Tag: Foreign Office

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 6 September 2022.

Thank you President,

Let me join others in thanking our Chinese colleagues for a successful and well-run Presidency in the month of August and in congratulating France on assuming their Presidency for September. We wish you the best and you can count on our support.

I also thank Under-Secretary-General Lacroix for his briefing and his continued leadership of UN peacekeeping.

President, on behalf of the United Kingdom. I pay tribute to those peacekeepers who lost their lives this year. Peacekeeping relies on the dedication of our personnel. We must do all that we can to support them – to provide the necessary training and equipment, improve awareness of threats, and ensure appropriate medical provision.

The UK continues to play its part, training thousands of peacekeepers each year. As a top contributor of extra-budgetary funds – donating more than $3.5m in 2021 – we are supporting key reforms in areas such as peacekeeping intelligence, situational awareness and tackling sexual exploitation and abuse. We provided expertise to support the IED review referred to by USG Lacroix earlier today.

Since 2020, UK peacekeepers deployed in MINUSMA have demonstrated the value of new, proactive approaches to protection of civilians, reconnaissance and civilian-military coordination.

We are encouraged by the ongoing implementation of the Integrated Peacekeeping Performance and Accountability Framework, which should underpin higher standards of safety and security and mandate delivery. And we continue to support evidence-based assessment of mission performance and integrated planning through the Comprehensive Performance and Assessment System.

We also remain committed to advancing the participation of women through UK support for the Senior Women Talent Pipeline and the Elsie Initiative Fund, to which we have contributed $7.5m to date.

President, in the last year peacekeeping operations have faced challenges which hamper mandate delivery and threaten safety and security. Thanks to Brazil, in July we discussed the increasing threat posed by anti-UN disinformation campaigns in contexts such as Mali and the CAR, following the deployment of the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group, as well as in the DRC. And we have seen numerous examples of freedom of movement restrictions and violations of status of forces agreements in Mali, Abyei and elsewhere. As USG Lacroix said, the UN should address rising levels of distrust through better strategic communication, but host governments must also uphold their responsibilities to protect UN personnel and comply with status of forces agreements.

The UK will remain a strong supporter of the Action for Peacekeeping agenda and A4P+ priorities. We call on all stakeholders to play their part in making UN peacekeeping the best it can be.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 September 2022.

A tribute from HE the Governor on the occasion of Her Majesty’s 96th Birthday and Her Platinum Jubilee as a nation comes together to celebrate. Delivered on 4 June 2022.

Good morning, Turks and Caicos, and a particularly warm welcome to all who are with us in the nation’s Capital celebrating not only Her Majesty’s 96th Birthday, but also her Platinum Jubilee – an extraordinary 70 years of unbroken service and making Her Majesty the longest-reigning monarch in British History.

Before saying another thing, let me commend those on parade today for your turnout, your foot and rifle drill, and most importantly your service. The ‘shine’ our security and emergency services show here on parade ground, belies the necessary ‘grime’ of their day-to-day efforts on behalf of our Territory. We all thank you for your service. Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in a round of applause recognising your uniformed services.

Over the last three years I’ve come to understand your respective roles but also how that work impacts on your families and your wider lives. For your families here, supporting you, as they support you every working day of your life, I pass on my personal thanks.

With the mention of families and children, given this extraordinary 70 year Jubilee, I am going to focus on the early years of Her Majesty’s reign because I hope, even with the distance of time, young people here with us today will be able to appreciate what it must have been like for Her Majesty, as both a child and as a young woman, to assume enormous lifelong responsibilities and then stick to her vows. In this I do think she is a global role-model.

We often associate hefty responsibilities with those in middle, or later age, but leadership and the burden of service can – and at times must – be shouldered by the young. Given the impact the Pandemic had on youth and youth activities it is so heartening to see the Cadets, Scouts and Cubs here on parade in such numbers and looking so grand. So, Mums and Dads, Uncles and Aunts, brothers, and sisters, let’s recognise our young people with us today, on parade, who carried themselves and their Turks and Caicos Islands Flags with such exuberance and joy.

None of us know – least of all our children – what their futures hold and our Queen, as a young child, did not expect to be Monarch. Her destiny changed on the unexpected abdication of her Uncle – Edward VIII – when her father George VI, assumed the Throne.

As a result, the now Queen made her first radio broadcast in the early months of the Second World War when, aged just 14, she recorded a message on the BBC in support of young people across Europe evacuated from their homes: “I can say to you all” – she said – “that we children at home are full of cheerfulness and courage”. “We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war.”

Princess Elizabeth’s first solo public engagement was on her 16th birthday, when she inspected the Grenadier Guards at Windsor Castle. During the war, she remained with the Royal Family in London even as Buckingham Palace was bombed. She enlisted becoming the first woman in the Royal Family to join the armed services as a full-time, active member and learned to be a vehicle mechanic.

At just 18, Princess Elizabeth was appointed a Counsellor of State during the Kings absence as he toured Italian battlefields and for the first time, she carried out some of the duties of Head of State. On Victory in Europe Day, she and her sister Princess Margaret, aged 19 and 14 respectively, joined the crowds in London incognito, Princess Elizabeth with her military cap pulled down over her face.

In 1947, Princess Elizabeth, then 21, married Prince Philip of Greece. The couple went on to have four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. Queen Elizabeth now has three generations of heirs in line for the monarchy. Her son Charles, Prince of Wales, is followed by her grandson, William, the Duke of Cambridge, and the newest heir, her great grandson, George.

In February 1952, Elizabeth became Queen at just 25, after her father died of cancer. Three million people lined the route from Westminster Abbey back to Buckingham Palace after her coronation ceremony. Britain was slowly emerging from the privations of wartime, rationing and shortages. The sudden accession of a beautiful 25-year-old woman, someone the public had watched since she was an infant, created newfound hope. Prime Minister Winston Churchill talked about “a new Elizabethan age” to shed the sorrows and losses of war.

To place this in context she became our Queen while we in TCI were still a dependency of Jamaica. It would take a further 10 years before John Glenn would splash down just off Grand Turk following his three orbits of the earth, a further 21 years before TCI had its first Governor and 24 years until JAGS McCartney won the 1976 election.

She has, as a result, been on the throne during the time in office of 14 British Prime Ministers and 14 US Presidents. She has been Defender of the Faith during the time of 7 Popes – of whom she has met four – and she has seen the baton pass nine times between Secretary Generals of the United Nations while she has been Head of the Commonwealth. A remarkable record of Service and of experience.

Importantly I think, for us here today, the Queen is a committed Christian and churchgoer and has often spoken of her faith in her speeches and broadcasts. In her 2014 Christmas Broadcast she said: “For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose birth we celebrate today, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life”. “A role model of reconciliation and forgiveness, he stretched out his hands in love, acceptance and healing. Christ’s example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people of whatever faith or none.

The longest overseas tour that the Queen has undertaken began in Bermuda in November 1953 and ended in Gibraltar in May 1954. She was away for 168 days. The greatest number of countries that the Queen has visited in one trip is 14. This was during her 1966 trip to the Caribbean which included TCI.

Looking back many, including myself, are fond of recalling the words Her Majesty said on her 21st Birthday – “I declare before you all, that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.” Isn’t it inspiring to think of a young woman, making such a profound promise, on her 21st Birthday and then living up to that promise – all the way through her life to her 96th Birthday.

If I were to be presumptuous, and suggest what Her Majesty’s greatest accomplishment is, it would have to be the Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth, then still in her 20s, threw herself behind a fledgling group her father had initially overseen. The Queen made the Commonwealth a priority and, under her stewardship, it has grown from eight members to 54 members today. In the words of her son, Prince Charles: “As a family of some 2.6 billion people, from fifty-four nations across six continents, the Commonwealth represents a rich diversity of traditions, experience and talents which can help to build a more equal, sustainable and prosperous future”. Helping build a global organisation second only to the United Nations in size, is a remarkable and positive legacy.

Now, back to the Parade ground. We will be presenting medals today to those on Parade who have served for 18, 25 and 30 years. There are many not on Parade today who will receive their awards separately. To commemorate the Jubilee, those who completed five full years of service, on 6 February 2022, in the Emergency Services and Armed Forces will also receive the Platinum Jubilee medal. It carries on it a Latin Inscription that translates as: “Elizabeth II, By the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith”. To not unduly keep those on Parade in the sun, many on Parade are already wearing their medal and, I will therefore present to just a representative sample.

I end on welcoming, for the first time on this Parade and stood beside the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force, a Force with a 220 year history, the newest addition to those who protect us; those who represent the Officers and Marines of our very own Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment. Not only the first time on this parade, it is also the first time they have worn their new ceremonial uniform which draws on the theme of their green berets and their affiliation with the largest – and to my mind the best – Infantry Regiment of the British Army – ‘The Rifles’.

The previous British Chief of Defence Staff (the most senior military officer in the UK across the Navy, Army and Royal Air Force) and the present Chief of the General Staff (the most senior officer in the British Army) are both ‘Rifles’ Officers and I’m grateful to them both for the support they have given us, not least in having one of their best Non-Commissioned Officers working permanently with our Marines.

Presently they number a little over 40 and they are set to grow again in the coming months by around 30 – and given their success we expect further growth next year. The majority are part-time volunteers, but they are consistently operational, in support of our Maritime Police and our Immigration Enforcement Team. They are the only Overseas Territory Military force operational every night, and their contribution is already significant. It would be fair to say their story has only just begun. I am incredibly proud to be able to take the salute at their first Queens Birthday Parade.

So in celebration of this Platinum Jubilee, may God Bless Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. May God bless the Turks and Caicos Islands. May God bless all those before me and everything you represent in terms of serving our people and securing our future. With that it only remains for me to say, in the words of the national anthem: ‘Long May She Reign Over us. God Save the Queen’.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 September 2022.

HE the Governor sets out why a support network for women in the police force is not only important in terms of helping change a culture within the Force, but also to support those in the Force from the extra pressures that other aspects of wider culture bring with it. Delivered on 23 May 2022.

A very good morning to you all.

I find myself asked to speak about women in policing. It will be self-evident to you that I am neither a women, nor a Police Officer, which makes what I have to say a little more challenging. The risks of being patronising, clumsy or simply irrelevant seem to me to be pretty high.

So let me start on safe ground. Given I rarely get to address such a large audience, of all ranks, what I can say – with complete confidence – is three important ‘thank yous’ to both female and male Police Officers.

The first is the way you all policed the pandemic. When Governor’s and Governments have emergency powers, when laws are being brought into play at pace, when a population is, at least initially, very fearful, when curfews are imposed and normal personal liberties suspended, any Police Force, anywhere in the world, could get the balance between policing with consent, and policing through coercion wrong – and some Forces did.

You – the RTCIPF – did not – and as a result you burnished rather than tarnished this Force’s reputation during that difficult time. I think you will see a longer term benefit to this as you roll out community policing. There are certainly important stakeholders in a variety of different communities who reference this period to me as a very positive example of measured policing.

Second, my thanks to you for what you do – day in, day out. I receive the emails from 911 that report serious crime, as it is ongoing, and as a result have a very good understanding of the intense tempo of work you and your male colleges tackle – on both land and at sea.

Sitting in the Cabinet room yesterday to hear a long burst of rapid gunfire linked to the incident at CIBC took me back to a different time, place and career. Please have no doubt that I do understand the courage you display daily – courage the public expect you to display and which I think they may rather take for granted. I do not take it for granted. That you run towards trouble, as others run away, is not lost on me.

The third thank you is one I give in advance. There’s little more we can do to prepare locally for hurricane season – each year there’s incremental improvement – but this year a post pandemic hurricane strike, as we bounce out of the difficult period of the last two years, stronger economically than we entered it, would be beyond unfortunate.

So much got put on hold because of the pandemic – Government’s bandwidth, indeed my own bandwidth, was all but overwhelmed in terms of controlling COVID while reigniting the economy and what we all want now is a clear run at delivering a whole range of changes that were delayed, and which the Territory needs.

However, if that calamity does occur then you – and the other uniformed services – come into your own. You did an amazing job in 2017 and I know the sacrifices you made – and the discipline you showed – in terms of prioritising the needs of a broken Territory, over and above the devastation in some of your personal lives – was remarkable. As I go into this hurricane season I can’t tell you what a reassurance it is knowing I have the RTCIPF, who have been tested on this recently, and not found wanting, stood alongside myself and the Premier and others who will be co-ordinating our response.

Now to the reason we are here. I’d been in the role of Governor for, I think, less than a month when I attended a ceremony to mark the departure of Commissioner James Smith and the promotion to Commissioner, of Mr Trevor Botting. My predecessor, Governor Freeman, had run the appointment process so this was the first time I was to hear the new Commissioner speak, let alone hear about his priorities. I knew I’d be interested because, being promoted from Deputy Commissioner, he would have seen the Force from a perspective where he was well informed.

I admit to being surprised, on two fronts. The first was that, of the three or so priorities he identified, one was to support women in the Force achieve their full potential. The second was that this was the one moment where there was spontaneous applause from the floor. There was clearly both a significant issue that could be seen from near the top of the Force, and experienced throughout the Force.

It made me think of a conversation I’d had some years earlier with a woman in my team – who I’d just given an outstanding appraisal to and we went on to talk about what was holding her back from going- eventually – for one of the top jobs in the organisation. Because to my mind that was a very straight-forward career path for her, from where she was.

She asked me to imagine how I would feel if every Line Manager I had, between myself (as a man) and the very top of the organisation – were occupied by women? What if every photograph on the wall, of every person who had led the organisation, was a woman. How would it feel – to me as a man – if the objectives of the organisation, determined in a previous century, had been seen as traditional roles that women delivered? And what, if as a result of these three things, the culture that had developed in the organisation was essentially a female culture.

In this situation – and bear in mind nothing I’ve so far said suggests any individual behaving in a way that was or is inappropriate – how would I see myself in terms of my own freedom of expression, my own ability to bring my whole self to work and most importantly how could I imagine myself at the top – or near the top – of that organisation as compared, say, to a female colleague who was joining alongside me and seemed to be immediately surrounded by leaders and organisational heroes wo looked like her.

My answer was – of course – that in those circumstances I would have found it very difficult. As a result of that conversation I do recognise – as I almost certainly didn’t recognise at the start of my career – how many advantages I had, that were not because of any talent or work ethic, but bestowed on me because the culture I had joined was a culture that was very much in the image that I saw myself.

So I think the first thing this network is, is a statement that the Force recognises there is this challenge and that for women in the Force to reach their full potential many things have to change but there certainly has to be a cultural shift. Culture does not change quickly, and embedded cultures – which organisations such as the RTCIPF has – frankly risk changing glacially – unless there is some form of forcing mechanism.

There will be pioneers within you who have already pushed hard on this agenda, or managed to navigate the present culture, but there’s a saying I rather like – because I‘ve experienced it – which is that it’s ‘the pioneers that take the arrows and the settlers that take the land’.

In other words a small number of pioneers are almost essential for any serious change to occur but if you want to embed that change you need ‘mass’. You need numbers. You need to grind the problem down, not just seek a rapid individual route through it thinking that you alone can change the overall culture.

Some of you in this group will relish being pioneers and I applaud you for it – you are more than necessary – and I’m assuming you have taken some arrows on the way – but if this is to work you need, I think, to move forward as a group – steadily and in your own way as an unstoppable force.

If it helps I’ve seen this work in other organisations and I could use my own as one. When I was appointed in 2019 every single Governor of every Overseas Territory was a man – in fact a white man. Today, 50% of our Governors are women, including one Black woman and one Asian woman. Change came incredibly slowly but it reached a moment where there was a tipping point and then it came quickly.

Beyond that our Ambassadors in Washington, Canada, Australia, the United Nations, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Beijing and Ukraine are all women. Just a few years ago that list would have been almost exclusively male.

So if we get this right, if you get this right, change is going to occur. I am confident that in this audience there has to be a future Commissioner of the RTCIPF. If you don’t believe that – if you don’t believe in yourself – no one else can, so please use this network to reaffirm to yourself that your ability and handwork will indeed get you there.

But this isn’t just about developing potential leadership. I want us to imagine a future – for a moment – where that change has happened. Let’s imagine a meeting where 50% of the leadership of the Force, say from ASP upwards, are women. In this case would a women’s network be necessary?

I think it probably would, and let me explain why. To the great credit of TCI, women are in the top roles of Government. When I arrived there was of course a female Premier. The Deputy Governor, the Attorney General, the Chief Justice – who are the people the Territory most relies on – are all women. The Cabinet is 50% women. Most of the Permanent Secretaries are women, including one all of Government relies on – PS Finance – plus the PS’s who have had a particularly high profile during the pandemic: Health, Tourism and Immigration. In fact women do so well at the top of Government that the BBC ran an article on this rather remarkable position we are in.

But because I work closely with them – and I have my own family – I know there is a whole set of societal and cultural expectations on them that are not – for example – on me. When our children hit an emotional low point it’s Mandy that gets the text or the call, not me – I get the good news, she gets the bad news. When the AG goes home – almost always late – and walks through her front door she stops being the Honourable Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles, OBE, QC, and becomes a wife and mother with all the expectations that brings. I could go on – some of the PS’s are single parents for example – but I think you get the point, because many of you live the point.

However fast gender stereotypes shift they aren’t going to have shifted fast enough for you – during your working lives – to not have to manage a whole set of competing priorities that many of your male counterparts do not have to face so – to answer my own question – I do think this type of support network is not only important in terms of helping change a culture within the Force, but also support those in the Force from the extra pressures that other aspects of wider culture bring with it.

I suspect a significant challenge you have already discussed, or will have thought about, is how this network, in trying to solve one set of issues doesn’t generate a different set. There is enough division in this Territory without us actively causing more. There will be some male officers who see the formation of this group as a threat. If it allows you to have the confidence to callout and illuminate unacceptable behaviours, that allows disciplinary action to occur, then there is frankly a small group who should feel threatened by this initiative.

But again I suspect one of the most important things you can do is to not allow this group to cement division, but instead use this group to educate and recruit male allies. There may be more than you suspect not least because there is something in this for many of them. Once stereotypes are broken down, as to who is, and who is not successful in an organisation, it’s not just – in this particular case – women who will benefit, but also men who do not fit a traditional stereotype of what a senior Police Officer should look like, or indeed how such a person should think or behave.

Beyond the case of ‘fairness’, and being treated with respect at work – and you can make the case on only those grounds – the organisational business case sits squarely around the benefits that diversity of thought brings. If I hadn’t completely absorbed this point before taking on this role – I have now. There is not a paper that has been brought to Cabinet that is not better for having been discussed and contributed to by every member of Cabinet. I think we made some smart collective decisions during the pandemic but none of those would have been made without the contribution of all.

And we need to be clear when we talk about this sort of diversity that I, for one, am not particularly interested in teams that might increasingly look physically different but all think the same way. So as this network starts to deliver, I’m reasonably confident that – in the wake of your work – a group of men will prosper in the Force, who once might not have prospered.

That is because, what this group will do is help build a genuine understanding in the Force that ‘diversity of thought, and experience, and inclusion of all staff’ makes the organisation far stronger rather than a Force that is homogenous in its thinking, and a Force where many are excluded. Such a force builds brittleness and weakness. I know which type of Force I want, and the type of Force the Public needs – and I know you do to.

So I wish this network well. I look forward to tracking progress. It’s important in that regard that you have the four clear objectives that you do, and at some future point I’d be interested in seeing how we measure progress against each.

You will, I know, forget much I have said but if I can leave you with just one thought it would be to hold in your head the image of a leadership team where 50% or more of those present in the room are women.

If you can see and hold that image – and support each other towards that sort of future – I believe you will find it is achievable. Sustainable change tends to happen very slowly to start with, and very quickly once a tipping point is reached. I am very confident that you are the people, in this Forces long 220 year history, that are going to be remembered as the generation that made that happen. And if I can support you in that endeavour, I most certainly will.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 2 September 2022.

Norwegian Ambassador Karlsen delivers a statement on behalf of OSCE’s Group of Friends of Georgia, marking 14 years since Russia’s invasion of Georgia.

This statement is delivered on behalf of Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

We reaffirm our full support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

Fourteen years since the Russian Federation’s military invasion of Georgia, we remain deeply concerned over the continued occupation of parts of the territory of Georgia and underline the need for the peaceful resolution of the conflict based on full respect for international law and commitments, including the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.

We condemn Russia’s aggression against Georgia in 2008 and express our deep concern over Russia’s military exercises and ongoing military presence in Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. We also reiterate our condemnation of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine.

We welcome Georgia’s compliance with the EU-mediated 12 August 2008 ceasefire agreement. We call upon Russia to fulfill immediately its clear obligation under the ceasefire agreement to withdraw its forces to pre-conflict positions, as well as its commitments to allow unfettered access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and not to impede creation of international security arrangements on the ground. We call upon Russia to reverse its recognition of the so-called independence of Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.

We condemn Russia’s steps, which appear intended to unilaterally establish the Georgia-Russia state border on the segments of the occupied territories and incorporate a part of Aibgha village of Georgia into Krasnodar Krai. In the same vein, we express concern over Russia’s attempted seizure of 180 hectares of land in Gagra district of Abkhazia, Georgia, which is another step toward attempted annexation. We urge Russia to reverse this process.

We note the January 2021 judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case concerning the armed conflict between the Russian Federation and Georgia in August 2008 and its consequences, including its findings that Russia has exercised effective control over Georgia’s regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia following the 12 August 2008 ceasefire agreement, including through its military presence. The Court also ruled that Russia, in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, tortured Georgian Prisoners of War; arbitrarily detained and killed Georgian civilians, and was responsible for their inhuman and degrading treatment; prevented the return of ethnic Georgians to their homes; and failed to conduct investigations into killings of civilians. We call on Russia to fully comply with the judgment, including by allowing internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return to their homes in safety and dignity. We also note the decision of International Criminal Court (ICC) of 30 June, 2022 that issued arrest warrant applications for the war crimes committed during Russia’s invasion in 2008. We call on Russia to cooperate with the office of prosecutor of the ICC.

We are concerned over the continuous discrimination against Georgians on the grounds of ethnicity in Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions and abuses, including severe restrictions on rights related to freedom of movement, education, residence and property, particularly in connection with the destruction of the houses of IDPs. We call on those in control to enable full and unhindered access by international human rights organisations to the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We condemn the decision to replace instruction in Georgian language with Russian in schools of the ethnic-Georgian-inhabited Gali district of the Abkhazia region. We also condemn obliteration and alteration of Georgian features from the Georgian cultural heritage monuments in both regions.

We are particularly concerned over the ongoing installation of barbed wire fences and other artificial barriers along the administrative boundary lines (ABLs) of Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. Isolation and continuous restrictions on freedom of movement have destabilized the situation on the ground and severely impacted the security, safety, well-being, and humanitarian conditions of civilians in conflict-affected areas, particularly in Akhalgori district, where reports suggest the local population suffers from shortages of medicine and food, and is denied access to pensions and essentials, including the free healthcare services available in Georgian Government controlled territory. This creates a risk for further depopulation of the Akhalgori district.

We remain deeply concerned by ongoing arbitrary detentions around the ABLs and call for the immediate and unconditional release of Irakli Bebua, Kristine Takalandze and all those under arbitrary detention.

We condemn the killing of Georgian citizens Archil Tatunashvili, Giga Otkhozoria, and Davit Basharuli, and urge Russia to remove any obstacles to bringing the perpetrators to justice. In this context, we reiterate our support for Georgia’s preventive steps aimed at eradicating impunity and note the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili List adopted by the government of Georgia.

We support the effective continuation of Geneva International Discussions (GID), as of the only format with the Russian Federation to address implementation of EU-mediated 12 August 2008 ceasefire agreement, as well as the security, human rights, and humanitarian challenges stemming from the unresolved Russia – Georgia conflict. We underline the necessity of progress on the core issues of the discussions, including on the non-use of force, establishing international security arrangements in Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions and ensuring the safe, dignified, and voluntary return of IDPs and refugees in accordance with international law. We strongly support applying the Women, Peace and Security agenda in the GID in order to facilitate inclusive and sustainable peace and security on the ground.

We express our support for the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanisms (IPRMs) in Ergneti and Gali and emphasize the important role they can have in preventing the escalation of the conflict and in helping to protect the safety and security of people on the ground. We express our great concern over the lengthy suspension of the Gali IPRM and urge its resumption without further delay or pre-conditions, in line with the ground rules.

We reaffirm our unwavering support for the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) and call upon Russia to allow the EUMM to implement its mandate in full, including by enabling the EUMM’s access on both sides of the ABLs.

We welcome the launch of a multi-stakeholder process for developing a comprehensive “State Strategy for de-occupation and peaceful conflict resolution” by the government of Georgia, as well as the launch of the strategic review of the reconciliation and engagement policy. We support the Georgian government’s ‘A Step to a Better Future’ peace initiative, aimed at improving the humanitarian and socio-economic conditions of people residing in Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions and at fostering confidence building among divided communities. We urge active work on reconciliation and engagement programs and stand ready to support.

We encourage the OSCE’s engagement in the process of finding a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Georgia conflict. We regret the closure of the OSCE mission to Georgia in 2009 and encourage the OSCE participating States to decide on the reopening of the OSCE cross-dimensional mission in Georgia, including a monitoring capacity able to operate unhindered across the ABLs. The reopening of the mission would strengthen considerably the OSCE’s engagement in the GID and IPRMs. Furthermore, re-establishment of a field mission would support OSCE’s work in every phase of the conflict cycle.

The Group of Friends of Georgia will continue to raise awareness of the conflict and of developments on the ground, hold Russia accountable for its obligations and commitments, and advocate for the conflict’s peaceful resolution.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 2 September 2022.

UK Deputy Ambassador Brown strongly condemns instances of enforced disappearances, and reaffirms our commitment to address this despicable practice.

Mr Chair,

I have the honour of delivering this statement on behalf of Albania, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Norway, San Marino, Ukraine and my own country, the United Kingdom.

30 August marked the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. We want to take this opportunity to strongly condemn instances of enforced disappearances and to reaffirm our commitments to the prevention and eradication of this serious human rights violation. We also reiterate our shared commitments in adopting the 2020 Tirana Ministerial Council Decision on the Prevention and Eradication of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Enforced disappearance is used to spread terror, fear and anxiety. Victims of enforced disappearance are often tortured or killed. Those who survive this abhorrent practice, and their loved ones, live in trauma – the physical and psychological scars are often irreparable.

Mr Chair, we condemn enforced disappearance whenever and wherever it occurs. Today, we are making this statement in the devastating context of Russia’s heinous and systematic use of this tactic as part of its unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine.

The first and second reports of the Moscow Mechanism on the violations and abuses committed in Ukraine have found credible evidence of abductions and abuse of Ukrainian activists, human rights defenders, volunteers, journalists, health-care workers and government representatives in the areas of Ukraine under control of the Russian army. The report highlights that Ukrainian civilians in Russian-controlled areas are increasingly being subjected to so-called “filtration”, a systematic operation designed to identify and brutally supress dissent. Those who pass through filtration are often transferred, with their consent or without it, to Russian territory, while those who fail are transferred to the so-called ‘People’s Republics’, where their whereabouts are largely unknown. Some are detained indefinitely in detention centres. Some disappear altogether. We have also heard about the arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances of 21 journalists and civil society activists who vocally opposed the invasion in Kyiv, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions. We vehemently condemn Russia’s use of enforced disappearance and will continue to hold Russia accountable for serious human rights violations and abuses.

Mr Chair,

We stand in full solidarity with victims and survivors of enforced disappearances in Ukraine and around the world, as well as their families and communities affected.

We also strongly defend the importance of ensuring that credible reports of enforced disappearance lead to independent and transparent investigations and prosecute those responsible, in order to provide justice to victims and their families.

In closing, we jointly reaffirm our commitment to address this egregious practice and to step up our efforts to end enforced disappearance in the OSCE region.

 

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 2 September 2022.

The UK Legalisation Office will now be able to receive documents digitally and will issue electronic ‘e-Apostille’ certificates.

The UK Legalisation Office (part of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) will now be able to receive documents digitally and will issue electronic ‘e-Apostille’ certificates enabling a quicker, cheaper and more efficient service for thousands of people around the globe.

A legalised document is needed in many international transactions including overseas working visas and managing property. Currently customers send their physical documents to the UK Legalisation Office by post or courier and receive the documents back several days later with a paper certificate, known as an Apostille, attached.

The first UK e-Apostille was issued on 15 December 2021 as part of a pilot initiative. The option to apply for an e-Apostille will now be opened up to more customers.

Secure digital process

Applicants will be able to quickly upload digital documents instead of posting them. Documents must be signed using either an Advanced Electronic Signature, or a Qualified Electronic Signature, which offer high levels of validation.

The Apostille is issued as an attachment to a PDF, with the document/s the certificate relates to also attached. Both the overarching PDF and the Apostille attachment are digitally signed by the Legalisation Office to ensure integrity. The electronic signature/s of the public official/s within the customer’s document/s are also preserved.

Customers will still have the option of a paper Apostille, and a small number of documents (such as police record documents) will continue to require a paper-based Apostille for specific security reasons.

Chris Ward, Head of Public-facing Services, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, said:

This is an exciting development which will provide a much more efficient user experience.

A digital Apostille solution has been many years in the making, but this new system is capable of providing a fully digital service.

We want to continue to provide the best possible service to our customers and will develop the system further to meet a range of user needs.

Michael Lightowler, Notary Public and Member of the Notaries Society of England and Wales said:

The process is straightforward and efficient.

Obvious benefits are speed of turnaround and lack of need to use paper and post or couriers, all of which also reduces costs.

Record keeping is simpler, with my digital files saved directly to a folder once the e-Apostille is added, instead of a time consuming document scanning step.

The e-Apostille service offers benefits to international trade and commerce in terms of security and convenience. It will also help to reduce the environmental impact of circulating hard copy public documents around the world.

International acceptance

UK e-Apostilles have been accepted by authorities in Italy, the Netherlands, Panama and the Philippines.

Under an international agreement over 100 countries that are signed up to the Apostille Convention should equally accept e-Apostilles. Users are advised to check the requirements of the organisation or individual that has requested the Apostille before they apply.

Overseas authorities can view an e-Apostille using a PDF reader. They can check all UK Apostilles, including the new e-Apostilles, by entering a reference online to verify an apostille.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 2 September 2022.

Canadian Ambassador Jocelyn Kinnear delivers a joint statement to mark the second anniversary of the fraudulent presidential election in Belarus.

Mr Chair,

I am delivering this statement on behalf of Albania, Iceland, Moldova, Norway, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and my own country Canada, who wish to add their voices to those marking the two-year anniversary of the deeply flawed and fraudulent presidential election in Belarus. The Moscow Mechanism report in 2020 and UN Special Rapporteur’s investigations have found compelling evidence of a campaign of severe repression across all parts of Belarusian society which took place before, during and after the August 2020 Presidential Election.

The 2020 Moscow Mechanism report described “overwhelming evidence that the presidential elections of 9 August 2020 have been falsified and that massive and systematic human rights violations have been committed by the Belarusian security forces in response to peaceful protests and demonstrations.”

The report made 65 recommendations to the Belarusian authorities, including new Presidential elections, an immediate end to the violence and release of all those illegally detained, an independent oversight mechanism on detention conditions, and an investigation into all allegations of torture.

However, two years on, civil society has been decimated and independent media quashed. Belarusian people have faced arbitrary arrest and detention – with over 1,300 political prisoners now detained, steadily growing in number since 2020. There are credible reports that some detainees have been subjected to torture. The regime has pursued politically motivated, unfair trials, has extended the use of the death penalty to include ‘attempted’ acts of terrorism, has prevented Belarusians from leaving the country, has undertaken trials in absentia, and failed to meet international standards when conducting a constitutional referendum.

The Belarusian authorities have had ample opportunity to end their attacks on the freedoms of their citizens, to release those detained on spurious political charges, and to undertake the fresh elections needed to enable the Belarusian people to decide their own leaders and their own future. Recommendations and evidence of wrongdoing from the UN Special Rapporteur, from the OSCE Moscow Mechanism, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Commission of Inquiry have been consistently ignored by the regime.

Instead, two years on from the fraudulent elections, the regime now seeks to curtail the freedoms of the people of neighbouring Ukraine through facilitating Russia’s illegal invasion of their country. This support to Russia’s provided by the Lukashenko regime has served as an excuse to racket up repression on those Belarusians standing up against the war.

We will continue to hold the Lukashenko regime to account for their human rights violations and continued support to Russia’s illegal war. This includes through targeted sanctions packages and support for accountability measures. It is a false narrative that sanctions are provoking a global food crisis. It is, in fact, Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine that impacts upon global food security. Firm action must be taken to deter the Lukashenko regime from their violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Belarusian people, and its reckless support of Russia’s illegal invasion.

We continue to stand in solidarity with the Belarusian people, condemn the regime’s continued human rights violations, and strongly urge the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners, immediately and unconditionally.

In conclusion, Mr Chair, we again urge decision-makers in Belarus to reconsider their current course of action, to cease their support of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and to seek to proactively address the recommendations made in the Moscow Mechanism report.

We stand committed and ready to support the democratic rights of the Belarusian people – genuine and inclusive dialogue is the bedrock to democracy – and we invite Belarusian authorities to engage with the Belarusian people.

 

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 1 September 2022.

UK Ambassador Bush criticises the Russian government for the malign political and geopolitical tactics used in their illegal war against Ukraine.

Thank you, Mr Chair. Over the last 6 months, Russia’s merciless warfare methods, including relentless targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, have proved beyond our worst fears. In my statement today, I will focus on the malign political and geopolitical tactics employed by Russia, and their impact on people throughout the world.

We are by now familiar with the Kremlin’s administrative playbook for trying to establishing control in the regions it temporarily controls: but it has proved ineffectual. Attempted ‘passportisation’ will never undermine Ukrainian national identity. And the international community will not recognise the results of staged referenda that have been pre-decided in Moscow. In particular, the UK condemns Russia’s plans to use their proxies to hold illegitimate “trials” of captured members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia must comply with international law and treat these individuals in accordance with their status as Prisoners of War.

We are also familiar with Russian tactics that are even more sinister. The second Moscow Mechanism report documented widespread ‘filtration camps’. Here at the OSCE, we have heard moving testimonies from both survivors of and families affected by the filtration process. We have seen credible evidence of civilians abused, physically and psychologically, and kept in unsanitary conditions with insufficient food and water. Survivors describe torture, humiliation and ill-treatment. According to the Moscow Mechanism report, those who fail filtration are “separated from others and often simply disappear”. The report also found evidence of other authoritarian practices, including large-scale deportations of people to Russia against their will, and cases of orphaned children brought to Russia, whose whereabouts are now unknown. We are supposed to learn from the mistakes of the darkest chapters of European history; not use them as a blueprint.

Having failed to garner global support for his war, President Putin tried instead to hold the world to ransom – with food, energy and by deploying military personnel and weaponry to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Global food security was already under threat from COVID-19 and climate change. The rest of the world saw the risk of famine as an urgent global challenge: President Putin saw it as an opportunity to weaponise food supply. 47 million of the world’s most vulnerable people are one step away from famine, and close to 1m are already experiencing famine-like conditions because of the Russian government’s conduct in Ukraine.

The Russian government has applied the same tactics to energy, and again, the most vulnerable groups are being hit hardest. But attempting to coerce the world through energy exports will backfire. Russia has merely proved itself to be an unreliable supplier, and hastened diversification away from Russian energy.

We are grateful to the UN and Turkiye for brokering a deal that enables grain shipments to leave Ukraine. We also welcome the news that Director-General Grossi’s and his team have managed to get to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant today. But Russia should not be congratulated for solving problems it has itself created. The only way President Putin can truly alleviate the global crises he has created is by ending the war and withdrawing from Ukraine.

To underpin the despicable tactics I have described today, the Russian state has generated extensive propaganda. Kremlin information operations seek to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty, create false pretexts for invasion, obscure the truth and hide war crimes. But the Russian government is losing the information war. We have exposed President Putin’s online troll factories. And independent organisations and institutions, including the OSCE, have amassed evidence that Russia is targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. The Russian government knows this, which is why they are enforcing such draconian censorship throughout their own country. The Kremlin has legislated against references to ‘war’ or ‘invasion’, closed Russia’s independent press, prevented protests from taking place, stopped access to social media and arrested individuals for telling the truth. The Russian authorities fear facts; we will continue to use them to undermine the Kremlin’s strategy.

I conclude today with the words of my Prime Minister during his visit to Kyiv last week, “What happens in Ukraine matters to us all….But the war is only going to end one way. Ukraine will win and Britain will be by your side.” Thank you, Mr Chair.

 

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 1 September 2022.

The United Kingdom joined representatives of the Arab League, Egypt, the European Union, France, Germany, Iraq, Jordan, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United States in agreeing to:

Reaffirm our commitment to reaching a political solution to the Syrian crisis consistent with UN Security Council resolution 2254, including continued support for implementing and sustaining an immediate nation-wide ceasefire, the Constitutional Committee, free and fair elections, the end of arbitrary detention, and the release of all those unjustly held.

Reiterate the need to create secure conditions for the safe, dignified, and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons, consistent with UNHCR standards; and support the provision of sufficient and sustainable aid to the displaced and their host countries and communities until such conditions are in place.

Note with concern the continuing threat posed by Daesh and reiterated our commitment to the mission of the Global Coalition Against Daesh, and to the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Call on all parties, in particular the government-nominated bloc, to resume meetings of the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned Constitutional Committee under UN auspices in Geneva and to advance an inclusive political solution that will protect the territorial integrity, unity, and sovereignty of Syria and the rights and dignity of all Syrians.

Reiterate that there is no military solution to the Syrian crisis and reaffirmed our continued support of UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen and his tireless efforts to advance a UN-facilitated political process consistent with UNSC resolution 2254.

Remain deeply concerned about the dire humanitarian situation in Syria and the ongoing suffering of the Syrian people. We emphasized the importance of continuing to provide life-saving and early recovery humanitarian assistance across Syria through all modalities, including expansion and extension of the UNSC resolution 2642 cross-border aid mechanism, for which there is no alternative that can match its scope and scale.

Furthermore, underline the necessity to continue to press for accountability for all atrocities and international crimes perpetrated in Syria, including the use of chemical weapons, as well as to press for a full accounting of the missing.