Americas

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1. The context: lawlessness and fear Whilst the situation in Haiti has long been characterized by lawlessness, with powerful gangs controlling much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, the months of January and February 2024 have been the most violent in the last two years, with over 2,500 people killed, kidnapped or injured since the start of the year. The decision of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in March 2024, to step down has further complicated the situation. On 21 March, Ulrike Richardson...
The lack of goods and resources is worsening an already precarious economic situation, with water and basic services being “stretched to the limit”, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said. The UN Secretary-General called on all Haitian stakeholders to act responsibly and expressed appreciation to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and partners’ for facilitating a way forward to resolve Haiti’s political crisis through a just-signed agreement to, among other things, appoint an interim prime...
The island nation is hosting the latest summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which comprises more than 30 countries. With the bloc meeting “to help foster solutions for the region and for the world”, Mr. Guterres highlighted the need for solidarity in the areas of peace and security, sustainable development, social cohesion and climate action. ‘Peace is possible’ “Latin America and the Caribbean have shown how uniting for peace is possible and makes a...
President Daniel Ortega and other high-level officials should be held accountable “as should Nicaragua, as a State that goes after its own people targeting university students, indigenous people, people of African descent, campesinos and members of the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations,” they said in a statement. The accusation comes in their latest report which details how the situation in the country has deteriorated over the past year. Long-term objective The report...
16 February 2024Human Rights The UN human rights office (OHCHR) is evaluating next steps, while continuing to engage with authorities in Venezuela following the Government’s announcement on Thursday that the office must suspend operations in the country and its staff leave, within 72 hours. Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for OHCHR, said in a statement that the Office regretted the announcement and that it continues to engage with the authorities and other stakeholders. “Our...
Special Rapporteur Margaret Satterthwaite voiced serious concerns that a Supreme Court Justice in the state of North Carolina, Anita Earls, was investigated for comments made regarding the potential role that implicit biases based on race, gender, and political affiliation can play in the Court’s decision-making. “Like other citizens, judges are entitled to freedom of expression, provided they conduct themselves in a way that preserves the dignity of their office, and the impartiality and...
Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was executed in the southern state of Alabama on 25 January. He had been convicted of murder in 1988. “Alabama’s use of Kenneth Smith as a human guinea pig to test a new method of execution amounted to unethical human experimentation and was nothing short of State-sanctioned torture,” the experts said in a statement. “The use, for the first time in humans and on an experimental basis, of a method of execution that has been shown to cause suffering in animals is...
26 January 2024Law and Crime Prevention The UN human rights chief has expressed deep regret over the execution of a prisoner in the United States on Thursday night through the country’s first ever use of nitrogen asphyxiation as a method of implementing the death penalty. “I deeply regret the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith in Alabama despite serious concerns that this novel and untested method of suffocation may amount to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” said Volker...
The court documents reveal a horrifying list of alleged crimes perpetrated by Epstein, including sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, rape, sex trafficking, slavery, torture and forced disappearance of women and children. Mr. Epstein died in August 2019, after prison guards in New York found him unresponsive in his jail cell where he was awaiting trial. In a news release on Friday, Special Rapporteurs Reem Alsalem and Mama Fatima Singhateh voiced deep concern over the vast network of...
16 January 2024Human Rights The imminent execution of an American prisoner by a new and untested method – suffocation by nitrogen gas – could amount to torture, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, warned on Tuesday. Kenneth Eugene Smith was convicted of murder in 1988 and is scheduled to be executed on 25 January in the southern state of Alabama. A grim first This will mark the first time in the US that a person will be put to death using nitrogen gas. OHCHR Spokesperson Ravina...