UN Human Rights Council

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She Made a First-of-Its-Kind Visit to Guantanamo
She Made a
First-of-Its-Kind
Visit to Guantanamo
the rundown
Jun 28, 2023 9:55 AM CDT

She Made a First-of-Its-Kind Visit to Guantanamo

Independent UN monitor was permitted to visit the detention center

(Newser) - Since its 2002 opening, no UN human rights investigators had been permitted to visit Guantanamo Bay. That changed in February, when Irish law professor Fionnuala Ni Aolain was granted access—and what she found was "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment." The UN special rapporteur spent four days at...

Scathing Report Details Atrocities in Venezuela

Experts allege crimes against humanity have been committed there since 2014

(Newser) - Independent experts commissioned by the UN’s top human-rights body have alleged the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has committed crimes against humanity since 2014. The experts issued a scathing, in-depth report on Wednesday that said the people responsible for crimes that include extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions,...

US Is Leaving UN Human Rights Council

Nikki Haley had been threatening the move

(Newser) - The United States announced Tuesday it was leaving the United Nations' Human Rights Council, with Ambassador Nikki Haley calling it "an organization that is not worthy of its name." It was the latest withdrawal by the Trump administration from an international institution. Haley, Trump's envoy to the...

UN Backs $1.2M Inquiry Into Islamic State

Diplomats OK probe of alleged crimes in Syria, Iraq

(Newser) - The UN's top human rights body today overwhelmingly approved the Iraqi government's request for an investigation into alleged crimes against civilians committed by the Islamic State group in its rampage across northeastern Syria and parts of Iraq. Diplomats agreed by unanimous consent to approve a nearly $1.2...

In First, Israel Bails on UN Human Rights Review

Calls it a tool for 'bashing' Israel

(Newser) - Israel today became the first nation to boycott a UN human rights review, the New York Times reports. Israel had informally notified the Human Rights Council that it would not attend today's session in Geneva, where it was supposed to take part in the Universal Periodic Review process, and...

FRC Shooting: 'Hate' Label Has Gone Too Far
 FRC Shooting: 
 'Hate' Label Has 
 Gone Too Far 
Dana Milbank
Aug 17, 2012 11:45 AM CDT

FRC Shooting: 'Hate' Label Has Gone Too Far

Dana Milbank says it's time liberal groups tone down their rhetoric

(Newser) - The Family Research Council was quick to blame the shooting at its offices on its arch-rivals at the Southern Poverty Law Center, releasing a statement accusing the SPLC of giving the attacker "a license to shoot an unarmed man" by calling the FRC a "hate group." That'...

UN Council Condemns 'Outrageous' Houla Massacre

Only Russia, China, and Cuba vote against it

(Newser) - The UN Human Rights Council sent Syria its harshest rebuke yet in an emergency meeting on the Houla massacre today, approving a resolution to condemn "in the strongest possible terms such an outrageous use of force against the civilian population." Almost the entire 47-nation council approved the US-...

Syria 'Investigation': Rebels Carried Out Houla Massacre

As rebels report more mass executions

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad was framed, he tells ya, framed. Syrian investigators today concluded that the infamous Houla massacre was the work of rebels trying to drum up global outrage against the regime. "Government forces did not enter the area," the general heading up the inquiry said, according to the...

US Soldiers Executed Iraqi Toddlers: WikiLeaks

Cable from UN demanded answers, got no reply

(Newser) - In 2006, a group of US soldiers burst into a house in Ishaqi, Iraq, where they handcuffed and executed at least 10 people—including an infant and four other children, none older than five years old—then called an airstrike to cover up the evidence. Or at least that’s...

Iran to Try Bush Officials for Human Rights Abuses

Trial designed to counter accusations of Tehran's own abuses

(Newser) - Iran intends to try 26 current or former US officials in absentia for human rights violations and forward its findings to international tribunals, one lawmaker said today. He didn’t specify which officials, but Reuters believes it’s likely to be the same people listed on a bill currently in...

UN Human Rights Body May Kick Libya Out

As US, Europe weigh sanctions

(Newser) - The United States will support efforts to expel Libya from the 47-member UN Human Rights committee, in what would be an unprecedented suspension of one of its own members. "The crackdown in Libya of peaceful demonstrations is escalating alarmingly with reported mass killings, arbitrary arrests, detention and torture of...

Islamic States Want UN to Condemn Koran Burning

Resolution sees a worldwide problem

(Newser) - Pakistan and other Islamic states pushed for a resolution at the UN today to condemn a small-time US pastor's threat to burn the Koran, Reuters reports. Terry Jones' proposition is part of a pattern of "instances of intolerance, discrimination, profiling and acts of violence against Muslims occurring in many...

Israel Admits Fatal Blockade 'Mistakes'

But praises 'professional and courageous' commandos

(Newser) - Israel's own inquiry into the May 31 Gaza flotilla raid has admitted commandos were under-prepared and mistakes were made at a senior level, but stopped short of calling the mission a failure or recommending any dismissals in response to the raid. The report criticized the operation's planners for not having...

Israel Committed War Crimes in Gaza: UN Report

Fact-finding mission recommends world court prosecutor take action

(Newser) - Israel committed "actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity" during the three-week Gaza war, according to a UN special report that will be released today. The fact-finding mission, headed by the Jewish South African judge Richard Goldstone, also determined that Palestinian militants committed war crimes, but reserved...

Cuba Signs Human Rights Pacts at UN
Cuba Signs Human Rights Pacts at UN
Feb 29, 2008 8:22 AM CST

Cuba Signs Human Rights Pacts at UN

But critics say the nation's dissidents must be released

(Newser) - Cuba yesterday signed a pair of legally binding human rights agreements, promising, among other things, to allow its citizens free speech, free association, and the right to travel, the BBC reports. Coming mere days after Raul Castro became president, the gesture could signal a shift in Cuba’s policy, though...

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