Human Rights Council must Act Swiftly
President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda spoke at the High Level Segment of the 49th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on February 28. In his speech he noted that he had intended to celebrate Lithuania’s full membership in the Human Rights Council saying that Lithuania is ready to support human rights around the world, to encourage greater cooperation, dialogue and a commitment to effective multilateralism. Unfortunately, the current threat to international order required words about the brutal attack on Ukraine. “These joint actions of the Russian and Belarusian authorities and their military forces are a despicable crime against humanity. Its impact on the human rights situation in the world will be felt for decades,” said President Nauseda. He urged the Human Rights Council to step up their efforts to help the victims and deter the aggressors, preventing further destabilization.
“We must be resolute and swift, because such military conflicts destroy the lives of people and destroy many innocent lives. It is therefore very important to adhere strictly to the basic position of the Human Rights Council, which states that no one should be left behind and no human rights should be ignored”.
He emphasized that Lithuania condemns any attempt to carry out politically motivated persecution, repression, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and killings, and that recent efforts to restore the paralyzing atmosphere of fear widely used by totalitarian regimes cannot be tolerated.
President Nausėda has also called on the international community to remove Russia from the G20 format and suspend its membership in other international organizations after it attacked Ukraine. After he attended a virtual summit of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force that also involved Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Norway, he said “The aggressor has no place in the G20 and the UN Security Council. Sanctions must be in place, and they must be toughened by cutting Russia off the SWIFT system and suspending the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.” LRT.lt
