Justice

The Council should encourage or pressure, as appropriate, all parties to an armed conflict to fully comply with international humanitarian law, particularly in relation to the protection of civilians. The implementation by Member States of the relevant regional and international legal instruments for the prevention, punishment and eradication of all forms of violence against women would also contribute to better national, regional and international responses to victims of sexual violence.

Where serious violations have occurred, the individuals or groups responsible for such grave violations of international humanitarian law should certainly be held accountable, as allowing impunity is no less a crime. It is important to strengthen peacebuilding efforts aimed at rebuilding national capacity and institutions, particularly the capacity of the security sector and the judiciary to fight impunity and bring perpetrators to justice. However, what is needed in order to sustainably prevent sexual exploitation and violence is to address the root causes of conflict. That applies, of course, to all of the crimes and inhumane acts that usually follow violent conflicts.