France

The effective implementation of Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security is a priority for France, which worked actively for their adoption. It also worked to strengthen attention to this issue within the European Union. At the national level, at the end of 2010 France adopted an action plan for the implementation of the resolutions on women, peace and security. We welcome the progress described in the report of the Special Representative regarding the establishment of institutional mechanisms to implement resolutions adopted by the Security Council. I point particularly to the progressive implementation of monitoring, analysis and communication arrangements, which will make it possible to gather information on sexual violence.

Sexual violence does not occur only when there is an armed conflict, as the Special Representative pointed out in her report. Situations in which there is political instability, including a climate of violence before and after elections, are particularly favourable for the commission of those crimes. Thus in Syria, the Syrian armed forces and security forces have resorted to sexual torture of prisoners, including children and adolescents. Sexual violence is not inevitable.

We also welcome the establishment of a list of parties, annexed to the report of the Special Representative, pursuant to resolution 1960 (2010). This list should make it possible to improve communication of information on troubling situations. It is indeed a decisive step forward in combating impunity for the perpetrators of sexual violence, another imperative in our combat against this scourge. The perpetrators of such violence must be brought to justice and sentenced with all due severity. The Council has a crucial role to play in that regard, both by adopting targeted measures against perpetrators of gender-based violence in the context of the relevant sanctions committees and through its ability to refer situations to the International Criminal Court.