NEW YORK, MAY 25 – If and when the Council is not able to agree on a ceasefire, the UN should be able to quickly step in at least to allow humanitarian corridors and humanitarian access, fully abiding by the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, independence and humanity. In this sense, the evacuation mechanism established in Mariupol, thanks to the coordination efforts of the UN and ICRC, is a clear example of how the International Humanitarian Law cannot be left to the mere spontaneous initiative of armed and non-armed groups: “Italy supports a more proactive role of the UN in fostering international humanitarian obligations and in monitoring their implementation”, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Maurizio Massari, said today, addressing at a Security Council meeting on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict convened by the U.S. rotating chairmanship.
“Italy calls on the international community to guarantee accountability for the perpetrators of severe breaches of the International Humanitarian Law. We reaffirm our full support for the work of independent international and domestic investigative institutions to avert any form of impunity,” said the Ambassador noting the failure to comply with UN Resolution 2573 (passed only a year ago and co-sponsored by Italy), according to which parties to an armed conflict must always distinguish between population and civilian targets, and combatants and military targets. Italy, Massari said, thinks that the protection of civilians must be a priority while planning and executing military operations and should be part of national military guidelines: “Providing combatants with targeted training on humanitarian access and humanitarian corridors can have indeed a positive effect on IHL compliance”, said Massari.
Italy also strongly believes that the presence of women personnel in the military too can have a significantly positive impact on the protection of civilians. Women have proved to be successful in creating trust, which is at the core of agreed humanitarian access and corridors. (@OnuItalia)
