Ambassador Neil Holland recalls the vital contribution of media freedom to security in the OSCE region, and calls on Russia and Belarus to live up to their OSCE commitments:
There can be no security without media freedom. Since 1975, all OSCE participating States have – as you remind us – accepted individuals’ right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas without interference. The UK will remain a strong supporter of the mandate for the Representative on Freedom of the Media.
Securing media freedom requires continued investment and effort in all participating States. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your work with the UK on our approach to online safety and the safety of journalists.
As you note in your report journalists and other media workers face torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, intimidation, and harassment in many parts of the OSCE region.
According to UNESCO’s Observatory of Killed Journalists, fourteen journalists have been killed in the line of work since Russia’s full scale, illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia continues to persecute dissenting voices in Ukrainian territory under its temporary control, as it has been doing in Crimea since 2014. Since 2012 the free media inside Russia has been silenced. The September 2022 Moscow Mechanism report showed a clear correlation between Russia’s internal repression and its external aggression. Sadly, as you note in your report, Russia’s relentless domestic crackdown on media freedom continues today, including through ongoing imprisonment and harassment of journalists and media workers.
Last year’s Moscow Mechanism report found that freedom of expression in Belarus has been seriously undermined. Legislation can target any independent voice, particularly critics of government or of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. Anyone who administers social media networks or communication channels for listed so-called “extremists” can face serious charges, even of terrorism.
Such actions are not compatible with participating States’ obligations under international law and their OSCE commitments. So the UK once again calls on Russia and Belarus to live up to their OSCE principles and commitments, to enable freedom for the media to report on matters of public interest without undue interference, threats, and intimidation.
Teresa, thank you again for your commitment to your mandate and your professionalism in the defence of media freedom. And many thanks to your dedicated team. I assure you that the UK will continue to reiterate – in this Council and beyond – the importance of free media for peace and security in the OSCE region. We wish you all the very best for whatever comes next.
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Two soldiers, whose remains were found in a cave, have been laid to rest with full military honours more than a century after their deaths.
In 2015 French archaeologists working in caves near Chassemy noted an inscription on the cave wall:
15 Sept 1914
Here lies Sjt Smith and 3 Gnrs
29th Battery RFA
Despite the reference to four casualties, excavations revealed just two sets of remains. Research, genealogy and DNA testing have now found those remains to be Sjt Smith and Gnr Lightfoot.
Sjt Smith and Gnr Lightfoot were professional soldiers in the 29th Battery Royal Field Artillery. They arrived in Rouen just days after war broke out in 1914. Their unit worked their way east towards Belgium, and then south towards the Aisne and by mid-September they were fighting around the Aisne area.
On 13 September the troops marched from Cerseuil and halted at about 8.30am just north of Braine. German shells were bursting on the road, but they continued to Brenelle, and halted at midday until 5.30pm. They stayed the night of September 13 to 14 in Brenelle and were then brought into action just north of the Chassemy to Brenelle Road. The Battery was heavily shelled and afterwards moved position. At dusk the Brigade moved to the east of the Braine to Brenelle Road.
The war diaries make no reference to casualties during these dates, but other records show the 29th Battery lost four men between 13 and 14 September. Evidence shows that a gun position was hit by a shell on 13 September, and this killed at least two. The men known to have been killed by the shell were Sjt Smith and Gnr Lightfoot, whilst the other two men who died that day were Gnr Adams and Gnr Blyth. By the end of the war their burial place was unknown, and all four were listed on the memorial to the missing at La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre. Whilst Smith and Lightfoot have now been identified unfortunately Gunners Blyth and Adams remain missing.
Alexia Clark, MOD War Detective said: “I am grateful to Sjt Smith’s cousin and Gnr Lightfoot’s great-nephew for offering their DNA to allow us to identify these men, and for the input other members of the families have offered to create a truly special service for them today.
“Whilst Gnrs Adams and Blyth remain unfound, we have also been able to remember them today, and acknowledge their sacrifice alongside that of their comrades.”
The service for Serjeant (Sjt) John Smith, of Gloucestershire, and Gunner (Gnr) Charles Lightfoot, of Edinburgh, was organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), also known as the ‘MOD War Detectives’.
It was held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Vendresse British Cemetery, France yesterday (13 June 2024).
HUMAN RIGHTS
Moldova, North Korea, Russia, Rwanda, Former Yugoslavia, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen
The governments of the United States of America, Canada, and the United Kingdom gave a statement on Russian actions in the leadup to the Moldovan presidential election.
Statement by UK Permanent Representative Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on North Korea.
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Statement by Legal Adviser Colin McIntyre at the UN Security Council meeting on the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
UK explanation of vote delivered by Ambassador Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, following the Security Council adoption of resolution 2736 on El Fasher.
Statement by Deputy Political Coordinator Laura Dix at the UN Security Council meeting on Syria.
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Joint statement delivered by Ambassador Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, on behalf of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, EU, Fin…
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