Latest news with #HumanRightsCouncil
CTV News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
UN-backed team focusing on human rights in Palestinian areas announce resignations
Chair of the Commission Navi Pillay delivers her statement of the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, during the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, File)
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
UN-backed team focusing on human rights in Palestinian areas announce resignations
GENEVA (AP) — A team of three independent experts working for the U.N.'s top human rights body with a focus on Israel and Palestinian areas say they are resigning, citing personal reasons and a need for change. The resignations, announced Monday by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council that set up the team, come as violence continues in Palestinian areas and few signs of letup in the Israeli military campaign against Hamas and other militants behind the Oct. 7 attacks. The Israeli government has repeatedly criticized the panel of experts, known as the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, and denied their repeated requests to travel to the region or otherwise cooperate with the team. Navi Pillay, a former U.N. human rights chief who has led the commission for the last four years, said in a letter to the council president that she was resigning effective Nov. 3 because of 'age, medical issues and the weight of several other commitments.' Team member Chris Sidoti said Pillay's retirement marked 'an appropriate time to re-constitute the commission' and that he was resigning on that same date 'to facilitate that re-constitution.' The third member, Miloon Kothari, did not provide his reasons in a letter announcing his resignation effective 0ct. 31. Neither the independent experts nor the council have any power over countries, but aim to spotlight rights abuses and collect information about suspected perpetrators that could be used by the International Criminal Court or other courts focusing on international justice. The letters were sent to the council president last week but only became public Monday. Last week, the U.S. government announced sanctions against another independent expert mandated by the council, Francesca Albanese, who has also focused on Israel and the Palestinians. Albanese has accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinians, a claim Israel has denied. Albanese said in an interview last week with The Associated Press that she was shocked by the U.S. decision. She has not resigned.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
UN-backed team focusing on human rights in Palestinian areas announce resignations
GENEVA (AP) — A team of three independent experts working for the U.N.'s top human rights body with a focus on Israel and Palestinian areas say they are resigning, citing personal reasons and a need for change. The resignations, announced Monday by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council that set up the team, come as violence continues in Palestinian areas and few signs of letup in the Israeli military campaign against Hamas and other militants behind the Oct. 7 attacks. The Israeli government has repeatedly criticized the panel of experts, known as the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, and denied their repeated requests to travel to the region or otherwise cooperate with the team. Navi Pillay, a former U.N. human rights chief who has led the commission for the last four years, said in a letter to the council president that she was resigning effective Nov. 3 because of 'age, medical issues and the weight of several other commitments.' Team member Chris Sidoti said Pillay's retirement marked 'an appropriate time to re-constitute the commission' and that he was resigning on that same date 'to facilitate that re-constitution.' The third member, Miloon Kothari, did not provide his reasons in a letter announcing his resignation effective 0ct. 31. Neither the independent experts nor the council have any power over countries, but aim to spotlight rights abuses and collect information about suspected perpetrators that could be used by the International Criminal Court or other courts focusing on international justice. The letters were sent to the council president last week but only became public Monday. Last week, the U.S. government announced sanctions against another independent expert mandated by the council, Francesca Albanese, who has also focused on Israel and the Palestinians. Albanese has accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinians, a claim Israel has denied. Albanese said in an interview last week with The Associated Press that she was shocked by the U.S. decision. She has not resigned.
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First Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
UN experts condemn Tunisia for jailing lawyers over free speech
The special rapporteurs noted multiple incidents in which attorneys were arrested and even imprisoned for pleading or making remarks read more UN experts accused Tunisian authorities on Monday of wrongfully imprisoning attorneys in order to stifle criticism. The special rapporteurs noted multiple incidents in which attorneys were arrested and even imprisoned for pleading or making remarks. 'Targeting legal professionals solely for performing their role in the justice system or exercising their freedom of expression poses a direct threat to the integrity and fairness of legal proceedings in Tunisia,' according to a joint statement from the experts. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD They referenced the instance of Ahmed Souab, a lawyer who was arrested on terrorism-related charges in April after stating that judges were under political pressure to sentence opposition leaders harshly in a recent mass trial. The experts said this and several other cases they detailed 'appear designed to ensure critics of the executive are silenced'. President Kais Saied, elected in 2019, has ruled Tunisia by decree since a 2021 power grab. The UN experts urged Tunisia to see that 'lawyers should be able to carry out all their professional duties without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference'. They said they had informed the Tunisian government of their concerns. The statement was issued by Margaret Satterthwaite, special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and Irene Khan, special rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression and opinion. UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council to report their findings. They do not speak for the United Nations itself.
Euronews
6 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
UN rapporteur for Palestine says US sanctions on her 'shocking'
An independent UN investigator and outspoken critic of Israel's military operation in Gaza said on Thursday that "it was shocking" that the Trump administration had imposed sanctions on her but stood by her view on the war. Francesca Albanese said in an interview with the AP that the powerful were trying to silence her for speaking out for those with little to no power, "other than standing and hoping not to die, not to see their children slaughtered." "This is not a sign of power, it's a sign of guilt," the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories said. The State Department's decision to impose sanctions on Albanese followed an unsuccessful US pressure campaign to force the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, the UN's top human rights body, to remove her from her post. She is tasked with probing human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories and has been vocal about what she has described as the "genocide" by the Israeli military in Gaza. Both Israel and the US have strongly denied that accusation. "Albanese's campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on social media. "We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defence." The US announced the sanctions on Albanese on Wednesday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting Washington for talks with President Donald Trump and other officials about reaching a ceasefire in Gaza. Netanyahu faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, which accuses him of crimes against humanity in his military offensive in Gaza. In the interview, Albanese accused American officials of receiving Netanyahu with honour and standing side-by-side with someone wanted by the ICC, a court that neither the US nor Israel is a member of or recognises. Trump slapped sanctions on the court in February, in response to arrest warrants issued late last year for Netanyahu and his then Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant. "We need to reverse the tide and in order for it to happen — we need to stand united," Albanese said. "They cannot silence us all." Albanese stressed that the only way to win is to get rid of fear and to stand up for the Palestinians and their right to an independent state. The Trump administration's stance "is not normal," she said, defiantly repeating, "No one is free until Palestine is free." The United Nations, Human Rights Watch and the Centre for Constitutional Rights opposed the US sanctions on Albanese. "The imposition of sanctions on special rapporteurs is a dangerous precedent" and "is unacceptable," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. While Albanese reports to the Human Rights Council and not to Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the US and any other UN member are entitled to disagree with reports by independent rapporteurs, "but we encourage them to engage with the UN human rights architecture." Trump announced the US was withdrawing from the council in February. The war in Gaza began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Hamas took 251 people as hostages, and is currently still holding 50, around 20 of whom are believed to be alive. A subsequent Israeli offensive has to date killed 57,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry whose figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The Israeli military says 850 of its soldiers have died since the start of the war.
