rights Archives - Page 5 of 25

World News in Brief: Deadly virus outbreak in Uganda, $500 million human rights appeal, Thailand’s lèse-majesté laws in spotlight

·February 2, 2025·3 min read

Health authorities in Kampala confirmed that one patient has died – a nurse who had sought treatment at various other medical facilities after developing fever-like symptoms. In response to the outbreak of the often deadly and infectious haemorrhagic fever which is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and tissue, WHO...

Sudan: UN rights chief ‘alarmed’ by summary executions, attacks on civilians

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·February 1, 2025·2 min read

Government forces and a rival military – the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – have been battling for control of the country since April 2023 in what Mr. Türk called a “senseless war”, which has recently taken an “even more dangerous turn for civilians” as reports of people brutally killed in...

UN agencies warn of worsening humanitarian and human rights crisis in eastern DR Congo

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·January 31, 2025·4 min read

The rebels have already seized the provincial capital, Goma, and reports indicate that they are closing in on the key city of Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province. The hostilities are occurring in a mineral-rich region that has been volatile for decades amid a proliferation of armed groups, which has...

Syria: Rights probe reveals systematic torture and detention of Assad regime

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·January 27, 2025·3 min read

The findings from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria detail crimes against humanity and war crimes that left a legacy of trauma for countless Syrians, representing some of the worst violations of international law committed during more than a decade of brutal conflict. “We stand at a critical...

‘We have a duty to stand against intolerance’: UN human rights chief

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·January 27, 2025·1 min read

Marking Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said the essence of commemorations was to acknowledge the past but they “must also examine the present and look to the future”. ‘Hateful rhetoric’ reverberating Underlying the rise of hateful rhetoric, with rising antisemitism on the streets...

UN rights office raises alarm over escalating violence in occupied West Bank

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·January 25, 2025·3 min read

OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan added that the Israeli military operation in and around the Jenin refugee camp had involved “disproportionate” use of force, including airstrikes and shootings that reportedly targeted unarmed residents. “The deadly Israeli operations in recent days raise serious concerns about unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, including...

Human rights expert welcomes clemency for Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier

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·January 24, 2025·2 min read

The Executive Grant of Clemency, signed on Sunday just hours before Mr. Biden left office, commutes Mr. Peltier’s life sentences to home confinement, allowing him to receive proper medical care and reconnect with his community, the Special Rapporteur said in a statement. The Human Rights Council-appointed expert Albert Barume praised...

UN rights expert calls for end to Russia’s crackdown on lawyers

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·January 21, 2025·1 min read

Mariana Katzarova, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, urged Russian authorities to release lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin, who were sentenced on 17 January to prison terms on “extremism” charges. Their trial, held in the Petushki district court of the Vladimir...

UN human rights chief hails ‘signs of new beginnings’ in Lebanon and Syria

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·January 17, 2025·2 min read

“I arrived, I have to say, with a heavy heart, given the compounded traumas over decades in both countries, but I see signs of new beginnings,” said Volker Türk – speaking in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. On Wednesday, he was in Damascus for his first ever visit to Syria where...

UN rights chief in historic meeting in Syria’s with caretaker authority in Damascus

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·January 16, 2025·2 min read

Speaking from Damascus after meeting the leader of the caretaker authorities, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, Mr. Türk said that he had been “assured…of the importance of respect for human rights for all Syrians and all different components of Syrian society”. Syria’s de facto leader – who spearheaded the lightning overthrow of Bashar...

‘Human rights defenders are key to conflict resolution,’ says Türk

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·January 14, 2025·1 min read

For many workers, defending human rights is not just a job, but a calling. As he noted, many “work out of a deep sense of service to others, and a desire to make a meaningful impact.” From conflict zones to post-war societies, they provide crucial support to detainees and victims...

Al Jazeera ban must be lifted, rights experts urge Palestinian Authority

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·January 13, 2025·2 min read

The development comes one week after a court in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank ordered the closure of several Al Jazeera websites. A Palestinian Authority ministerial committee had earlier justified the enforced closure of the media company’s office in the West Bank, accusing it of broadcasting “inciting” material, “misinformation,...