12 December the Interactive dialogue on the human rights situation in Ukraine was held
posted
13 December 2016
18:06
On 12 December 2016 a progressive Interactive dialogue on the human rights situation in Ukraine was held in the Palace of Nations in Geneva.
The 16th report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), based on the findings of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, was presented by the UN High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Sergiy Kyslytsya stressed that the main challenge for the human rights situation in Ukraine is the Russian aggression, including continuous flow of weapons and armed people from Russia through the part of the Ukrainian-Russian border, which is not controlled by the Government of Ukraine. He also emphasized the unacceptability of the denial of access for the international human rights mechanisms to the Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia, in particular to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
S.Kyslytsya noted that establishment of direct international monitoring of these areas will provide an opportunity to achieve progress in the promotion and protection of human rights. He stressed that the resolution "The situation on the human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine)", adopted by the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly and expected to be approved at the General Assembly plenary in a few days, is aimed exactly at ensuring the monitoring of the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation. In this context S.Kyslytsya called upon the participants of the Interactive dialogue to support the abovementioned resolution.
The delegations of the UN Member-States while discussing the 16th report of the OHCHR expressed concern with the continuing deterioration of the human rights situation in the occupied Crimea; stressed the need to ensure the access of the Human Rights Council mechanisms to the occupied territory of Ukraine, as well as the implementation of the Minsk agreements as the unique mechanism for the peace establishment in the South-East of Ukraine.