OHCHR

GENEVA (27 November 2020) – The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) has issued its findings on Iraq, calling on the State party to incorporate the offence of enforced disappearances into domestic criminal legislation, and to ensure no person is held in secret detention. In its latest report published today, the Committee welcomed the actions […]

GENEVA, November 12, 2020 – Independent technical experts must be granted immediate access to an abandoned, rusting oil tanker that threatens Yemen and the Red Sea with ecological catastrophe, UN human rights experts said today. “It is vital that a UN technical team be permitted to board the FSO Safer if we are to have […]

GENEVA, November 9, 2020 – UN human rights experts* welcome the adoption of the landmark Escazú agreement and are now urging States in Latin America and the Caribbean to sign and ratify as quickly as possible a ground-breaking environment treaty for the region. The Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental […]

GENEVA, September 28, 2020 – The Coordination Committee of Special Procedures is gravely concerned about the impact of the UN funding crisis on the functioning of the system of independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council. The Committee calls upon States to take urgent action to address the situation, including through financial contributions to […]

GENEVA, September 21, 2020 – States have an obligation under human rights law to prevent exposure to pollution, toxic industrial chemicals, pesticides, wastes and other hazardous substances, including biological agents such as viruses, a UN expert said in a report presented to the Human Rights Council today. “Exposure to hazardous substances preys on the most […]

GENEVA, September 11, 2020 – Switzerland’s draft anti-terrorism legislation violates international human rights standards by expanding the definition of terrorism, and would set a dangerous precedent for the suppression of political dissent worldwide, UN human rights experts* warned today. They expressed regret at the refusal of the Swiss authorities to change contentious sections of the […]

GENEVA (1 September 2020) – A United Nations human rights expert has expressed deep concerns about the recent rise in armed violence in Gaza, and has welcomed the announcement on Monday that Israel and Hamas have reached a truce to halt the current hostilities. However, Michael Lynk, special rapporteur for the situation of human rights […]

GENEVA, August 18, 2020 – Warning of an impending tsunami of evictions, the UN’s expert on housing rights today called on governments around the world to halt all evictions until the COVID-19 pandemic ends. “I am alarmed at the global increase in forced evictions,” said Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to […]

GENEVA (31 July 2020) – The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul should be maintained as an inter-cultural space reflecting the diversity and complexity of Turkey and its history, and preserving the outstanding universal value which resulted in its World Heritage Status, say two UN human rights experts. “It would be an historic mistake at this difficult […]

GENEVA, July 29, 2020 – The UN Human Rights Committee today published its interpretation on the right of peaceful assembly, defining the scope of assembly that applies to both physical meetings and virtual or online gatherings, and outlining governments’ obligations. The UN Human Rights Committee, made up of 18 individual experts who monitor implementation of […]

GENEVA (24 July 2020) – Local governments must immediately improve deplorable conditions seasonal migrant workers endure in shanty towns around Spain’s strawberry townships before people die, a UN expert said today. In the past week, three fires in the informal settlements in the municipalities of Lepe and Lucena del Puerto, in the southern province of […]

GENEVA (6 July 2020) – A UN human rights expert has urged States, the civil society, psychiatric organisations, and the World Health Organisation to change the way we understand and respond to mental health challenges. “I welcome the international recognition of mental health, but much more is still needed,” the UN Special Rapporteur on the […]

GENEVA, June 29, 2020 – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, on Monday added her voice to the wave of international and national calls on the Government of Israel not to proceed with its plans to illegally annex a swathe of occupied Palestinian territory, saying it would have a disastrous impact on […]

GENEVA, June 26, 2020 – A UN human rights expert has urged the European Union to use its “economic weight, diplomatic expertise and aid, trade and investment leverage” to forestall looming Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. Michael Lynk, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in […]

GENEVA (19 June 2020) – UN experts* today expressed profound concern over a recent statement by the US Attorney-General describing Antifa and other anti-fascist activists as domestic terrorists, saying it undermines the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly in the country. “International human rights law protects the right to freedom of expression, […]

GENEVA, June 9, 2020 – UN human rights experts* today urged the Japanese Government to delay any decision on the ocean-dumping of nuclear waste water from the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi until after the COVID-19 crisis has passed and proper international consultations can be held. “We are deeply concerned by reports that the Government of […]

GENEVA / SEOUL, June 9, 2020 – A UN independent expert is alarmed that widespread food shortages and malnutrition in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have been exacerbated by COVID-19 measures and has called for urgent Government and international action to ensure food supplies. In a statement released today, the UN Special Rapporteur […]

GENEVA (6 April 2020) – UN human rights experts made an urgent appeal for governments to commit to racial equity and racial equality in providing health services for all during the COVID-19 crisis or risk a higher death rate because of discrimination. The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent said in a […]

GENEVA (3 April 2020) – A UN human rights expert today called for the lifting of all  unilateral sanctions that obstruct the humanitarian responses of sanctioned States, in order to enable their health care systems to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and save lives. “I urge the international community to take immediate measures to lift, or […]