Thank you, Madam President.
The United Kingdom firmly believes that technical cooperation plays a vital role in promoting and protecting human rights and item 10 is a critical element of the Council's agenda. The international community must challenge States with egregious human rights situations, but it is equally important to support States cooperating with the UN and striving to meet their human rights obligations. We welcome States' engagement with the Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and we encourage States to continue cooperating with the UN to meet their human rights obligations.
The UK welcomes the ongoing co-operation between Georgia and OHCHR. We remain deeply concerned by the human rights situation in its Breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia including enhanced restrictions on freedom of movement and ongoing ethnic discrimination. We urge Georgia to address the recommendations in the OSCE/ODIHR report on the October 2020 parliamentary elections in order to be fully in line with relevant international obligations and standards for democratic elections and to pursue reform of the judiciary to enhance its independence.
We urge the transitional Government in Mali to use the period leading up to the elections next year to bring to justice those responsible for human rights abuses and violations. This includes responding to and investigating the allegations presented by the UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA. We also refer to our statement made at the Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on Mali.
Thank you.
