Madame President,
Estonia strongly condemns the human rights violations and violence in Belarus, Russia and Myanmar, such as the crackdown on peaceful protests, the arbitrary detention and torture of thousands, including human rights activists, members of the political opposition, intellectuals, students and independent journalists. Russia is behind the poisoning of opposition leader Alexey Navalny who has unjustifiably been imprisoned thereafter – a decision that provoked widespread protests. In Myanmar, the military’s use of lethal force against civilians and peaceful demonstrators is unacceptable and must stop immediately. Estonia is increasingly concerned on detentions, trials and sentencing of human rights defenders and lawyers in China. Estonia calls for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained and for thorough and impartial investigation of all the cases of detention, torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, and to bring those responsible to justice.
Free, independent and pluralistic media, both online and offline, is a crucial element of a democratic society. The restrictions on freedom of expression and on access to information, intimidation, surveillance and detention of journalists increasing in the afore-mentioned countries and continue to be a source of great concern.
We must make better use of the tools and mechanisms of the Council in providing the early warning signs in order to react and take action in a more timely manner.
Thank you for your attention.