Mr President,
Thank you for organizing this open debate. Transitional justice is a crucial issue in which the Security Council has an important role to play. Resolution 2282 of this Council qualifies transitional justice as a key component to sustaining peace.
For over 15 years and in numerous partner countries, Switzerland has supported and accompanied transitional justice and dealing with the past processes, through which societies try to come to terms with the atrocities they experienced.
Based on our experiences, I would like to highlight three points:
First, the adoption of a set of judicial and non-judicial measures is essential for preventing the recurrence of large-scale violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as for establishing a new social contract. Respect for human rights is indispensable for lasting peace. It is important to bear in mind that while criminal justice plays an essential role in transitional justice, it is only one dimension of it. With its Integrated System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition, Colombia demonstrates an innovative approach based on the four pillars of transitional justice. We call on the Council to give greater consideration to the complementarity between judicial and non-judicial measures when using the instruments at its disposal. The Secretary-General's Guidance Note on the UN Approach to Transitional Justice may serve as a reference. Switzerland supports the current revision process of this note. Switzerland agrees with previous references made today on the importance of the advisory role of the Peacebuilding Commission.
Second, as the presentations at this open debate showed, civil society plays a leading role in advancing accountability and the fight against impunity. Civil society, in particular women, must be involved in the design of these measures, alongside with decision-makers. We wish to acknowledge the engagement of Yasmin Sooka and of all those who, like her, invested decades in seeking justice for the victims of the most serious crimes. The Council must be aware of the need to involve and protect civil society, including human rights defenders, in the relevant items on its agenda.
Third, each context is different. We call on the Council to take appropriate and context-specific measures, based on a thorough understanding of the needs of society as a whole. The Council must make full use of its marge the manoeuvre in the formulation of mandates to ensure targeted and implementable measures.
I thank you.