Category: Human Rights

Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, was presenting her latest report to the UN Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva.  “It is shocking that between 2015 and 2019, at least 1,323 defenders were killed in 64 countries”, she said. “The pattern of killings is widespread, with human rights defenders having been killed in… Read More

In a report to the Council, he cited European surveys in 2018 and 2019 that showed that nearly four in 10 people held unfavourable views about Muslims. In 2017, 30 per cent of Americans viewed Muslims “in a negative light”, the Special Rapporteur added. He said that States had responded to security threats “by adopting measures which disproportionately target Muslims… Read More

Five UN rights experts called Saudi Arabia’ decision to re-sentence to 10 years, the imprisonment of Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher “an important step towards compliance with the country’s international human rights obligations”, particularly under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits executions for crimes committed by persons under the age of 18.  They highlighted… Read More

Originally dubbed “Plantation Country”, Cancer Alley, which is located in the southern state of Louisiana along the lower Mississippi River where enslaved Africans were forced to labour, serves as an industrial hub, with nearly 150 oil refineries, plastics plants and chemical facilities.    The ever-widening corridor of petrochemical plants has not only polluted the surrounding water and air, but also subjected… Read More

Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, and Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, have condemned the move, according to a statement issued on Tuesday.  Humsa Al-Bqai’a is a traditional Bedouin village located in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank.   The experts said its ongoing destruction by… Read More

According to the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, thousands more have been subject to torture, sexual violence or death in captivity.  Despite the “staggering” wealth of evidence, almost all parties to the conflict “failed to investigate their own forces”, said Commissioner Karen Koning AbuZayd.   “The focus appears to be on concealing, rather than investigating crimes committed in the detention facilities”, she added in a… Read More

Affected communities must be included in shaping these reforms, which include diverting funding from policing to alternate safety measures, they added.  “We have repeatedly raised our concerns about the excessive force used by American police in the context of peaceful demonstrations, and the use of lethal force against individuals who did not present a threat to life at the time… Read More

Delivering a global update to the Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet said people everywhere were being excluded from not only development, but also opportunities.   The #COVID19 pandemic has sharpened and shifted our view of what is valuable in any country’s economy. We now see that health care, child care and social protections are essential and effective tools to avert a… Read More

Speaking at an informal General Assembly meeting on the Myanmar crisis, Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener said, “I told you in 2019 that I would sound the alarm if necessary…This is now the case”.  ‘Fragile and fluid’ situation  The situation in Myanmar is “fragile and fluid”, the UN envoy said, calling it “a people’s fight without arms”.   Ms. Schraner Burgener… Read More

The UN chief addressed ambassadors exactly one year after he issued a Call to Action for Human Rights, a seven-point blueprint aimed at boosting equality and reducing suffering everywhere.  Amid budget cuts and financial crisis, he appealed for support for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and related bodies, noting that funding is critical to achieve… Read More