Thank you very much Mr Chair.

The United Kingdom strongly reiterates its support for this resolution and welcomes other co-sponsors. This language sets out the international community’s shared concerns and urges Syria to improve its appalling human rights record.

15 March 2022 saw the 11th anniversary of the conflict in Syria, marking over a decade of atrocities in Syria. The UK condemns these acts and strongly supports efforts to hold perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity to account.

The UK remains deeply concerned by the situation over the past 12 months. The Syrian regime continues to commit crimes against humanity, war crimes, and human rights violations against the Syrian people, including the use of sexual violence, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and torture.

Tens of thousands of Syrians have been forcibly disappeared and detained during the conflict. Thousands of families wait to hear about loved ones. It is crucial that Syrians receive information about these disappeared persons, and that efforts are increased to deliver answers and accountability for victims of the regime. The regime must provide answers.

The humanitarian situation has worsened dramatically since cross-border access was reduced. An estimated 14.6 million people need humanitarian assistance and approximately 12 million people face acute food insecurity. It is vital that life-saving cross-border access continues, particularly in the harsh winter months, and with a Cholera outbreak spreading in the region.

The UK also defends the use of country-specific resolutions in the Third Committee. The Committee’s remit focuses on the examination of “human rights issues that affect people all over the world”. Such resolutions are only tabled for the most serious or prevalent violators.

The Syrian people must not be forgotten and must not be left to resolve this crisis alone. Through the adoption of this resolution, the international community can hold the Syrian regime to account and help ensure it fully complies with its international legal and human rights obligations. Therefore, we would urge all states to vote for this resolution.

Thank you.

Thank you Mr Chair.

The United Kingdom wishes to thank Canada for bringing forward this timely resolution.

In recent months, the human rights situation in Iran has continued to deteriorate. Two months ago, we witnessed the tragic death of Mahsa Amini: a shocking reminder of the repression faced by women in Iran. We deplore the violent suppression of women’s rights, and enforcement of the mandatory hijab and chastity law by Iran’s so-called Morality Police.

We also find Iran’s response to the protests movement that followed Mahsa’s death truly abhorrent. Over 326 Iranians have lost their lives and over 14,000 have been arrested. The death sentence announced last week, for a protestor, signifies a shocking worsening of the situation.

It is for these reasons that we welcome Germany and Iceland’s efforts to call a Special Session of the Human Rights Council on 24 November, which we hope will mandate a robust investigation into protest-related human rights violations in Iran.

Sadly, such repression remains systematic in Iran. In the first six months of 2022, Iran executed at least 251 people. The UN also called out Iran for executing a juvenile offender in November 2021.

The UK supports the essential work of the Special Rapporteur in shining a spotlight on Iran’s human rights violations. We welcome his efforts to expose the systematic repression of minority groups, as well as continued restrictions on media freedom and internet access.

Mr Chair, the Iranian people have suffered enough. It is time their fundamental freedoms were upheld, including the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and speech both online and offline. Iran’s leaders must choose another path. Now is the time to stop blaming external actors, to hold up the mirror and start listening to the voices of their people. Yet Iran continues to suppress the voices of civil society, and report of Member States attempting to block NGO access to the room today are a further concern. The UK encourages all Member States to now join us in voting yes on this resolution.

Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Chair.

The United Kingdom reiterates its support for this resolution and welcomes the significant number of co-sponsoring states.

This year, we have looked on in horror as Putin launched his unprovoked, illegal war, bringing untold suffering to the innocent people of Ukraine. But we are acutely aware that for people in Crimea, this story began eight years ago, in 2014.

Since then, they have endured a brutal and systematic campaign of human rights violations and abuses at the hands of the Russian authorities: arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, and unjustifiable restrictions on the fundamental freedoms of movement, expression and religion or belief. Many of these measures have been disproportionately targeted at ethnic and religious minorities, in particular Crimean Tatars.

Since Russia’s invasion this February, the human rights situation in Crimea has only further deteriorated. This resolution highlights that Crimea has become both a base from which to launch attacks on the rest of Ukraine, and a blueprint for further Russian human rights abuses in Ukrainian territory. We condemn the conscription and mobilisation of Ukrainian civilians in Crimea into Russia’s Armed forces, and the forced imposition of Russian legislation further limiting freedom of expression, including the freedom to speak out against Russia’s brutal war.

And we regret that – despite this Committee’s repeated requests – Russia continues to deny access for international monitoring missions to Crimea and other regions of Ukraine under its temporary control.

Russia will undoubtedly accuse us of politicising this Committee. But the UK strongly defends the use of country-specific resolutions, which complement the work of the Human Rights Council and other fora in providing scrutiny of adherence to human rights obligations.
Indeed, on 4 November this year, this Committee adopted a resolution that noted with alarm that Russia has sought to justify its territorial aggression against Ukraine on the purported basis of eliminating neo-Nazism.

By failing to make even the weakest case against this language, Russia tacitly acknowledged what we all know: It has no justification for its aggression against Ukraine

Adoption of this resolution today will underline the international community’s support for Ukraine in their fight against that aggression, and their resolve to maintain pressure on Russia to bring an end to its systematic abuse of human rights in Ukraine.

Thank you.