World

July 17, 2019 – Start-up companies are driving a speculative rush for seabed minerals in an unholy alliance with the very UN body charged with regulating them, the International Seabed Authority (ISA). A hard hitting report released today exposes blatant corporate capture of the ISA and the manipulation of Pacific regional decision-making processes by deep sea mining […]

July 16, 2019 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply concerned about the new rule barring from asylum the majority of people crossing the southern U.S. land border. This will endanger vulnerable people in need of international protection from violence or persecution. “We understand that the U.S. asylum system is under significant strain. And […]

Seattle, WA. July 15, 2019 – The US is the sole member of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) — the group of 36 developed nations, that has chosen to object to the adoption of recently agreed Basel Convention trade controls to ensure that plastic wastes that are dirty and mixed and thus […]

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 15 July 2019 – 20 million children worldwide – more than 1 in 10 – missed out on lifesaving vaccines such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus in 2018, according to new data from WHO and UNICEF. Globally, since 2010, vaccination coverage with three doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) and one dose […]

AMMAN, July 12, 2019 – One of the UN’s independent experts has voiced concern about lack of human rights accountability in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, pointing to the actions of “an occupying power seemingly bent on further territorial annexation”. Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory […]

Beirut, July 9, 2019 – The United States-led coalition against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) should address the harm to civilians during military operations in Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. Independent investigators have reported that coalition airstrikes killed at least 7,000 civilians in military operations in Iraq and Syria since September 2014. […]

July 8, 2019 – Conditions in which migrants and refugees are being held in the United States are appalling, said the UN human rights chief on Monday, underscoring that children should never be held in immigration detention, or separated from their families. “As a pediatrician, but also as a mother and a former head of […]

Irvine, Calif., July 1, 2019 – The nations that have signed agreements to stabilize the global mean temperature by 2050 will fail to meet their goals unless existing fossil fuel-burning infrastructure around the world is retired early, according to a study – published today in Nature – by researchers at the University of California, Irvine […]

July 1, 2019 – International Campaign for Tibet statement on UNESCO’s draft decision on “Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan” The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is gravely concerned about the future of the UNESCO World Heritage-protected site the “Three Parallel Rivers,” which is facing numerous threats due to extensive hydropower projects, mining activities that are […]

July 1, 2019 – States and other actors involved in refugee protection must recognise the unique vulnerability and specific needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and gender diverse (LGBTI) asylum-seekers and refugees, the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, and UNHCR’s Assistant […]

June 28, 2019 – Vaccines save millions of lives, and yet misinformation, limited availability and inadequate access to services have left large numbers of children in jeopardy, prompting the United Nations Children’s Fund to convene a high-level UN event on Friday to “tackle the issue”. “Misinformation about vaccines is as dangerous as a disease”, said […]

GENEVA (27 June 2019) – States around the world have an obligation to ensure social inclusion of victims of trafficking in the long-term, says a UN rights expert. In a report to the UN Human Rights Council, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, urges better social inclusion of […]

GENEVA (27 June 2019) – “A new system-wide global approach is necessary to eliminate violence against women and girls,”  said Dubravka Šimonović, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, in a report today to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. “I believe that the establishment of a platform for cooperation between international  and regional independent […]

June 26, 2019 – In light of the worrying signals that the G20 are sending about their commitment to climate ambition, civil society representatives said that these countries are threatening to exacerbate the climate emergency and push the limits of dangerous warming beyond 1.5C degrees. Language on climate change and the Paris Agreement of the […]

GENEVA June 25, 2019 – Victims of torture have a right to redress, including compensation and rehabilitation, the UN anti-torture mechanisms* said today ahead of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, June 26. These mechanisms exist to help ensure justice is done and rehabilitation provided, they said, emphasizing that victims should be […]

Beirut, June 25, 2019 – Participants in the ‘Peace to Prosperity’ workshop on June 25 and 26 in Manama, and journalists covering the event, should question Bahraini officials about the government’s jailing of human rights defenders and suppression of free expression, Human Rights Watch said today. The Trump administration organized the economic workshop as part […]

GENEVA. June 25, 2019 – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, today called for an immediate moratorium on the sale, transfer and use of surveillance technology until human rights-compliant regulatory frameworks are in place. He makes the recommendations in his latest report to the Human Rights Council on […]

GENEVA, June 25, 2019 – A group of UN experts* has warned the erosion of nature, the extinction of species and the loss of biological diversity at unprecedented rates severely threatens human rights for present and future generations. In a statement following the release of a new scientific report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on […]

NEW YORK, June 25, 2019 – A new report from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) exposes an underreported legacy of the August 2017 violence against Muslim Rohingya civilians by Myanmar security forces: long-term physical disabilities that may condemn many survivors to lifetimes of physical pain and economic insecurity. The new report, “Shot While Fleeing: Rohingya Disabled by […]