Tag: Foreign Office

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 March 2024.

The UK delivered a statement on 6 February 2024 during Malta’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council.

Thank you,

The United Kingdom welcomes Malta’s strong record on human rights, including on LGBT+ rights. Malta’s commitment to the rights of LGBT+ people was further evidenced last year during their successful hosting of EuroPride.

The United Kingdom also notes the continued efforts of the Maltese government to deliver reforms regarding media freedom and the rule of law. In particular the United Kingdom recognises Malta’s efforts to deliver against the recommendations of the public inquiry into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

We recommend that Malta:

1. Review progress against all the recommendations of the public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia to make clear what the next steps will be.
2. To continue to drive progress on gender issues, in particular women’s rights, as well as use their seat on the UNSC to advocate for Women, Peace and Security.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 March 2024.

UK Statement for the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and any other child sexual abuse material.

Thank you, Mr Vice-President,

We thank the Special Rapporteur for her recent report and continued work on this important issue.

We are committed to preventing the worst forms of child labour, including child sexual exploitation and abuse online and within at-risk communities around the world.

In the UK, we are prioritising making it the safest place for children to be online with our Online Safety Act legislation. The Act puts the strongest protections in place for children and places clear legal duties on platforms to report, remove and limit child sexual abuse material on platforms – including in end-to-end encrypted environments.

We also support an Action-Research-Innovation programme in South and South-Eastern Asia, “CLARISSA”, which has increased knowledge on the worst forms of child labour in the adult entertainment sector. Through innovative participatory research, this programme has shown the value of engaging both children and business owners to better understand the sector’s complexity. This, in turn, supports interventions that address children’s rights violations and successfully reduce child exploitation.

Special Rapporteur, how can states foster better international coordination to reduce child sexual exploitation and abuse across all sectors?

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 March 2024.

Statement by UK Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Joanna Roper, at the 105th Executive Council.

Mr Chair, Director General, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, let me begin by thanking Ambassador Fatu for a year of dedicated service to this Council. His leadership has driven important progress, including on issues that we have been struggling to resolve for many years.

I also thank Director General Arias for his report reflecting on the work of the Technical Secretariat. We are encouraged by the level of progress in a number of priority areas, building upon the momentum generated in 2023. The UK is committed fully to supporting the Technical Secretariat’s programme of work in the coming year, including on enhancing geographical and other forms of representation including gender balance and tackling emerging threats.

Mr Chair, this organisation rightly celebrates the Convention’s success, but we are reminded too of the threat that chemical weapons continue to pose. My Prime Minister expressed his shock at the recent death of Alexei Navalny, noting that “He died for a cause for which he dedicated his whole life, freedom”. His shocking poisoning by Russia in 2020 using Novichok is a stark reminder of the modern threat we face.

This week we also mark the sixth anniversary of the Novichok nerve agent attack in Salisbury. Five people were injured and Dawn Sturgess, poisoned in nearby Amesbury, tragically died. Only the Russian state had the technical means, operational experience and the motive to carry out the attack.

The attack in Salisbury and the 2020 poisoning of Alexei Navalny demonstrate Russia’s utter contempt for the basic principles that sit at the heart of the CWC. This contempt for international law extends to Putin’s illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine. Two years since the beginning of Putin’s war, we continue to see evidence of Russian use of riot control agents, in clear breach of Article I of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The UK stands with Ukraine and any use of chemical weapons in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would bring severe consequences.

Mr Chair, I would like to acknowledge the IIT’s expert and diligent work to deliver the report published on 22 February, which found reasonable grounds to believe that Daesh were responsible for a sulphur mustard attack in Marea in September 2015. This report further confirms Daesh’s use of chemical weapons in Syria. Independent reports from the JIM and IIT have now attributed a total of 4 chemical weapon attacks to Daesh and a further 9 to the Syrian regime.

We call on all States Parties and the Technical Secretariat to implement in full the Decision adopted at the 28th Conference of States Parties on ‘Addressing the Threat from Chemical Weapons Use and the Threat of Future Use’. This Decision will help us to mitigate the continuing, serious risks presented by both the Syrian Regime and non-state actors to Syrian civilians and regional security.

Mr Chair, as we enter 2024, the work of the OPCW is more important than ever. We welcome the approval of the biennial budget at the 28th Conference of States Parties and decisions taken in November to improve the long-term viability of this crucial organisation. Yet, the threat of future chemical attack by both state and non-state actors demonstrates the need for us all to work even more intensively to ensure chemical weapon use is confined to history. Let me close by thanking the Director General and colleagues for working so hard to pursue this outcome. Thank you Mr Chair.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 4 April 2024.

Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at UN General Assembly on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

President, the civilian suffering in Gaza cannot continue.

Hunger has reached devastating levels.

Disease is on the rise.

People are crammed into ever smaller slivers of land, with nowhere left to go.

Last week, the UK and Jordan air-dropped four tonnes of life-saving aid to the Tal Al-Hawa hospital in northern Gaza.

We also announced an additional $5.4 million in aid to ensure UNFPA can continue to provide life-saving support to more than 100,000 vulnerable women and girls in Gaza.

As my Prime Minister has told Prime Minister Netanyahu and regional leaders, we are deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah.

Over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering in the area, and the Rafah crossing is vital to ensure aid can reach the people who so desperately need it.

The deaths of people in Gaza waiting for an aid convoy last week were horrific.

There must be an urgent investigation and accountability.

This must not happen again.

And we cannot separate what happened from the inadequate aid supplies.

In February, only half the number of trucks crossed into Gaza that crossed in January.

This is simply unconscionable.

President, Israel has an obligation to ensure that significantly more humanitarian aid reaches the people of Gaza.

We have identified a series of bottlenecks that need addressing: Israel must urgently open more crossings into Gaza; eliminate bureaucratic obstacles; enable aid operations in Gaza; and ensure there is a robust de-confliction mechanism in place to protect ordinary Palestinians, NGOs, medical staff and others providing aid.

This latest tragedy serves only to underscore the importance of securing an immediate end in fighting, leading to a permanent and sustainable ceasefire.

The negotiations led by Egypt, Qatar and the US are the only way to get lifesaving aid in at the scale needed and to free the hostages currently held by Hamas.

Such a deal would offer the basis from which to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and lasting peace.

The elements essential to achieving this are: first, the release of all hostages.

Second, the formation of a new Palestinian Government for the West Bank and Gaza, accompanied by an international support package.

Third, removing Hamas’s capability to launch attacks against Israel.

Fourth, Hamas no longer being in charge of Gaza.

Fifth, and finally, a political horizon which provides a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution, with a clear commitment to grant Palestine recognition, including at the United Nations.

I thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 4 March 2024.

HRC55: UK Statement for Item 2 General Debate. Delivered by the UK’s Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French.

High Commissioner,

We continue to support implementation of the peace agreement, as South Sudan works towards credible and peaceful elections. But accountability remains severely limited and we urge this Council to extend the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights.

In Sudan, warring parties must be held accountable for the egregious human rights violations and abuses. We call for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire and a return to a civilian-led democratic transition.

We urge President Ortega to fully respect the human rights of all Nicaraguans and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners.

Civil society in Libya continues to face restrictions and regular reprisals by armed groups and security actors. The UK urges all sides to engage in the UN-facilitated Libyan-led political process in good faith.

Civilians are paying the price for the conflict in Amhara and Oromia in Ethiopia. Civilians must be protected and we offer our assistance to find peaceful resolution and support for reconciliation and transitional justice.

High Commissioner, it has been 18 months since your office published its Xinjiang Assessment. We have still seen no progress or meaningful engagement by China on its recommendations. We welcome an update from your office on this.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 4 March 2024.

HRC55 Item 2 General Debate: Sri Lanka. Core Group Statement delivered by the UK’s Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French.

Thank you, Mr President.

This statement is on behalf of the Sri Lanka Core Group comprising Canada, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

High Commissioner,

There have been several important legislative developments regarding human rights, reconciliation and civic space. Unfortunately, some of these developments give cause for concern.

The Online Safety Act has the potential to severely restrict online communication and could potentially criminalise nearly all forms of expression, creating an environment that has a chilling effect on freedom of expression. We urge the government to enact amendments to align the Act with Sri Lanka’s human rights obligations and commitments.

We continue to call for the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to be replaced with legislation that is consistent with Sri Lanka’s international obligations. We acknowledge the recent release of nine Tamil leaders detained last November.  We encourage the release of unjustly held long-term PTA detainees and for Sri Lanka to maintain a moratorium on its use.

While we note the government’s efforts to establish a Commission on Truth, Unity and Reconciliation, we stress the importance of an inclusive participatory process to build trust in advance of any legislation. Any future commission must be independent, inclusive, meaningful, and transparent, meet the expectations of affected communities, build upon previous transitional justice processes, and provide pathways for accountability.

As the government brings forward other legislation with potentially serious implications for fundamental freedoms and civic space, we encourage comprehensive consultations with stakeholders, including civil society, and due legislative process.

We welcome the government’s stated commitments on land releases but note with concern reports of increased tensions around land seizures in the north and, particularly, the east of the country.

High Commissioner,

We urge the government to engage with you and your office to address these and other challenges, and we remain ready to support Sri Lanka in addressing HRC resolution 51/1.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 4 March 2024.

Lieutenant General Sir Ben Bathurst KCVO, CBE has been appointed Governor of Gibraltar in succession to Vice Admiral Sir David Steel KBE, DL. Sir Ben Bathurst will take up his appointment during June 2024.

Curriculum vitae

Full name: Benjamin John Bathurst

Dates	Role
2024 to present	Pre-posting activities, plus voluntary role as Army Commissioner for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
2020 to 2023	Brussels, UK Delegation to NATO, UK Military Representative to NATO and the EU
2016 to 2019	London, Major General Commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District
2015 to 2016	London, Royal College of Defence Studies
2014 to 2015	Kabul, Senior British Military Representative-Afghanistan
2011 to 2014	Army Headquarters, Andover, Director Training (Army)
2010 to 2011	Pirbright, Commander, Initial Training Group
2008 to 2009	Baghdad, Deputy Director Strategy Policy & Assessment
2006 to 2008	Ministry of Defence, Director Public Relations (Army)
2004 to 2006	St Athan, Wales; Maysan, Iraq; London: Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards
2003 to 2004	Baghdad, Deputy Combined Joint Operations 5
2001 to 2003	Ministry of Defence, NATO and EU Policy
1999 to 2001	Ministry of Defence, Equipment Capability Anti-Armour Systems
1987 to 2000	Appointments/Detachments from 1st Battalion Welsh Guards   with 4 tours of Northern Ireland; Bosnia; Belize; Canada; Germany
1987	Commissioned into Welsh Guards from Sandhurst

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 4 March 2024.

Statement by Deputy Political Coordinator Thomas Phipps at the UN Security Council meeting on Syria.

Thank you President and thank you Director Ebo for your comprehensive briefing this morning.

President, as we heard from Director Ebo this morning, the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification Team released its fourth report on 22 February.

This latest report attributed responsibility to Daesh for a sulphur mustard attack in Marea on 1 September 2015.

We commend the continued professionalism and expertise of the IIT and we condemn this confirmed use of chemical weapons in Syria by Daesh.

The UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism and the OPCW have now confirmed nine uses of chemical weapons by the Assad regime; and four by Daesh.

Any use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere at any time is unacceptable.

And we regret that we cannot exclude the possibility of further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime or by non-state actors in Syria.

President, Syria continues to fail to fulfil its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and under this Council’s Resolution 2118.

As we have said many times in this chamber, the outstanding issues with Syria’s initial chemical weapons declaration that Director Ebo covered this morning are not academic.

They include the fate of several hundred tonnes of chemical warfare agents and thousands of chemical munitions.

Instability in the region increases the risk of proliferation of chemical weapons to non-state actors.

We need to remain focused on the risk that non-state actors develop, acquire or use chemical weapons.

All states should meet their obligations under Resolution 1540 to ensure appropriate mechanisms are in place to counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction as well as their means of delivery.

President, Syria’s obstructive behaviour and failure to declare in full its chemical weapons stockpile gives no grounds for confidence in Syria’s handling of the chemicals and precursors that we know it retains.

At the Chemical Weapons Convention Conference of States Parties in November 2023, states parties adopted a Decision on ‘Addressing the Threat from Chemical Weapons Use and the Threat of Future Use.’

Despite the spin that our Russian colleagues attempted to put on this decision, its function was very clear.

It recommends that States Parties review and enhance domestic measures on the transfer of toxic dual use chemicals and materials to Syria; and secondly, it calls on states parties to strengthen cooperation at the OPCW on tackling the threat of chemical weapon use by non-state actors.

President, in the week in which Russia has called a Security Council meeting on the NATO intervention in Yugoslavia that took place 25 years ago, it’s rich that our Russian colleagues say that these meetings are pointless.

Because until Syria cooperates constructively and transparently with the OPCW, until Syria grants unfettered access to the OPCW Declaration Assessment Team and until Syria fully declares and destroys its chemical weapons, this Council should also remain focused on this clear ongoing threat to international peace and security.

Thank you President.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 4 March 2024.

The UK has allocated £1.5 million for International Planned Parenthood Federation which has provided sexual and reproductive health services for vulnerable women and girls in Ukraine.

The UK has allocated £1.5 million for International Planned Parenthood Federation which has provided sexual health and reproductive health services for the most vulnerable women and girls in Ukraine.

These services have helped protect the most at risk by ensuring they have access to vital sexual and reproductive healthcare, including mobile clinics and access to safe abortion care. This funding has supported over 20,000 people to access vital medical care since July 2022 and provided sexual health information to over 100,000 people.

The UK has already pledged over £4.7 billion in non-military support to Ukraine, including £357 million in humanitarian assistance since the start of full-scale invasion. This vital funding includes activities addressing the specific needs of women and girls living in conflict zones, including life-saving assistance to help tackle gender-based violence, safe spaces, mobile medical clinics, and sexual and reproductive health services.

As part of her work as a champion of the UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, the Duchess of Edinburgh spoke via video message at the Restoration of the Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Survivors’ Rights Conference, alongside First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska. Her Royal Highness called for survivors to receive holistic support, for their voices to be heard and for survivors’ rights to remain at the heart of international work to eradicate conflict-related sexual violence and ensure justice and accountability.

Addressing the conference via video, the Duchess of Edinburgh said:

Survivors here and around the world have spoken out so bravely about their experiences. They are the most powerful advocates who remind us all that we must not turn our backs on the horrors of this crime, we must never forget the survivors.

Rather, we must stand shoulder to shoulder with all survivors to secure justice and holistic redress and ensure that this crime isn’t an accepted part of conflict. Their rights and their voices must be at the heart of all our efforts to consign conflict-related sexual violence to the history books.

The UK is working with international partners to hold those responsible to account. In addition to providing financial and technical assistance to the International Criminal Court, we have deployed specialist UK war crimes and conflict related sexual violence experts to the region, and created an expert Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group with the EU and US.

Speaking at the Conference via video, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon is expected to say:

The commitment of our Ukrainian colleagues and the courage demonstrated by ordinary citizens in the most challenging of circumstances are truly inspiring.

The UK will continue to support them, including through the Office of the Prosecutor General, to secure accountability for the perpetrators, and  justice for survivors.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 1 March 2024.

UK statement for the Enhanced Interactive dialogue on the report of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in the Sudan (with assistance of designated Expert). Delivered by UK Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French.

Madame Vice-President,

This statement is on behalf of the Core Group for Sudan – Germany, Norway, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Thank you, High Commissioner and Mr Nouicer, for your continued reporting on the situation in Sudan to this Council, and your engagement with the warring parties and other key actors to push for an end to the fighting.

Madame Vice-President,

We welcome the strong statements from the international community condemning the continued violence and supporting the need for accountability, including the latest resolution from the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, which welcomed the establishment of the Fact Finding Mission.

The situation in Sudan is catastrophic.  No part of the country, or indeed any neighbouring country, has been unaffected.  We again call on the leaderships of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to stop the fighting, end the obstruction of humanitarian assistance, implement immediately the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, and start talking peace rather than waging war.

We will continue to support all efforts to silence the guns and achieve justice, particularly those by the UN, African Union (AU), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Sudanese civilians and other key actors, in the hope that Sudan might finally know a lasting peace and a democratic future, with full respect for human rights.

Thank you.