Isiah Parnell
Senior Area Advisor for Western Hemisphere Affairs
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York, New York
October 27, 2020
AS DELIVERED
Good morning.
Question: Special Rapporteur Savioli, what have been successful strategies for ensuring victims and civil society can effectively provide input to reparations programs?
The United States welcomes your report on incorporating gender perspectives when formulating transitional justice strategies in societies that suffered significant violations of human rights.
The United States further supports international efforts to promote truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-recurrence – crucial components of redressing and preventing atrocities, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and gross violations of human rights.
Civil society should be involved in the design and implementation of transitional justice mechanisms to ensure the inclusion of perspectives and needs of victims and survivors – including women, members of relevant religious and ethnic minority groups, and LGBTI persons. These voices are critical to preventing future atrocities and implementing meaningful recourse.
In Syria, the United States strongly supports the role of Syrian survivors of torture and sexual violence, those who were arbitrarily detained or suffered mistreatment in detention, and civil society more broadly in promoting justice and accountability for atrocities and establishing sustainable peace. We call on the Assad regime to cease its campaign of violence and participate in efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict through a political process in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
The United States strongly urges the Government of Burma to provide justice for victims and ensure accountability for perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses throughout the country. Civil society and victims must be included in transitional justice efforts if the nationwide peace process is to have hope of succeeding.
In Colombia, we continue to support the peace process and consider the accord’s various transitional justice processes critical to a durable peace.
The United States calls on the Government of Sri Lanka to honor and fully implement its commitments to pursue justice and reconciliation.
###
