General Assembly resumed special session – Monday Nov 14, 10am
Draft resolution on the international register of damages
Statement of Italy
Mister President,
Italy aligns itself to the statement delivered by the European Union and wishes to add some remarks in its national capacity.
Despite the many, strong condemnations of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, overwhelmingly voiced by this General Assembly, Russia’s violent actions continue to cause suffering and destruction on a large scale.
Russia must be held accountable for such suffering and destruction. Since the beginning Russia’s war of aggression deliberately targeted also civilians and civilian infrastructures in order to cause great harm to the people of Ukraine. The picture that is emerging after Russia’s recent withdrawal from Kherson is once again one of destruction and pain inflicted on the local population.
The present resolution does not establish any standing UN reparation or compensation mechanism. It is instead aimed at providing global legitimacy by recommending to Member States the creation of an international register of damage. Such register of damages will coordinate and organize evidence-gathering efforts, including those carried out in the context of various investigations by UN bodies. Such register will make sure that the collected evidence will be properly organized, recorded, and properly used in legal proceedings.
Reparation for civil claims, as well as for Russia’s internationally wrongful acts, is not only a fundamental obligation under international law, but it is also an essential step towards achieving peace and post-conflict recovery, as well as for the future reintegration of the aggressor State in the community of peace-loving nations, as laid down in Article 4 of the UN Charter. Reparations related to damages caused by Russia’s wrongful acts are meant to bring justice to the victims for death, injury, torture, deportation, forced displacement.
Mister President,
Italy is a proud cosponsor of this draft Resolution. I call on all the member States to support justice, reconstruction and reconciliation by voting YES to this Resolution.