Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 July 2023.

Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on Children and Armed Conflict.

My thanks to our briefers, in particular Ms Violeta for your tremendous courage and valuable insights on the impact of conflict on children.

The scale of grave violations outlined in the Secretary-General’s report is shocking. Over 8000 children were killed and maimed in 2022. Attacks on schools and hospitals increased by 112%. Violations in the Sahel increased by 85%, in Myanmar by 140%. And over 1,500 children were recruited and used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These are not just statistics. These are the stories of real children and their families and communities.

For the first time, a Permanent Member of this Council, the Russian Federation, is listed for over 1200 grave violations against children. A listing based on robust UN data that represents the tip of the iceberg. There is only one solution to ending the suffering of Ukrainian children: an end to Russia’s illegal invasion.

We will continue to support the Government of Ukraine’s efforts to protect its children and bring them home after Russia’s forced deportations.

International frameworks to ensure children’s rights such as the Safe Schools Declaration, the Children and Armed Conflict Working Group and the CAAC Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism need our full support.

The United Kingdom is taking action. We support programmes delivering psychosocial support, safe spaces, and addressing the drivers of recruitment. And we are a major donor to Education Cannot Wait, helping over 8.8 million children achieve their right to an education.

We will continue to drive the global response to conflict-related sexual violence. To remove barriers to justice, increase support for child survivors, and implement our commitments under the Platform for Action Promoting the Rights and Wellbeing of Children Born of conflict-related sexual violence.

Children do not start wars but they continue to be the most vulnerable to its effects.

We should do better.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 July 2023.

The UK’s Minister of State for the Middle East has urged the Iranian regime to end the surge in executions, following a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.

The UK’s Minister of State for the Middle East Lord (Tariq) Ahmad has urged the Iranian regime to listen to the calls from the international community and end the surge in executions, following a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council today.

The UN Fact Finding Mission, set up by the Human Rights Council earlier this year to investigate Iran’s human rights violations, reported to the Council on human rights violations during recent protests in Iran.

Following the meeting, more than 50 states, including the UK, signed a statement led by Costa Rica criticising the ‘alarming pace’ of executions in Iran.

The regime has carried out more than 300 executions in 2023 alone. This is a shocking trend – executions are on track to exceed 2022, and more than double 2021’s figures. Analysis of the executions has shown that many are for minor crimes such as non-violent drug offences and the list included five individuals arrested following the death of Mahsa Amini.

The statement called out the frequent reports of forced confessions, following torture and inhumane treatment, leading to death penalty sentences in Iran.

Lord Ahmad said:

The UK and our partners have today condemned the Iranian regime for their brutal use of executions to stifle dissent.

The regime cannot continue to ignore the calls from the Iranian people, and the international community, for change.

A moratorium on the death penalty must be the first step in the regime changing course and listening to the concerns of the Iranian people.

The UK has more than 350 sanctions in place on Iranian individuals and entities in response to the regime’s actions, including on the Prosecutor General and Deputy Prosecutor General who are responsible for Iran’s application of the death penalty.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 July 2023.

Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Venezuela, as delivered by Simon Manley, UK Ambassador to the WTO and UN in Geneva.

Thank you, High Commissioner, for your report. The UK notes your office’s improved engagement with the Venezuelan authorities.

Nonetheless, we remain concerned by the continued deterioration of social, economic, and cultural rights. According to the last National Survey of Living Conditions (ENCOVI), 81.5% of the Venezuelan population live in poverty. More than nine million people have a chronic health condition and a strained public healthcare system does not have the capacity to respond.

Human rights defenders continue to operate under a high risk of arbitrary detention and harassment. Civil and political rights must be protected, including the right to participate in public affairs. It is right that your office closely monitors the situation, given the upcoming electoral period and the ongoing practice of disqualifying candidates without due process.

The Concluding Observations of the CEDAW in May also evidenced a challenging reality for women: unequal access to justice, little prevention of gender-based violence, and harassment of female rights defenders, journalists and opposition leaders and limited action against human trafficking.

High Commissioner,

What is your assessment on the adequacy of current guarantees and protections regarding civic space as elections approach? Is your Office engaging with the Administration to follow up on the recommendations issued by the CEDAW?

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 July 2023.

Statement on the oral update of the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Delivered by UK’s Ambassador to the WTO & UN in Geneva, Simon Manley.

Thank you very much Mr President.

And thank you, Commissioners, for your update. It’s a sober reminder that the war in Syria is far from over and that the suffering of the Syrian people continues unabated.

Just in recent days we have seen further indiscriminate airstrikes in northwest Syria that have resulted in further civilian deaths. Deaths that add to the toll of over 300,000 civilians killed since 2011. So let me once again implore all parties to abide by international humanitarian law and to seek peace through the process set out so clearly in UNSCR 2254.

Mr President, the protracted conflict continues to limit women and girls’ ability to exercise their rights, as we have heard again today. Sexual and gender-based violence has increased and women have scarce recourse to justice.

Mr President, the widows and the wives of the hundreds of thousands killed, missing or forcibly disappeared by regime forces suffer multiple hardships, often searching fruitlessly for their loved ones, stuck in a legal limbo. So let me, like others, warmly welcome the creation of the new Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria and encourage all States to support this mechanism, and all parties to co-operate with it.

Commissioners,

I would be interested to hear your further thoughts on the state of women’s legal rights in Syria, in particular the legal and customary discrimination that mitigates against justice for acts of gender violence.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 July 2023.

The UK and Polish Foreign and Defence secretaries signed the 2030 Strategic Partnership following talks at Lancaster House.

The UK and Poland will deepen their foreign policy, security and defence cooperation following the signing of a new partnership.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace signed a new bilateral ‘2030 Partnership’ with Poland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau and Minister for National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak at Lancaster House today.

The partnership sets out joint priorities on issues ranging from Belarus to China, to cooperation on defence capability and operations. It builds on the 2017 UK-Poland Treaty on Defence and Security Cooperation and 3 decades of close cooperation.

It emphasises the UK and Poland’s commitment to stand together in upholding a resilient international system that protects freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity, defending rights for countries and states trade fairly and determine their own futures.

The partnership also will see cooperation towards building the next generation of capabilities for our armed forces; increasing the intensity and frequency of joint training exercises; strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defence posture; and standing united in our approaches to the Indo-Pacific.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

Just as the UK and Poland fought together to preserve freedom in Europe during World War 2, so today the UK and Poland are standing together once more, at the forefront of international support for Ukraine.

Our 2030 Partnership commits the UK and Poland to even greater defence, security and foreign policy cooperation into the future.

In a meeting ahead of the signing, the ministers discussed the close cooperation between the UK and Poland, support for Ukraine, and the defence and security of the Euro-Atlantic area. They also discussed NATO priorities ahead of next week’s Vilnius Summit.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

As historic defence partners and NATO Allies, the UK stands with Poland to defend NATO’s Eastern Flank and support Ukraine against Russian aggression.

The 2030 Strategic Partnership strengthens our commitment to develop closer military deployments and exercises and deliver on immediate and long-term capability projects.

The UK and Poland share an historic partnership, stretching back to before the Second World War, which continues to the present day with hundreds of British troops deployed to Poland. Recently, this has included last year’s deployment of Challenger 2 tanks and the ongoing deployment of Sky Sabre air defence systems to Poland.

Both countries have also been working together to help secure the development of air defence weapons for the future.

In April, the Prime Minister announced the UK and Poland had signed a major £1.9 billion export agreement to roll out a British air defence system, made by MBDA, across the European nation. The export win will supports hundreds of jobs across the UK, delivering on the Prime Minister’s priority to grow the economy, and deepening ties with our key European ally.

Poland’s President, Andrzej Duda, also visited Downing Street in February to meet the Prime Minister, where they reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Ukraine and their support for Sweden’s accession to NATO.

The Defence Secretary and his Polish counterpart also signed the Air Defence Complex Weapons Agreement in October. This enables the UK and Poland to cooperate in the development and manufacture of current and future complex weapons and deepen the interoperability of our armed forces.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 July 2023.

UK military advisor, Ian Stubbs, says that we must not become numb to the true barbarity that Russia has inflicted on the people of Ukraine.