Category: Human Rights

No democracy is complete without access to transparent and reliable information, said António Guterres, describing unfettered journalism as “the cornerstone for building fair and impartial institutions, holding leaders accountable and speaking truth to power.” This years commemorations which began on Thursday across the world, are focussing on the powerful role that good reporting plays in championing democracy and free elections,… Read More

Opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, who declared himself interim leader in January, appeared on social media flanked by members of the armed forces on Tuesday, calling for action to remove Mr. Maduro from power. President Maduro accused his rival of an “attempted coup”.  In the light of Wednesday’s day of planned protests, OHCHR Spokesperson, Marta Hurtado, said in a statement that reported violence… Read More

End ‘political opportunism’ that’s letting hate speech flourish, urges top UN genocide official With murderous attacks against religious institutions on the rise, leaders across the world need to do more to end “political opportunism” and policies which allow hate speech and violent extremism to flourish, said the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide on Wednesday. Speaking at the… Read More

Speaking at the end of the second Global Summit on Religion, Peace and Security, at UN headquarters in Geneva, Adama Dieng noted that in the wake of dozens killed inside Sri Lanka churches, a synagogue attack in California, and killings inside a church in Burkina Faso, the threat of another genocide somewhere, was only growing larger. “We are speaking about… Read More

“Such incidents have become all-too-familiar” said António Guterres, citing “Muslims gunned down in mosques, their religious sites vandalized; Jews murdered in synagogues, their gravestones defaced with swastikas” and Christians “killed at prayer, their churches often torched.” Instead of being safe havens, houses of worship have become targets, he warned, noting that “beyond the murders, there is loathsome rhetoric: xenophobia aimed… Read More

According to news reports, on Saturday, a gunman armed with a semiautomatic rifle entered a synagogue in Poway, California, some 40 kilometres north of San Diego, yelling anti-Semitic slurs, and opened fire. The attack left one woman dead, the rabbi and two others wounded. This incident comes in the wake of a series of attacks against mosques, synagogues and other places… Read More

The polite but passionate plea came from 20-year-old wheelchair-bound Syrian refugee, Nujeen Mustafa, who briefed members in a soft but commanding voice, on the acute vulnerabilities of people with disabilities in conflict, describing how once war began in her home city of Aleppo, she lived with the intense fear that she would be responsible for her own family dying in an airstrike. … Read More

“I strongly condemn these shocking mass executions across six cities in Saudi Arabia yesterday in spite of grave concerns raised about these cases by numerous UN Special Rapporteurs, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and others,” she said in a statement. Amid allegations that confessions were obtained through torture, she voiced concern over a lack of due… Read More

At the meeting marking the 10th anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1888, which created the mandate of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Council passed a German-drafted resolution to reduce sexual violence in conflict and end rape as a weapon of war, with 13 in favour, and two countries, Russia and China, abstaining. “Local civil society organizations,… Read More

Anne Nuorgam, who is a member of Finland’s Saami Parliament and head of the Saami Council’s Human Rights Unit, described the Forum as an opportunity to share innovations and practices, developed in indigenous communities “over centuries and millennia”. Indigenous peoples make up less than six per cent of the world’s population, but account for 15 per cent of the poorest… Read More