Inimõiguste Nõukogu 36. sessioon
Intervention by ESTONIA
Item 2 – General Debate
Genf, 12 september 2017
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Mr President,
Distinguished HighCommissioner,
Estonia fullyaligns itself with the statement made by the European Union.
We would liketo thank the High Commissioner and his Office for bringing to our attention themost serious human rights violations in far too many countries. We agree withthe High Commissioner that the fight against drugs, terrorism or violentextremism should not come at the expense of human rights, nor should it be usedas a pretence for suffocating civil society space. Additional focus by thisCouncil should be granted to the prevention of and prompt response to humanrights emergencies. It is also paramount that human rights defenders and civilsociety organisations can engage with the Council without the fear and threatof reprisals. We welcome initiatives in the Council this session to furtherstrengthen these aims.
In order to upholdthe credibility of the Council, all States, including Council members, need todo a far better job to uphold the highest standards in the promotion andprotection of human rights and to cooperate fully with the Council and itsmechanisms. We also agree with the High Commissioner – we as States need to becomemore consistent in our human rights commitments in our internal and externalactivities.
Mr HighCommissioner,
Far too manyhuman rights violations are committed in places that are so-called grey zones interms of accountability, out of the physical reach of observing eyes. We wouldlike to ask whether there have been any developments concerning access by OHCHRor other international observers to the occupied andillegally annexed territories of Ukraine, and regions of Georgiato monitor the human rights situation?
Thank you.