On the night of 2 August 1944, the last 4,300 Roma and Sinti in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp were murdered by the Nazi forces, despite their fierce resistance. That marked the killing of more than 500,000 members of the community, representing at least a quarter of their total population at the time. The Nazis’s genocidal
Read MoreMr. Türk said these “relentless” attacks were deepening the humanitarian crisis in the country, tearing apart infrastructure, and creating a host of socioeconomic challenges. Between March and May, 436 civilians were killed and 1,760 injured, High Commissioner Türk said. “These high civilian casualties are largely the result of the ground offensive and aerial attacks,
Read More“The central goal of our multilateral system must be peace – a pre-condition for sustainable development and the enjoyment of human rights,” he told Heads of States attending the world’s largest regional organisation meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital. António Guterres listed multiple conflicts where ceasefire and lasting peace are needed, from the Middle East to Ukraine and from
Read MoreThe Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence requires media, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other nonprofits to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 per cent of their funding from abroad. It was adopted on Tuesday. The adoption has sparked protests in the capital, Tbilisi, and has been
Read MoreVolker Türk said he was concerned by the increasing number of journalists charged, convicted and jailed for their independent reporting, in what appears to be an intensification of a crackdown on dissenting voices. He described the continuous attacks on free speech and the criminalization of independent journalism in Russia as “very troubling”. “The intensification of the crackdown on journalists’ independent
Read MoreThousands of people have taken to the streets for days to protest the draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, which would require media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) receiving more than 20 per cent of funding from abroad to register as “organizations acting in the interest of a foreign power”. Respect human rights Mr. Türk
Read More“Two years on and a decade since Russia’s attempted illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, the war in Ukraine remains an open wound at the heart of Europe,” António Guterres said. “It is high time for peace – a just peace, based on the UN Charter, international law
Read More“You cannot legislate facts out of existence,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, calling on the UK Government to reconsider the bill in light of recent reports raising a range of concerns. “It is deeply concerning to carve out one group of people, or people in one particular situation, from the equal protection
Read MoreBriefing the Security Council, Political and Peacebuilding Affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told ambassadors: “We are no closer to the end of this illegal and unjustified war”. “With each passing day, the damage the conflict has done – and is doing – to Ukraine, but also to global peace and security and international law, becomes increasingly
Read More“We understand both Russia and Ukraine are conducting separate investigations into the incident, and Kyiv has called for an international probe,” Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, told ambassadors in the Security Council. Russia said that there were no survivors from Monday’s crash in the Belgorod region close to the Ukrainian border and
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