HRC49: Item 10 – Ukraine – ID
HRHF video statement
30 March 2021
Thank you.
We continue to strongly condemn Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and its tearing up of the UN Charter.
It was right that the Council mandated a Commission of Inquiry to address serious human rights violations in Ukraine, including with a focus on root causes.
We also commend the passing of the General Assembly’s resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine last week and we remind states to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of particularly vulnerable groups in Ukraine, including human rights defenders and journalists, as well as support for those that flee the country.
At the same time, the Council must go further and mandate a Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Russia. For far too long the international community has avoided taking concrete action to hold Russia accountable for its domestic campaign targeting civil society, and in the foreign territories where it is the occupying power.
This has included silencing dissenting and opposition voices, closing free and independent media outlets, heavy censorship, state-backed widespread disinformation campaigns, and the banning of any form of peaceful protest with the arrest of more than 13,000 protestors in Russia in recent weeks as just the latest example.
These actions have allowed Russia to renew and expand an unprovoked war which started with the invasion and occupation of Crimea in 2014 against its neighbor, while stifling internal opposition. This must end.
We ask the Deputy High Commissioner what more can be done to assist, equip and protect human rights defenders and journalists who have remained in Ukraine to continue their work?
Thank you.
