Tag: Europe News

The five Special Rapporteurs expressed outrage at the arrest, alleged torture and forced confession of opposition journalist Roman Protasevich (Raman Pratasevich), who was arbitrarily detained on 23 May in a case that sparked international condemnation.  Mr Protasevich, 26, was on a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania that was forcibly diverted to the Belarusian capital, Minsk, due to a supposed… Read More

Five UN experts issued a statement calling upon the Council of Europe’s Committee on Bioethics to withdraw a draft  Additional Protocol to the Oviedo Convention – a treaty protecting the human rights of people with regard to biology and medicine – that would codify a  mental health policy based on coercion and bring “stigmatization and fear to people with psychosocial disabilities”. … Read More

1) ICAO was set up at the dawn of international civil aviation  The Second World War was a period of rapid developments in aircraft technology. Towards the end of the conflict, in 1944, in anticipation of the growing popularity of civilian and freight air travel, the US Government invited delegates from allied states to Chicago to thrash out the first international Convention on… Read More

Calling for urgent reform of current policies and practices on search and rescue “that too often rob migrants of their lives, dignity and fundamental human rights”, she said “the real tragedy” is that much of the suffering and death at sea is preventable.  “Every year, people drown because help comes too late, or never comes at all. Those who are… Read More

The UN chief was saddened to learn about their deaths, his Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said in a statement.  “He strongly condemns this act of senseless violence and expresses his deepest condolences to the victims’ families, as well as the Government and people of the Russian Federation”, Mr Dujarric said.  Kazan is the capital and largest city in the Republic of… Read More

Mr Guterres is in Moscow, at the invitation of the Russian Government, where he is meeting with senior officials. It was a pleasure to speak with students of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations about how we can tackle the common challenges the world faces. Thanks to @MGIMO_en for awarding me the title of Honorary Doctor, which I humbly… Read More

On Sunday, Roman Protasevich was flying on a Ryanair jet from Greece to Lithuania which was forcibly diverted to the Belarusian capital Minsk, “apparently under false pretenses and with the express purpose of capturing him”, said OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville. The manner, through threat of military force, in which Mr. Protasevich was abducted from the jurisdiction of another State and… Read More

Speaking ahead of the EU Porto Social Summit on May 7, Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, pointed out that with over 90 million people and almost 20 million children at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the Union, plans to address it are “insufficiently ambitious”.  The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan,… Read More

“The truth is that in the end of our efforts we have not yet found enough common ground to allow for the resumption of formal negotiations in relation to the settlement of the Cyprus problem”, he told journalists in Geneva, where the talks took place.  Striking a note of optimism, Mr. Guterres added that there had been agreement over another meeting “in the near… Read More

Based on confirmed cases, 5.5 per cent of the entire European population has now had COVID-19, while 7 per cent has completed a full vaccination series. But WHO Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge said in a video message, “the virus still carries the potential to inflict devastating effects”. “As a matter of fact, close to half of all COVID-19 infections in… Read More