Latest news with #GenevaSummitforHumanRightsandDemocracy
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
China, Iran and Russia condemned by dissidents at UN watchdog's Geneva summit
Dissidents from across the globe gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, to tell the stories of their survival and escape from authoritarian regimes. In just a few days, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will kick off its 58th session in that same city. In his opening remarks at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer set the record straight on the UNHRC. "You know, when most people hear the words 'UN Human Rights Council,' they imagine in their minds men wearing long white beards, dressed in white robes strolling along Mt. Olympus, basing their decisions on facts, logic, and morality, when nothing could be further from the truth," Neuer said. "Sitting around the table at the UN Human Rights Council across the street are not Aristotle, Socrates, or Plato, rather many of the world's worst violators of human rights. They use their membership as a false badge of international legitimacy to gain impunity for their records of abuse." Head Of Un Watchdog Says Unrwa Hired People 'Who Were Supporting Terrorism' While several dissidents had the chance to tell their stories, there were many who did not. The friends and family of dissidents and activists spoke, and local students told stories of those who were not present. The summit used empty chairs to represent the absent dissidents. Read On The Fox News App The UN agency has 47 member states that serve for three years at a time. Dissidents from four current UNHRC member states — Sudan, Cuba, Vietnam and China — told harrowing stories of taking on who Neuer calls "the world's worst abusers." Times Wang, a human rights attorney based in the U.S., spoke about his father's imprisonment in China. Dr. Wang Bingzhang, who was kidnapped by Chinese authorities in 2002, is the longest imprisoned Chinese political dissident. He remains in solitary confinement to this day. Additionally, Sebastien Lai, the son of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, spoke about his father's detainment by Chinese authorities, which began in 2020. Apple Daily was Hong Kong's largest newspaper until 2021, when it was forcibly shut down. If convicted, Jimmy Lai could be sentenced to life in prison. He is currently in solitary confinement and has had multiple appeals rejected. Un Halts Humanitarian Work In Yemen's Houthi Stronghold After Staff Detentions The summit also featured dissidents from former member states, including Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Russia. "Good people in democratic nations when they join their efforts, when they stand together, when they work together, are stronger than dictatorship can ever hope to be," Vladimir Kara-Murza told the summit. Kara-Murza, a Russian pro-democracy activist, was jailed in April 2022 for speaking out against the war in Ukraine. He was released in August 2024. Prior to his recent imprisonment, Kara-Murza survived two poisoning attempts at the hands of Russia. Human rights activist and outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Garry Kas expressed little faith in the UN. He asserts that "the rot runs so deep" that the international community is "approaching the question" of replacing the institution, "rather than merely reforming it." In his keynote address, Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi demanded the world act to take down the Islamic Republic regime. "What is caused by the Islamic Republic, can be solved by its removal," Pahlavi said. Pahlavi also spoke about Iranian women's fight for freedom, noting it went beyond the hijab requirement. He says their fight is "not about a piece of cloth. It is about reclaiming their equality and their country." UNHRC did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment. While the 58th session of the UNHRC is still days away, there are several topics of discussion listed on its website. China, Sudan, Cuba, Vietnam and the other members will have the chance to weigh in on "early warning and genocide prevention," "the question of the death penalty," and "the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination," among other topics. President Donald Trump recently pulled the U.S. out of UNHRC, something he also did in his first term. In his 2025 executive order on withdrawing from UNHRC, Trump expresses similar sentiments to Neuer, saying that "UNHRC has protected human rights abusers by allowing them to use the organization to shield themselves from scrutiny."Original article source: China, Iran and Russia condemned by dissidents at UN watchdog's Geneva summit
Khaleej Times
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Afghanistan problem 'can be solved', says former women's affairs minister
Afghanistan has been cloaked in "darkness" since the return of the Taliban government three and a half years ago, but the country's former women's affairs minister insists the problem "can be solved". When the Taliban swept back to power in August 2021, "everything was lost", Massooda Jalal, a former minister and the first woman in Afghanistan's history to run for president, told AFP in an interview this week. "They brought back the darkness we had fought so hard to escape." Despite promises not to return to the brutality displayed during their first stint in power in the 1990s, the Taliban authorities have imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, including the return of public floggings and executions. Women and girls have been barred from education beyond the age of 12, from holding many jobs and from many public spaces in what the United Nations has described as "gender apartheid". Jalal, a 61-year-old medical doctor who served as Afghanistan's women's affairs minister from 2004 to 2006, insisted that "there is a way to replace the darkness with the light". "It is challenging, but it is not impossible," she told AFP in Geneva, where she and her daughter Husna were being awarded a women's rights prize at the annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. "It can be solved." Light She called for an international conference, like the United Nations-backed talks held in Bonn, Germany in 2001. Those talks saw the signing of a landmark deal to create a post-Taliban leadership and usher in democracy after the militants were ousted by a US-led invasion following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. "The political regime in Kabul is not supported by the people, and it is not recognised and supported by the world," said Jalal, now an activist who lives in the Netherlands. "It has no meaning, so why continue that? Millions of people there are suffering." With a little bit of international will, she insisted that pressure could be exerted on the Taliban authorities and those propping them up to ensure they participate. The international community, she insisted, has a responsibility to bring an end to the deep suffering in Afghanistan. "The world should not just keep watching it," she said. Jalal recalled her elation in 2001 "when the international community came in and set the democratic agenda". "The light came into the country." 'Will not be erased' Jalal, who at that time was a UN aid worker, after the Taliban had chased her from her post as a professor at Kabul University, stood in the country's first presidential polls in 2004. She was surprised when she lost to Hamid Karzai, garnering just 1.1 per cent of the votes. "I thought I was going to be the winner," she said, pointing out that her opponents were all linked to armed groups, while she claims she had become very popular after travelling all over the country, handing out aid. While that loss was disappointing, Jalal rejected the idea that Afghans were not ready to see women in power. She called for the swift restoration of democracy, insisting that "of course, women should be given equal rights". And since "they suffered more than others... they should get extra... We need to bring more and more women into the process and into leadership in the country". During her speech to this week's rights summit, Jalal lamented her own "forced exile". "But exile does not mean surrender," she said. "I will continue to fight for democracy, for justice, for the dignity of every Afghan woman, because we will not be erased."
Fox News
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
China, Iran and Russia condemned by dissidents at UN watchdog's Geneva summit
Dissidents from across the globe gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, to tell the stories of their survival and escape from authoritarian regimes. In just a few days, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will kick off its 58th session in that same city. In his opening remarks at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer set the record straight on the UNHRC. "You know, when most people hear the words 'UN Human Rights Council,' they imagine in their minds men wearing long white beards, dressed in white robes strolling along Mt. Olympus, basing their decisions on facts, logic, and morality, when nothing could be further from the truth," Neuer said. "Sitting around the table at the UN Human Rights Council across the street are not Aristotle, Socrates, or Plato, rather many of the world's worst violators of human rights. They use their membership as a false badge of international legitimacy to gain impunity for their records of abuse." While several dissidents had the chance to tell their stories, there were many who did not. The friends and family of dissidents and activists spoke, and local students told stories of those who were not present. The summit used empty chairs to represent the absent dissidents. The UN agency has 47 member states that serve for three years at a time. Dissidents from four current UNHRC member states — Sudan, Cuba, Vietnam and China — told harrowing stories of taking on who Neuer calls "the world's worst abusers." Times Wang, a human rights attorney based in the U.S., spoke about his father's imprisonment in China. Dr. Wang Bingzhang, who was kidnapped by Chinese authorities in 2002, is the longest imprisoned Chinese political dissident. He remains in solitary confinement to this day. Additionally, Sebastien Lai, the son of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, spoke about his father's detainment by Chinese authorities, which began in 2020. Apple Daily was Hong Kong's largest newspaper until 2021, when it was forcibly shut down. If convicted, Jimmy Lai could be sentenced to life in prison. He is currently in solitary confinement and has had multiple appeals rejected. The summit also featured dissidents from former member states, including Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Russia. "Good people in democratic nations when they join their efforts, when they stand together, when they work together, are stronger than dictatorship can ever hope to be," Vladimir Kara-Murza told the summit. Kara-Murza, a Russian pro-democracy activist, was jailed in April 2022 for speaking out against the war in Ukraine. He was released in August 2024. Prior to his recent imprisonment, Kara-Murza survived two poisoning attempts at the hands of Russia. Human rights activist and outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Garry Kas expressed little faith in the UN. He asserts that "the rot runs so deep" that the international community is "approaching the question" of replacing the institution, "rather than merely reforming it." In his keynote address, Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi demanded the world act to take down the Islamic Republic regime. "What is caused by the Islamic Republic, can be solved by its removal," Pahlavi said. Pahlavi also spoke about Iranian women's fight for freedom, noting it went beyond the hijab requirement. He says their fight is "not about a piece of cloth. It is about reclaiming their equality and their country." UNHRC did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment. While the 58th session of the UNHRC is still days away, there are several topics of discussion listed on its website. China, Sudan, Cuba, Vietnam and the other members will have the chance to weigh in on "early warning and genocide prevention," "the question of the death penalty," and "the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination," among other topics. President Donald Trump recently pulled the U.S. out of UNHRC, something he also did in his first term. In his 2025 executive order on withdrawing from UNHRC, Trump expresses similar sentiments to Neuer, saying that "UNHRC has protected human rights abusers by allowing them to use the organization to shield themselves from scrutiny."
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Afghanistan problem 'can be solved': former women's affairs minister
Afghanistan has been cloaked in "darkness" since the return of the Taliban government three and a half years ago, but the country's former women's affairs minister insists the problem "can be solved". When the Taliban swept back to power in August 2021, "everything was lost", Massooda Jalal, a former minister and the first woman in Afghanistan's history to run for president, told AFP in an interview this week. "They brought back the darkness we had fought so hard to escape." Despite promises not to return to the brutality displayed during their first stint in power in the 1990s, the Taliban authorities have imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, including the return of public floggings and executions. Women and girls have been barred from education beyond the age of 12, from holding many jobs and from many public spaces in what the United Nations has described as "gender apartheid". Jalal, a 61-year-old medical doctor who served as Afghanistan's women's affairs minister from 2004 to 2006, insisted that "there is a way to replace the darkness with the light". "It is challenging, but it is not impossible," she told AFP in Geneva, where she and her daughter Husna were being awarded a women's rights prize at the annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. "It can be solved." - Light - She called for an international conference, like the United Nations-backed talks held in Bonn, Germany in 2001. Those talks saw the signing of a landmark deal to create a post-Taliban leadership and usher in democracy after the militants were ousted by a US-led invasion following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. "The political regime in Kabul is not supported by the people, and it is not recognised and supported by the world," said Jalal, now an activist who lives in the Netherlands. "It has no meaning, so why continue that? Millions of people there are suffering." With a little bit of international will, she insisted that pressure could be exerted on the Taliban authorities and those propping them up to ensure they participate. The international community, she insisted, has a responsibility to bring an end to the deep suffering in Afghanistan. "The world should not just keep watching it," she said. Jalal recalled her elation in 2001 "when the international community came in and set the democratic agenda". "The light came into the country." - 'Will not be erased' - Jalal, who at that time was a UN aid worker, after the Taliban had chased her from her post as a professor at Kabul University, stood in the country's first presidential polls in 2004. She was surprised when she lost to Hamid Karzai, garnering just 1.1 percent of the votes. "I thought I was going to be the winner," she said, pointing out that her opponents were all linked to armed groups, while she claims she had become very popular after travelling all over the country, handing out aid. While that loss was disappointing, Jalal rejected the idea that Afghans were not ready to see women in power. She called for the swift restoration of democracy, insisting that "of course, women should be given equal rights". And since "they suffered more than others... they should get extra... We need to bring more and more women into the process and into leadership in the country". During her speech to this week's rights summit, Jalal lamented her own "forced exile". "But exile does not mean surrender," she said. "I will continue to fight for democracy, for justice, for the dignity of every Afghan woman, because we will not be erased." nl/rjm/yad/rsc
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Afghanistan problem 'can be solved': former women's affairs minister
Afghanistan has been cloaked in "darkness" since the return of the Taliban government three and a half years ago, but the country's former women's affairs minister insists the problem "can be solved". When the Taliban swept back to power in August 2021, "everything was lost", Massooda Jalal, a former minister and the first woman in Afghanistan's history to run for president, told AFP in an interview this week. "They brought back the darkness we had fought so hard to escape." Despite promises not to return to the brutality displayed during their first stint in power in the 1990s, the Taliban authorities have imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, including the return of public floggings and executions. Women and girls have been barred from education beyond the age of 12, from holding many jobs and from many public spaces in what the United Nations has described as "gender apartheid". Jalal, a 61-year-old medical doctor who served as Afghanistan's women's affairs minister from 2004 to 2006, insisted that "there is a way to replace the darkness with the light". "It is challenging, but it is not impossible," she told AFP in Geneva, where she and her daughter Husna were being awarded a women's rights prize at the annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. "It can be solved." - Light - She called for an international conference, like the United Nations-backed talks held in Bonn, Germany in 2001. Those talks saw the signing of a landmark deal to create a post-Taliban leadership and usher in democracy after the militants were ousted by a US-led invasion following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. "The political regime in Kabul is not supported by the people, and it is not recognised and supported by the world," said Jalal, now an activist who lives in the Netherlands. "It has no meaning, so why continue that? Millions of people there are suffering." With a little bit of international will, she insisted that pressure could be exerted on the Taliban authorities and those propping them up to ensure they participate. The international community, she insisted, has a responsibility to bring an end to the deep suffering in Afghanistan. "The world should not just keep watching it," she said. Jalal recalled her elation in 2001 "when the international community came in and set the democratic agenda". "The light came into the country." - 'Will not be erased' - Jalal, who at that time was a UN aid worker, after the Taliban had chased her from her post as a professor at Kabul University, stood in the country's first presidential polls in 2004. She was surprised when she lost to Hamid Karzai, garnering just 1.1 percent of the votes. "I thought I was going to be the winner," she said, pointing out that her opponents were all linked to armed groups, while she claims she had become very popular after travelling all over the country, handing out aid. While that loss was disappointing, Jalal rejected the idea that Afghans were not ready to see women in power. She called for the swift restoration of democracy, insisting that "of course, women should be given equal rights". And since "they suffered more than others... they should get extra... We need to bring more and more women into the process and into leadership in the country". During her speech to this week's rights summit, Jalal lamented her own "forced exile". "But exile does not mean surrender," she said. "I will continue to fight for democracy, for justice, for the dignity of every Afghan woman, because we will not be erased." nl/rjm/yad/rsc
