Category: Europe

“Spanish authorities must conduct a full, fair, and effective investigation into these allegations, publish the findings and stop any unlawful interference into the fundamental rights of the Catalan minority activists in Spain,” they said in a statement.  Top leaders arrested  Following the October 2017 independence referendum, Spain arrested leaders of the Catalonian independence movement on charges of sedition.   The alleged… Read More

Against the backdrop of the ongoing and deadly Russian invasion of Ukraine, the experts urged the IOC to adopt a decision in that direction, and to go further.  Level playing field needed  Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights and Ashwini K.P., Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, asked the… Read More

Mr. Trukhanov spoke to UN News shortly after the decision was announced, on Wednesday, and explained the laborious process that led to the inclusion. Odesa Mayor, Gennady Trukhanov Gennady Trukhanov We applied for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List back in 2009 and were accepted into the provisional list. But the procedure dragged on and, with the onset of the… Read More

In his speech, delivered at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Guterres recalled that, within months, the Nazis had dismantled fundamental constitutional rights and paved the way for totalitarian rule: members of parliament were arrested, freedom of the press was abolished, and the first concentration camp was built, in Dachau. The antisemitism of the Nazis became government policy, followed by… Read More

Maria Hurtado said in a statement that the judgement was just the latest “in a series of actions against civil society”, journalists, other media and opposition groups and human rights defenders. MHG was founded in 1976 by well-known dissidents and reported on human rights violations in the former Soviet Union (USSR) and later the Russian Federation, she noted. It’s named… Read More

This decision recognizes the outstanding universal value of the site and the duty of all humanity to protect it. ‘Reinforced protection’ “Odesa, a free city, a world city, a legendary port that has left its mark on cinema, literature and the arts, is thus placed under the reinforced protection of the international community,” said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO. “While… Read More

The impact of the conflict only compounds the two years of education lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and more than eight years of war for children in the east of the country.  UNICEF issued the appeal on the International Day of Education, which is marked annually on 24 January.  No ‘pause button’  Schools provide a crucial sense of structure… Read More

“The Moldovan people and Government have shown remarkable solidarity with refugees since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began nearly one year ago”, Filippo Grandi told the media during his visit to the country. “This support was visible from the first days and weeks of the war, when tens of thousands of refugees – mainly women and children – fled Ukraine… Read More

Jens Laerke from UN aid coordinating office, OCHA, said that three trucks had been granted access to areas under Ukrainian Government control just a few kilometres from the heavily disputed city in the Donbas region, which has been an intense battleground, as Russian forces seek to advance on the strategically important town of Bakhmut. He told journalists at Friday’s briefing… Read More

The High Commissioner for Human Rights acknowledged on Thursday that addressing the violent legacy of intercommunal relations in Northern Ireland from the 1960s to the 1990s was “hugely complex and sensitive”. ‘Conditional immunity’ But he warned against plans to give conditional immunity from investigation and prosecution to those accused of serious human rights violations and other international crimes, other than sexual offences.… Read More