World News

UN-appointed independent rights experts issued a statement on Monday calling on India to end relentless misogynistic and sectarian attacks against an investigative journalist. The appeal from Special Rapporteurs on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan and situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor follows what they have called “relentless misogynistic and sectarian attacks” against Rana Ayyub – including death and rape threats. Rana Ayyub, independent...

The United Nations has condemned the killing of eight polio vaccination workers in four locations in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, the first such attacks since nationwide campaigns resumed last November. One member of the vaccination transit team was killed in Taloqan district in Takhar province, while four members of house-to-house teams were murdered in two separate incidents in Kunduz city, according to a statement from the UN Country Team in Afghanistan. Two vaccinators and a...

Sri Lanka has taken steps towards legal, institutional and security sector reforms, but more action is still needed, according to a report issued on Friday by the UN human rights office, OHCHR, which examines developments over the past year. Although UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet has recognized the authorities’ efforts to initiate reforms, the report said that she has also expressed deep concern over a number of violations in the country. Setbacks to accountability...

Shocking abuses against indigenous Papuans have been taking place in Indonesia, UN-appointed rights experts said on Tuesday, citing child killings, disappearances, torture and enforced mass displacement. “Between April and November 2021, we have received allegations indicating several instances of extrajudicial killings, including of young children, enforced disappearance, torture and inhuman treatment and the forced displacement of at least 5,000 indigenous Papuans by security forces,”...

Whether as peacebuilders, humanitarians or pivotal actors courageously pushing their communities forward, Afghan women must be given the space to lead if the country is to find peace and progress, the UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet stressed in a statement on Thursday. Speaking from Kabul, where she is listening to women share their experiences – and talking to the de facto Taliban authorities about the urgent, critical need to bring an end to the serious human rights violations...

Security forces in Myanmar have killed at least 1,600 people and detained more than 12,500, since the military coup last year, the UN rights office said on Tuesday. In a new report warning that serious rights abuses uncovered in Myanmar may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, appealed to the international community to take “concerted, immediate measures to stem the spiral of violence” there. The report’s findings...

People in Afghanistan are today facing a food insecurity and malnutrition crisis of “unparalleled proportions”, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator said on Tuesday. Ramiz Alakbarov, who also serves as Deputy Special Representative, issued a statement saying that acute hunger in the country rose from 14 million in July, to 23 million in March, forcing households to resort to “desperate measures” to put food on the table. “Unacceptable trade-offs have caused untold suffering...

“The de facto authorities’ failure to adhere to commitments to reopen schools for girls above the sixth grade – in spite of repeated commitments towards girls’ education, including during my visit to Kabul two weeks ago – is deeply damaging for Afghanistan”, High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said in a statement. ‘Grave concern’ Although high schools were set to open their doors to girls nationwide, Taliban authorities reportedly reversed the move early on Wednesday, pending a ruling...