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 […]
Austria’s Turk appointed UN human rights chief
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday approved the appointment of Austria’s Volker Turk as the next UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Reuters reported earlier on Thursday that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had proposed that Turk succeed Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, whose term ended on 31st August. Turk currently works in Guterres’ […]
US welcomes UN report on China’s actions in Xinjiang while in Turkey, Uyghurs express disappointment
Washington DC, US Reuters The United States on Thursday welcomed a United Nations report that said China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, saying it deepened Washington’s concerns about what it calls a genocide there against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday released the […]
China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, says UN
Reuters China’s “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uyghurs and other Muslims in the country’s Xinjiang region may constitute crimes against humanity, the outgoing UN human rights chief said in a long-awaited report on Wednesday. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who has faced criticism from some diplomats and rights groups for being too […]
UN rights chief’s tenure ends in disappointment for China activists
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Michelle Bachelet, once a political detainee under Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and a doctor for tortured children, pledged to be the champion of victims when she became UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2018. But as her tenure ends on Wednesday, family members and advocates for those caught up in China’s repression […]
Colombia’s next government must focus on tackling criminal groups, UN says
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombia’s next government must prioritise dismantling illegal armed groups and criminal gangs, a report from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday, with rising violence devastating rural communities. Violence in Colombia fell dramatically following the 2016 peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of […]
Arbitrary detention widespread in Russian-held parts of Ukraine – UN rights chief
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Arbitrary detention of civilians has become widespread in parts of Ukraine held by Russia’s military and affiliated armed groups, with 270 cases documented, the UN human rights chief said on Tuesday, announcing plans to boost monitoring in the country. The findings were based on information from monitors’ field visits and interviews conducted with […]
War has killed 1.5 per cent of Syria’s population: UN estimate
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The UN human rights office said on Tuesday that 306,887 civilians had been killed in Syria during the conflict since March, 2011, or about 1.5 per cent of its pre-war population, in what it said was the highest estimate yet. Syria’s conflict sprang out of peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule in […]
UN rights chief says no to second term amid China trip backlash
Geneva, SwitzerlandAP The United Nations human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, said on Monday that she would not seek a second term for personal reasons, refuting speculation that it was a decision linked to blowback over her trip to China last month. Bachelet, 70, was criticised by rights groups as well as some Western governments, including […]
UN human rights chief asks China to rethink Uyghur policies
Beijing, ChinaAP The top UN human rights official said Saturday that she raised concerns with Chinese officials about the impact of the broad application of counterterrorism and deradicalisation measures on the rights of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim groups in China’s Xinjiang region. Michelle Bachelet, who visited the north-western region as part of a six-day trip […]