ÜRO Inimõiguste Nõukogu 36. sessioon
Statement by
H.E. Mr Andre Pung
Ambassador, PermanentRepresentative of the Republic of Estonia
on behalf of the EuropeanUnion
Item 10: Technical assistance and capacity-building
Genf, 28 september 2017
MrPresident,
Ihave the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.
TheCandidate Countries, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia[1], Montenegro*and Albania*, the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process andpotential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Republic of Moldovaand Georgia align themselves with this statement.
The EU wouldlike to express its appreciation forthe reports of the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner presented tothis Council.
The EUreaffirms its strong support for the important work of the Office of the HighCommissioner for Human Rights in providing technical assistance and capacitybuilding to promote the respect, protection and fulfilment of human rights. Wecall on States to fully cooperate with the OHCHR when receiving technicalassistance and capacity building, including allowing the OHCHR full access tomonitor and report on the human rights situation on the ground.
The EU followsclosely the human rights developments in the Central African Republic, Somalia,the Sudan, Libya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which we havecommented on in detail during the respective interactive dialogues.
The European Union is deeply concerned about thesituation in Yemen as the number of civilian casualties continues to rise. Theongoing conflict is having devastating consequences for the country and itspopulation. Women, children and persons in vulnerable situation areparticularly affected by the on-going hostilities and the humanitarian crisis. We continue to support independentinvestigations into all alleged violations and abuses, with a view to endingimpunity for crimes committed by all parties to the conflict. In this regard, we take seriously therecommendation made by the High Commissioner for the establishment of aninternational investigative body. We encourage the OHCHR to continue toprovide technical assistance and to monitor the work of the nationalindependent commission of inquiry. We also believe that the human rightssituation in Yemen requires close follow-up in Human Rights Council.
TheEU welcomes the technical cooperation provided to Georgia by the OHCHR. The EUis concerned regarding the conclusion of the report of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights on cooperation with Georgia that some practicesin Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia appear to amount to discriminatorypatterns based on ethnic grounds, especially with regard to freedom ofmovement, access to personal documents, the right to education and propertyrights. The EU regrets that no access has been granted to OHCHR or to UnitedNations human rights mechanisms to Georgia’s regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvaliregion/South Ossetia. The EU strongly urges for unfettered access of the OHCHRand other UN human rights mechanisms to these areas and populations toindependently assess the human rights situation on the ground. The EU continuesto support the provision of technical cooperation to Georgia.
The EU is increasingly alarmed about theshrinking space in Cambodia for political debate and dissenting opinion, inparticular ahead of the National Assembly election in July 2018, as addressed earlier in the InteractiveDialogue with the Special Rapporteur. We share the Secretary General’s concerns thatdemocratic processes have been adversely affected by judicial procedures andother measures targeting members of the political opposition, or thoseperceived to be opposed to the governing party. The EU reiterates theimportance for Cambodia of promoting and safeguarding, in particular duringthis pre-electoral period, an environment in which political parties, civilsociety and the media are able to carry out their legitimate roles withoutfear, threats or arbitrary restrictions and in which we remain ready to assistthe government in this endeavour.
Thankyou.
[1] The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation andAssociation Process.