Nordic-Baltic statement at UNGA Third Committee on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

Thank you Mr Chair,

I am speaking on behalf of the Nordic and Baltic countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and my own country, Sweden.

We thank the Special Rapporteur, for his invaluable work on the critical subject of extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions. Any such acts constitute abhorrent violations of human rights, including of the inherent right to life.

We therefore welcome the Special Rapporteur’s emphasis on prevention which is key.

Likewise, the particular focus on including a gender perspective is crucial. Strengthened efforts on the prevention of femicide – the killing of women because they are women – are necessary and we look forward to the coming recommendations on this subject.

Mr Chair,

We welcome the trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty. However, death sentences continue to be imposed in violation of international law and standards. We call upon those states that have not yet abolished the death penalty to do so, in law and in practice.

Mr. Special Rapporteur, we commend your work on the links between your mandate and the current Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the Ebola epidemic. We also wish to express our support for your intention to use the 40th anniversary of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate next year to take stock of achievements and shortcomings and to make recommendations for the future.

Mr. Special Rapporteur, can you elaborate on how your work to ensure that gender mainstreaming is carried out with an intersectional perspective? How can we as member states assist in ensuring the widespread acknowledgement of femicide, in order to contribute to its prevention?

I thank you.