Category: Pacific

Despite some positive developments over the past few months, the Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan said they have been “too few and too slow and they are outweighed by the negatives”. If Taliban continue failing to uphold the rights of all Afghans & to engage constructively with int’l community, #Afghanistan’s future is uncertain: fragmentation, isolation, poverty & internal conflict are… Read More

OHCHR said it was very concerned about the continued violent response to the protests, as well as communications restrictions affecting phones, the internet and social media, Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva.  Ms. Amini, 22, was arrested by Iran’s “morality police” in the capital, Tehran, on 13 September, for allegedly not wearing a hijab in full compliance with mandatory… Read More

The Minister outlined India’s commitment to multilateralism, evidenced, he said, by the decision to supply vaccines to over 100 nations, provide disaster relief to those in distress, and partner with other countries, with a focus on green growth, better connectivity, digital delivery and accessible health. Mr. Jaishankar declared that India is filling gaps in humanitarian needs in nearby countries and… Read More

“We are at a time fraught with challenges. COVID-19 keeps resurfacing, global security faces uncertainty, the economic recovery is fragile and unsteady, and various other risks and crises are emerging,” he said in his address to the UN General Assembly’s high-level debate. Nevertheless, amid this “new phase of turbulence and transformation” there were reasons for hope, Mr. Wang continued, pointing… Read More

The Committee issued its ground-breaking decision after examining a joint complaint filed by eight Australian nationals and six of their children – all indigenous inhabitants of Boigu, Poruma, Warraber and Masig, four small, low-lying islands in the country’s Torres Strait region. The Islanders claimed their rights had been violated as Australia failed to adapt to climate change through upgrading seawalls on the… Read More

“No words can describe the shock we are living through or how the face of the country lies transformed,” Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate. “For 40 days and 40 nights a biblical flood poured down on us, smashing centuries of weather records, challenging everything we knew about disaster, and how to manage it.” No starker… Read More

“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the death of Ms Amini,” they said in a statement. “She is another victim of Iran’s sustained repression and systematic discrimination against women and the imposition of discriminatory dress codes that deprive women of bodily autonomy and the freedoms of opinion, expression and belief”, the experts added. Stop lethal force The experts also… Read More

The decision of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) to uphold the conviction of the regime’s last surviving leader, Khieu Samphan, ends more than 13 years of hearings by the unique hybrid court, which was made up of both Cambodian and international judges and attorneys. The court reportedly cost as total of $330 million, since being established… Read More

“With each report I have warned that unless UN Member States change course in the way they collectively respond to this crisis, the people of Myanmar will suffer even further,” he told the Human Rights Council in Geneva, saying that conditions have “gone from bad to worse, to horrific for untold numbers of innocent people in Myanmar”.  ‘Stakes could not… Read More

He noted that the UN has been playing a central role in the development of an international order where the rule of law is firmly established, but also added that its foundation has been gravely shaken. ‘Rule of law, not rule by force’ “We stand at a historic watershed moment,” he continued, stressing: “Russian aggression against Ukraine is an act… Read More