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The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 March 2024.

UK statement for the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association.

Thank you, Mr President,

The UK welcomes the Special Rapporteur’s report, and we thank him for his dedication to the mandate during his tenure, including his numerous country visits and important thematic reports. We welcome the recommendations to engage with civil society, and we hope the standard he has set on what it is a priority issue for the UK will endure.

Mr President,

The right to peaceful protest is part of democratic society. In the UK, it is a long-standing tradition for people to gather and demonstrate their point of view, provided they do so within the confines of the law. We agree that both the government and law enforcement have a duty to uphold the human rights of all individuals, including when facilitating assemblies.

We also agree that the policing of protests must be proportionate, protecting the right to protest whilst also having a duty to maintain public safety and peace.

Special Rapporteur,

What steps do you feel governments can take to best support law enforcement practices around the world in balancing the rights of protestors with the rights of others to go about their daily lives without serious disruption?

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 March 2024.

UK military advisor, Nicholas Aucott, says Ukraine is inflicting significant losses on Russia’s airforce, with Ukraine destroying Russian jets 20 times faster than Russia can replace them.

Thank you, Mr Chair. This morning’s Security Dialogue was an excellent and informative session to hear expert opinion about the Women, Peace and Security agenda. The impact of Putin’s illegal war of aggression against its sovereign neighbour, Ukraine, has brought untold misery to hundreds of thousands of women and children. Women and children have been killed, their homes have been destroyed, they have been forced to leave their country and they have lost loved ones on the front line.

This war has been an awful tragedy for the people of Ukraine, but they continue to inspire and remind all of us here in this Forum of their resilience and bravery as they fight to defend their country and the values of democracy and freedom. Whilst the ground situation remains broadly static, Ukraine has continued to inflict significant losses on Russia’s invasion force, shooting down another three Sukhoi Su-34 fighter bombers in regions near Avdiivka and Mariupol, in the latest blow to Russia’s airforce.

This brings the total to 12 Sukhoi planes brought down in a 13-day period and 13 Russian planes overall, including the loss of the A-50U radar aircraft I spoke of last week. The repeated destruction of warplanes is a significant setback for Russia’s war effort, given that Russia is struggling to produce more than a few dozen each year due to sanctions, with reports suggesting that Russia is losing jets 20 times faster than they can replace them.

Mr Chair, Ukraine has stood up to Putin’s imperialistic ambitions. Now in the third year of war, Russia’s plan to surround Kyiv within three days, bring down the government, and subjugate most of the country in less than a month has spectacularly failed in its objectives. Instead, Russia’s illegal actions have strengthened the NATO alliance, weakened Russia’s own security partnerships and diminished Russia’s international standing.

Russia has been clear about its aims. No one in this Forum should be in any doubt. The Deputy Chair of Russia’s Security Council, Medvedev called Ukraine a “cancerous growth”, denying its right to exist; and we have seen in Bucha what Russia does in the territories it controls.

The United Kingdom will stand firm behind Ukraine to ensure that Russia’s unchecked aggression will not prevail. In support of this, the United Kingdom will co-lead a major drone capability coalition with Latvia. We have introduced the largest and most severe package of sanctions ever imposed on Russia or indeed any major economy. And we have now sanctioned over 1700 individuals and entities since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The United Kingdom recognises that now is the time to double down on our support so Ukraine not only wins the war, but emerges from it stronger, with its sovereignty and freedom fully restored. By doing so, we make sure that Russia pays the price and its efforts to undermine global stability are stopped in their tracks. If we allow Russia to lay waste to this stability, the risks to the world order and to us all are grave. Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 March 2024.

Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment. UK Statement at the 55th Human Rights Council.

Thank you, Mr President.

The United Kingdom welcomes today’s dialogue with the Special Rapporteur and notes with appreciation his latest report, including the extensive recommendations for States to consider supporting businesses to better protect our planet.

The UK government is clear that it expects all UK businesses to respect human rights throughout their operations, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The UNGPs clearly set out the duties of States (in which business enterprises are domiciled or operating) and responsibilities of business enterprises to prevent, address, and remedy human rights abuses in business operations and global supply chains.

The UK welcomes the report’s attention to the importance of transparency and disclosure. Coordination in sustainability disclosures and reporting requirements encourages sectors to demonstrate socially responsible and environmentally sustainable practices. The UK is introducing due diligence legislation through the Environment Act to help tackle illegal deforestation in our supply chains. This is part of a wider package of measures to increase our sustainability practices and contribute to global efforts to protect forests and other ecosystems.

Special Rapporteur,

How can we encourage an appropriate balance of legal and voluntary measures for positive business impact on human rights and the environment?

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 March 2024.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council meeting on Sudan.

Thank you President and thank you, Secretary-General, for your sobering update.

Colleagues, the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces bear responsibility for the horrendous situation in Sudan.

Shelling and attacks from both sides in heavily populated, urban areas and across the entire western region of Sudan, continue to kill and terrorise civilians.

The situation for children is particularly unbearable.  Four million have been displaced. Over 700,000 will suffer from the deadliest form of malnutrition this year.

Sudanese children have missed a year of school and face the fear of not knowing when they will receive their next meal.

The Sudanese Armed Force’s withdrawal of permission for cross-border deliveries of humanitarian aid from Adre in Chad is indefensible.

We call on the Sudanese authorities to honour their commitments to facilitate crossline and other cross-border routes for the delivery of life-saving assistance for the Sudanese people.

They need to remove the red tape and deliberate obstructionism which has prevented meaningful crossline assistance in recent months.

To the people of Sudan, who for nearly a year have been made to witness their country’s descent into near collapse: you have not been forgotten.

The situation in Sudan warrants a robust response from this Council and increased attention from the international community.

As we approach the holy month of Ramadan, we echo the Secretary-General’s call for an immediate ceasefire and we urge all parties to allow for unhindered cross-border and crossline humanitarian access.

We encourage international partners, including the AU, IGAD and regional states, as well as the UN’s Personal Envoy, to prioritise coordination of their efforts to end this conflict, and to reject attempts by the warring parties to pit different mediation tracks against each other.

President, it should not be for the military leadership of both the SAF or RSF to determine the political future of Sudan.

We call on them to give way to a civilian, transitional government that will fully respect the basic human rights of the Sudanese people.

I thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 March 2024.

On Wednesday 6 March, France, Germany and the UK (E3) gave a joint statement to the IAEA Board of Governors on Iran’s implementation of its obligations under its NPT Safeguards Agreement.

Statement delivered by Ambassador Delphine Hournau-Pouëzat, French permanent representative to the IAEA on behalf of E3:

Chair,

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom thank Director General Grossi for his report on the implementation of Iran’s NPT Safeguards Agreement contained in GOV/2024/8.

We commend the DG and the Secretariat for their continued professional, independent and impartial verification of Iran’s fulfilment of its safeguards obligations. We commend their repeated efforts to engage Iran to clarify information regarding the “correctness and completeness” of its declarations under its NPT Safeguards Agreement. Due to Iran’s prolonged failure to address outstanding safeguards issues, the Agency is unable to assure that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful.

Chair,

It has been five years since the Director General first reported evidence to the Board of possible undeclared nuclear material and activities at a number of locations in Iran. Since then, Iran has failed to resolve these long-standing concerns, despite numerous resolutions by the Board, most recently in November 2022. In that time, the number of instances where Iran has acted against its legal safeguards obligations has grown. Let us briefly recall these issues:

• Iran has yet again failed to provide any technically credible explanations regarding Turquzabad and Varamin, despite having promised the Agency further information in August 2023. It has been five years since the Turquzabad investigation was opened and three and a half years since the Varamin investigation was opened. We must ask Iran, then, whether any of the nuclear material and/or contaminated equipment used at these locations remains in its territory and is not included in its declaration.
• Iran refuses to implement Modified Code 3.1 – a legal obligation that Iran cannot unilaterally suspend or modify. Iran is not giving the Agency required design information for multiple new nuclear facilities, even as it begins construction. It is unacceptable that the Agency is forced to rely instead on commercially available satellite imagery to monitor these activities. This is particularly concerning given Iran’s history of constructing undeclared nuclear facilities. As the DG notes, Iran remains the only State with significant nuclear activities that is not implementing Modified Code 3.1 as part of its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement.
• In September last year, Iran de-designated a number of experienced Agency inspectors and claimed that this was in response to action taken at the Board by some member states. This is a political move, described as “extreme and unjustified” by the Director General. Iran is obstructing the Agency’s ability to effectively conduct its verification activities in Iran. We echo the Director General’s strong condemnation and urge Iran to reverse it and to promptly re-designate those inspectors.

Chair,

Since the Board last met four months ago, no progress was made on implementation of the Joint Statement between the IAEA and Iran of 4 March 2023. That Joint Statement was agreed by Iran more than a year ago now, and it is clear that Iran has no intention to implement the commitments it made. We recall Iran also previously failed to implement the Joint Statements of 5 March 2022, 15 December 2021, 12 September 2021, and 26 August 2020. Let us be clear. Iran does not need new frameworks to co-operate with the Agency in order to resolve all outstanding safeguards issues. Such a framework already exists: the NPT Safeguards Agreement Iran signed and ratified, and the legally binding obligations it contains.

Chair,

On the long-standing nuclear material discrepancy at the Esfahan Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF), we note that Iran has corrected its accounting reports, and that these indicate that the amount of Uranium sent from Jaber Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Laboratory (JHL) to UCF was less than had been declared by Iran in 2003-2004. We note the Agency’s conclusion that this case “requires further consideration”. We expect Iran to fully co-operate with the Agency to clarify all outstanding questions. This is of particular concern as undeclared uranium metal experiments were conducted at the same laboratory in Iran between 1995 and 2002. This raises the question of the possible diversion of uranium metal.

Chair,

The Director General is unable to provide this Board and the wider international community the assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful. Iran’s public statements regarding its technical capabilities to produce nuclear weapons should be of grave concern to us all. We echo the Director General in therefore questioning the “correctness and completeness” of Iran’s safeguards declarations. Iran’s comments are an unacceptable provocation and completely incompatible with Iran’s legal obligations under the NPT as a Non-Nuclear Weapon State.

Chair,

The Board has already adopted three resolutions on this matter. At the September 2023 Board, 63 member states joined a statement delivered by Denmark expressing deep concerns with Iran’s behaviour. Iran has still not implemented the essential and urgent actions contained in the November 2022 Resolution. As reported by the DG, Iran has not made any progress in resolving the outstanding safeguards issues. After so many missed opportunities and lost time, the need for the Board to hold Iran accountable to its legal obligations is long overdue. Iran must urgently, fully and unambiguously co-operate with the Agency. In the absence of decisive and substantive progress, the Board must be prepared to adopt another resolution at its next meeting, and to consider future action as necessary, including making a finding under Article 19 of Iran’s Safeguards Agreement. Iran cannot be allowed to evade its NPT safeguards obligations any further.

Chair,

We encourage the Director General to continue reporting to the Board of Governors and welcome making the report contained in GOV/2024/8 public. In its next report to the Board, we request the IAEA inform the Board whether it can exclude the possible presence of undeclared materials in other locations in Iran. We stress our unwavering support to the IAEA for their impartial and professional work on this issue.

Thank you, Chair.