UK General Comment on the Resolution for the Urgent Debate to
discuss the recent military aggression launched by Iran against
Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the
United Arab Emirates. Delivered by the UK's Human Rights
Ambassador, Eleanor Sanders.
"We welcome this Urgent Debate.
As we said earlier today, we stand with our Gulf friends and
allies, and will continue to act in their defence. Iran's actions
are endangering civilians, destabilising the region and
threatening the global economy. That is why we co-sponsored this
resolution.
However, we wish to put on record some of our reservations on the
text.
We do not think it is within the mandate of the Human Rights
Council to determine the need for inter-state reparations. Nor
should the Human Rights Council determine that conflicts
represent threats to international peace and security – that is
for the Security Council, as it determined in resolution 2817. We
understand OP1 as reflecting a determination already made by the
UNSC.
We also note that human rights obligations only apply within the
jurisdiction of a State party and jurisdiction is primarily
territorial.
And we want to be clear that the international law of the sea is
as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and
references to it in the resolution should be read accordingly.
The UK's support for this resolution is based on our overarching
concern on the situation in the region and is without prejudice
to our longstanding position on these issues; the language in
this text should not be considered as a future precedent which
the UK deems acceptable."
