UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

NEW YORK (20 April 2023) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today launched a call for a “human rights economy”, warning that currently, economic systems are largely failing to address the basic needs of millions of people and failing to act sustainably. “Too many people around the world cannot afford basic goods. […]

GENEVA (March 30. 2023) – At a moment of increased violence in the occupied Palestinian territory, with the new Israeli government threatening even further annexation, the international community must take firm and principled action to protect the human rights and dignity of Palestinians, a UN expert said today. “The wave of deadly violence sweeping through the […]

GENEVA (January 19, 2023) – Proposed amendments to the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill should adequately ensure respect for the rights of victims, survivors and their families, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said today. “I recognise that addressing the legacy of the Troubles from the 1960s to the 1990s is a […]

GENEVA (27 December 2022) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has called on the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to revoke immediately a raft of policies that target the rights of women and girls, noting both the “terrible, cascading effects” on their lives and the destabilizing risks such policies pose to Afghan […]

GENEVA, July 25, 2022 – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, and the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, today condemned the Myanmar junta’s execution of four individuals, as reported by the junta. “We are outraged and devastated at the news of […]

GENEVA (23 June 2022) – The dramatic real-life effects of Internet shutdowns on people’s lives and human rights have been vastly underestimated, the UN Human Rights Office warns in a new report issued today. The report urges States not to impose Internet shutdowns. “Too often, major communication channels or entire communication networks are slowed down […]

I share the profound frustration and disappointment of Afghan high school girls and women, who after six months of anticipation were prevented from returning to school today. The de facto authorities’ failure to adhere to commitments to reopen schools for girls above the sixth grade – in spite of repeated commitments towards girls’ education, including […]

Distinguished President, Excellencies, Colleagues and friends, The United Nations, and this Council, stand for the human rights of the world’s peoples: their rights to participate in decisions, to voice their views, and to live in dignity, free from fear and want. We stand for peace and for the right to development: development that is sustainable, […]

GENEVA (24 February 2022) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday said she was deeply alarmed about the Russian Federation’s military attack against Ukraine. “Civilians in various parts of Ukraine were awoken by sounds of heavy bombardment and are terrified of further escalation, with many fleeing their homes,” Bachelet said. “This […]

Today we commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, a crime of shocking inhumanity that brutally murdered six million Jews, as well as Roma and Sinti people, Slavs, people with disabilities, LGBT people, prisoners of war and members of anti-Nazi networks from all over Europe. The UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were […]

GENEVA (6 January 2022) – Amid alarming reports of deadly violence in Kazakhstan, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday urged all, including security forces, protesters and others, to refrain from violence and to seek a peaceful resolution of grievances. A police spokesperson in the main city, Almaty, said that security forces […]

GENEVA, September 29, 2021 – The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) expressed serious concerns over the gravity of the situation of enforced disappearance in Mexico. As of 26 November 2021, the last day of CED visit to Mexico, 95,000 people were officially registered as disappeared in Mexico. Out of these, more than 100 disappearances […]

A group of UN human rights experts* today called on all States to provide urgent protection to Afghan journalists and media workers who fear for their lives and are seeking safety abroad. “Journalists and media workers, in particular women, are facing heightened risks since the Taliban’s political takeover of Afghanistan,” the experts said. “All governments must take […]

GENEVA (17 August 2021) – A UN human rights expert today warned of a “cultural disaster” in Afghanistan after Kabul fell to Taliban forces, and urged States to provide urgent assistance to human rights defenders, including those working on women’s and cultural rights, as well as artists, trying to flee the country. “It is deplorable […]

GENEVA, August 13, 2021 – UN human rights experts* have called on the Government of Israel to immediately return confidential documents and office equipment that its military seized from the offices of Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) in Al-Bireh, in the occupied West Bank. “We are deeply concerned by the Israeli military’s interference with the […]

GENEVA (2 June 2021) – UN human rights experts* today expressed concerns about a series of attacks, resulting in the deaths of at least two children, by illegal miners in the Munduruku and Yanomami indigenous lands, and called on the Brazilian authorities to investigate and prosecute those responsible. Miners are intensifying attacks that threaten and […]