HRC55 - NB8 statement - High Commissioner’s oral report on Ukraine

Human Rights Council – 55th session

Item 10: Interactive Dialogue on High Commissioner’s oral report on Ukraine

Statement by Lithuania on behalf of the Nordic Baltic States

28 March 2024

Mr. President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Nordic and Baltic States.

We appreciate and firmly support the decade’s work of the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine to monitor and report on human rights situation in the country and bring evidence of violations committed by Russia, and thank the High Commissioner for the oral update.

We also commend the OHCHR’s consistent technical assistance and capacity building to Ukraine.

Once again, we condemn in the strongest terms Russia’s temporary occupation of Crimea and parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, as well as the unlawful imposition of Russian citizenship, legal and administrative systems, and the holding of the so-called “elections”.

Russian armed forces demonstrate unimaginable cruelty by killing, torturing, and committing acts of sexual violence, thus inflicting serious and enduring harm to people and their culture, especially targeting Crimean Tatars, and suppressing Ukrainian identity among children. We condemn the illegal conscription of residents of Crimea and other temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine into the Russian armed forces.

Unfortunately, many violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law go unreported, as Russia continues to hinder access of international monitoring mechanisms to the territories it controls in Ukraine.

The Nordic and Baltic States reiterate our unwavering support for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

High Commissioner, what more can we collectively do to ensure effective investigation and full accountability for all violations that Russia committed in Crimea and other temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine?