Brazil – Visit by Olivier Becht (Jan. 1-2, 2023)

Olivier Becht, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Economic Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, will be in Brazil from January 1 to 2 to represent France at President Lula’s inauguration ceremony in Brasilia.

During this visit, the Minister Delegate, together with the German Minister of State Tobias Lindner, will award the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights to Djamila Ribeiro. Djamila Ribeiro is one of the prize winners this year being recognized for their work fighting for the rule of law, freedom of the press, environmental rights, women’s rights, LGBT+ rights, children’s rights and justice.

Olivier Becht will also travel to Rio de Janeiro, where he will meet with the French community.

Global food security – World Food Program ship transporting 25,000 tons of wheat donated by Ukraine arrives in Somalia (Dec. 29, 2022)

Yesterday, the Neva, a World Food Program (WFP) ship transporting 25,000 tons of wheat donated to Somalia by Ukraine, arrived in the port of Berbera. The wheat will be sent to locations throughout Somalia, a country that has been particularly impacted by the food crisis, and will help 450,000 people over a period of five months.

As the President of France stated in his announcement before the United Nations General Assembly in September 2022, France is contributing €14 million in funding to this operation. This is another example of France’s involvement in the fight against global food insecurity and malnutrition, which have been worsened by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. France’s contributions to the WFP reached €160 million in 2022.

This operation is part of the solidarity efforts at the heart of the European Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission Initiative (FARM) and the Grain from Ukraine initiative launched by President Zelensky of Ukraine. In addition to supporting the FARM initiative, France is tackling the issue of global food security through the EU’s Solidarity Lanes, which have made it possible to transport over 17 million tons of Ukrainian grain since last March, as well as the Save the Crops initiative launched by President Macron and partners on September 23 in an effort to facilitate access to fertilizer for the most vulnerable countries, especially those in Africa.

Burma/Myanmar – France condemns in the strongest possible terms the new prison sentence imposed on Aung San Suu Kyi (Dec. 30, 2022)

France condemns in the strongest possible terms the new seven-year prison sentence imposed today on State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi following arbitrary legal proceedings that aim to discredit a democratically elected civilian political figure. This sentence is an additional indication of the military regime’s contempt for the rule of law and the will of the Burmese people, which was freely and unequivocally expressed in the general elections that took place on November 8, 2020.

France reiterates its commitment to seeing the establishment of a political dialogue that includes the democratic opposition, including the National League for Democracy and its historic leaders, which is a crucial prerequisite for any resolution to the crisis.

As was demanded by the UN Security Council in its resolution 2669, France reiterates its call for the immediate, unconditional release of all those who are being arbitrarily detained, including State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, as well as its call for an end to the violence committed by Myanmar’s security forces.

France reaffirms its support for the efforts of ASEAN and its Special Envoy as well as those of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Turkey – France deplores the ruling upholding Osman Kavala’s life sentence (Dec. 28, 2022)

France deplores the Turkish court’s December 28 ruling upholding Osman Kavala’s life sentence. This civil society activist has been jailed for more than five years in violation of Turkey’s international obligations. France once again calls for Osman Kavala to be released immediately and for all charges against him to be dropped, in accordance with the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights on December 10, 2019, and July 11, 2022.

France reaffirms its commitment to respect for human rights, fundamental liberties and the rule of law, and calls on Turkey to fully abide by its international obligations, particularly under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. France will continue to pay close attention to all of the the trials against civil society representatives and human rights defenders in Turkey.