Statement by the Permanent Representative of the Argentine Republic, Amb. Martín García Moritán

December 21

"International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of those Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011"

Mr. President,

Argentina has on numerous occasions reiterated the urgent need for the serious violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by all parties during the conflict in Syria to be properly prosecuted, either by competent national tribunals or by applicable international mechanisms. In this regard, Argentina has supported many times, including during its last presence in the Security Council as a non permanent member, the referral of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

For these reasons, Argentina has voted in favour of the draft resolution contained in document A/71/L.48 as a means of ensuring the preservation of evidence and enabling effective accountability in the future. This is without prejudice to reaffirming that the primary jurisdiction over the events occurred during the conflict in Syria and the obligation to investigate them correspond to the Syrian courts themselves.

We believe that a UN accountability mechanism - especially one that is established independently of the consent of the State in question - should be funded from the regular budget of the Organization, as a guarantee of impartiality and independence of the mechanism. We would therefore have preferred that the text of the resolution unequivocally reflect this principle.

Moreover, we hope that the terms of reference of the Mechanism will take into account some important issues that have not been considered in the resolution, such as the resolution of possible conflicts of jurisdiction. In this sense, we understand that the mechanism should not collaborate with national jurisdictions that intend to exercise criminal jurisdiction without sufficient jurisdictional link with the alleged facts.

Thanks,