If elected, Lithuania would give attention to the promotion of rights of those most vulnerable: children, people with disabilities, human rights defenders and people living in conflict situations.
The President underlined that Lithuania would work in line with the UNICEF agenda in advancing the rights of women and girls, the safety of journalists, freedoms of expression as well as of assembly and association, freedom of religion and belief around the world. Lithuania is already an active participant of this process at the international level.
In his speech, the President mentioned the human rights situation in Lithuania’s neighborhood: Belarus and Russia. According to the President, brutal mass violence used by the Belarus regime against peaceful protesters, political opposition, civil society, journalists, and media workers should be addressed by international organizations. For this purpose, accountability mechanisms for human rights abuse must be elaborated.
Speaking about human rights in Russia, the President openly condemned the attempt to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his subsequent illegitimate incarceration and trial as well as the politically motivated trial against human rights defender and historian Yury Dmitriev. To this the President added actions ongoing in the illegally annexed Crimea, in non-government-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, as well as in the occupied Georgia’s regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Lithuania calls to end systematic violations of the international law and to cooperate with the United Nations mechanism as well as to bring those responsible to account.
Finally, the President said, the biggest challenge is to advance and strengthen the rule of law on the geopolitical arena. “So, let us work together, promote the rule of law, and build a better future for all people around the world,” the President concluded.
Lithuania decided to run for the UN Human Rights Council in 2015. It also stood as a candidate in 2006. Lithuania is running for one of the two seats allotted to the Eastern European group of countries. Elections will be held by secret ballot at the UN General Assembly in October of 2021.
The United National Human Rights Council was established for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe in 2006.
Lithuania is among the most active supporters of human rights in Belarus and Ukraine. It is a staunch advocate of Georgia whenever the human rights issues in Abkhazia and South Ossetia are raised at the UN Human Rights Council. At Lithuania’s initiative, the dialogue between the EU and Eastern Partnership countries on cooperation with the UNHRC has been ongoing since 2012.
