Speech

UN HRC53: Statement on human rights situation in Ukraine & Crimea

UK statement on oral update of High Commissioner on human rights situation in Ukraine & Secretary-General interim report on human rights situation in Crimea.

• From: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Rita French
• Published: 12 July 2023
• Last updated: 12 July 2023 — See all updates

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

• Location: Geneva
• Delivered on: 12 July 2023 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)

Thank you,

Last week marked 500 days since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

500 days not of friendship for the Charter, but its daily flouting.

500 days of atrocities. More than 500 children killed.

Thousands of civilians killed. Millions displaced. Schools, hospitals and homes destroyed. Ukraine’s fertile fields flooded and mined, not producing food for the world. Tens of thousands of civilians detained, countless among them tortured. Children stolen from their families, their Ukrainian identity denied. No wonder that the ICC issued an arrest warrant against President Putin.

Thank you, High Commissioner for the role you and your teams on the ground have played in calling out these systematic violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law. International law matters. The Charter matters. Accountability matters.

High Commissioner,

How can the international community support those thousands of civilians arbitrarily detained by Russia?

Published 12 July 2023
Last updated 12 July 2023 + show all updates

1. 12 July 2023

   Corrected who the Speaker was: from UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the WTO and UN in Geneva, Simon Manley, to UK Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French.

2. 12 July 2023

   First published.