Human Rights Council Archives

Essay: Vietnam’s accelerating crackdown on minority communities should disqualify it from a place on the UN Human Rights Council

ELLIS HEASLEY, of UK-based religious freedom advocacy CSW, says international community must hold Vietnam to the highest standards of international human rights given its role on the council…

EU leads call for probe into Navalny’s death at UN human rights body

Geneva, Switzerland Reuters A group of more than 40 countries on Monday reiterated calls for Russia to allow an independent international investigation into the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison. The call was made by European Union Ambassador Lotte Knudsen at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on behalf of all […]

UN rights body adopts resolution to probe rights abuses in war-torn Sudan

Chadian cart owners transport belongings of Sudanese people who fled the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, while crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad, on 4th August, 2023

Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The United Nations Humans Rights Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution that opens a probe into the humanitarian situation in Sudan where the army and a paramilitary group have been fighting for the last six months. “This resolution is a call to action for what we all agree are the pressing priorities for […]

Russia fails to return to UN rights body after losing vote

The empty seat for the representative of Russia is pictured during the Human Rights Council special session on the human rights situation in Ukraine, at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on 12th May, 2022

Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Russia failed in its bid to return to the United Nations’ top human rights body on Tuesday, with rivals winning considerably more votes at the General Assembly in an election seen as a key test of Western efforts to keep Moscow isolated. In the secret ballot, Russia won 83 votes versus 160 for […]

US jail practices are racist and an “affront to human dignity” – UN experts

Barbed wire is seen inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana, on 7th March, 2018.

Geneva, Switzerland Reuters UN human rights experts have called for major reforms of the US criminal justice system to combat systemic racism, citing testimonies that jailed Black women had been shackled during childbirth while male inmates were forced to work in “plantation-style” conditions. In a report published on Thursday, three UN-appointed experts said they had […]

Russia tortured some Ukrainian victims to death, UN inquiry says

Jasminka Dzumhur, Erik Mose and Pablo de Greiff, members of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, attend a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on 23rd September, 2022

Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Russian occupiers tortured Ukrainians so brutally that some of their victims died, and forced families to listen as they raped women next door, members of a UN-mandated investigative body said on Monday, in their latest findings from the field. Erik Møse, chair of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, told the UN Human […]

Human rights in Russia have “significantly deteriorated” since war – UN expert

Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The human rights situation in Russia has significantly deteriorated since it invaded Ukraine in February last year, a United Nations expert said on Monday, describing a “systematic crackdown” on civil society and calling for redress. The report by Special Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova alleges that Russian authorities have carried out mass arbitrary arrests of […]

After Quran burnings, UN rights body calls for more action to combat religious hatred

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk speaks about the activities of his office and recent human rights developments around the globe, during the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on 7th March, 2023.

Geneva, Switzerland AP The UN’s top human rights body overwhelmingly approved a measure calling on countries to do more to prevent religious hatred in the wake of Quran burnings in Europe, over the objections of Western countries who fear tougher steps by governments could trample freedom of expression. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker […]

Iran must stop executions of protesters, says UN fact-finding mission

A view of the courtroom during the hearing before Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini and Mohammad-Mehdi Karami are executed by hanging for allegedly killing a member of the security forces during nationwide protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, in Tehran, Iran, in December, 2022.

Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters A fact-finding mission mandated by the UN urged Iranian authorities on Wednesday to stop executing people who were sentenced to death for taking part in anti-government protests that rocked the country last year. The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September, 2022, while in the custody of the country’s morality police unleashed a […]

Western countries pile pressure on Mali over Wagner Group role

An advertising screen, which promotes to join Wagner private mercenary group, is on display on the facade of a building in Moscow, Russia, on 27th March, 2023.

Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Western countries on Tuesday raised concerns over Russian private military contractor Wagner Group’s activities in Mali, including allegations of its role in the killings of civilians, at a UN human rights meeting in Geneva. The United States, Canada, Great Britain and Ukraine were among countries that raised the alleged role of Wagner contractors […]

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Tag: Human Rights Council