Category: Human Rights

Sudan military committed to ‘ensuring stability’ and ‘peaceful transition’ says senior diplomat, as UN rights chief appeals for protesters’ rights to be upheld Sudan’s military has an “overarching duty” to refrain from using violence against protesters and ensure that their human rights are protected amid concerns of a further escalation, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on… Read More

“Most of the survivors we have today were broken in their bodies and their souls”, Esther Mujawayo-Keiner told those gathered in the General Assembly Hall, to reflect on what UN chief António Guterres referred to as “one of the darkest chapters in recent human history”, which overwhelmingly targeted Tutsi, but also moderate Hutu and others who opposed the genocide. Esther… Read More

Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial executions, Agnes Callamard, tweeted that in “expelling Assange from the Embassy” and allowing his arrest, it had taken Mr. Assange “one step closer to extradition”. She added that the UK had now arbitrarily-detained the controversial anti-secrecy journalist and campaigner, “possibly endangering his life”. Mr. Assange took refuge inside the embassy in 2012, to avoid extradition to… Read More

The offensive directed towards the capital, and troops loyal to the internationally-recognized Government led by Faiez Serraj, began on Monday. UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric briefed reporters earlier in the day that clashes were “reportedly intensifying, with increased use of artillery and airstrikes”.  After briefing the Security Council, I reiterated my strong appeal for the fighting in Libya to stop immediately. There is no… Read More

Recalling enforced disappearances, clandestine graves, tortured detainees and other human rights violations, Michelle Bachelet said in a statement she delivered in the capital, Mexico City, that she was heartened the new Government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had committed as a “State responsibility” to “search for the disappeared and establish truth and justice for the families and victims”. “My… Read More

The ILO was born out of the rubble of the First World War, as the victors met to draw up the Treaty of Versailles, where they affirmed the need for social justice in the service of a “universal and lasting peace”. The UN chief painted a picture of a time of upheaval, when newly-emboldened labour unions in many parts of… Read More

Ghassan Salamé, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), made the announcement after condemning Monday’s attack by the self-styled Libyan National Army’s (LNA) aircraft against Meitiga airport, Tripoli’s only functioning terminal that is available for civilian use. The conference was hoping to reach agreement among the various political factions after months… Read More

Demonstrations against the 30-year rule of President Omar al-Bashir began in December, and thousands marched and rallied outside the headquarters of the Sudanese army in the capital on Saturday and Sunday, according to news reports. There were reports of dozens of other protests around the country, and eye witnesses told news outlets that some soldiers, had moved to protect peaceful… Read More

The UN Special Rapporteur on minorities, Fernand de Varennes, said Governments must live up to their international human rights obligations to protect and promote the rights of the Roma people. “There is a need for more action to combat hate speech, intolerance and racially motivated-violence,” Mr. de Varennes, in a statement on International Roma Day, also known as International Romani… Read More

“UNICEF is encouraged by Governments’ efforts to jointly seek regional solutions to the challenges posed by largescale migration that are in line with international standards and national laws, such as the protocol adopted by Ecuador to protect uprooted children,” said María Cristina Perceval, UNICEF’s Regional LAC Director. UNICEF/Moreno Gonzalez | At night, migrant children and mothers gather at a UNICEF… Read More