Amid ongoing sectarian violence in the Central African Republic, including reported war crimes and crimes against humanity, the United Nations has established two expert mechanisms to monitor the human rights situation, but has so far stopped short of authorizing a UN peacekeeping mission to support the French and African Union troops already in the country. Hundreds have been killed and
Read moreFollowing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s formal announcement on Saturday of Syria’s accession to the 1992 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention), the United States and Russia revealed their joint Framework for the Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons. The concurrent release of a UN report containing
Read moreWorld Refugee Day is commemorated annually on June 20 to raise awareness of the plight of refugees around the globe. This year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is drawing attention to the near-record number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) unable to return home due to conflict, humanitarian crises, and other causes. At over 45 million
Read moreThe United Nations Human Rights Council concluded its twenty-second regular session last week after adopting a number of decisions, statements and resolutions to address pressing concerns in a handful of countries, advance its work on a range of human rights issues, and call for greater protection of human rights defenders. [OHCHR] Among other notable decisions during the four-week session, the
Read moreAt the end of February, the United Nations (UN) issued two decisions concerning its role is the spread of cholera in Haiti and Zimbabwe. In Haiti, victims of cholera and their advocates claim that UN peacekeepers from Nepal introduced cholera to the country, but the UN has stated it will not hear their complaint. [UN] In Zimbabwe, a UN official claims
Read moreThe West African nation of Mali, previously hailed as a democratic model for other regional governments, has become engulfed in a human rights and political crisis that is now the target of international attention and military intervention. Government and foreign forces are attempting to reclaim territory from separatist rebel groups, while the International Criminal Court and UN and African human rights
Read moreOn Sunday, November 11, Syrian opposition groups signed a draft agreement to form the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary Opposition Forces. [BBC] Sheikh Moaz al-Khatib, a former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus who is considered a moderate and unifying force, was chosen to lead the new coalition. The Gulf Arab States have recognized the coalition as the sole legitimate
Read moreFamily members of Iraqi civilians killed by Blackwater security contractors in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square in 2007 have agreed to a settlement offered by Academi, Blackwater’s successor (also recently known as Xe Services). [Washington Post] On September 16, 2007, Blackwater employees guarding U.S. diplomats opened fire into a crowd, killing seventeen Iraqi civilians in what was alleged by prosecutors to be
Read moreAdam Nord contributes this post illustrating and reflecting on the growing prominence of South Africa and its developing civil society in international legal affairs of significance for the entire globe. In his position as Lobbying and Engagement Manager at CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, based in Johannesburg, Adam plays an active role in influencing high-level decision makers with local
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