The new United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, recently appealed to Member States to join him in committing to ensuring and sustaining peace and has further called for a holistic approach to the UN’s work through close coordination between the UN’s three pillars: peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights policies. Guterres, who assumed office on January 1, 2017,
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Civil Society The United Nations requested the government of Burundi to remove a ban placed this week on a prominent rights group in the region, and to lessen other restrictions waged against civil society organizations in the past three months. [Washington Post] This Thursday, Bahrain reinstated arrest powers within its domestic spy service in a move that diverges from reforms
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Civil Society In Argentina this week, human rights advocate Milagro Sala, and other members of the organization Tupac Amaru, were sentenced to 2-3 years probation, or suspended prison, for “aggravated damage” after participating in a protest. [Telesur] A United Nations agency condemned the murder of journalist, Larry Que, of the Phillippines, and called for an investigation into the death as
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Civil Society This week, Human Rights Watch reported that police officers regularly mistreat prisoners in India through the use of torture and the failure to bring detainees before a judge soon after arrest. [Washington Post] On Wednesday, a civil society organization reported escalated violence against human rights defenders in Guatemala, including 14 murders and seven attempted murders this year. [FIDH]
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Civil Society Canada issued guidelines this week on supporting human rights defenders. [ISHR] Two UN Special Rapporteurs noted this week that the human rights defenders in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are frequently arbitrarily arrested and detained. [OHCHR Press Release] Protesters at a film festival in south India were arrested this week after refusing to stand for the national anthem. [Guardian]
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Civil Society This week, seven Tibetans in China were given prison sentences that ranged from five to 14 years. [HKFP] Egyptian authorities arrested a prominent human rights activist, Azza Soliman. [AI] Harsh winter weather forced demonstrators to temporarily evacuate the protest site at Standing Rock where they have been protesting the construction of a pipeline. [Washington Post] A Human Rights
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On November 22, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that Turkey’s seizure of all copies of a particular issue of a gay and lesbian non-governmental group’s magazine that contained sexually explicit images amounted to a violation of the right to freedom of expression. See ECtHR, Kaos GL v. Turkey, no. 4982/07, Judgement of 22 November 2016, para. 63 (French
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Activities of Human Rights Bodies and Experts The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context has asked the Nigerian government for an explanation for the recent mass evictions that have resulted in four deaths and many displaced. [UN News Centre] The Subcommittee
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On Friday, October 29th the United Nations General Assembly elected 14 States to the UN Human Rights Council, the main intergovernmental body charged with promoting and monitoring human rights around the world. [New York Times] The 14 new members include Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Hungary, Iraq, Japan, Rwanda, Tunisia, and the United States. China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the
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Civil Society Two girls in Morocco are facing charges of homosexual conduct after they were seen kissing. [Guardian] Thousands protested this week against the United Nation’s peace proposal to end the conflict in Yemen. [Al Jazeera] Several UN experts called on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to put an end to the ban on protests that has been in
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