Thank you very much, President. Let me express my gratitude to Albania for convening this crucial discussion. I’d like to express my gratitude to all of our briefers for their enthralling presentations.
As we said last year at President Kenyatta’s Council debate on identity and conflict, history has shown us what happens when identity is weaponized.
Propaganda, disinformation, and hate speech have all paved the way for war crimes, atrocities, and genocide, from the Holocaust to Rwanda to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“While not every use of genocidal hate speech leads to genocide, all genocides have been preceded by genocidal hate speech,” Anne Applebaum wrote recently.
As a result, President, Russian propaganda and rhetoric toward Ukraine is deeply disturbing. Ms Tsybulska has provided us with numerous examples today.
The Kremlin tightly controls Russia’s state-controlled media, which has repeated hate speech directed at Ukraine and Ukrainians for years.
As a result, senior Russian figures have denied that Ukraine has a right to exist or that its identity is distinct from Russia’s.
The Ukrainian government has been accused of being “drug addicts and neo-Nazis” by many people, including President Putin. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that Ukrainians are “scum and freaks.”
There was also the outright lie spread by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other diplomats that Ukrainians were committing genocide in Donbas. An accusation that is unfounded in fact.
The full human cost of Russia’s invasion will only be known in time.
Reports of mass graves and summary executions in Bucha, Irpin, and Mariupol, as well as widespread reports of sexual violence, have already reached this Council.
These atrocities are currently being investigated. Who should be held accountable will be decided by international justice.
Let me conclude with two point points, Mr. President.
Propaganda, disinformation, and hate speech can all be spread through digital and social media platforms. We applaud media companies’ efforts to address this, and we appreciate Mr Cohen’s participation today. We urge them to step up their efforts in this area.
Second, any propaganda for war, as well as any advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence, is expressly prohibited by Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Hate speech can also be considered a form of warfare.
We demand that the Russian Federation honor its commitments and refrain from making such statements.
Thank you very much.