Human Rights Council Side Event on Denial of Access Held in Geneva
On 26 September 2018, the Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva Ambassador Andrius Krivas made a presentation at the side event “Denial of Access” held in Geneva in the margins of the 39th session of the Human Rights Council.
The event was organised by the Permanent Missions of Georgia, United Kingdom, Lithuania, Canada, Australia, Latvia, Estonia, Peru and Finland and focused on the safe and unhindered access of the OHCHR staff and international human rights mechanisms to countries, which allows objective and independent monitoring and reporting of the human rights situation on the ground.
Speaking about the consequences of states‘ refusal to cooperate with international monitors, Ambassador Andrius Krivas emphasized that one of the consequences of the access denial is that it perpetuates the mass abuses and violations of human rights in the areas inaccessible to international mandate holders, as we see in those parts of the territories of Ukraine and Georgia, which are illegally controlled by Russia.
The event was initiated and moderated by Ambassador Victor Dolidze, Permanent Representative of Georgia. Other panellists were Ms. Khatuna Totladze, Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia; Ms. Kate Gilmore, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights; Ambassador Julian Braithwaite, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom; and Ambassador Rosemary McCarney, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Canada in Geneva.
