41st UN Human Rights Council

Mr. President,

Sweden fully aligns itself with the statement made by the European Union.

We thank the High Commissioner for the update and reiterate Sweden’s support for the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission.

The Ukrainian government has been nothing but transparent regarding the human rights situation in the country.

Regretfully, the same cannot be said for Russia, which continues to deny the mission access to the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula.  This is particularly alarming in light of the serious human rights violations there.We call on Russia to ensure unimpeded access of international human rights monitoring missions and human rights non-governmental organizations to Crimea, in line with UN General Assembly Resolution 73/263 and other relevant resolutions. 

We call for an immediate release of all arbitrarily or unlawfully detained Ukrainian citizens on the Crimean Peninsula and in Russia, including the 24 Ukrainian crew members detained on the 25 November 2018. We deplore that Russia has ignored the provisional measures prescribed by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on 25 May 2019  namely to immediately release the 24 detained Ukrainian servicemen and to allow them to return to Ukraine. We expect Russia to comply with the Order of the Tribunal.

Russia’s aggression in eastern Ukraine continues to take its toll on the local population. The civilian death toll since the beginning of the conflict exceeds three thousand people. We call on all sides to comply with international humanitarian law and to ensure the respect for human rights. As long as Russia continues to fuel this conflict by supporting illegal armed groups, civilians will continue to suffer.

Thank you.