STATEMENT DELIVERED BY DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE MARK SEAH, AT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PLENARY MEETING ON THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT, 1 JULY 2024

Mr President,

1        Thank you for convening this meeting. We also welcome the appointment of the new Special Adviser on R2P, Mô Bleeker, and look forward to working with her to advance the R2P agenda.

Mr President,

2        Singapore is a founding member of the Group of Friends of R2P. We joined this group because we subscribe to the core principle of R2P that fundamentally, each State has the sovereign right and responsibility to protect its own population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.  It is also important that the international community is prepared to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, to help to protect populations against such crimes should national authorities manifestly fail to do so.

3        The issue of R2P has been controversial because it has often been politicised and selectively applied. There has been an erosion of trust around this concept due to such politicisation and double standards. What we need is an approach of patient dialogue and informal discussions to build understanding and trust. This is especially important as we embark on negotiations of the Pact for the Future, which presents an important opportunity to strengthen international cooperation on issues of mutual concern, including the prevention of conflict and atrocity crimes.

Mr President,

4        It is in this context that Singapore would like to restate our understanding of the three pillars of R2P. First, the primary responsibility for the protection of populations from atrocity crimes lies with States. We have passed the midway point of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and we are still far from achieving the SDGs. The onus is on us to implement these goals and targets, particularly SDG 16 on the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies. Singapore is committed to building an inclusive and harmonious society regardless of race and religion and to guard against fault lines that could emerge from within or without.

5        Second, the international community has a responsibility to support States in their national efforts to improve resilience. We believe that atrocity prevention and the effective implementation of the R2P agenda contributes to fulfilling the Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda and New Agenda for Peace. The UN has an important role to play in conflict prevention through preventative diplomacy and the facilitation of dialogue in response to the risk of atrocity crimes. In particular, the Special Advisor on R2P should perform her primary role of conceptual development and consensus-building on this divisive topic.

6        This leads me to the third pillar of R2P, that the international community has the responsibility to protect should national authorities manifestly fail to protect their populations. In this regard, the Security Council has an important role to play. Unfortunately, the veto has been used too often, to prevent action to address crimes of atrocity, at the cost of innocent lives. We welcome initiatives calling on Members of the Security Council to respond to the risk of atrocity crimes, including the ACT Code of Conduct and the French-Mexican initiative on the use of the veto in case of mass atrocities. Permanent members of the Security Council must make a commitment to stop using the veto to block action aimed at preventing or ending atrocity crimes.

7        I thank you.

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