United Nations: Third Committee - Explanation of Vote on Hostile Amendment to Resolution on Extrajudicial Executions

I have the honour to deliver this explanation of vote on behalf of Australia, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and my own country, New Zealand.

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions are an appalling violation of the right to life.

This resolution contains a list of persons vulnerable to this egregious act, including, inter alia, persons belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, internally displaced persons, persons living under foreign occupation, migrants, Indigenous Peoples, and those targeted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

It is of the utmost importance to our delegations that this listing be kept in this resolution in its integrality.

Let’s be clear. No one, in no place, at no time should be subjected to an extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution. Yet we know that those listed individuals are in particularly vulnerable positions, are more likely to suffer deadly violence than others, and are more often victims of impunity.

That’s why the listing is crucially important.

Killings of individuals targeted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity are well documented in the reports of the human rights treaty bodies and special procedures, and cannot be condoned. These efforts to erase SOGI issues from UN documents will neither obfuscate their importance, nor dissuade us from advocating for human rights for all individuals.

Operative paragraph 7(b) focuses on the obligation of states to conduct prompt, exhaustive and impartial investigations into the killings of persons belonging to the vulnerable groups listed.

It focuses on the application of existing laws and is a statement against impunity for crimes under domestic laws.

It places no obligation on states to in any way change their domestic law regarding the specific groups.

It would send a wrong and dangerous message to all the vulnerable groups mentioned in the text if the General Assembly decided that one specific vulnerable group no longer warrants special attention against extrajudicial killing.

We will therefore vote against the amendment and we ask other delegations to do the same.