Tag: Press Release

Thank you President, and I would like to start by thanking Under-Secretary Griffiths and Special Coordinator Wennesland for their sobering briefings, and through you may I also thank your teams who are working tirelessly in the region including in the face of considerable personal risk. And again, we extend our condolences to those who have lost their lives.

President, the UK is shocked and deeply saddened by the destruction and the hundreds of lives that were lost and people who were killed at the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza yesterday evening. This is a devastating loss of life, and our thoughts and prayers are with those impacted.

The UK is working intensively to establish the facts. But fundamentally, hospitals are protected under international law and should not be targeted.

President, as I have said, Israel has the right, under the UN Charter, to defend itself against Hamas’ appalling terror attacks. We have also emphasised that every feasible precaution must be taken to minimise harm to civilians, and we continue to call for immediate unimpeded humanitarian access to enable essential aid, water, food and medicines to reach civilians.

Israel has itself acknowledged that it must act in accordance with international humanitarian law.

President, the UK is clear that Hamas does not speak for the Palestinian people. Humanitarian support and access must be maintained into Gaza. To support that effort we have announced a further £10m in UK humanitarian support.

And we call for the opening of the Rafah crossing and guarantees of security for any foreign nationals wishing to cross, as well as for vital humanitarian aid entering.

President, we are also clear that we must avoid further escalation of any conflict in the region.That is why the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have been working urgently to engage Israeli, Palestinian and regional leaders.

President, the UK will continue to work with partners in the international community to break the cycle of violence across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and work towards the peace and security of Israelis and Palestinians.

Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Chair,

I have the honour of delivering this cross-regional joint statement on behalf of the following 51 countries: Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Eswatini, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Nauru, Netherlands, North Macedonia, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Marshall Islands, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United States, and my own country, the United Kingdom.

Members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang continue to suffer serious violations of their human rights by the authorities of the People’s Republic of China.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) relied extensively on China’s own records when it published its Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

This independent and authoritative assessment found evidence of large-scale arbitrary detention and systematic use of invasive surveillance on the basis of religion and ethnicity; severe and undue restrictions to legitimate cultural and religious practices, identity and expression, including reports of destruction of religious sites; torture, ill-treatment and sexual and gender-based violence, including forced abortion and sterilisation; enforced disappearances and family separations; and forced labour.

The assessment concluded that the arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim minorities on a large scale in Xinjiang “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”

Over a year has passed since that assessment was released and yet China has not engaged in any constructive discussion of these findings.

Last month, at the 54th Session of the Human Rights Council, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called on China to follow the recommendations of the assessment and take “strong remedial action.”

So far, we have not seen evidence of China taking any such action.

We urge China to end its violations of human rights in Xinjiang, engage constructively with the OHCHR, and fully implement the recommendations of the assessment.

Thank you.

Thank you President.

And let me thank you for your good faith efforts to negotiate this resolution.

The draft resolution on which we have just voted rightly condemns the appalling Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on the 7th October. It also makes clear that all actions need to be taken in line with international humanitarian law. It stresses the importance of ensuring humanitarian access and protecting civilians, and emphasises this Council’s shared priority of preventing regional escalation of the conflict.

We welcome and support the draft resolution’s attempts to set out the Council’s view on these critical points.

But the draft resolution needed to be clearer on Israel’s inherent right to self-defence in line with the UN Charter after Hamas’ attacks killed over 1,400 people and took almost 200 people hostage.

The draft resolution also ignored the fact that Hamas are using innocent Palestinian civilians as human shields.

They have embedded themselves in civilian communities and made the Palestinian people their victims too.

For these reasons, the United Kingdom abstained on this resolution.

My Prime Minister has been clear that the UK stands with Israel in the face of these atrocities.

We support Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas, take back the hostages, deter further incursions, and strengthen its security for the long term.

In so doing, we will continue to call on Israel to take all feasible precautions to avoid harming Palestinian civilians and to act in line with international humanitarian law.

We will continue to work closely with Israel and our partners in the region to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. To ensure that civilians are protected and have access to food, water, medicine, and shelter. And to work towards the peace and stability promised by the Two State Solution.

I thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. After the horrific acts of violence in Arras and Brussels, my thoughts are with the victims and their families. The UK stands with France, Belgium and Sweden in the fight against terrorism.

Last week we listened to the lengthy Russian statement, complete with slides, as the Russian delegation attempted to defend the indefensible. The Russian statement was indicative of a mind-set that led Russia to illegally invade another sovereign country in contravention of international law. This mind-set is based on a misguided assumption that might is right and Russia’s absolute willingness to distort reality to suit Russia’s own purposes.

In this Forum we are constantly witnesses to this misleading behaviour. Last week, the Russian representative informed the Forum that she needed to present a lengthy statement, despite being given direction on timings from you Madam Chair, because ‘Russia needed to balance the 40 minutes that other nations had spoken for’. If Russia feels the needs to provide balance on the issue of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, where are the other supporting voices? As Russia, has too slowly realised in recent weeks, Russia is alone in trying to defend the illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Now we know that the UN Charter, of which Russia is a signatory, is based on one member, one vote. So it is odd that Russia claims to be part of global majority. By way of clarification, I understand a majority to be ‘more than half of a group of people or things’. Yet, in UN General Assembly Resolution ES 11/1, deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demanding a full withdrawal of Russian forces, the resolution passed with 141 voting in favour, 5 against and 35 abstentions. If Russia was confused about the majority element of that vote, UN General Assembly Resolution ES 11/4, declaring the referendums held in the Temporarily Occupied Territories to be invalid and illegal, passed with 143 in favour, 5 against and 35 abstaining. And in the Forum for Security Cooperation, I will underscore, as Russia has openly acknowledged, it is defending itself from a minority of one. I would invite Russia to reconsider generally accepted concepts about what it means to be part of a majority.

Russia also claimed that ‘the logic of the West is simply of ultimatums’. As was eloquently explained last week by the distinguished representative for the United States, the only ultimatum that this Forum has witnessed are the unprecedented two times Russia prevented this Forum from adopting the agenda – and this prevented the Forum from executing its mandate.

Madam Chair, we see time and time again the contempt in which Russia holds this Forum. We have appealed in recent weeks for a return to mature diplomacy and yet we are subjected to more of the same banal, inaccurate and excruciatingly long diatribes. Meanwhile, Russia continues its disastrous campaign around the town of Avdiivka. Russia’s Ambassador to the UN stated last Friday that ‘the ramped-up attacks in the east amounted to a new stage in Moscow’s campaign in Ukraine’. Given the significant Russian losses in this failed effort, it is hard to see what is new about it unless it is the accelerated pace at which Russia expends its poorly-led forces.

Madam Chair, the majority of this Forum continues to recognise the threat posed by the Russian Federation. The United Kingdom will continue to support Ukraine diplomatically, militarily and financially. We are implementing our Ukraine Emergency Winter Preparedness plan (£127 million in aid for 2023/2024) with international partners. Last week, the British Defence Secretary announced a new package of support totalling £100 million to help Ukraine clear minefields and protect Critical National Infrastructure. The United Kingdom continues to work with Ukraine and other partners to support alternative routes to the BSGI for Ukrainian grain exports, increasing the capacity of exports to the rest of the world by overland routes, through Danube ports and Ukraine’s maritime corridor. The United Kingdom will continue to act in this manner until Russia no longer controls Ukraine’s sovereign territory for this is the only path, as recognised by a true majority, to a just and lasting peace. Thank you.

Thank you Foreign Minister Hasani for organising this important event, which the United Kingdom is grateful to co-organise alongside Albania and the US. Thank you also to President Osmani and all our briefers for their powerful remarks on the horrors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), and the need for robust international action.

In July, at the annual Open Debate on CRSV and as part of the UK Presidency, the Security Council again heard powerful statements from a survivor, a human rights activist and SRSG Pramila Patten on the urgent need for justice to address these crimes.

The message delivered then by Lord Ahmad, my Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict (PSVI) was clear: the Security Council and the wider international community must do more to close the gap between the strong normative framework on CRSV and the realities on the ground.

This includes implementing this Council’s resolutions, such as Resolution 2467, which calls for a survivor-centred approach. It includes mainstreaming a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations and it includes using this Council’s sanctions to deter perpetrators.

The UK is working to close the gap between resolutions and reality. We have partnered with the Mukwege Foundation to produce a new Guidebook on State Obligations for CRSV. We encourage all States to use this tool to understand their commitments and civil society and survivors to use this tool to hold States to account.

And we are building on last year’s international Conference on Sexual Violence in Conflict in the UK, by hosting a High-Level Meeting of the International Alliance on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict in the coming days. Since the conference the Alliance has grown to 25 members and it is vice-chaired by the Governments of Colombia and Ukraine. Together, we will amplify survivor voices, share expertise and strengthen international action.

Mr President, wherever sexual violence in conflict occurs it is our moral duty to stamp it out. And as Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield said, it is not an inevitable consequence of war. We are determined to consign it to the history books.

Thank you.