Category: Europe

Alice Edwards, who is officially known as the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, said she was “distressed by the deteriorating state of Mr. Navalny’s health and the apparent lack of satisfactory diagnosis and medical treatment”. ‘A form of torture’ In a statement also backed by six of her fellow Human Rights Council-appointed experts, she… Read More

According to news reports, Russian airstrikes targeted the capital Kyiv for the third time in four days, following on from what Russian authorities said was an assassination attempt by drone strike, on President Vladimir Putin, earlier on Wednesday. Ukrainian authorities, who deny any involvement in the drone incident in Moscow, said Thursday morning’s large-scale attack on Kyiv was repulsed by… Read More

Dozens of civilians across the country were killed and injured, and homes and other vital infrastructure, destroyed.  More than 20 people were killed in the small central city of Uman alone, when their apartment building collapsed after it was hit, according to international media reports.  ‘Inexcusable’ attacks  “It is just inexcusable that in places like Uman, far from the frontline,… Read More

UN Special Representative and head of the UN Interim Administration Mission, Caroline Ziadeh, told ambassadors that the most recent Secretary-General’s report on developments in Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 but is not recognized by Serbia, “included serious challenges as well as an important collective effort to bring Belgrade-Pristina relations nearer to stability and normalisation.” She acknowledged recent tensions, “even… Read More

Looking back on two of the most difficult periods since the plant opened in 1977, Chernobyl employees shared their personal stories with UN News on the International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day. Ground zero Evgeny Yashin was a 40-year-old chemist at the Chernobyl plant when the nuclear power reactor accident unfolded in April 1986, resulting in massive evacuations, the deaths of… Read More

If confirmed, the actions would breach the rules of war, and could amount to a war crime. In a briefing on Tuesday in Geneva, OHCHR Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani pointed to audio that emerged on Sunday on several Telegram channels, which urged combatants not to bother taking POWs, or to summarily execute those captured. Take no prisoners She said one recording… Read More

Stéphane Dujarric described the direct transfer of money, mostly to those who have been displaced and lost their jobs due to the fighting, as “a continuation of crucial assistance that we, along with our partners, have provided in most regions of Ukraine”. He said last year, some six million people across different parts of Ukraine had been provided with cash,… Read More

IOM’s Missing Migrants Project documented 441 deaths during this period, though the true toll is likely to be higher.  Investigations continue into several reports of so-called invisible shipwrecks – cases where boats are reported missing but there are no records of survivors or search and rescue (SAR) operations.   The fates of more than 300 people aboard those vessels remain… Read More

It marks the start of a wider effort to support the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in protecting damaged artifacts, ahead of full restoration. The deliveries took place two months after major earthquakes caused the deaths of at least 50,000 people, displaced more than 3.3 million, and caused an estimated $103.6 billion in damage. “These containers are just the beginning,”… Read More

The Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression said she was encouraged by the Government’s plans to reform media laws in line with international standards.  However, she was also alarmed by “the toxic public discourse, from politicians or public officials and amplified by tabloids, scapegoating the media, human rights defenders, ethnic minorities, LGBTI and those critical of the… Read More