Tag: 2024

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 18 April 2024.

UK, US and Canada regret Russia’s lack of response to the Vienna Mechanism of March 2024 on prison conditions and call for immediate humanitarian release of Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Madam Chair,

I am delivering this statement on behalf of the United Kingdom, the United States, and my own country Canada. We align ourselves fully with the statement just made by Denmark on behalf of the participating States who invoked the Vienna Mechanism on 22 March 2024, and would add the following views.

It is evident that Russia continues to completely disregard its international human rights obligations and its OSCE human dimension commitments. Russia’s refusal to respond to the questions posed last under the Vienna Mechanism is yet further evidence of their fear of transparency and accountability.

Russia today is haunted by fear. Ordinary citizens are afraid of exercising their basic human rights. Russia’s rulers are afraid that their fabricated reality is so weak that it will not withstand examination or comment. With self-centered conceit, the Kremlin finds contrary opinions intolerable, and responds to expressions of political opinion with repression.

In an effort to silence dissent, Russian authorities have engaged in the harassment, intimidation, and persecution of civil society members, human rights defenders, journalists, opposition figures, and anyone speaking out against Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. This systemic political repression has resulted in many arbitrary and unlawful detentions; subsequently many prisoners, particularly those imprisoned for political reasons, have reportedly been subjected to torture and other mistreatment at the hands of the state.

States are obliged under international law to treat all individuals deprived of their liberty with humanity and respect for their inherent dignity; they must also respect fair trial guarantees. Yet credible reports indicate that political prisoners in Russia face sexual and gender-based violence, threats of sexual abuse, and prolonged punitive detention in isolation cells. They are often deprived of access to adequate medical care, refused prompt access to their lawyers, and are denied contact with family members.

The sudden death of Alexei Navalny in a Russian penal colony, following years of detention in poor conditions which, according to UN experts, amounted to torture and ill-treatment, is tragically emblematic of state repression in Russia.

Our governments also remain deeply concerned about the ongoing detention of Vladimir Kara-Murza, who we spoke of last week in this Council. Russian authorities have callously disregarded Mr Kara-Murza’s declining health, refusing him the urgent medical treatment he needs. His degrading and inhumane prison conditions are clearly designed to inflict further damage to both his physical and mental health. We again call on the Russian authorities to release him immediately on humanitarian grounds.

We reiterate our call to the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those unjustly imprisoned in Russia on political grounds, including: Oleg Orlov, leader of the Nobel Prize winning human rights organization Memorial who proudly declared that he opposed the war; journalist Maria Ponomarenko, for telling the truth about the conduct of the Russian Army; Alexandra Skochilenko, who received a seven-year sentence for posting anti-war stickers in a food store; Evgenia Berkovich for anti-war poetry; activists in the Navalny anti-corruption foundation Lilia Chaysheva, Ksenia Fadeeva, Vadim Ostanin, Alina Olekhnovich, and Ivan Trofimov; and also, IIgor Baryshnikov, Alexey Gorinov, and Ilya Yashin. And we reiterate our call for the immediate and unconditional release of the three OSCE employees detained by Russia: Vadym Golda, Maxim Petrov and Dmytro Shabanov.

These are just a few examples from a very long list. In addition to administrative punishment, foreign agent designations and other restrictions, human rights organization OVD-INFO calculates that there have been 1447 politically motivated criminal prosecutions in Russia since 2022.

We call on Russia to respond to the Vienna Mechanism and to take due account of the recommendations made by the Moscow Mechanism Rapporteur in 2022 and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Russia in 2023. The latter expressly called for Russia to ensure an independent and impartial investigation of “all allegations of torture and ill-treatment in custody” and to prosecute and hold accountable those responsible.

The Kremlin’s utter disregard for its human rights obligations and its OSCE commitments is a legitimate point of discussion for this Council. We call upon the Russian government to respect its human rights obligations, to allow dissenting voices to express their views without fear of persecution, to end the use of arbitrary and unlawful detention, and to ensure that all those detained are treated with dignity and have access to adequate medical care.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 18 April 2024.

Ambassador Neil Holland thanks the three OSCE Committee chairs for their work to uphold OSCE principles and commitments.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the Chairs of the three Committees for presenting today. Dear Peter, Florian, Anne-Marie: we support the approaches you have proposed. What runs clearly through each is that OSCE Committees strive to uphold the principles and commitments that we have all signed up to as members of this organisation. Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine strikes at the very heart of these commitments and principles. Russia’s war must continue to command our full attention.

Dear Peter, we welcome your appointment and proposed work-plan, particularly your focus on cyber and online activity. 2024 is an important year for democratic institutions and processes. Millions of voters go to the polls in elections, in the UK and elsewhere across our region. This presents a significant opportunity for interference and influence by malign actors. We must be vigilant and increase our awareness of these threats.

Dear Florian, we welcome your continued leadership and work plan, particularly your proposal to hold sessions on food security and connectivity. Instability has a significant detrimental impact on the economies and environment across our region, and the UK values the Economic and Environmental Committee’s flexible approach to respond to new threats on the ground.

Dear Anne-Marie, we welcome your continued leadership and proposed work plan. The UK especially welcomes the work you – with the Chair in forthcoming Supplementary Meetings – continue to lead with civil society. Thematic meetings this year on freedom of the media, torture, and cultural heritage in particular, provide an important platform to review the growing challenges to implementation of our human rights commitments. The UK will continue to work with you, as with the CiO, ODIHR, RFOM and others to defend the OSCE’s vital human dimension commitments and institutions, and to spotlight ways in which internal repression in some participating States has undermined shared security in the OSCE region.

Madam Chair, we need the OSCE now more than ever. Our shared principles and commitments sit at the heart of Euro-Atlantic security, and we will continue to work in the three Committees, with you as our CiO, and the Secretariat, institutions, and field missions – to uphold them. For Ukraine of course, but also for all of us in this room. Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 18 April 2024.

The UK sanctioned a further 7 individuals and 6 entities that enabled Iran’s destabilising activity in the Middle East, including its direct attack on Israel.

Today (Thursday 18 April) the UK has sanctioned a further 7 individuals and 6 entities who have enabled Iran to conduct destabilising regional activity, including its direct attack on Israel.

This adds to the 400 plus sanctions already imposed on Iran. Previous sanctions include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in its entirety and many of those responsible for the attack on Israel.

In a coordinated package with the US, leading Iranian military figures have been sanctioned in response to Iran’s dangerous direct attack on Israel on 14 April. The UK and US have also announced a range of sanctions to tighten the net on key actors within Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and missile industries and further limit Iran’s ability to destabilise the region.

The Foreign Secretary announced these sanctions during his attendance at the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Capri, where the UK and our allies reaffirmed support for Israel’s security and the security of all our regional partners.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

The Iranian regime’s attack against Israel was a reckless act and a dangerous escalation.

Today we have sanctioned the ringleaders of the Iranian military and forces responsible for the weekend’s attack.

These sanctions – announced with the US – show we unequivocally condemn this behaviour, and they will further limit Iran’s ability to destabilise the region.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said:

At a time of great tension in the Middle East, Iran’s decision to launch hundreds of drones and missiles towards Israel carried with it a serious risk of thousands of civilian casualties and wider escalation for the region.

The sanctions announced today alongside the US demonstrate our unequivocal condemnation of Iran’s attack on a sovereign state.

The MSC Aries and its crew should be released immediately, and Iran should halt its reckless and unlawful behaviour. Further escalation is in no one’s interest.

The UK has condemned Iran’s dangerous attack on a sovereign state, which has further inflamed tensions in the Middle East and served to further isolate Iran on the world stage. Today’s designations have been made under the UK’s new Iran sanctions regime, which enables the UK to target Iran’s hostile behaviour.

Further sanctions have been imposed on:

• Armed Forces General Staff: directs and coordinates Iran’s armed forces
• The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy: 1 of Iran’s 2 naval forces
• The Khatemolanbia Central Headquarters (KCHQ): responsible for operational command and control of Iran’s armed forces
• Major General Gholamali Rashid, Commander KCHQ: responsible for operational command and control of Iran’s armed forces, reports directly to the Supreme Leader
• Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, Minister of Defence Armed Forces Logistics: Iran’s Defence Minister, responsible for supporting and equipping the Iranian armed forces
• Seid Mir Ahmad Nooshin, Aerospace Industries Organisation (AIO) Director and 4 further individuals related to AIO

The individuals sanctioned are subject to a travel ban and asset freeze. The entities are subject to an asset freeze.

The IRGC Navy was involved in seizing the civilian ship MSC Aries in international waters and has threatened military action against Israel. The UK has continued to call for the immediate release of the ship and its crew.

In 2023 alone, the UK made 154 new designations. The UK continues to tighten the net on actors involved in the Iranian UAV and missile industries. Last year the UK introduced trade measures prohibiting the export of specific UAV components and services to Iran. The UK has also designated a wide range of companies involved in production of Iranian UAVs, including the Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 drones – models which Iran has supplied to Russia. These types of drones were also used by Iran in its attack on Israel.

The UK is continuing to work closely with our partners in the G7 as we consider further measures to hold Iran’s regime to account.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 18 April 2024.

UK and 40 other OSCE States regret Russia’s lack of response to Vienna Mechanism of March 2024 on prison conditions in Russia.

Mr. Chairperson,

On Thursday 22nd of March, Albania, Andorra, Austria, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States expressed deep concern regarding severe human rights violations occurring in the Russian Federation.

By invoking the Vienna (Human Dimension) Mechanism and highlighting the obligations of the Russian Federation under this Mechanism, the aligned countries requested concrete and substantial responses to seven questions regarding arbitrary or unjust arrests and detentions in Russia, the targeting of political opposition members, as well as torture and mistreatment in Russian detention facilities and prisons.

Regrettably, the Russian Federation has not responded in accordance with the commitments of the Vienna Mechanism within the 10-day deadline. In fact, it has now been 27 days without any response.

The world does not yet know exactly what transpired in the final hours before the death of Alexei Navalny. Navalny’s legacy of courageous advocacy against corruption and for a free and democratic Russia continues to resonate. Many imprisoned members of the opposition remain incarcerated and their lives are still in grave danger. Among those at risk is Vladimir Kara-Murza, a human rights activist, politician, journalist, and historian who has survived two poisoning attempts and who serves 25-year prison term in inhumane conditions and without access to urgent medical care.

Another prisoner, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced in December 2022 to eight-and-a-half years in prison for statements he made on his YouTube channel about reported war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russian armed forces in the city of Bucha in Ukraine’s Kyiv region. In February 2024, Russia’s Ministry of Justice designated Oleg Orlov as a so-called “foreign agent”, citing his opposition to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and accusing him of spreading “false information” about the government’s actions. Later that month, a Moscow court found Orlov guilty, sentencing him to two years and six months in a penal colony for allegedly “discrediting” the Russian army.

Sadly, these are only a few examples of the continued widespread and systematic suppression of independent voices by Russian authorities. We call on Russia to immediately and unconditionally release all arbitrarily detained persons.

We remain gravely concerned about reports of escalated and politically motivated prosecution based on ambiguous claims such as “extremism” and “false information”. The growing complexity within the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the Law on Associations, and the Code of Administrative Offences—coupled with credible reports of torture and ill-treatment in Russian places of detention—demands our close attention.

In reference to relevant OSCE commitments, including the 1989 Vienna Concluding Document, the 1990 CSCE/OSCE Copenhagen Document, the 1991 Document of the Moscow meeting of the conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE, the 2004 Sofia Ministerial Council Decision on Preventing and Combating Torture, the 2006 Brussels Declaration on Criminal Justice Systems, and the 2020 Tirana Ministerial Council Decision on the prevention and eradication of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, we urgently request that the Russian Federation provide concrete and substantial responses to our questions without any further delay. We remind that all OSCE participating States have agreed that commitments undertaken in the field of the human dimension are matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States and do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the State concerned.

The silence from the Russian Federation is not in line with the OSCE commitments in the field of the human dimension. Let me therefore emphasize that we will persist in seeking answers to our concerns by exploring relevant meetings, mechanisms, and committees available to us within the OSCE structures and other multilateral arenas.

I thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 18 April 2024.

Ambassador Holland responds to the report presentation by Ambassador Wahl, Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Firstly, I would like to welcome back Ambassador Wahl to the Permanent Council. Thank you for the work of your team over the last year, and for this comprehensive report.

The United Kingdom highly appreciates the work and added value of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, and the Mission’s support to government reforms. We particularly recognise the important role played by the OSCE Mission in supporting North Macedonia to deliver its priorities as Chair-in-Office last year. I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to North Macedonia for its excellent Chairpersonship of the OSCE in 2023, and as a valued member of the Troika this year.

Madam Chair, as North Macedonia heads to the polls for presidential and parliamentary elections in the coming weeks, the OSCE – particularly ODIHR and the Mission to Skopje – will continue to have a vital role to play in supporting reforms. We encourage the Government of North Macedonia to follow up on the remaining ODIHR recommendations on electoral reforms, including those highlighted in the ODIHR Election Observation Mission interim report, issued last week.

We positively note the Mission’s achievements over the past 12 months, set out in detail in your report. We particularly welcome your continued engagement to promote social cohesion and community rights, and your support on integrated education – including work in the last 12 months to baseline standards of education in minority language communities.

The UK is also pleased to note the Mission’s continued commitment to gender mainstreaming in all programmatic work. Your report highlights some excellent initiatives mainstreaming gender equality into North Macedonia’s law- and policy-making processes – including the development of training on gender aspects of corruption, and through the successful handover of the Mission’s flagship Gender Mentoring Programme to North Macedonia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Madam Chair, the United Kingdom and North Macedonia have developed a strong and supportive bilateral relationship since we established diplomatic relations 30 years ago. The UK will remain a strong supporter of North Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic path, and we look forward to working with the incoming government towards these ends. I have no doubt that the OSCE Mission to Skopje will continue to have an important role to play in supporting the next government to deliver its priorities.

Thank you, Ambassador Wahl. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 18 April 2024.

Joint Press Statement by the Permanent Representatives of the United States, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

We unequivocally condemn the April 13 attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its militant partners on the State of Israel, which involved launching several hundred ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and attack drones against multiple targets, and note this large-scale attack could have caused significant damage and loss of life.

We further condemn the fact that the weapons launched at Israel violated the airspace of several regional states, putting at risk the lives of innocent people in those countries, and appeared to traverse airspace near holy sites in Jerusalem.

We welcome the efforts to avert a further immediate escalation of violence in the region, following the successful coordinated efforts to defend against Iran’s attack.

We condemn Iran’s unlawful seizure of a Portuguese-flagged commercial ship near the Strait of Hormuz on April 13 and call on Iran to release the ship and its international crew immediately.

We note that Iran’s escalatory attack is the latest in a pattern of dangerous and destabilizing actions by Iran and its militant partners that pose a grave threat to international peace and security.

We call on all regional parties to take steps to avert further escalation of the situation and demand that all Council resolutions be fully implemented. We will strengthen our diplomatic cooperation to work toward resolving all tensions in the region.