Ávarp í umræðum um yfirlitsskýrslu mannréttindafulltrúans

Harald Aspelund, fastafulltrúi Íslands, flutti í dag ávarp undir dagskrárlið 2,  þar sem brugðist var við yfirlitsræðu mannréttindafulltrúa Sameinuðu þjóðanna, Michelle Bachelet, við upphaf 42. fundarlotu mannréttindaráðsins á mánudag. Í ávarpinu var tekið undir áhyggjur mannréttindafulltrúans vegna áhrifa loftslagsbreytinga á mannréttindi fólks en sjónum einnig beint að málfrelsi og fjölmiðlafrelsi í Hong Kong og Tyrklandi.

Item 2 – General Debate 

Response to Oral Update by the High Commissioner for Human Rights

10 September 2019

Statement by Iceland

Thank you Mr. President,

Iceland thanks the High Commissioner for her update. We share her concern over climate change and its impact on the human rights of people all around the world. We take this opportunity to express our solidarity with the people of the Bahamas where we have seen clearly the human implications of climate change, with rising storms and tides that can and will have devastating effect.

In Iceland, we recognize well the seriousness of the challenge mankind – and the earth – is facing. In our part of the world, the primary concern is melting ice and rising sea levels – we have recently seen the complete disappearance of one of our smaller glaciers – Ok – and others may follow in the not-to-distant future. Changes in the environment may disrupt livelihoods of people in the far north and more extreme weather will have serious consequences. Linking these changes to the possible effect on the rights of people around the world is important and those links need to be studied further.

Mr. President,

Like the High Commissioner, we are concerned over the situation in Hong Kong. It is the democratic and civil right of the public everywhere to peacefully protests. It is crucial that this right is protected, and also, that protestors engaging in demonstrations do so peacefully. Icelandic authorities call for calm to prevail.

Mr. President,

We value greatly people´s freedom of expression, wherever they live. I therefore take this opportunity to refer also to the concerns expressed by the European and International Federation of Journalists, in a letter to members and observers of this council, on limits to freedom of expression in Turkey.

In our view, the right to hold and express dissenting opinions must to cherished wherever you are, and the right to access information is also paramount. This is why Iceland signed the Global Pledge on Media Freedom at the Global Conference for Media Freedom organized by Canada and the United Kingdom this summer in London.

I thank you.