UN General Assembly
2013

building societies that are resilient to crimes of atrocity increases the prospects of long-term peace and stability. The unacceptable human suffering in Syria is a tragic reminder of the consequences when no early action to prevent crimes of atrocity is undertaken. Advancing the primary responsibility of States to protect their populations should be a concern for all Governments. The responsibility to protect is consistent with existing obligations and international human rights law, humanitarian law and refugee law, which are binding on all States. Denmark calls on Member States to join the global network of responsibility-to-protect focal points, which works to integrate the prevention of atrocities in national policies, and to engage with other Member States and regional organizations in order to build capacity and cooperation before crises and conflicts break out. At the same time, we must ensure accountability for human rights violations and for crimes of atrocity in the past. The perpetrators of those crimes must be brought to justice. While the Security Council last Friday took an important step to address the crisis in