HRC63 - EU Statement - HRC63 Item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

European Union

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

63^rd Session 

(7 September – 7 October 2026)

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Item 3

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Statement by

H.E. Ms. Deike Potzel

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the European Union 

Geneva, 17 September 2026

- CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY – 

HRC63 Item 3  Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

EU Statement

Mr President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

Albania, Armenia, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Ukraine align themselves with this statement.

We thank the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner and his Office for their reports under Item 3, as well as the briefing by the ECOSOC President. We re-iterate our strong support to the UN’s human rights pillar and the Human Rights Council as the primary intergovernmental body to address human rights issues and call for the strengthened engagement between the Council and the other pillars of the UN. We further express our support to the independence and integrity of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Council’s Special Procedures mandate holders. 

The EU reaffirms its strong and unequivocal condemnation of the use of the death penalty in all cases and in all circumstances. The death penalty violates the inalienable right to life and is incompatible with human dignity. We call on all countries applying the death penalty to abolish it, or to introduce a moratorium as a first step towards abolition. We welcome the growing worldwide trends towards abolition, while expressing concern at the increase in the number of recorded executions in recent years in a small number of retentionist States. The 9th World Congress against the Death Penalty in Paris earlier this year was an important opportunity to move forward on this agenda, and we look forward to the next World Congress taking place in Morocco. We also look forward to supporting the biennial resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty at the UN General Assembly later this year. 

A strong and vibrant civic space is crucial for democracy, accountability and the enjoyment of all human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political and social, including the right to development. The EU is alarmed by increasing restrictions on civil society space and human rights defenders, including through the rising use of so-called “foreign agents” laws and other restrictive legislation, global funding cuts, as well as threats, attacks, violence and harassment, and acts of transnational repression. We are committed to safeguarding those who courageously champion human rights, including through protecting and promoting their access to United Nations fora. 

We reaffirm that the same rights that people enjoy offline must also be protected online and in the context of digital technologies. New and emerging technologies increasingly shape public participation, access to information, and electoral processes. We champion a human rights-based, human centric, inclusive and accessible approach to design, development, regulation and governance in the digital sphere, including of artificial intelligence and other new and emerging technologies, ensuring non-discrimination and equal access for persons with disabilities. We also defend bridging digital divides. We further call on all relevant stakeholders, including business enterprises, to prevent harm caused by those technologies and to refrain from using them if they cannot be deployed in a manner that respects universal human rights and fundamental freedoms. 

The EU places the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, both online and offline, at the centre of its efforts to achieve gender equality. This includes the protection of victims and survivors and ensuring accountability for perpetrators. We further advocate for a whole-of-society approach to engage men and boys as beneficiaries of gender equality and allies in the elimination of all gender inequalities, including by addressing and combatting gender stereotypes and discriminatory laws, both at home and abroad. We will continue to strive for the realisation of all human rights by all women and girls. 

I thank you.