Topic: 2025 – Criminal Accountability of UN Officials
Country: France
Delegate Name: Lee Gerring
Delegate: Lee Gerring
Committee: Legal
Topic: Criminal Accountability of UN Officials
Country: France
School: Williamston High School
It’s no secret that the logistics behind holding UN officials accountable for their actions internationally is difficult to completely tackle. As of recent, more and more accusations of UN officials conducting their matters unprofessionally while operating internationally have come to light. With that, questions of the standards that UN officials are supposedly held to have been brought into question. Because of the unique position that many UN officials find themselves in, they have graciously been granted a set of immunities, given the wide array of differing laws that they may encounter as they work internationally. However, with these immunities, it becomes more difficult to fully persecute officials for the more serious accusations against them. Specifically, issues continue to arise with peacekeepers stationed in Haiti, and even within internal UN agencies, and the question of how to handle these matters is being called into consideration to find a solution without infringing upon a country’s sovereignty. ‘
France holds a very strong position on this topic. As a leading nation, France holds a firm policy of holding UN states accountable for the actions of their officials. Furthermore, France holds itself to the responsibility of persecuting their own UN officials within their jurisdiction. France has been a primary supporter of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and their emphasis on the need for international cooperation to fully hold UN officials to the same lawful standards. France, in the past, has taken it upon itself to hold their own officials accountable for the actions they commit internationally that may break French law, and continues to plan on holding this same standard in the future.
In recent years, France has especially upheld its ideals of holding UN officials accountable, with a recent case involving three former Syrian officials. The French courts took it upon themselves to sentence these officials for their complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, with the trial of a former spokesman and alleged senior official of the armed rebel group Jaysh al-Islam is currently underway before the Paris Criminal Court. France understands the standards UN officials must hold themselves to and continues to follow through on that commitment. On the same end, France proves that it plans to continue their role in holding officials accountable who work under their name. For example, in the case of former French official Didier Bourguet, he was accused of having been raping girls in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. To make it a point of holding their own citizens officials, France made sure Bourget was persecuted and sentenced by French courts and judges. France will continue to hold firm to the belief that the UN should have the opportunity to lay out specific guidelines for which UN officials must hold themselves, and that when breaking these guidelines, they must be properly dealt with by their domestic state. However, France does still believe in many of the immunities that UN officials should continue to keep. With this, should come a comprehensive legal framework to completely clarify under what circumstances which member states can exert their jurisdiction over UN officials. France plans to be completely transparent and collaborative on this matter, so this committee can come to a comprehensive resolution for what it means to truly hold an international worker accountable. France hopes to work with many countries on this matter, specifically with those within the European Union and NATO.
Sources
https://onu.delegfrance.org/true-to-its-commitment-to-justice-france-gives-its-full-support-to-the-icj
https://onu.delegfrance.org/france-reiterates-the-security-council-s-responsibility-to-place-the-protection
