Latest news with #ThameenAl-Kheetan
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
BRIEFING NOTES: (1) USA; (2) (EN/SP) Venezuela; (3) (EN/AR) Egypt
Spokespeople for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Liz Throssell and Thameen Al-Kheetan Location: Geneva Date: 13 May 2025 Subject: USA (Liz Throssell) Venezuela (Liz Throssell) Egypt (Thameen Al-Kheetan) (1) USA The deportation over recent months of large numbers of non-nationals from the United States of America, especially to countries other than those of their origin, raises a number of human rights concerns, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said on Tuesday. According to official US data, between 20 January and 29 April, 142,000 individuals have been deported from the US. In particular, the fate and whereabouts of at least 245 Venezuelans and some 30 Salvadorans removed to El Salvador remain unclear. Many of them were deported under the Alien Enemies Act as alleged members of specific criminal groups. They have reportedly been detained in the maximum-security 'Centre for Terrorism Confinement' (CECOT) in El Salvador, a facility where detainees are treated particularly harshly, without access to legal counsel or their relatives, or other contact with the outside world. (2) Venezuela The detention and enforced disappearance of critics of the Venezuelan Government is continuing, fuelling a climate of fear. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, calls on the authorities to release immediately all those arbitrarily detained, and to ensure due process and fair trial standards are met. Since last year's election, human rights defenders, journalists and others perceived as dissident voices have been subjected to intimidation and persecution, limiting the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. Among the most recent cases of concern is that of Eduardo Torres, a lawyer with the Venezuelan Education-Action Program on Human Rights, who according to credible information, was arrested on his way home in Caracas on 9 May. His relatives report being unable to contact him and remain unaware of his whereabouts. Our Office continues to be concerned by conditions of detention, in particular lack of access to adequate food and health care. Our Office has verified the deaths of at least three Government critics held in custody since July 2024. These cases must be fully and independently investigated. The High Commissioner urges authorities to provide promptly details on the fate and whereabouts of the missing and detained to their loved ones, and to ensure they are granted access to lawyers of their own choosing. Amid the widening restrictions on civic space, we recall that the Law on the Control, Regulation, Performance, and Financing of Non-Governmental and Related Organizations is vague and undermines the rights to freedom of expression and association. This law must be repealed. (3) Egypt We have closely followed the passage of Egypt's new Code of Criminal Procedure, which was recently approved by the House of Representatives and is now pending presidential approval. We have raised concerns over provisions of the law that will grant public prosecutors broad discretionary powers related to pre-trial detention, interception of communications, and travel bans. The law would also provide for other measures adversely impacting the right to effective legal representation, and on accountability for the conduct of public officials, including law enforcement personnel. Last-minute amendments were reportedly made to the draft law before it was sent to the President for his approval. However, these changes have not been made public, raising concerns about lack of legislative transparency. We call on the President of Egypt to consider carefully the proposed Criminal Procedure Code in light of these concerns prior to granting any assent, in order to ensure that it fully complies with Egypt's international human rights obligations.
Al Jazeera
15-04-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Israel has killed at least 71 civilians in Lebanon since ceasefire, UN says
The United Nations says at least 71 civilians have been killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon since a ceasefire was struck at the end of last year. Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said on Tuesday that the death toll included 14 women and nine children. He called for investigations into 'each and every military action where civilians are killed'. OHCHR raised concerns about recent Israeli military operations hitting civilian infrastructure, including a strike on April 3 that destroyed a newly established medical centre run by the Islamic Health Society in the southern city of Naqoura. It also noted that at least five rockets, two mortars and a drone have been launched from Lebanon towards northern Israel, according to the Israeli army, and tens of thousands of Israelis remain displaced from the north. 'The ceasefire must hold, and any escalation is a risk for stability in general in Lebanon, Israel and the whole region,' Al-Kheetan said. Later on Tuesday, Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health reported that an Israeli drone strike on a car in the southern town of Aitaroun killed one person and injured three, including a child. Israel has continued to strike Lebanon, including attacks on the capital, Beirut, since a November 27 ceasefire, which largely halted more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war. Under the truce, Hezbollah was to withdraw fighters from south of Lebanon's Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure there while Israel was to pull out all of its forces from southern Lebanon. Lebanon's army has been deploying in the south near the border with Israel as Israeli forces have withdrawn although Israel continues to hold five fortified positions in Lebanon that it deems 'strategic'. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told Al Jazeera on Monday that the army was 'dismantling tunnels and warehouses and confiscating weapons bases' south of the Litani 'without any problem from Hezbollah'. On Thursday, a senior Hezbollah official told the Reuters news agency the group is ready to hold talks with the Lebanese president about its weapons if Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon and stops its strikes.
Al Arabiya
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Lebanon says Israeli strike on south kills one
Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike killed one person in the country's south on Tuesday, the latest such attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. A 'drone strike carried out by the Israeli enemy on a vehicle in the town of Aitarun killed one person and wounded three others including a child,' the health ministry said in a statement. Israel has continued to strike Lebanon since the November 27 ceasefire that largely halted more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, including two months of all-out war. The United Nations Human Rights Office said Tuesday that 'at least 71 civilians have been killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon since the ceasefire came into effect.' 'Among the victims are 14 women and nine children,' the office's spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters in Geneva, urging that 'the violence must stop immediately.' The truce accord was based on a UN Security Council resolution that says Lebanese troops and United Nations peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups. Under the truce, Hezbollah was to withdraw fighters from south of Lebanon's Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure there. Israel was to pull out all its forces from south Lebanon, but it continues to hold five positions that it deems 'strategic.' Lebanon's army has been deploying in the south near the border as Israeli forces have withdrawn and has been dismantling Hezbollah sites. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP on Saturday that the group had ceded to the Lebanese army around 190 of its 265 military positions identified south of the Litani.
Nahar Net
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
UN says Israel killed 71 civilians in Lebanon since ceasefire
by Naharnet Newsdesk 15 April 2025, 14:07 Israeli forces have killed dozens of civilians in Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect late last year, including a number of women and children, the United Nations said Tuesday. The U.N. rights office reported that Israeli military operations had killed and injured civilians in Lebanon in the four months since the fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah on November 27. "According to our initial review, at least 71 civilians have been killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon since the ceasefire came into effect," rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters in Geneva. "Among the victims are 14 women and 9 children," he said, urging that "the violence must stop immediately." The delicate truce between Israel and Hezbollah came after more than a year of hostilities initiated by the Iran-backed militant group over the Gaza conflict, including two months of all-out war when Israel also sent in ground troops. But months after the agreed end to fighting, Kheetan warned that people in Lebanon "remain gripped by fear, and over 92,000 are still displaced from their homes." The rights office noted that Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory had hit civilian infrastructure since the ceasefire, including residential buildings, medical facilities, roads and at least one cafe. The southern suburbs of Beirut were also hit in early April for the first time since the ceasefire took effect, in two different incidents, Kheetan said, adding that the area targeted was near two schools. "A strike on a residential building in the early morning of April 1 killed two civilians and caused significant damage to neighboring buildings," he said. Two days later, "Israeli airstrikes hit a newly established medical center run by the Islamic Health Society in Naqoura in southern Lebanon, completely destroying the center and damaging two ambulances," he said. He added that "multiple Israeli airstrikes on several towns in the south of Lebanon reportedly killed at least six people" between April 4 and 8. Israel had also faced attacks since the truce took effect, Kheetan said. Since last November, at least five rockets, two mortars and a drone were launched from Lebanon towards northern Israel, he said, citing figures from the Israeli army, adding that "tens of thousands of Israelis are still reportedly displaced from the north." Kheetan demanded that all parties to the conflict "respect international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution." "There must be prompt, independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law, and those found responsible must be held to account."
Asharq Al-Awsat
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
UN Human Rights Office Concerned About Israeli Strikes on Civilians in Lebanon
The United Nations human rights office is concerned about the protection of civilians in Lebanon as Israeli military operations have continued to kill civilians since the ceasefire. "Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of civilians," the spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Thameen Al-Kheetan, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday. At least 71 civilians - including 14 women and nine children - have been killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon, since the ceasefire came into effect on 27 November last year, and 92,000 are still displaced, according to OHCHR. "We are calling for investigations into all allegations of and every military action where civilians are killed must be investigated," Al-Kheetan said. "The ceasefire must hold and any escalation is a risk for stability in general in Lebanon, Israel and the whole region," he added.
