United Nations Human Rights Council

58^th session

Item 2 General Debate

3 March 2025

Group Statement of 25 Member States

Mister President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, member states of the European Union.

We thank the High Commissioner for his oral update and for the reports on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, South Sudan, Nicaragua and Myanmar. 

We refer to the EU statements during the respective interactive dialogues on the situations in Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Myanmar as well as the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

It has been three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and more than eleven years have passed since Russia began its aggression against Ukraine, violating core rules of international law. We continue to condemn in the strongest possible terms the atrocities committed in Ukraine in the context of Russia’s war of aggression. As reiterated by the UNGA on February 24^th, Russia must cease its aggression, withdraw its forces and military equipment, and fully respect Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. We are firmly committed to ensuring full accountability for all international crimes and human rights violations and abuses stemming from the Russian war of aggression. We will support Ukraine in achieving comprehensive, just and lasting peace, in line with international law and the UN Charter. 

We remain concerned about the significant restrictions of human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular those of expression, assembly and association, as well as the shrinking space for civil society, human rights defenders, humanitarian and development actors, and journalists in several countries in the MENA region. The use of the death penalty in the region also remains an issue of great concern.

We are deeply concerned about the human rights and humanitarian situation across Yemen and in particular in Houthis-controlled territories. We emphasise the need for continued independent and impartial human rights monitoring and documentation of serious violations of human rights. We deplore the death, on 10 February, of a World Food Programme staff who had been arbitrarily detained by the Houthis and reiterate the strong condemnation of the arbitrary detentions by the Houthis of UN, NGOs and diplomatic missions’ staff, renewing the urgent call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained.

We welcome recent improvements of the human rights situation in Bahrain, including on women’s rights, and the pardons of more than 3400 prisoners in Bahrain in 2024. We encourage Bahrain to continue along this path and to further align its policies with international human rights law, especially with regard to human rights defenders.

We follow with great concern the security situation in different parts of Ethiopia, notably in Amhara, Tigray and Oromia regions. We continue to be concerned by the reports on human rights violations and continued shrinking civic space for human rights defenders, notably through the recent limitations and administrative suspensions of civil society organisations. We look forward to the implementation of the transitional justice policy, including clear definitions of key elements (crimes to be investigated, victims, reparation) in accordance with international standards, and remains fully available to support the Ethiopian government in this endeavour.

We remain deeply concerned about the continued disregard of the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people and their human rights by the Venezuelan authorities. Nicolás Maduro lacks the legitimacy of a democratically elected president. We condemn the acts of repression against dissenting voices, including opposition members, civil society, Human Rights Defenders, and media. We call on the authorities to respect the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, protect fundamental human rights, to end arbitrary detentions and to release unconditionally all political prisoners, including dual and foreign citizens. We recall Venezuela’s obligations under the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular relations. We welcome the return of the OHCHR to Venezuela and stresses the need to restore the full capacity of its office in Caracas, notably its unfettered access to all regions and detention centres. We will continue to work with all Venezuelans, as well as regional and international partners to foster a peaceful and democratic way out of the crisis and restore democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

We remain deeply concerned about the rule of law and persistent instrumentalisation of the justice system in Guatemala, in particular the persecution or and intimidation of public officials, democratically-elected authorities, civil society, media and judicial operators. We welcome the efforts of the government of President Bernardo Arévalo to advance an ambitious national agenda centred on good governance, transparency, inclusion, and enhance the protection of human rights, and are ready to continue working closely together on these issues.

We remain deeply concerned over the arrests of human rights defenders as well as labour rights, climate and environmental experts in Vietnam, which has a chilling effect on freedom of expression, assembly and association. We call on Vietnam to ensure that human rights and fundamental freedoms are protected so that civil society can participate freely in all aspects of development free of harassment, intimidation and reprisals, and to release all those imprisoned for having peacefully expressed their views. We reiterate our call on Vietnam to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to its abolition. While we welcome Vietnam’s ratification of ILO Conventions, we encourage Vietnam to ratify the remaining Convention No 87 on The Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise.

We will closely follow the human rights situation in Azerbaijan, notably with regard to human rights defenders, journalists and political activists. We reiterate our call on Azerbaijan to release all those imprisoned for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms, We will continue to support a sustainable and lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

Mr. President,

We remain committed to promoting accountability and cooperation with international criminal justice mechanisms, as well as effective measures to end impunity and ensure accountability for human rights violations and abuses, including effective remedies and reparation to victims of such acts/crimes. We reaffirms our unwavering support to the International Criminal Court, as well as our commitment to upholding the Rome Statute and preserving the ICC’s independence and integrity.

Thank you.