UN Human Rights Council 43: UK statement under item 10

Madam President,

The United Kingdom strongly supports the vital role of technical cooperation. The international community must challenge States with egregious human rights situations, but it is equally important to support States cooperating with the UN and striving to meet their human rights obligations.

We welcome Ukraine’s continued co-operation with OHCHR. It is crucial that the Mission can access all of Ukraine, including illegally annexed Crimea, where Russian authorities commit human rights violations and limit fundamental freedoms.

The UK commends the continued co-operation between Georgia and OHCHR. We remain deeply concerned by the human rights situation in its regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

In Uganda, we welcome the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between OHCHR and the Government, renewing the mandate of the UN Human Rights office in Kampala.

We urge Cambodia to take further steps to restore democracy and freedom of expression. We appreciate cooperation with special rapporteurs and technical work with OHCHR.

We welcome progress on Sudan’s commitment to tackle human rights issues, notably establishing a Khartoum OHCHR Office, and commitment to open field offices to support further progress.

We also welcome Afghanistan’s commitment to improving human rights and we urge further steps to implement commitments. As Afghanistan moves closer towards peace, human rights protections must be safeguarded and expanded.

Thank you.