UNGA81 Third Committee Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief Ms. Nazila Ghanea
Statement delivered by Mr. Aleksas Dambrauskas, Deputy Permanent Representative of Lithuania
on behalf of the Nordic Baltic countries:
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden
New York, 22 October 2026
Mr. Chair,
I am honoured to speak on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic States.
We thank the Special Rapporteur for her report, which underscores the imperative to respect funeral rights and mourning practices as well as honouring the deceased in relation to freedom of religion or belief.
In many parts of the world, individuals continue to be discriminated, persecuted, and sometimes killed for attempts to exercise their freedom of thought, conscience and religion guaranteed by the international human rights law.
We remain concerned about the misuse of religion for political purposes and for justifying aggression, violence, as well as repression within a country. The Kremlin politically instrumentalizes Russia’s Orthodox Church for its war of aggression against Ukraine. Moreover, Russia arbitrarily destroys places of worship and presents its war against Ukraine as a “holy war”. Since 24 February 2022, UNESCO has verified damage of 165 religious sites in Ukraine by Russia, including cemeteries, burial and memorial sites. The global pattern of religious persecution is clearly visible widely and in war-torn Ukraine.
The systematic destruction of religious sites, attacks on cemeteries and obstacles faced by families seeking to recover, bury and properly honour their dead illustrate how violations of freedom of religion or belief continue even after death, depriving communities of their religious and cultural mourning practices.
Our concerted efforts are essential to promote and protect the freedom of religion or belief in line with international obligations and confront mistreatment and violence based on these grounds.
Ms. Special Rapporteur,
in situations of armed conflict and occupation, what additional measures should States and the international community take to ensure that individuals and communities can exercise their religious and belief-based practices related to mourning, burial and commemoration of the deceased?
Thank you.