Mr. President,

The Kingdom of the Netherlands aligns itself with the EU statement.
Two years after the publication of OHCHR’s assessment on Xinjiang, which concluded that possible crimes against humanity were committed, little progress has been made. We call on China to implement without delay all recommendations of the UPR, CEDAW and CESCR reviews and OHCHR’s assessment. We urge China to engage genuinely with the UN and end the curtailment of media freedom in Hong Kong.  

Regarding Russia, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the continuing war of aggression against Ukraine and atrocities committed. We call for the immediate release of the more than 1300 persons arbitrarily detained and to end the prosecution, imprisonment, mistreatment and torture of opposition, human rights defenders, journalists and other dissenting voices.

Mr. President, 

The continuous deterioration of the human rights system in Belarus is deeply concerning. We condemn the arbitrary and unlawful detention of more than 1400 political prisoners and call for their immediate and unconditional release. Belarus must adhere to its international obligations to respect, protect and fulfil all human rights.

Also in Iran, we remain deeply concerned about the ongoing oppression, particularly targeting women, girls, human rights defenders and ethnic or religious minorities. We strongly condemn the high number of executions, in violation of the ICCPR, and urge Iran to fully cooperate with the Special Rapporteur and Fact Finding Mission.
We remain also profoundly concerned about the large-scale human rights violations in Sudan. All parties to the conflict must end all violations. We call on the HRC to support the renewal of the FFM’s mandate so that violations are documented, evidence is preserved and perpetrators can be held to account. 

Lastly Venezuela, which has seen a dramatic increase in authoritarianism since the presidential elections on July 28th. We urge the Maduro regime to respect the will of the Venezuelan people and restore democracy. Detained peaceful protesters, citizen election observers and political prisoners should be released. We call on security forces to assure human rights of all Venezuelans are respected.

Thank you.