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At the 49th session of the Human Rights Council on 30 March, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis took part in an interactive dialogue with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on the situation of human rights in Ukraine.

“Russia is responsible for shedding the blood of thousands of innocent people and the destruction. Thus, we must investigate all human rights violations and alleged war crimes. The perpetrators must be held to account,”  Landsbergis said on behalf of the Nordic and Baltic states.
 
The Nordic and Baltic states stand in solidarity with millions of Ukrainians who have suffered from Russian aggression and demand that Russia should  immediately cease attacks on peaceful civilians and civilian infrastructure, and withdraw its forces from Ukraine unconditionally. The people of Ukraine are defending their country, as well as the norms and principles of international law.

Support was also expressed for the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine that was established by the Human Rights Council on 4 March to investigate violations committed during Russia’s military attack on Ukraine. Landsbergis urged the Commission to begin its work as soon as possible.

During the interactive dialogue, Lithuania also thanked the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission for its daily reports and work in Ukraine. It was also noted that the international community and the Human Rights Council had to make every effort to hold Russia and Belarus accountable for the humanitarian catastrophe and human rights crisis with global consequences facing by Ukraine due to the brutal offensive.

In 2021, Lithuania was elected to the UN Human Rights Council for 2022-2024. As a member, Lithuania is committed to defending the universality of human rights, to improving cooperation with other countries and the global civil society, and to seeking an effective response of the UN Human Rights Council to human rights violations around the world.