Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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382. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Ireland will offer its support to Ukraine by sending independent human rights monitors to monitor the rights compliance at the borders of Ukraine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16393/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Since the illegal, unprovoked and unjustified further invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces on 24 February, Ireland has stood in unwavering solidarity with the people and government of Ukraine.

Ireland’s approach, in order to be most effective, is to provide support through multilateral partners, including the UN, EU, International Criminal Court, Council of Europe and the OSCE. Our efforts are aimed at bringing an end to this war, ensuring accountability for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and meeting the humanitarian needs of those caught in the conflict.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine was deployed in 2014 and operates at the invitation of the Government of Ukraine to monitor, report and advocate on the human rights situation in the country, with a particular focus initially on the conflict area in eastern Ukraine and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, occupied by the Russian Federation.

Since 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation began its armed attack on Ukraine, the Mission has been closely monitoring its impact on human rights across the country.

Ireland has prioritised the issue of Ukraine at the ongoing 49th session of the Human Rights Council. On 2nd March, at the high level segment of the session, I focused on the situation in Ukraine, calling for an immediate ceasefire, unconditional withdrawal of Russian forces, full respect for human rights and the holding to account of all perpetrators of violations and abuses of human rights.

Ireland strongly supported support Ukraine’s formal request for an Urgent Debate at the Human Rights Council. Ireland was also an original co-sponsor of the resolution on the situation of human rights in Ukraine, adopted by the Human Rights Council on 4th March, establishing a Commission of Inquiry on the alleged abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law in the context of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

On 25 March, Ireland joined a Group of Friends of Accountability to ensure that those who commit crimes as part of Russia's invasion are held fully accountable.

We remain fully committed to maintaining a strong, united approach across multilateral fora, to highlight violations and abuses of human rights, and to hold the perpetrators to account.