60th session of the Human Rights Council
Item 8 - Follow-up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
JOINT STATEMENT on the human rights situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine.
30 September 2025
Mr. President,
This statement is delivered on behalf of 44 states.
We recall the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action that reaffirms the importance of “effective international measures to guarantee and monitor the implementation of human rights standards…in respect of people under occupation, and effective legal protection against the violation of their human rights…in accordance with human rights norms and international law, particularly the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 14 August 1949, and other applicable norms of humanitarian law.”
These principles were reiterated at the Fifth summit of the International Crimea Platform held on 24 September 2025 in New York.
We reiterate our support for the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders extending to its territorial waters, which continues to be violated as a result of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine.
We reaffirm that no territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force shall be recognized as legal.
We condemn the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in violation of Article 2 (4) of the Charter, and the use of temporarily occupied Crimea for subsequent attempted annexation of the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
We also condemn the ongoing temporary occupation by the Russian Federation of part of the territory of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and certain areas of the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and reaffirm the non-recognition of their attempted annexation.
We denounce the reported widespread and systematic violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law, as well as violations and abuses of human rights, perpetrated by the Russian occupying authorities against the residents of Crimea and other temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, encompassing, among other things, enforced disappearances, forcible transfers and deportation, including of children, arbitrary detentions, torture and sexual violence, forced conscription, “filtering”, and discrimination against Ukrainians, the Crimean Tatar Indigenous People and persons belonging to other ethnic and religious groups.
We reiterate our demand that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, and our demand for an immediate cessation of the hostilities by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in particular of any attacks against civilians and civilian objects.
We express support for the efforts to promote a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, including the principles of sovereign equality and territorial integrity of States.
We emphasise that ending the Russian aggression and ensuring a just and lasting peace in Ukraine is imperative not only for restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but also for safeguarding international law, strengthening global peace and security, and upholding the principles of the United Nations Charter.
Thank you!
Delivered on behalf of:
- Albania
- Andorra
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- New Zealand
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovak Republic
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Sweden
- Türkiye
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom