Category: Human Rights

In the first online session for the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Ibrahim Salama, head of the Human Rights Treaties Branch in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) lauded the treaty body, which, despite significant challenges posed by the virus, have done “extraordinary work” to implement their mandate. Speaking on behalf of the… Read More

Large numbers of protesters have been detained, and the experts have called on the international community to put pressure on the eastern European nation, where longtime authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko has ruled since 1994, to stop attacking its own citizens. No attempt at dialogue “We are outraged by the police violence towards peaceful protesters and journalists”, the UN experts said.… Read More

“The scale and impact of the lethal explosion are unprecedented”, the UN human rights experts said in a joint statement. “We are deeply concerned about the level of irresponsibility and impunity surrounding human and environmental devastation on this scale”. Overlapping calamities The colossal deadly explosion in #Beirut requires a prompt and independent investigation that:?underscores international human rights obligations?clarifies responsibilities related… Read More

The statement comes in the wake of a decision by Twitter to flag tweets by United States President Donald Trump earlier this week, which warned against potential electoral rigging this year, through states’ extending voting by mail. In response, President Trump on Thursday signed an Executive Order aimed at preventing online censorship, upholding free speech as “the bedrock of American… Read More

“I am dismayed to have to add George Floyd’s name to that of Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and many other unarmed African Americans who have died over the years at the hands of the police – as well as people such as Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin who were killed by armed members of the public”, said High… Read More

Those young people who still have a job have seen their working hours cut by 23 per cent, said the head of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Guy Ryder, who also urged Governments to conduct widespread coronavirus testing and tracing of populations to help get economies back on their feet. Countries such as the Republic of Korea and Iceland had… Read More

Members of the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls issued a statement on Wednesday expressing regret that states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Iowa, Ohio, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee “appear to be manipulating the crisis” to curb women’s reproductive rights. “This situation is also the latest example illustrating a pattern of restrictions and retrogressions in access to… Read More

Three aid workers were among those killed. “The reports from Jonglei State are appalling”, Michelle Bachelet said of fighting that broke out between 16 and 17 May, forcing thousands to flee their homes. ‘Recurring pattern’ “This recurring pattern of violence, which continues to claim lives in South Sudan, has to stop,” she said.  “I urge the Government to ensure measures… Read More

“I am receiving more reports every day from all corners of the globe about how indigenous communities are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and it deeply worries me to see it is not always about health issues”, said José Francisco Cali Tzay. In a statement Monday, the Special Rapporteur – a Maya Kaqchikel from Guatemala who took up his post on 1 May –… Read More

By the end of last year, violence in the region forced some 720,000 people to flee their homes, almost half of whom currently remain displaced within their own country, according the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). And with COVID-related lockdowns in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, community leaders and some internally displaced people (IDPs) are reporting… Read More