Latest news with #OfficeoftheUNHighCommissionerforHumanRights
Euronews
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Thousands of Serbian students converge on Belgrade for major rally
Thousands of Serbian students began to arrive in Belgrade on Friday evening in preparation for a major anti-government demonstration planned for Saturday. Ahead of Saturday's march, students from hundreds of villages and cities across the country joined forces, walking by foot to the capital, while onlookers watched and cheered. The Serbian capital was on edge ahead of the major anti-government rally, with the authorities of President Aleksandar Vucic stepping up efforts to dissuade people from attending. The rally is being seen as a test for Vucic's government, which has been dealing with growing public dissatisfaction that has culminated in months of anti-graft protests in the Balkan nation. On Friday, the UN Human Rights Office called for the demonstration to be peaceful and urged Serbian authorities to respect international law. "The UN Human Rights Office reminds Serbia that it is bound by its obligations under international human rights law to protect and respect the full exercise of rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression," Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said. While previous student-led rallies in other Serbian cities have been peaceful despite drawing huge crowds, President Vucic has repeatedly warned that violence is planned at the rally and threatened arrests over any incidents. His supporters have been camping in the city centre, with tractors parked around a park outside the Serbian presidency building in Belgrade, fueling fears of potential clashes. Local officials in the capital announced that the Parliament building across the street will be locked for the next three days due to security reasons. The nationwide anti-graft movement in Serbia, which began more than four months ago when a concrete awning collapsed at a train station in the country's north, killing fifteen people, is largely being driven by university students. Vucic's firm hold on power in Serbia has been shaken by nearly daily protests, and the movement for change is gaining traction. To remain competitive, the European Union needs a skilled workforce. A shortage of this is therefore a problem, and the Commission and the European Parliament have recently renewed efforts to tackle it. "Four in five businesses struggle to find the workers that they need with the right skill set. There are more than 40 occupations with EU wide shortages, especially in important sectors like construction, trades, transport and some healthcare professions", Roxana Mînzatu, European Commission Vice-President responsible for social rights, skills and quality employment, told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. This shortage of skilled labour is due to problems of supply and demand and a mismatch between the qualifications of workers and the needs of employers, as Ilias Livanos, an expert on skills and the labour market at the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), told Euronews: "There could be pressures because of the demand. And clearly for the ICT professions, given that they keep developing so rapidly, we don't really know what the demand will be in 5 or 10 years. So how we can prepare for this specific knowledge ? And clearly the systems, education systems are not prepared for this." This shortage is likely to get worse because of demographic factors and the digital and ecological transitions. "Firstly, demographics. The EU is going to lose 1 million workers every year until 2050," Peter Bosch, senior research associate at the Egmont Institute, told Euronews. "Secondly, there is a rapid change in the type of skills that will be needed because of robotisation, because of artificial intelligence, because of what is happening in different sectors," he explained, adding: "The third reason is Europe's economic recovery, with many Member States and the European Union making large amounts of money available." The European rearmament plan proposed by the European Commission, which contains a €800 billion budget, and the massive investment plan in defence and infrastructure presented by the likely future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will require recruitment in many sectors, according to Peter Bosch. The education system, but also companies, have important roles to play here, as, after all: "The skill system has no single owner". While the formal education system has an important part to play in developing skills, continuing training is also "the responsibility of individuals and employers," according to Livanos. The EU's new roadmap has set the course: On 5 March, the European executive launched a new initiative - the Skills Union - to boost training and therefore European competitiveness. This approach is based on four pillars. It recommends investing in education and training, promoting professional retraining, encouraging the mobility of students and workers, and making the EU more attractive to foreign workers. In concrete terms, the Commission wants to launch "skills guarantees", for example, to "help companies hire or train people at risk of losing their jobs", Roxana Mînzatu expained. Another flagship project called "Choose Europe" aims to attract skilled workers from third countries to the EU. The European executive also wants to support visas for foreign students, strengthen the skills pact to support the upgrading and retraining of workers, and make the 'Erasmus+' exchange programme more accessible. But the EU is not the only one in the race, warns Peter Bosch. "The European Union is going to need people, but so will China and India and Arab countries, and Arab countries are offering huge salaries for people to come to work in their countries," says the researcher. The European Union is waking up, but it needs to do so very quickly.
Egypt Independent
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Entire families killed in Syria sectarian violence, UN says
CNN — Armed groups killed entire families, including women and children, during an outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria last week, the United Nations' human rights office said on Tuesday. The bloodshed in the coastal heartland of former ruler Bashar al-Assad saw more than 800 people killed in clashes between armed groups loyal to the toppled dictator and forces loyal to the new Syrian regime, according to a war monitor. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR) spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said the agency had documented at least 111 killings, though the number was believed to be far higher. 'Some survivors told us that many men were shot dead in front of their families,' Al-Kheetan told a regular press briefing in Geneva, adding that many of the 'summary executions' targeted members of the Alawite minority. The Assad family, which ruled Syria for more than half a century, are members of the minority Shiite Muslim sect, which lives predominantly in Sunni-majority Syria. Al-Kheetan said the killings 'appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis, in Tartus, Latakia and Hama governorates – reportedly by unidentified armed individuals, members of armed groups allegedly supporting the caretaker authorities' security forces.' 'In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families – including women, children and individuals hors de combat – were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,' he said. A Syrian man points at bullet holes in a window of a hospital in Jableh town, 25 km south of Latakia, on March 10, 2025, following a spate of violence between Syrian security forces and insurgents loyal to deposed president Bashar al-Assad. Moawia Atrash/dpa/Battles take place between the new Syrian government's Defense Ministry forces and the forces loyal to Bashar Assad on March 7, 2025, in outskirts of Jableh, Latakia countryside, Syria. Mohamad Daboul/AFP/MiddleThe United Kingdom-based Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said on Tuesday that among the 803 killed, 'non-state armed groups' loyal to Assad were responsible for the deaths of 383 people, including 172 members of state security forces and 211 civilians. Meanwhile, eyewitness testimonies and video verified by CNN showed government loyalists carrying out field executions, with some speaking of 'purifying' the country. Teacher Ahmed Ali Al Mousa was killed by armed men who came to his home in the coastal city of Baniyas last Thursday and asked whether he was Sunni or Alawite, a family member who escaped the violence told CNN. 'By God I will drink your blood,' one of the men said, according to the relative, who CNN is not naming to protect their safety. The men abducted Mousa and he was found five hours later lying in the street with gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen, the relative said. Mousa died in hospital the next day, they said. The same day, Mousa's sister-in-law Itithad Mohammed Kamal Saud and 15-year-old nephew Mudar Safwan Mousa were killed when another armed group entered their apartment and shot them both in the head without warning, family members told CNN. A woman in Latakia, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told CNN that militants using sectarian slurs broke into her house. Her husband and all the men in her village were killed and the families were not allowed to bury them or retrieve the bodies from the street, she said. Throughout Assad's rule, the Alawite sect became increasingly linked, in the eyes of his opponents, to the atrocities committed by his regime during the Syrian civil war. Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who once led the al Qaeda-linked group that toppled Assad late last year, has previously promised political equality and representation to the various sects of Syria's diverse ethnic and religious populations. The caretaker authorities announced the end of security operations in the coastal areas on March 10, but intermittent clashes continue to be reported. Sharaa has blamed the violence on the remains of Assad's forces, claiming they were trying to incite sectarian strife. On Sunday, Sharaa said his government would hold accountable anyone involved in the deaths of civilians during the heavy fighting. Sharaa had previously described the violence as 'expected challenges.' Syria's interim government has vowed to form an independent committee to investigate the violence and submit a report to the presidency within 30 days. CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim contributed reporting.
CNN
12-03-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Entire families killed in Syria sectarian violence, UN says
Armed groups killed entire families, including women and children, during an outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria last week, the United Nations' human rights office said on Tuesday. The bloodshed in the coastal heartland of former ruler Bashar al-Assad saw more than 800 people killed in clashes between armed groups loyal to the toppled dictator and forces loyal to the new Syrian regime, according to a war monitor. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR) spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said the agency had documented at least 111 killings, though the number was believed to be far higher. 'Some survivors told us that many men were shot dead in front of their families,' Al-Kheetan told a regular press briefing in Geneva, adding that many of the 'summary executions' targeted members of the Alawite minority. The Assad family, which ruled Syria for more than half a century, are members of the minority Shiite Muslim sect, which lives predominantly in Sunni-majority Syria. Al-Kheetan said the killings 'appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis, in Tartus, Latakia and Hama governorates - reportedly by unidentified armed individuals, members of armed groups allegedly supporting the caretaker authorities' security forces.' 'In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families – including women, children and individuals hors de combat - were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,' he said. The United Kingdom-based Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said on Tuesday that among the 803 killed, 'non-state armed groups' loyal to Assad were responsible for the deaths of 383 people, including 172 members of state security forces and 211 civilians. Meanwhile, eyewitness testimonies and video verified by CNN showed government loyalists carrying out field executions, with some speaking of 'purifying' the country. Teacher Ahmed Ali Al Mousa was killed by armed men who came to his home in the coastal city of Baniyas last Thursday and asked whether he was Sunni or Alawite, a family member who escaped the violence told CNN. 'By God I will drink your blood,' one of the men said, according to the relative, who CNN is not naming to protect their safety. The men abducted Mousa and he was found five hours later lying in the street with gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen, the relative said. Mousa died in hospital the next day, they said. The same day, Mousa's sister-in-law Itithad Mohammed Kamal Saud and 15-year-old nephew Mudar Safwan Mousa were killed when another armed group entered their apartment and shot them both in the head without warning, family members told CNN. A woman in Latakia, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told CNN that militants using sectarian slurs broke into her house. Her husband and all the men in her village were killed and the families were not allowed to bury them or retrieve the bodies from the street, she said. Throughout Assad's rule, the Alawite sect became increasingly linked, in the eyes of his opponents, to the atrocities committed by his regime during the Syrian civil war. Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who once led the al Qaeda-linked group that toppled Assad late last year, has previously promised political equality and representation to the various sects of Syria's diverse ethnic and religious populations. The caretaker authorities announced the end of security operations in the coastal areas on March 10, but intermittent clashes continue to be reported. Sharaa has blamed the violence on the remains of Assad's forces, claiming they were trying to incite sectarian strife. On Sunday, Sharaa said his government would hold accountable anyone involved in the deaths of civilians during the heavy fighting. Sharaa had previously described the violence as 'expected challenges.' Syria's interim government has vowed to form an independent committee to investigate the violence and submit a report to the presidency within 30 days. CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim contributed reporting.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Entire families killed in Syria sectarian violence, UN says
Armed groups killed entire families, including women and children, during an outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria last week, the United Nations' human rights office said on Tuesday. The bloodshed in the coastal heartland of former ruler Bashar al-Assad saw more than 800 people killed in clashes between armed groups loyal to the toppled dictator and forces loyal to the new Syrian regime, according to a war monitor. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR) spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said the agency had documented at least 111 killings, though the number was believed to be far higher. 'Some survivors told us that many men were shot dead in front of their families,' Al-Kheetan told a regular press briefing in Geneva, adding that many of the 'summary executions' targeted members of the Alawite minority. The Assad family, which ruled Syria for more than half a century, are members of the minority Shiite Muslim sect, which lives predominantly in Sunni-majority Syria. Al-Kheetan said the killings 'appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis, in Tartus, Latakia and Hama governorates - reportedly by unidentified armed individuals, members of armed groups allegedly supporting the caretaker authorities' security forces.' 'In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families – including women, children and individuals hors de combat - were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,' he said. The United Kingdom-based Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said on Tuesday that among the 803 killed, 'non-state armed groups' loyal to Assad were responsible for the deaths of 383 people, including 172 members of state security forces and 211 civilians. Meanwhile, eyewitness testimonies and video verified by CNN showed government loyalists carrying out field executions, with some speaking of 'purifying' the country. Teacher Ahmed Ali Al Mousa was killed by armed men who came to his home in the coastal city of Baniyas last Thursday and asked whether he was Sunni or Alawite, a family member who escaped the violence told CNN. 'By God I will drink your blood,' one of the men said, according to the relative, who CNN is not naming to protect their safety. The men abducted Mousa and he was found five hours later lying in the street with gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen, the relative said. Mousa died in hospital the next day, they said. The same day, Mousa's sister-in-law Itithad Mohammed Kamal Saud and 15-year-old nephew Mudar Safwan Mousa were killed when another armed group entered their apartment and shot them both in the head without warning, family members told CNN. A woman in Latakia, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told CNN that militants using sectarian slurs broke into her house. Her husband and all the men in her village were killed and the families were not allowed to bury them or retrieve the bodies from the street, she said. Throughout Assad's rule, the Alawite sect became increasingly linked, in the eyes of his opponents, to the atrocities committed by his regime during the Syrian civil war. Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who once led the al Qaeda-linked group that toppled Assad late last year, has previously promised political equality and representation to the various sects of Syria's diverse ethnic and religious populations. The caretaker authorities announced the end of security operations in the coastal areas on March 10, but intermittent clashes continue to be reported. Sharaa has blamed the violence on the remains of Assad's forces, claiming they were trying to incite sectarian strife. On Sunday, Sharaa said his government would hold accountable anyone involved in the deaths of civilians during the heavy fighting. Sharaa had previously described the violence as 'expected challenges.' Syria's interim government has vowed to form an independent committee to investigate the violence and submit a report to the presidency within 30 days. CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim contributed reporting.
CNN
12-03-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Entire families killed in Syria sectarian violence, UN says
Armed groups killed entire families, including women and children, during an outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria last week, the United Nations' human rights office said on Tuesday. The bloodshed in the coastal heartland of former ruler Bashar al-Assad saw more than 800 people killed in clashes between armed groups loyal to the toppled dictator and forces loyal to the new Syrian regime, according to a war monitor. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR) spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said the agency had documented at least 111 killings, though the number was believed to be far higher. 'Some survivors told us that many men were shot dead in front of their families,' Al-Kheetan told a regular press briefing in Geneva, adding that many of the 'summary executions' targeted members of the Alawite minority. The Assad family, which ruled Syria for more than half a century, are members of the minority Shiite Muslim sect, which lives predominantly in Sunni-majority Syria. Al-Kheetan said the killings 'appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis, in Tartus, Latakia and Hama governorates - reportedly by unidentified armed individuals, members of armed groups allegedly supporting the caretaker authorities' security forces.' 'In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families – including women, children and individuals hors de combat - were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,' he said. The United Kingdom-based Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said on Tuesday that among the 803 killed, 'non-state armed groups' loyal to Assad were responsible for the deaths of 383 people, including 172 members of state security forces and 211 civilians. Meanwhile, eyewitness testimonies and video verified by CNN showed government loyalists carrying out field executions, with some speaking of 'purifying' the country. Teacher Ahmed Ali Al Mousa was killed by armed men who came to his home in the coastal city of Baniyas last Thursday and asked whether he was Sunni or Alawite, a family member who escaped the violence told CNN. 'By God I will drink your blood,' one of the men said, according to the relative, who CNN is not naming to protect their safety. The men abducted Mousa and he was found five hours later lying in the street with gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen, the relative said. Mousa died in hospital the next day, they said. The same day, Mousa's sister-in-law Itithad Mohammed Kamal Saud and 15-year-old nephew Mudar Safwan Mousa were killed when another armed group entered their apartment and shot them both in the head without warning, family members told CNN. A woman in Latakia, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told CNN that militants using sectarian slurs broke into her house. Her husband and all the men in her village were killed and the families were not allowed to bury them or retrieve the bodies from the street, she said. Throughout Assad's rule, the Alawite sect became increasingly linked, in the eyes of his opponents, to the atrocities committed by his regime during the Syrian civil war. Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who once led the al Qaeda-linked group that toppled Assad late last year, has previously promised political equality and representation to the various sects of Syria's diverse ethnic and religious populations. The caretaker authorities announced the end of security operations in the coastal areas on March 10, but intermittent clashes continue to be reported. Sharaa has blamed the violence on the remains of Assad's forces, claiming they were trying to incite sectarian strife. On Sunday, Sharaa said his government would hold accountable anyone involved in the deaths of civilians during the heavy fighting. Sharaa had previously described the violence as 'expected challenges.' Syria's interim government has vowed to form an independent committee to investigate the violence and submit a report to the presidency within 30 days. CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim contributed reporting.
