The Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein to the United Nations (UN) generously hosted the first 2023 strategic meeting of the PGA UN Advisory Committee. This informal encounter counted on the participation of UN Ambassadors and officials to discuss pressing issues for the international community:
- Setting up a UN General Assembly (UNGA) supported Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression in Ukraine, and amending the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdictional regime on the crime of aggression;
- The Impact of Climate Change on Democracy & Human Rights;
- The role of Parliamentarians and Parliaments in global affairs and the UN system; and
- The Human Rights situation in Afghanistan, persecution of Parliamentarians & recommendations.
The new PGA Secretary General, Ms. Mónica Adame, updated the distinguished audience on the organization’s priorities for the year, underlining the importance of parliamentarians worldwide in supporting and implementing the UN agenda at national and regional levels.
Ambassadors emphasized a clear imperative to bring accountability to alleged perpetrators of atrocities committed in the ongoing war in Ukraine. One of the main points was to reflect on possible avenues to prosecute the crime of aggression, including by setting up a Special Tribunal for this specific crime through a UNGA Resolution. In that perspective, H.E. Mr. Christian Wenaweser, Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to the UN and Dr. David Donat Cattin, PGA outgoing Secretary General, provided a detailed rationale accounting for the necessity of this Tribunal on the crime of aggression.
Additionally, the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC should stress the importance of ratifying the Kampala amendments to the Rome Statute, and amending the Kampala amendments on the crime of aggression to align ICC jurisdiction over it to that over other Rome Statute core crimes, i.e., genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. While underlining the different challenges that still need to be overcome for setting up such accountability mechanisms, UN Ambassadors expressed their support for the ICC, restated their commitment towards accountability, and acknowledged the duty of the international community to act in this regard.
UN Ambassadors also conveyed their concerns for the continuing deterioration of human rights and humanitarian crises in Afghanistan following a presentation given by Ms. Melissa Verpile, Director of the Democratic Renewal and Human Rights Campaign. Recalling the deep multidimensional crisis in which the country finds itself, she specifically referred to the serious life threats faced by opponents of the de facto authorities, as tragically demonstrated by the recent killing of Ms. Mursal Nabizada, a former MP and women’s rights defender. PGA has been supporting Afghan parliamentarians since 2006, and continues to provide support to its Afghan members in exile. Some key recommendations reflecting Afghan voices and other experts’ recommendations include the necessity to keep the situation in Afghanistan as a top priority on the international agenda. This recommendation is particularly important in light of the many pressing priorities at the international level.
Among notable contributions during the debate section, H.E. Mr. Adrian Hauri, Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN, reminded participants that the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) mandate is up for renewal in March 2023. It may be the occasion to support the inclusion of specific language and renew support for the priorities included in Resolution 2626 (2022).
The discussion touched upon the impact of climate change on democracy and human rights. Ms. Adame commented on the efforts undertaken by PGA members to mitigate such human rights violations in the context of climate change, following a pre-recorded video message by Mr. Ian Fry, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change. During his presentation, Mr. Fry pointed at the current inadequacy and ineffectiveness of the international community’s responses to climate change and provided several recommendations, including to parliamentarians. UN Ambassadors exchanged on available means to progress on the matter, inter alia ensuring protection to environmental and indigenous human rights defenders. H.E. Mr. Carlos Fuller, Permanent Representative of Belize to the UN stressed the importance of the upcoming Climate Ambition Summit, to be convened by the UN Secretary General in September 2023, emphasizing the need for the international community to live up to its international commitments.
Ms. Adame concluded the meeting by underlining the importance of PGA’s cooperation with its UN Advisory Committee, and reiterated the organization’s full support to the UN system and its foundational Charter. Working closely with its members worldwide, the PGA Secretariat will continue to facilitate and mobilize actors on the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular of SDG 16 on peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, access to justice for all and effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions.
