In a stark briefing to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk described a country gripped by war, repression and deepening suffering. Since the military coup in February 2021, nearly 6,800 civilians have been killed and over 22,000 remain arbitrarily detained, he said....
At least 48,384 individuals – mostly civilians – were killed in 2024, based on casualties recorded by OHCHR. “Behind every statistic is a story. Behind every data point, a person,” said UN rights chief Volker Türk. This alarming rise in civilian deaths exposes major failures to protect some of the most...
“The goal of the Israeli government is abundantly clear: the destruction of life in Gaza.” That’s how Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, opened her statement to the 59th session of the Council on Tuesday. Calling the war in Gaza “the most ruthless, prolonged...
“We are on an indefensible path of escalating conflict and open disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law,” said Volker Türk, addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Offering a global overview, he painted a stark picture of a world in crisis – with surging armed conflict, deepening...
She said that since 1975, glaciers have lost more than 9,000 billion tons of ice – equivalent to a 25-metre-thick block covering all of Germany. “At current rates, many glaciers may not survive this century, reshaping landscapes, ecosystems, livelihoods and water security on a global scale,” she warned. “This is...
It’s believed that hundreds of thousands of trafficked individuals of various nationalities are forced to carry out fraud in the centres located across Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines and Malaysia. “The situation has reached the level of a humanitarian and human rights crisis,” said right experts Tomoya Obokata, Siobhán Mullally...
For several decades, human development indicators showed a steady, upward curve and UN researchers predicted that by 2030, a high level of development would be enjoyed by the global population. Those hopes have been dashed in recent years following a period of exceptional crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic –...
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the latest inscriptions to its Memory of the World Register on Thursday. Submitted by 72 countries and four international organizations, they cover topics such as the scientific revolution, women’s contribution to history and major milestones of multilateralism such as the drafting...
That’s one of the alarming updates shared by Volker Türk during a General Assembly briefing on Wednesday, the first informal meeting dedicated to the issue of the thousands who go missing after being targeted each year. The High Commissioner for Human Rights urged Member States to do more to address...
The grim revelation emerged during a high-level discussion at the UN in Geneva on the human rights situation in DRC. The Council – the UN’s foremost human rights forum – also heard updates on allegations of ongoing abuses in South Sudan and the Central African Republic. Surging violence Despite best...
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home,” said Anna Fierst, quoting her great-grandmother Eleanor Roosevelt’s speech of 1958, in which she highlighted the number of ordinary citizens determined to be active in their local neighbourhoods, schools, and factories. “Unless these rights have meaning...
The Council – the UN’s foremost human rights forum – also heard updates on allegations of ongoing abuses in Belarus, North Korea and Myanmar. According to the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, enforced disappearances of civilians committed by Russian authorities have been “widespread and systematic” and likely amount to crimes against humanity....