Women's rights

The ongoing conflict in South Sudan could amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. A report by a team of UN experts describes the attacks as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against civilians. Displaced people waiting for food in the internally displaced person (IDP) Tomping camp for Nuer ethnic group in Juba, South Sudan © EPA/JM LOPEZ Andrew Clapham, a member of the Commission, in an interview in Geneva, said: “It is the fact that it is part of a systematic attack against the civilian population. So in some of the instances in the report you will read that we determine that there was no military objective to be attacked by the government forces.” “They attacked the civilian population with a view, we feel, to driving out that civilian population,” he added. “So that constitutes crimes against humanity to the extent that it is part of a widespread attack on the civilian population. And then, within that you have the killing, the torture and the rap...

Freedom of expression vital for peace in conflict-afflicted South Sudan – UN report  GENEVA / JUBA (22 February 2018) – Genuine reconciliation and lasting peace will only be achieved in South Sudan if people are free and safe to express their opinions regardless of their ethnic or political affiliations, a UN report released today says. The report, co-authored by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the UN Human Rights Office, warns that undue restrictions on freedom of expression are having a “chilling effect” and “further shrinking the space for debate and dissent”, while incitement to hatred also continues to cause mistrust, fear and violence. “South Sudan’s conflict, with widespread human rights violations and abuses committed by all parties, has inflicted untold suffering on millions. People have been denied the right to life, the right to justice, and, as this report details, the right to freedom of opinion and expression – rights that are not luxuries but are e...

Afghanistan: 10,000 civilian casualties in 2017 – UN report Suicide attacks and IEDs caused high number of deaths and injuries GENEVA / KABUL (15 February 2018) – More than 10,000 civilians lost their lives or suffered injuries during 2017, according to the latest annual UN report documenting the impact of the armed conflict on civilians in Afghanistan. A total of 10,453 civilian casualties - 3,438 people killed and 7,015 injured - were documented in the 2017 Annual Report released today by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office. Although this figure represents a decrease of nine per cent compared with 2016, the report highlights the high number of casualties caused by suicide bombings and other attacks using improvised explosive devices (IEDs). “The chilling statistics in this report provide credible data about the war’s impact, but the figures alone cannot capture the appalling human suffering inflicted on ordinary people, especially ...

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran Asma Jahangir died this week in her home country of Pakistan. She was 66. Human rights activist and long-time UN expert Asma Jahangir died on February 11 2018 © OHCHR“Asma was a giant within the global human rights movement,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein. In statement to UN Human Rights Office staff, he described Jahangir as “a legendary human rights defender: pioneering, determined, calm and courageous.” Jahangir had many firsts and awards.  She was the woman to serve as the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association in Pakistan. She was the founder of a home-grown human rights movement in Pakistan and co-founded and served as Chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. She won international awards in recognition of her human rights work including the Martin Ennals Award in 1995, the UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of Culture of Human r...

Current Development and Challenges in the Asia-Pacific region Jakarta, 5 February 2018  UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein’s Statement at the Jakarta Conversation on the 70th Year of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and 25th Year of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action Distinguished Ministers, Excellencies, Distinguished Members of civil society, Colleagues, I am very glad to have this opportunity to speak with you about the state of human rights in the Asia-Pacific region, in the light of the commitments which States made to their people, both in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the Vienna Declaration. I want to begin with an area where rights have gone wrong. The massive outflow of people from Myanmar in recent months, and the causes of their flight, have shaken many across this region and the world. The atrocities recounted by the refugees, who constitute well over half the Rohingya living in northern Rak...