Checked Against Delivery
Thank you, Madam Chair,
Let me also thank the briefers for their interesting and relevant presentations and their powerful testimonies.
Denmark has consistently demanded that international law, including International Humanitarian Law, be fully respected, without exceptions, in Russia’s unprovoked and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. This includes the treatment of Prisoners of War and civilian detainees unjustly deprived of their liberty.
Multiple UN bodies have concluded that Russia subjects Ukrainian POWs to systematic torture and ill treatment, including conflict-related sexual violence. Reports of captured soldiers being summarily executed are particularly alarming. Denmark condemns these abuses in the strongest possible terms. All Prisoners of War must be treated humanely and in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, at all times, and by all parties.
We demand that Russia grants the International Committee of the Red Cross unrestricted access to its Prisoners of War camps and other areas of detention, just as Ukraine does. Both Ukraine and Russia have signed the Geneva Conventions: only one is respecting this obligation. We welcome the POW exchanges so far and the return of human remains recovered from the battlefield, and we hope more exchanges can take place, as highlighted by Ms. Gushchyn.
We will also not allow Ukrainian civilians in the temporarily-occupied territories to be forgotten. Credible reports state that civilians have been forcibly disappeared for weeks, months, or years at a time, as we also heard about today. Because their children spoke Ukrainian at school. Because they refused to acquire Russian identity documents. Because they disapproved of this senseless war. Once unjustly detained, these civilians are often subjected to the same horrors as Ukrainian Prisoners of War, but without the protection, procedural safeguards, and international oversight that they must be provided under International Humanitarian Law. Denmark condemns Russia’s unjustified detainment of Ukrainian civilians and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
Madam Chair,
Russia’s sustained and well-documented military cooperation with the DPRK is a stark illustration of the increasingly global dimension of this war. Both Moscow and Pyongyang admit that this cooperation is ongoing, with North Korean troops actively supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. There are also reports that several DPRK missile units have been deployed, which would constitute a further flagrant violation of the UN sanctions regime.
We are also concerned by reports of Russia recruiting third country nationals, particularly from states across the Middle East and Africa, into its armed forces through the use of misleading claims and false advertising, as we have also heard about today. Luring unsuspecting foreign nationals to fight at the front is unacceptable and must cease. This shows Russia’s willingness to further exceed legal, moral and geographical boundaries in its war against Ukraine.
Madam Chair, in closing,
We once again call on Russia to heed the calls of the Secretary-General and the international community to stop this deadly spiral of violence. As a first step, there must be an immediate and unconditional ceasefire leading to a just and lasting peace in line with the UN Charter. Ukraine has long been ready to engage seriously and in good faith. We call on Russia to do the same.
Russia, alone, started this war. Russia, alone, could stop the suffering today if it so chooses. It is long past the time to do so.
Thank you.
