“We can only expect worse to come” unless action is taken to halt the bloodshed, Mr. Türk told Member States at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, as he reiterated his call for the extension of an arms embargo from Darfur to include all of Sudan. Rival militaries from the national army and Rapid Support […]
In a statement issued as the treaty expired at midnight GMT Thursday, he said the world was entering uncharted territory, with no remaining legally binding constraints on the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Russia – the two countries that together hold the vast majority of the world’s nuclear weapons. “For the first […]
The tensions are concentrated in South Sudan’s Jonglei State, where many deaths and injuries have been reported in response to renewed fighting between opposition militia and army forces, leading to the displacement of 180,000 people. According to news reports, the army launched a major offensive in Jonglei against opposition forces, ordering civilian evacuations on Sunday […]
Tuesday’s solemn commemoration marks the day 81 years ago that the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp – where over a million people were murdered – was liberated by Allied forces towards the end of World War Two. Commenting on the disturbing rise of antisemitism in recent years – including the “heinous attacks” targeting Jewish communities […]
António Guterres was addressing a high-level open debate of the UN Security Council convened by Somalia, which holds the Council presidency for January. The discussion comes as conflicts multiply, global tensions rise, and confidence in international institutions and rules is fading – even as the UN marks 80 years since the adoption of its founding […]
Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr. Türk said that although the “killing on the streets of Iran may have subsided…the brutality continues”. He said that violent repression did not solve any of Iran’s problems but instead created conditions for further violations, instability and bloodshed. “We have indications that the security forces made mass […]
In a news release on Friday, High Commissioner Volker Türk said individuals suspected of being undocumented migrants are being surveilled, arrested and detained – sometimes violently – in locations ranging from hospitals and places of worship to courthouses, schools, markets and private homes. The UN rights chief said he was “astounded by the now-routine abuse […]
The UN’s founding document “is our moral compass,” she said, calling for renewed commitment to multilateralism rooted in solidarity, international law, and human dignity. She stressed the need to invest in peace – which the Security Council and General Assembly have both affirmed through resolutions on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and in support of the two-State solution between Israelis and Palestinians. These are examples […]
Volker Türk said he was outraged by renewed overnight attacks that knocked out power and heating in major cities – including Kyiv and Odesa – as temperatures plunged well below zero and civilians bear the brunt of what he described as unlawful assaults on civilian infrastructure. He said the Russian strikes “can only be described […]
Volker Türk briefed journalists in the Kenyan capital following a five-day mission to Sudan, where “a chronicle of cruelty is unfolding before our very eyes”. He called on “all those who have any influence, including regional actors and notably those who supply the arms and benefit economically from this war” to act urgently to bring […]
More than 60 people have reportedly been killed in the continuing series of attacks since early September “in circumstances that find no justification in international law,” Volker Türk said in a statement. He urged the US to halt its “unacceptable” operations and take measures to prevent the “extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever […]
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a renewed global push to end wars and divisions, stressing that “peace cannot wait” as the world observes the International Day of Peace. “Lives are being ripped apart, childhoods extinguished, and basic human dignity discarded, amidst the cruelty and degradations of war,” Mr. Guterres said in his message […]
“I’m ashamed on behalf of the world that we cannot find it in ourselves to be more compassionate, to be more kind, to recognise what people here are going through,” said Tom Fletcher, who heads the UN emergency relief agency, OCHA, during a visit to the Caribbean nation. “I listened to people whose lives have […]
“Indispensable” monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ended in June, agency chief Rafael Grossi said, when Israel and US-backed airstrikes targeted Iran’s nuclear power installations. At the time, the Iranian authorities confirmed that the Natanz enrichment site had been “impacted” without affecting existing radiation levels, the top IAEA diplomat said. Practical step forward […]
Secretary-General António Guterres said it marked a “further escalation” of the conflict. Authorities reported more than 80 civilian casualties, including a national non-governmental organization (NGO) worker and her two-month-old son in Kyiv. Other affected cities included Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kremenchuk, Kryvyi Rih and Kherson. Energy infrastructure was also hit, causing temporary power and water […]
“No one is safe when human rights are under attack,” Mr. Türk told the Human Rights Council, warning that the rules of war “are being shredded”. “Some States are becoming an extension of their ruler’s personal power,” he insisted. In his customary address to the UN’s top rights forum at the beginning of a new […]
Flanked by the country’s Prime Minister, James Marape, Mr. Guterres echoed comments he made during a speech in the national parliament on Wednesday, in which he described Papua New Guineans as “champions of multilateralism and international solutions.” The Secretary-General noted that, in a world where “we see democratic values being put into question,” the country – […]
Flanked by the country’s Prime Minister, James Marape, Mr. Guterres echoed comments he made during a speech in the national parliament on Wednesday, in which he described Papua New Guineans as “champions of multilateralism and international solutions.” The Secretary-General noted that, in a world where “we see democratic values being put into question,” the country – […]
The measures announced on Thursday target Al-Haq group, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, in relation to their support of the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, following other sanctions imposed by the US Government in June on renowned […]
In a message released ahead of the Day, Mr. Guterres honoured the “extraordinary” contributions of people of African descent across every sphere of human endeavour. The Secretary-General also recognised the “long shadows” of slavery and colonialism, which include systemic racism, unequal economies and societies, and the digital divide (between those who are able to benefit […]