Israeli settlements expand by record amount, UN rights chief says
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories have expanded by a record amount and risk eliminating any practical possibly of a Palestinian state, the UN human rights chief said on Friday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that the growth of Israeli settlements amounted to the transfer […]
One dead, at least 25 injured in Comoros protests over President’s re-election
Moroni, Comoros Reuters One person has been killed and at least 25 injured in violent protests that erupted after Comoros President Azali Assoumani’s re-election on Sunday, a health official said on Thursday. Demonstrations erupted on Wednesday, a day after the electoral body declared Assoumani winner, giving him a fourth five-year term. Comoros’ President Azali Assoumani […]
UN human rights chief urges clamp-down on people smugglers after shipwreck
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Friday for countries to clamp down on people smugglers and human traffickers after at least 78 migrants were killed in a shipwreck off the coast of Greece. Witness accounts suggested between 400 and 750 people had packed a fishing boat that capsized and […]
UN rights chief asks Venezuela to release arbitrary detainees, end torture
Caracas, VenzuelaReuters Venezuela should release arbitrarily detained individuals and end torture, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Saturday at the end of a trip to the country. Turk arrived in Venezuela on Thursday and met with President Nicolas Maduro on Friday, in addition to Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, senior […]
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 […]
Wang meets top UN rights official as she opens Xinjiang trip
Beijing, China AP China’s foreign minister met with the UN’s top human rights official on her visit to the country and shared with her that China opposes “politicising” human rights and imposing double standards, its foreign ministry said. Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Michelle Bachelet in the southern city of Guangzhou on Monday as she […]
Tens of millions at risk in Ukraine, UN says; ICC team leaves to investigate war crimes
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The United Nations’ human rights chief said on Thursday that tens of millions of lives were at risk in Ukraine as the conflict there intensified. Michelle Bachelet called for an immediate halt to hostilities as she opened a debate at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on setting up an international commission of […]
UN, Red Cross call for protecting civilians, vital structures in Ukraine
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Civilians and critical infrastructure such as water and power systems in Ukraine must be protected from attacks in line with the rules of war, United Nations and Red Cross officials said on Thursday as aid agencies struggled to assess damage from Russia’s attack. Ukrainian forces fought Russian invaders around nearly all of the […]
China agrees to Xinjiang visit by UN rights chief in early 2022 – South China Morning Post
Beijing, ChinaReuters China has agreed to let the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights visit Xinjiang in the first half of 2022 after the Beijing Winter Olympics, according to a report in the South China Morning Post which cited unnamed sources. Rights groups have accused China of perpetrating widescale abuses against Uyghurs and other minority […]
UN rights commissioner warns of escalating Myanmar violence
Reuters The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warned on Friday of intensifying violence in Myanmar and condemned the army’s “outrageous” use of heavy weapons, while urging a wider diplomatic effort to pressure the ruling generals. Michelle Bachelet said the junta had shown no willingness to implement a five-point consensus it agreed with the […]