sudan in this context and its failure to provide visas to the Mission. New Zealand very much regrets the difficulties faced by the Mission, but does not believe that there is any value to be gained from the Assessment Mission attempting once again to visit Sudan at this point.
Mr President, as the Secretary General and others have highlighted recently, we are faced with the stark reality that a massive diplomatic effort must be made to resolve the crisis in Darfur. We must now find ways of doing just this, and of ensuring that the untiring efforts and vision of the High Level Mission are given the substantive backing they deserve.
The best hope for the immediate protection of the ordinary people of Darfur at this juncture is the strengthened UN/AMIS force. Can there be any doubt in the mind of any one of us that the situation in Darfur is desperate? This is a test of our common resolve to see basic human rights upheld. We must find a way to heal these rifts and present a united front.
Thank you Mr President
