Statement by Ireland at the 1421st meeting of the Permanent Council

Statement

Mr Chair, Ireland fully aligns with the statement of the EU. I would like to add the following points in my national capacity.

I would like to extend thanks and appreciation to the Chair-in-Office and ODIHR for organising an important and timely Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting this week on ‘Torture and Other Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law and Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law’.

At the SHDM, I had the privilege of meeting a number of survivors of torture at the hands of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine.

Their brave and powerful testimony put a human face behind the growing evidence of widespread and systematic violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by the Russian Armed Forces and their proxies. The direct testimony of individuals from across Ukraine served as a reminder of why we, as participating States, must work tirelessly to uphold the rules-based international order, including our OSCE commitments. As the Chair-in-Office has underlined from the start of the year: ‘It’s about people’.

I would like to convey particular gratitude to the civil society organisations that are investigating and documenting war crimes in Ukraine, supporting the survivors of torture and giving a voice to the survivors.

The SHDM made it clear that civil society is playing a key role in ensuring accountability for war crimes carried out in Ukraine and we thank the civil society representatives who travelled to Vienna this week to engage with us.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

« Previous Item | Next Item »