“No one is safe when human rights are under attack,” Mr. Türk told the Human Rights Council, warning that the rules of war “are being shredded”. “Some States are becoming an extension of their ruler’s personal power,” he insisted. In his customary address to the UN’s top rights forum at...
UNHCR is supporting at least 60 survivors who have been brought ashore, but the Italian coast guard warned more bodies could still be recovered. According to local news reports, the passengers were travelling from Libya in the hopes of reaching Italy. Migrants and refugees heading to Italy from the...
The Quartet is calling on the country’s leaders to end hostilities and return to dialogue to fully implement the 2018 peace agreement known as the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, gained independence in 2011...
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion and continuing war against Ukraine, underscored the need for humanitarian aid to reach civilians in Gaza, and reaffirmed the EU as a steadfast partner of the United Nations. She also emphasised that reinforcing multilateral cooperation is the only...
Independent UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts said in a statement that it represents a fundamental attack on women’s rights. The legislation, which applies to children as young as 12, combines severe criminal penalties with mandatory citizen surveillance and systematic enforcement across all sectors of society, the experts added. The Law...
It details the obligations for Israel, third-party States and the UN to bring to an end the unlawful occupation, according to the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. “Israel’s internationally wrongful acts give rise to State responsibility, not only for...
“That’s why I have written directly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express profound concern about draft legislation that could prevent UNRWA from continuing its essential work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” he said at the Security Council stakeout in New York. He said such a measure would suffocate...
Akua Kuenyehia, chair of the independent expert mechanism on advancing racial justice said, “Manifestations of systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent by law enforcement and in criminal justice systems are still predominant in many parts of the world, and broad impunity persists.” While also dealing with “broad...
Bruno Eduardo Rodríguez Parrilla said the Israeli army has “massacred” over 40,000 civilians in Gaza over the past 11 months. He also paid tribute to the more than 220 UN staff killed in the conflict. “The genocide against the Palestinian people must end unconditionally and without further delay,” he said....
But, what exactly are the rules of war and what happens when they are broken? To find out more about international humanitarian law, known by its acronym IHL, UN News spoke with Eric Mongelard at the UN human rights office, OHCHR. Here’s what you need to know: Rules of war...
Heads of State, Foreign Ministers, and other top representatives are converging to endorse multilateral treaties which form the bedrock of international legal frameworks. “Multilateral treaties are essential tools for Member States to achieve the objectives of the UN Charter,” emphasized David Nanopoulos, Chief of the Treaty Section at the UN...
“The draft law could be described as a form of gender apartheid, as authorities appear to be governing through systemic discrimination with the intention of suppressing women and girls into total submission,” the independent experts said. They stressed that the proposed parliamentary Bill to Support the Family by Promoting the...