‘Chilling effect’ Odhikar has “documented enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings and cooperated with UN human rights mechanisms in this context,” the three experts said. “Such reprisals also have a chilling effect and may deter others from reporting on human rights issues and cooperating with the UN, its representatives, and mechanisms”. The Special Rapporteurs said that…
Yelena Milashina, who works for the independent investigative news service Novaya Gazeta, was travelling with Alexander Nemov when they were attacked on Monday morning on their way to covering the trial of Zarema Musaeva, the mother of exiled opposition activists who challenged the leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. The experts urged Russia to…
Today, more than 100 armed conflicts are raging worldwide, devastating communities, winding back development, and leading to grave violations of human rights. Ranging from severe beatings to sexual humiliation and rape, torture is widely used as a means of war. And often, torture involves the use of tools or instruments, mock executions, and forcing victims…
Tourists’ search for the missing Titan submarine continues in the Atlantic Ocean, with a major breakthrough: robots have discovered wreckage near the sunken Titanic. In this regard, rescue expert David Mearns told the British media that two main parts of the submarine have been found, but the shell containing the passengers has not been found,…
In a statement on Friday, the experts said that emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence-based biometric surveillance systems, are increasingly being used “in sensitive contexts”, without individuals’ knowledge or consent ‘Urgent red lines’ must be drawn “Urgent and strict regulatory red lines are needed for technologies that claim to perform emotion or gender recognition,” said the experts,…
“The practice of incommunicado detention of members of the political opposition and prominent figures sentenced to lengthy prison terms for voicing dissent increased in 2023,” the 18 Special Rapporteurs and Human Rights Council-appointed Working Group rights’ experts said. In their statement released by UN rights office OHCHR, they reported that according to the Viasna Human Rights Centre, 1,511…
The US National Hurricane Center acts as WMO’s Regional Specialized Meteorological hub, based in Miami, Florida. There is a 40 per cent chance of a near-normal season, 30 per cent possibility of an “above-normal season”, and also 30 per cent of a below-normal season, according to forecasters with the Climate Prediction Center. The hurricane season…
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, said in a statement that the executions on Friday of Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi, were “profoundly concerning in view of the reported involvement of these individuals in the protests that commenced in Iran on 16 September 2022, and allegations of their having been convicted and sentenced through confessions obtained under torture.”…
The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recession gripped the world so much that people forgot to smile, and one country needed experts to teach its citizens how to smile. People in Japan are hiring smile specialists to learn how to smile again. According to local media reports, some people have admitted that they have forgotten…
The urgent call from the ten Special Rapporteurs and members of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, came in response to an announcement by the Taliban-appointed Supreme Court in favour of punishments including stoning, flogging and burying people under a wall. Women most vulnerable The de facto deputy chief of the court,…
