38^th session of the Human Rights Council

Item 3

Clustered interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

Intervention by the Representative of Ukraine

(Geneva, 20 June 2018)

Mr. President,

Ukraine thanks Special Rapporteur on the freedom of expression for his report and its presentation. Let me address the subject that was outlined just briefly in your report – fake news.

Propaganda and fake news remain one of the core non-military instruments which different actors actively use to influence public opinion and to achieve political objectives. Hybrid practices, such as textual fakes, photo and video fakes, false claims, forged documents, hoax experts, fake news sources and witnesses constitute a direct threat to democratic values and human rights.

We believe that the international community should redouble its efforts in identifying best practices and tools to deal with this global threat. We are convinced that the UN, including its human rights machinery, should play a leading role here.

We remain deeply concerned about a massive campaign of propaganda and incitement of hatred against Ukraine and Ukrainians, perpetrated by Russia’s state-owned media and public figures. This has played a role in the occupation of Crimea and in triggering the conflict, with ensuing Russian aggression, in eastern Ukraine. While significantly reducing the space for independent and pluralistic media, the Russian authorities strengthened the grip over state-owned media transforming them into instruments of state-driven propaganda. We insist that there is an urgent need for the international monitoring presence in Crimea to prevent further human rights violations there.

Turning to Special Rapporteur on summary executions, we would like to thank Mme Callamard for her report, which addresses a very pertinent topic of non-State armed actors (illegal armed groups), and we would be ready to work constructively with the mandate holder to seek a practical application of the report’s findings.

Thank you.