Iran violations may amount to crimes against humanity – UN expert
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Iran’s authorities have committed violations in recent months that may amount to crimes against humanity, a UN-appointed expert told the Human Rights Council on Monday, citing cases of murder, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, torture, rape, sexual violence and persecution. Iran has been swept by protests since the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, […]
Taliban’s persecution of women could be ‘crime against humanity’ – UN report
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The Taliban’s treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan could amount to a crime against humanity, according to a UN report presented on Monday at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Taliban seized power in August, 2021, drastically curtailing women’s freedoms and rights, including their ability to attend high school and […]
“Massive” violations in Ukraine a focus as UN human rights body meets
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The UN rights chief condemned Russia’s “senseless” invasion of Ukraine on Monday at the start of a Human Rights Council session at which countries want to strengthen scrutiny of Moscow’s alleged war crimes and raise China’s treatment of Muslim Uyghurs. Volker Turk, the United Nations high commissioner, in one of his first […]
Major UN powers question Pacific islanders’ call for nuclear legacy help
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Nuclear powers have criticized an effort led by the Marshall Islands at the United Nations to seek help on dealing with the consequences of nuclear testing, sources following the talks involving countries including the United States, Britain, Russia, India and China told Reuters. Pacific islanders, who are particularly threatened by rising sea levels […]
US, allies push for UN rights body debate on Xinjiang abuses
Geneva, SwitzerlandAP The United States and several Western allies presented a proposal Monday for the UN’s main human rights body to hold a special debate over reported rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in China’s western Xinjiang region. The US and Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden were behind a draft […]
Contemporary slavery extensive around globe – UN investigator
United NationsAP A UN investigator says contemporary forms of slavery are widely practiced around the world, including forced labour for China’s Uyghur minority, bonded labour for the lowest caste Dalits in South Asia, and domestic servitude in Gulf countries, Brazil and Colombia. Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata adds that traditional enslavement, especially of […]
UN suspends Russia from human rights body, Moscow then quits
United Nations Reuters The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council over reports of “gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights” in Ukraine, prompting Moscow to announce it was quitting the body. The US-led push garnered 93 votes in favour, while 24 countries voted no and […]
Washington invitation opens way for UN expert’s Guantanamo visit
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters A UN expert told the world’s top rights body on Tuesday that she had received a preliminary invitation from Washington to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in what could lead to the first-ever visit by one of the body’s special rapporteurs. UN independent experts and Washington have been discussing a possible visit to the […]
UN rights chief says air strikes have killed hundreds since November in Ethiopia
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The UN human rights chief said on Monday the situation in northern Ethiopia had deteriorated since November and her office had received reports of wide-spread violations including rapes and lethal air strikes. Michelle Bachelet told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council her staff had recorded 304 deaths and injuries to 373 people in […]
UN issues new Syria war death toll, says 350,000 is an “undercount”
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters At least 350,209 people have been killed in the decade-old war in Syria, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday in its first report since 2014 on the death toll, adding that the tally was an “undercount”. The figure includes civilians and combatants and is based on strict methodology requiring the full […]