17 October 2014
Combating the ‘twin plagues’ of Ebola and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), while addressing the largest number of forcibly displaced people since World War II amid budget cuts is like ‘being asked to use a boat and bucket to cope with a flood’, the UN’ new human rights chief said. (more…)
19 May 2014
In a report released on 15 May, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed its concern over the rising number of human rights violations by armed groups in eastern Ukraine. The report says that the actions and impunity of the armed groups ‘remain the major factor in causing a worsening situation for the protection of human rights’ and that ‘in most cases, local police did nothing to prevent violence, while in some cases it openly cooperated with the attackers.’ (more…)
Source: The New York Times | U.N. Finds Rising Human Rights Violations in Ukraine
Source: OHCHR | Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine | 15 May 2014
10 February 2014
Government forces, pro-government forces and armed opposition groups are employing civilian suffering as a method of warfare by starvation, denying humanitarian relief, targeting civilians, subjecting them to inhumane treatment and committing other human rights violations. This statement, issued by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, is based on the reports of six unpaid independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council. ‘The acts being committed amount to crimes against humanity, carried out as a deliberate and systematic effort to cause civilian suffering. They also constitute war crimes and serious violations of customary international humanitarian law which binds all parties,’ they stated. The rapporteurs urge all parties to stop using civilian suffering as a method for warfare and to ensure immediate humanitarian relief.