39^th session of the UN Human Rights Council

Agenda item 10

General debates

Intervention by Permanent Representative of Ukraine,

Ambassador Yurii Klymenko

27 September 2018

 

Mr. President,

Ukraine would like to reaffirm its strong support to the OHCHR for its lasting commitment to human rights all over the world, for its active cooperation and dialogue with States as well as efforts to enhance national human rights protection systems, to reinforce capacity and independence of the judiciary and to fight impunity.

Recognizing the vital role of the OHCHR’s technical assistance and capacity building, the Government of Ukraine closely cooperates with its Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, deployed in 2014. However, the issue of access to Crimea for the HRMMU as well as for other international monitoring mechanisms remains acute.

Pursuing the policy of non-cooperation with the human rights monitoring mechanisms Russia continues to deny access to the territories it occupies. In this regard we thank High Commissioner for the update on cooperation with Georgia which pays attention to the grave humanitarian situation in Georgia regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia, occupied by Russia. We regret that there has been no progress in granting access to those Georgian regions (pursuant to HRC resolution 37/40) where the human rights situation continues to deteriorate.

In the year of 10^th anniversary of the Russian military aggression against Georgia, Ukraine reaffirms its staunch support for Georgia’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

We state once again that Russia bears full responsibility for the precarious humanitarian situation in the occupied territories.

We continue to call on the international community to stand united and to pursue to demand that Russia fully and without any further delay implements its international commitments and starts honouring international law as well as the right of sovereign neighboring states to choose their democratic future.

Ukraine is grateful for the assistance provided by the OHCHR and remains open to the active cooperation with it, taking aboard recommendations and doing its best to implement them.

Thank you.