Aside from alignment with the joint statement by the European Union, the Czech delegation concentrated on human rights violations in the following countries: Syria, Iran – including detention of opposition leaders Mehdi Karoubi and Mirhossein Mousavi, Belarus – including imprisonment of the dissident Ales Bialiatski, Gambia, Mali, China – including the mention of the imprisoned human rights defender Yonten Gyatso, Burma, North Korea. On the other hand, positive mention was made in relation to the abolition of the death penalty in Benin.

Full version of the statement by the Czech Republic is enclosed.