Ministry Statements & Speeches:
Mr President, Mr High Commissioner
New Zealand continues to unequivocally condemn Russia’s illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.
We are immensely appalled and saddened by the recorded 25,170 civilian casualties since 24 February 2022. The high rates of reported torture and ill treatment of detainees, including sexual violence, are reprehensible. These latest reports further highlight the egregious human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law that have been committed over this period.
In Crimea, it is now nine years since Russia’s invasion. The SG’s report outlines a comprehensive list of systematic human rights violations, with victims disproportionately belonging to the indigenous Crimean Tatar population. We support the call for all States to support human rights defenders in Crimea, and for unimpeded access by human rights monitoring mechanisms.
New Zealand continues to support efforts to ensure accountability for human rights violations and abuses committed in Ukraine, and strongly supports the work of OHCHR in this regard.
We again call on the Russian Federation to cease Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, withdraw its troops from within Ukraine’s internationally-recognised borders, and return to diplomatic negotiations as a means to resolve this conflict.
I thank you.