The World Health Organization’s representative to the DRC, Dr Boureima Hama Sambo, warned that in six eastern provinces, health facilities have been set alight, health workers killed and others face constant physical and psychological threats, while supplies have been looted. Heavy rain, flooding and landslides have also compromised aid access. Dr Sambo said that the…
“Human rights in Afghanistan are in a state of collapse,” he told the Human Rights Council, before sounding the alarm over ongoing reports of extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment and arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as serious violations against former Government officials, as documented in a new human rights office (OHCHR) report. “Compounding all of this…
“Such developments echo a horrific past that must not be repeated,” said Volker Türk UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, marking “five months of futile suffering, death, loss and destruction.” Mounting casualties Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council, Mr. Türk also warned of mounting civilian casualties, as 1500 have already lost their lives to…
To advance development, States must reject authoritarianism and protect civic space and fundamental rights, UN rights chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council on Monday.
Volker Türk said he had been “following developments closely” in Israel, where parliamentarians supporting the hard-line nationalist Government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu passed a bill on Monday which in effect strips the Supreme Court of its power to block Government decisions. Opposition parties boycotted the vote which came after seven months of protests which…
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has said that human rights are not only a problem of Europe or Western countries, but they are very important for all human beings. Therefore, it is not politics to attract the governments towards them and stress the issues. He expressed these views while addressing…
The High Commissioner told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that his office (OHCHR) had documented the arbitrary detention of more than 900 civilians between 24 February 2022 and 23 May this year. He added that that Russia gave no access to places of detention, “which leads inevitably to undercounting”. The summary executions of 77…
Addressing the Human Rights Council, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk noted that the tome was the “core of faith” for well over one billion Muslims. Those who had burned the Quran most likely did so “to express contempt and inflame anger”, Mr. Türk said, as he warned that these acts also aimed…
Repeated, horrific violations have been recorded by the UN human rights office, including mass killings, extra-judicial executions and beheadings, Mr. Türk said, while the military has continued to carry out atrocities in Rakhine state where the Rohingya minority are denied citizenship. In an address to the Council he called for an end to impunity by…
“These latest killings and the violence, along with the inflammatory rhetoric, serve only to drive Israelis and Palestinians deeper into an abyss,” said the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as his Office warned of the “terrible impact on both Palestinians and Israelis” of the escalation, before calling for an immediate end to the bloodshed. Mr. Türk’s comments…
