The backdrop Venezuela has endured years of economic collapse, political instability, hyperinflation and economic sanctions from Washington, compounded by floods, landslides and other climate shocks. The recent seizure of President Nicolás Maduro by US special forces has added a new layer of uncertainty to an already volatile situation. According to...
In a statement delivered by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, António Guterres said the Council was meeting “at a grave time” following the 3 January US military action in Venezuela. The broad outlines of the operation, which unfolded across Caracas and the northern states of Miranda, Aragua and La...
US President Donald Trump made the announcement on social media, and the US Attorney General said Mr. Maduro and his wife would face “the full wrath of American justice on American soil, in American courts,” based on a 2020 narcoterrorism indictment during the first Trump administration in New York. The...
Senior UN political and humanitarian officials are set brief the Security Council this afternoon as members meet to discuss the rapidly deteriorating situation in Sudan, where intensified fighting – including in the Kordofan region – has driven widespread civilian harm and displacement. The region has seen a sharp escalation, including...
The UN Security Council went into emergency session on Friday, following a request from Venezuela. The United States military has carried out four deadly air strikes in Caribbean waters over the past few weeks against what Washington alleges are Caracas-backed drug traffickers. The Venezuelan Government denies the charge, accusing the...
Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, UN Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča said the US operations, conducted between 2 September and 3 October, have heightened tensions in the region and drawn sharp criticism from Caracas. “Venezuelan authorities have announced that they remain on high alert since the United States military deployments...
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, reported on Wednesday that most of the new arrivals are women and children. Many have come from Zamzam camp and the city of El Fasher, locations targeted by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who’ve been fighting forces of the military government for more than two years....
Council-appointed experts pointed to grave violations of fundamental rights in Iran, linked to popular protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. Sara Hossein, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, said that during peaceful protests, “children were killed and severely injured after being fired at with ammunition containing metal...
The World Food Programme (WFP) provided lifesaving assistance to 7.8 million people, while the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reached nearly three million children with essential nutrition support. This was done in the face of an escalating crisis resulting from the brutal war between rival militaries which erupted in April 2023...
Regina De Dominicis – who also heads the agency’s Europe and Central Asia Regional Office – issued her plea for action after another small boat sank off the coast of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on New Year’s Eve. “Among the seven survivors is an eight-year-old child whose mother...
Hundreds more were reportedly injured in clashes following the disputed elections and around 2,000 arrested, including teenagers, young adults, opposition members, human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers, as well as bystanders. Since then, the Government has announced the conditional release of over 100 of those detained. Addressing the UN Human...
“It is a climate of fear in the country at the moment. We are urging the government to ensure that all steps are taken in line with international human rights law with transparency and that steps are taken to resolve this dispute peacefully,” OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told journalists in...
