News

On 27 – 28 February the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius is attending the 34th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The High-Level Segment of the Human Rights Council takes place annually on the first week of the spring session during which the representatives of the Members States of the United Nations are given the opportunity to provide guidelines and good practices on human rights policies. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius will be representing the country and will make a statement.

On the 34th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council the emphasis will be directed towards the assessment of the human rights situation in Syria as well as the promotion of human rights in dispute settlement processes. During the session the issues of protection of the rights of children, disabled persons and migrants, also the fight against death penalty will be addressed. The human rights situation in Ukraine, Iran, Burundi, Palestine, North Korea, South Sudan will also be discussed. The resolution on the human rights situation in Georgian regions – Abkhazia and South Ossetia – will be presented for the first time during the spring session of the Human Rights Council.

On 28 February, a thematic ministerial level side event, initiated by Lithuania along with Ukraine, Latvia and the Crimean Tatar heads of Mejlis, will take place with an aim to discuss the violation of human rights and the persecution of Crimean Tatars in Russian occupied Crimean territory. Also, the recommendations for Lithuania, which were made during the second Universal Periodic Review regarding the situation of the human rights in Lithuania, are scheduled to be adopted.

During the visit, Minister Linas Linkevičius will meet the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the heads of World Economic Forum, International Red Cross Committee, World Trade Organization, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and will participate in a discussion in the Diplomatic Club of Geneva – “Lithuania and its region in the face of the challenges of global politics“.

The Human Rights Council is an institution for the protection of human rights of the United Nations, established by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March, 2006. Its primary function is to encourage the universal respect for the protection of human rights and freedoms, react to the violations of human rights and provide recommendations on these issues. Lithuania has an observer status in the Human Rights Council and has submitted its candidature for the membership of the Council for the period of 2022-2024.