Doha/ Information Office/ April 24

HE Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi stressed Monday that the State of Qatar will spare no effort in assisting in investigation and prosecution of officials responsible for the most serious crimes in Syria by supporting the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism established by the General Assembly of the United States. 
His Excellency was speaking during the 7th Meeting of the National Responsibility to Protect Focal Points, which takes place over the course of two days in Doha, and said that the Syrian regime continues to challenge the will of the international community in light of the latter's failure to find a final resolution to the Syrian crisis. His Excellency noted that the regime has escalated its severe violations of international humanitarian law and the international human rights law. 
The Secretary-General noted that the horrible massacres committed in Khan Sheikhon confirm the Syrian regime's, which has lost its legal and moral legitimacy, insistence on committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. His Excellency added that the regime adopted a policy based on laying siege, starving, displacement, demographic change, and the use of chemical weapons for reasons prohibited by the international law. This requires a suitable response by the international community, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added. 
He pointed out that enforcing the responsibility to protect in the Syrian case by prosecuting the officials responsible for crimes against civilians will send out a message to all who violate international law and international humanitarian law. 
The Secretary-General expressed the State of Qatar's appreciation to the role played by the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect and the Group of Friends on the Responsibility to Protect and its efforts in promoting the principle. 
His Excellency noted that this year's meeting is taking place in the context of critical developments, due to the spread of conflicts and civil wars in many of the world's regions. The increasing tragedies resulting from those conflicts leads to a bigger need for the international community to act and protect civilians who are suffering from human rights violations. 
The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted in that regard the horrific images of victims of a chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun in Syria as evidence of such violations and crimes. He stressed on the importance of protecting civilians from such a horrible crimes in line with the Charter of the United Nations and the provisions of international law. 
He added that if the international community agreed that the responsibility to protect aims to deal with genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and wars against humanity, then the international community must not turn a blind eye on these crimes no matter the reasons. 
The Secretary-General added that selectivity in applying the right to protect has led to deterioration of humanitarian conditions of civilians in areas of conflict. This calls for more urgency from the international community in assuming its legal and moral responsibility of protecting civilians subjected to horrible crimes. 
He noted that the amount of support to the General Assembly's decision on the right to protect confirms that the international community is committed to the protection of civilians. He expressed concern however that what has been achieved on the ground did not prevent horrible crimes from happening, particularly as their rate has been on the rise in more than one region in the world. As a result, the Secretary-General added, putting an end to those crimes requires a commitment from the international community towards taking clear measures in that regard. 
The first step according to the Secretary-General would be to enforce the responsibility to protect to prevent such crimes from happening and persecute the perpetrators, which is something that will enhance the security and peace for people. He added that the way forward towards preventing mass atrocity crimes would be to deal with the causes of conflicts and crises at the roots through dialogue, reconciliation, transitional justice, involving minorities in the political process, and enhancing the mechanisms that monitor and warn of potential crises. 
He stressed in that regard on the importance of dealing with the real reasons that lead to the spread of violent extremism and terrorism, as the reasons are usually similar to those that lead to mass atrocity crimes.

HE Dr. Al Hammadi reiterated Qatar's eagerness to implement the initiative of the Accountability, Coherence, and Transparency (ACT) of recording actions by the U.N. Security Council against genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and restrict the use of the veto to prevent mass atrocities. 
In regards to Qatar's commitment to international laws and its fixed policies towards the need to implement Responsibility to Protect, it has supported all global efforts to end violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law to protect civilians in countries facing armed conflict, he said, adding that Qatar has provided different forms of support and relief to lessen the suffering of civilians and protect them besides the continuous cooperation with its regional and international partners. 
Concluding his address, HE Dr. Al Hammadi urged all countries to work together to implement the Responsibility to Protect as it guarantees respect for human dignity and the upholding of rights and justice which are important principles that must govern life and communities. 
On the other hand, U.N. Secretary General's Special Adviser on Responsibility to Protect, Ivan Simonovic, praised Qatar's efforts to fight violence and atrocities against civilians especially in the Middle East, noting that Qatar is the first Arab country to establish a Responsibility to Protect focal point, and is the first in the Middle East to host such an important meeting, having already hosted a Gulf workshop that focused on Responsibility to Protect and impunity. 
Simonovic said it is imperative for focal points around the world to communicate in order to protect civilians and to participate to adopt mechanisms and decisions to prevent such atrocities and crimes against humanity in the Middle East. 
He urged the use of all communications possible to encourage countries to appoint focal points to prevent the crimes, strengthen the internal structure of the countries through issuing deterrent laws, raise the communities' awareness and spread the culture of peace and accountability amongst all. In addition, the focal points would cooperate regionally and international to combat violence and crimes against humanity, he added. 
Simonovic highlighted the importance of the focal points to practically review the laws, prepare and draft reports, participate in implementing recommendations to combat and evaluate the atrocities and draft legislation packages and national laws to develop countries' abilities to combat such actions. 
Spain has adopted the idea of setting a guide for the focal points to serve as a reference on how to deal with focal points around the world and help them in their mission, Simonovic said. The guide must include directives to reach final results to protect, stabilize and protect its people from any potential dangers, he added. 
Simonovic said Syria clearly reflects the failing to stop bloodshed, finding solutions to protect the civilians and implementing the principles of prevention, accountability and punishment, adding that the situation has had a negative effect inside and outside of Syria. The terrorism embodied in the ISIS group is still functioning and civilians are still seeking refuge in Europe and the neighboring countries, he added. 
The secretary general's special adviser on Responsibility to Protect said the meeting is imperative to encourage Responsibility to Protect to move forward and further develop the focal point network to communicate and improve it to combat atrocities and crimes against humanity around the world.

For his part, Fabrizio Hochschild, the assistant secretary general for strategic coordination in the U.N. Executive Office, said the U.N. general secretariat is looking forward to the results of the Doha meeting discussions, noting that recommendations are not enough because atrocities are increasing every day and stressing the need to take the necessary measures to protect civilians in countries such as Syria, Yemen and South Sudan. 
Despite the noticeable progress in the protection of civilians through spreading awareness, the implementation of civil protection laws and the deployment of peacekeeping missions, such efforts haven't achieved the desired goals. 
Hochschild reiterated the need to take proactive steps to prevent atrocities and to make greater efforts in human rights and development as well as develop a framework through which peoples are protected. He highlighted the need to eliminate the causes of conflicts and exclusion, building cultures and finding solutions, and activating accountability and punishment, while addressing the causes and manifestations of violations through swift steps, and learning about the conditions that lead to conflicts and handling them early on, and establishing strong relations with local, regional and international actors, in addition to creating a strong political will towards that end. 
The assistant secretary general for strategic coordination said the impact of proactive measures is limited when conflicts and disputes grow, expressing hope that the Doha meeting will result in recommendations and decisions that live up to ambitions, support the vision of the secretary general in taking early proactive measures, and take care of economy that is a main reason for the suffering of peoples. 
In turn, Simon Adams, the executive director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, said there are 65 million displaced people in the world due to persecution and murder, while international humanitarian law and human rights laws are vulnerable to violations in different parts of the world. 
Adams added that 80 percent of global resources are spent to treat the tragedies caused by global conflicts and wars. 
He said the Syrian conflict has hurt the reputation of the United Nations more than other world conflicts, noting that what is happening there shows the pressing need to reform the U.N. Security Council. 
Adams stressed the importance of protection and boosting the capacity of the U.N. in stopping armed conflicts, preserving peace and protection through developing capacities, deploying peacekeeping forces and filling the gap between the organization's resources and military operations on the ground, highlighting the need to take into consideration the time difference between approving Security Council resolutions and events on the ground at the site of the conflict. 
The executive director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect said the phenomenon of escaping punishment must be addressed by enhancing accountability laws and deterring perpetrators of crimes through national mechanisms, U.N. resolutions and more provisions of international law. 
He said that there is a positive development thanks to the global acceptance of the concept of world countries in providing social responsibility for their citizens from ethnic cleansing in parallel with the Security Council's issue of 51 resolutions to end atrocities in Sudan and other regions, adding that 40 countries have agreed to the principles of national protection. 
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, Dr. Mutlaq Al Qahtani, the foreign minister's special envoy for counterterrorism and mediation, said the recent circumstances in the region, particularly the brutality of the Syrian regime, as well as other conflicts, call for a clear stance. 
Dr. Al Qahtani said the Doha meeting doesn't only focus on the protection of civilians but also the accountability of the perpetrators of such brutal crimes whether through U.N. bodies or other judicial entities. 
He added that the Security Council is not the only mechanism through which war criminals and crime perpetrators can be prosecuted but also there are other means that can be used, pointing to General Assembly moves that were previously made. 
Dr. Al Qahtani said Syria is not the only issue of interest but rather there are other areas of conflict as well as issued related to terrorism and violent extremism and other matters that result in a commitment to protect civilians from violations.