Speech by Amal Clooney

Barrister and President of the Clooney Foundation for Justice

United Nations Security Council, 27 April 2022

Thank you very much Mr Ambassador, for inviting me to speak today. It is an honour to be

working with the Ukrainian government and for the Ukrainian people as they battle for their

Putin’s aggressive war is so outrageous that even after warnings from the US, and Russia’s

long criminal record, Ukrainians could not believe this could happen. I still read news

headlines not knowing how to process them. Could it be that thousands of children are being

forcibly deported to Russia? Are teenage girls being raped in the street in front of their family

and neighbours? Was a building that had the word ‘children’ painted on it bombed? Are

civilians in Mariupol being systematically starved and tortured to death?

Unfortunately the answer is yes.

And the world has responded. 141 countries voted in the UN General Assembly to condemn

ammunition to help the Ukrainian defence. Companies have pulled their businesses out of

Russia. And a network of governments has imposed the toughest financial sanctions ever

seen on a major economy.

Yet the UN was created – this room we are in was built – because of a genocide in Europe

and to prevent future wars of this kind. This council has heard so many speeches with that

now-hollow refrain: ‘never again’. But here we are: faced with evidence of the crime of

aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity. And mounting evidence, each day, of

genocide.

How did we get here? I believe we got here by ignoring justice for too long.

peaceful solution to the Syria conflict. Of course, neither Syria nor Russia had any intention

of making peace: they had too much to gain through war. So for 11 years Syrians have

suffered unabating brutality. They have been forced to listen to speeches in rooms like this

about victims deserving justice and perpetrators paying the price. They are still waiting. As I

watched the coverage of the Bucha massacre, it reminded me of the Houla massacre, in Syria.

This Council met in an emergency session to decry the killings; and people thought it would

be a turning point for accountability. It wasn’t. And now the same Russian general known as

The Butcher who mounted a brutal attack on civilians in Aleppo is massacring innocent

families in Mariupol.

to it. And that Ukraine will end up alone in pursuing the perpetrators of these atrocities.

We cannot let that happen. Each state that professes to respect human rights must make sure

that it does not become a safe haven for war criminals. Perpetrators should face arrest in

every port. And Ukrainians should have access to the billions of dollars they will need to

rebuild their state. So let this be a long-awaited turning point – for the benefit of Ukrainians

and the credibility of this institution. Let us sustain – and escalate – the momentum: so that a

better system of justice is within reach.

A Canadian judge once said that it is not what you stand for that’s important, but what you

stand up for. And standing up for Ukraine means that governments should be taking concrete

steps towards justice.

- Standing up for Ukraine means answering Ukraine’s call to ensure that those

responsible for the crime of aggression – who are currently beyond the reach of the

ICC – can also be brought to justice before a court of law, and that evidence of this

crime is collected and preserved.

- Standing up for Ukraine means that states should be filing interventions in support of

Ukraine’s cases against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights and the

International Court of Justice.

o And it can be done by expanding national laws to capture more perpetrators of

- Excellencies, standing up for Ukraine also means the UN General Assembly making

clear that sovereign immunity should not prevent Russian state assets being made

available to Ukraine and its people – and that the assets of all those who support the

- And standing up for Ukraine means extending a welcoming hand to its refugees –

until it’s safe enough for them to go home.

Excellencies, when President Zelensky addressed you he compared Russia’s soldiers to ISIS.

only say that I am ashamed – I am ashamed that there is no system of justice to respond to

mass rape and slaughter.

But I believe that today we have an opportunity to change this. And that we must do so.

Because there is no greater value that the UN could promote than the rule of law. And it is

under threat so long as those responsible for the most heinous crimes are not held accountable

for them. We often speak of what the international community should do to address the

horrors of war. But it is not institutions who act. It’s individuals – those with a conscience

who are determined enough to make a difference. Peace – like war – must be waged. It

doesn’t just happen. And justice, too, is something we must fight for.

Let me end with a reflection from the first international case that I worked on. As a young

campaign to create a Greater Serbia is today being compared to Putin’s ambitions over

Ukraine. Milošević was the first head of state to be put on trial in an international court. No

one thought it possible that a former President could be in the dock in the Hague, facing

charges of genocide. But it happened. And eventually his two most senior henchmen –

Mladić and Karadzić –followed him there. They are today serving life sentences for their

crimes.

Thank you.