Ambassadors met to examine the Council’s efforts towards building trust that leads to sustainable peace, in light of current and emerging threats. “Full compliance with human rights is the best antidote to the inequalities, unaddressed grievances and exclusion which are often at the root of instability and conflict,” said Mr. Türk, speaking via videolink from…
“Despite being charged with terrorism, they were reportedly arrested for resisting forced evictions in the name of the NEOM project and the construction of a 170km linear city called The Line,” the UN experts said. ‘Smart city’ project NEOM is a futuristic urban development project backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Shadly Ahmad Mahmoud…
They strongly condemned the execution this week of Tangaraju s/o Suppiah, who was convicted of conspiring to traffic cannabis from Malaysia to the country in 2013. Fair trial concerns Mr. Suppiah, a 46-year-old Tamil from Singapore, was hanged on Tuesday despite claims that he had not been provided with adequate interpretation during police interrogations. “The…
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) sounded the alarm after 36,000 people of Haitian origin were deported during the first three months of the year, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Some 90 per cent were deported from the Dominican Republic. Violations and abuses against Haitians The…
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called the Public Order Bill “deeply troubling legislation”, after it completed its passage through parliament on Wednesday. “It is especially worrying that the law expands the powers of the police to stop and search individuals, including without suspicion; defines some of the new criminal offences in a…
The incident occurred on Thursday when armed men in uniform encircled Karma village, located in northern Yatenga province, and randomly shot at people. At least 150 civilians were killed, and many more wounded, according to reports. The attackers – allegedly members of the defence and security forces, accompanied by paramilitary auxiliaries known as the Volunteers…
If confirmed, the actions would breach the rules of war, and could amount to a war crime. In a briefing on Tuesday in Geneva, OHCHR Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani pointed to audio that emerged on Sunday on several Telegram channels, which urged combatants not to bother taking POWs, or to summarily execute those captured. Take no…
“At this moment of sorrow, let us be inspired by his example and strive to defend the dignity and rights of every human being, everywhere,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, in a statement. Human rights hero “Beyond touching millions with his inimitable charm and charisma in music, film, and theatre, Mr. Belafonte devoted his life…
In its 2023 State of World Population report, UNFPA said that while reaching the milestone of eight billion people on Earth was a reminder of “our unprecedented gains”, concerns over the number were “causing anxiety, and driving more governments to try to influence fertility rates.” However, the agency notes that thriving and inclusive societies can…
The Afghanistan Socio-Economic Outlook 2023, released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), provides an overview of the fallout resulting from the takeover of Afghanistan by its present-day de facto rulers, the Taliban, in August 2021. Immediately after the Taliban assumed power, the Afghan economy collapsed, accelerating Afghanistan’s decade-long slide into poverty; with a population estimated…
