France Position Paper

Name: Harshit Dang and Ayushman Sinha
Committee: Human Rights Council

Agenda : Protection of Human Rights in War and Armed Conflicts
Country: France
In recent decades, armed conflict has blighted the lives of millions of civilians.
Serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law are common in
many armed conflicts.
Over the last few years, the world has seen a plethora of human rights violations in
Syria, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Yemen, South Sudan, Afghanistan and other
conflict zones in the World. And in all of these armed conflicts, its so happens that the
Human Rights law is often undermined by the International Humanitarian law.
Human Rights are among the founding values of French Republic and lie at the heart
of its foreign policy.
France has ratified the principal international instruments on human rights. It
recognizes the competence of the treaty bodies to receive individual complaints. In
the area of international humanitarian law, France is also party to the 1949 Geneva
Conventions and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005.
France has ratified both the treaties of International Bill of Human Rights - The
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and The International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights(ICESCR). It recently signed and
ratified the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights establishing procedures to receive and consider communications
under the Protocol.
It is also subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.
France was one of the first countries to participate in the Universal Periodic Review
(UPR) process. Since 2008, it has made a number of voluntary commitments and
implemented most of the recommendations it has received. In 2010, France volunta-
rily submitted a mid-term report presenting the progress made in implementing
approved recommendations. France was reviewed by the Universal Periodic Review
mechanism for the second time on the 21st of January 2013.
France actively promoted the creation of a Human Rights Council capable of
responding effectively to human rights violations worldwide. It further affirmed this
commitment by actively contributing to strengthening the Human Rights Council.
Every year, France tables resolutions within the Human Rights Council, on a national
basis as well as in partnership with other States. It hence initiated the creation of a
number of HRC Special Procedures, namely the Working Group on Enforced or
Involuntary Disappearances, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
Alongside its European partners, France also initiated resolutions calling the
international community’s attention to the most critical human rights situations. It has
played a decisive role in convening several special sessions
France is at the forefront of the fight against the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
It was behind the holding of the “Free Children from War” conference organized with
UNICEF, which enabled the adoption of the Paris Principles and Commitments. A
ministerial follow-up forum to the Paris Commitments is organized yearly to sustain
and strengthen the political commitment of States. To date, more than 100 countries
have endorsed the Paris Commitments.
France hosted the 284th conference of International Conference on Human Rights on
13-14th August at Cannes.
France also co-hosted a Yemen Humanitarian conference along with Saudi Arabia on
27th June at Paris.
France is especially committed to promoting freedom of opinion and expression,
including on the Internet. In particular, it initiated the adoption of Security Council
Resolution 1738 (2006) on the protection of journalists in armed conflict and ensures
its effective application. France also supported the resolution on the safety of
journalists adopted by the Human Rights Council.
France also supports the fight against impunity to prevent further atrocities and
contributed to the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was one of the
first States to ratify the ICC’s Rome Statute.
Furthering the protection of civilians in armed conflict is one of France’s top priorities

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Name: Harshit Dang and Ayushman Sinha

Committee: Human Rights Council

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