The Czech Republic welcomed the cooperation of the Government of Somalia with the Independent Expert and invited the Government to issue a Standing Invitation for all UN human rights mechanisms. The Czech Republic urged the Government to revise the draft of the new Media Law, opposed by many local journalists. Furthermore, the Czech Republic asked for a better protection of journalists in Somalia and pointed out the high number of killings of journalist. The full text of the statement is available here.

The Czech Republic welcomed that the Independent Expert visited many states in Sudan affected by conflict (Darfur, Blue Nile and North Kordofan). The Czech Republic invited all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and to allow the access for humanitarian organisations. The Czech Republic criticised the continuing harassment of civil society, violations of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly or torture and invited the Independent Expert to focus in his reports more on these important issues. Furthermore, the Czech Republic called on the Government to implement the recommendations of the 2011 Universal Periodic Review and stated that, for the time being, there is little progress in the implementation. The full text of the statement is available here.

In the interactive Dialogue on the Central African Republic, the Czech Republic welcomed the decision of the transitional government to request convening of the Dialogue. Further called on the transitional Government to restore the rule of law and ensure investigating and prosecuting of all persons against whom there is evidence of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law. The Czech Republic supported appointment of an independent expert. The full text of the statement is available here.