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Mr. Vice-President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are meeting for the
55th Human Rights Council amidst global turmoil of seismic proportions.
We are reliving events that we thought we left in the dark past.
Our presence here sends the
necessary, and much needed, symbolic message: Our commitment to Human Rights
remains unwavering as is our resolve to protect them. Our collective
responsibility and our personal accountability guide us.
I would like to express my
appreciation to the High Commissioner, for his personal effort to instil a
renewed global commitment to human rights.
His efforts are a reminder that
with the historic adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, our predecessors had shown the wisdom, the vision and the
willingness to transpose into action the dreadful experiences of the war.
They designed a system founded on the codification of the Values, Principles
and Rights that have suffered systematic, prolonged and devastating
violations. They set the framework, as a stepping stone, for the gradual
deepening, and widening, of the substantive content. They were pragmatic
in their approach. Incrementalism and the emphasis on safeguarding the
nucleus of Human Rights, were the parameters of their methodology.
Since then, we have made
enormous progress.
At the political level, and
primarily at the normative and enforcement levels: globally, regionally, and
in our Constitutional Orders.
We are, nonetheless, obliged to
continuously, critically reflect on where we currently are, and on the
direction, we are heading.
The underlying premise is
clear: What we have achieved is constantly under threat. By our complacency,
the looming revisionism, the illusion of absolute power, the internal
undermining of our collective system. There is a plethora of challenges and
threats.
I will refer
to three such examples.
Firstly, we
are experiencing the effects of new and protracted armed conflicts, the
first victim of which is always human rights:
- We have just marked 2 years
since Russia’s illegal invasion against Ukraine. Thousands of
deaths, continuing human suffering, ongoing violation of human rights. To
that, our response is to reiterate our support for Ukraine’s
independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, coupled with the
call for accountability.
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Furthermore, Nagorno-Karabakh. We are extremely
concerned about the dire humanitarian situation affecting thousands of
Armenians. The illegal use of force, the violation of individual rights
and the paralyzing fear of being the next victim, led to a mass exodus of
Armenians.
- Finally, in the Middle
East. We have witnessed and unequivocally
condemned the barbarism of the terrorists, the killings, torture, sexual
violence, the kidnapping. We are, since, witnessing thousands of deaths and a
humanitarian catastrophe unfolding. Our responsibility and task, is to put an
end to this.
Secondly, there
is the continuing threat of state-driven infringement of fundamental rights.
Our protective system has wisely focused on the vertical axis, namely the
state actor as the most serious threat to rights.
We are, still, in a position
where certain states act despotically, and persistently and systematically
undermine human rights. Women and girls continue to face
organised erosion of their freedoms. They are denied access to
essential services, restrictions to the right of education and the right to
work, all driven by a rationale that sees gender as a justification for
violence, discrimination and social exclusion.
Thirdly, there
is a growing threat of technology. This is paradoxical, yet we are witnessing
the rapid growth and expansion of the capacity of technology, that is
becoming a tool at the hands of states willing to use it to control people.
In this context, the
Republic of Cyprus presented three years ago, its first-ever candidature
for Human Rights Council membership, for the
period 2025-2027.
We are a strong advocate
of multilateralism and of the international rules-based order.
We recognize the pivotal role
of the Human Rights Council in addressing violations, in preventing those in
the future, and in safeguarding the universality
and indivisibility of human rights.
If elected, Cyprus will be
actively engaged with all the Member States of the United
Nations and with the Office of the High Commissioner. Our sole aim
is to contribute to the success of the Council, and to work collectively
to that end.
2024 marks
the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey.
Cyprus and its people have been
suffering for 5 decades the persistent violation of human rights and of
Humanitarian Law:
The fate of almost
one thousand persons still missing, almost 1/3 of the
population of Cyprus is displaced, those who remain in the occupied
areas are confronted by intimidation and restrictions, cultural sites
are being destructed and looted, and there is an active policy of
illegal settlement.
No Accountability, no
Responsibility, no Answers.
The violation of Human Rights
cannot be accepted to be normalized, neither can the victims be dehumanized
and treated as statistics. And we expect this cardinal rule to guide all UN
actors. This is the foundation for hope.
To end the division;
To allow peaceful coexistence;
To heal the wounds.
Thank you.
(MF/IA/NG)
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