GROUP OF FRIENDS
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Context: India has recently launched a ‘Group of Friends’ to promote accountability for crimes against peacekeepers.
Details:
- This Group of Friends will act as a platform to promote accountability for all acts of violence against the United Nations peacekeepers by facilitating support to the host state, creating awareness, exchanging information, sharing best practices, supporting initiatives, and mobilizing resources.
- India, Bangladesh, Egypt, France, Morocco and Nepal are co-chairs of the ‘Group of Friends to Promote Accountability for Crimes Against Peacekeepers’ launched on Thursday during India’s current presidency of the U.N. Security Council.
- Group of Friends represents the "political will" of member states, particularly of the troop and police contributing countries, to champion the implementation of the provisions of U.N. Security Council resolution 2589, which was adopted in August last year under India’s Presidency of the Council.
- Resolution 2589 had called upon member states, hosting or having hosted United Nations peacekeeping operations, to take all appropriate measures to bring to justice perpetrators of the killing of, and all acts of violence against United Nations personnel, including, but not limited to, their detention and abduction.
- The resolution had also called on member states to take all necessary measures to investigate such acts and arrest and prosecute perpetrators of such acts in line with their national law, consistent with applicable international obligations, including under international humanitarian law.