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☆ Iran's appointment to chair UN rights meeting draws condemnation
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The United States and rights groups complained on Thursday that it was "insulting" to allow Iran's envoy to chair a U.N. human rights council meeting in Geneva, citing violations by Iranian authorities, especially those against women. "Any discussion led by representatives of a regime that continually, and with impunity, infringes upon its own citizens’ human rights is not just fruitless, but an insult to our shared ideals," she added. The two-day meeting called the "social forum" is an annual meeting that aims to improve dialogue between governments and civil society groups, with this year's theme devoted to technology and human rights. Farideh Karimi, an Iranian woman who is president of Women's Human Rights International Association, said her organisation wrote to democratic countries asking them not to attend. Some non-governmental organisations took part, with Justice for Iran criticising Iran's ban on U.S. and UK COVID-19 vaccines.

Persons: Geneva Ali Bahreini, Michèle Taylor, Bahreini, Farideh, Gabrielle Tetrault, Farber, William Maclean Organizations: Reuters, Rights International Association, Thomson Locations: GENEVA, United States, Geneva, Islamic Republic, Iran, Asia, Pacific, China, Cuba, Venezuela, Iranian

☆ UN rights investigator aims to probe growing Israeli settler violence
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

On Tuesday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire near an Israeli settlement, killing four people. "We are very disturbed that violent settler activity has considerably increased in the last months and it's... becoming, in fact, the means through which (Israeli) annexation is insured," said Miloon Kothari, a member of a Commission of Inquiry mandated by the U.N. Human Rights Council. The COI addressed the Geneva-based Human Rights Council earlier on Tuesday, accusing Israel's government of placing growing restrictions on Palestinian civil society groups. Israel, which left its seat empty, said in a statement by its Foreign Minister Eli Cohen that the COI was a "stain on the U.N. and on the Human Rights Council". The council cannot make legally binding decisions but evidence collected by the inquiries it establishes is sometimes used by international courts.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu's, Miloon Kothari, Israel's, Eli Cohen, Michele Taylor, Kothari, Emma Farge, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: West Bank, Human Rights, Rights, United, Israel, United Nations, Thomson Locations: GENEVA, Israel, Geneva, United States

[1/3] An Ethiopian boy who fled the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, gestures in the Hamdayet village, in eastern Kassala state, Sudan December 15, 2020. The Ethiopian government's two-year conflict with forces in the northern Tigray region ended last November with thousands dead and millions uprooted. Though the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council has never ended a probe before its mandate, Addis Ababa has circulated a draft version of a resolution calling for the Tigray inquiry to stop some six months early. AFRICAN OPPOSITIONThe war pitted the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) against federal troops, who were also backed by fighters from nearby Amhara region and Eritrea. Reporting by Emma Farge, Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Additional reporting by Dawit Endeshaw in Addis AbabaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

During the session, which opens on Monday and runs until April 4, many states will seek to extend the mandate of a U.N investigation body set up to probe atrocities in Ukraine. Kyiv and its allies are disgruntled by the participation of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who will address the council on Thursday. Filipenko said Ukraine did not welcome Russia's presence and would "act accordingly," without giving details. The Geneva-based U.N. human rights council is the only body made up of governments to protect human rights worldwide. Countries also will closely watch how Volker Turk, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights since October, refers to China after his predecessor Michelle Bachelet was accused by some rights groups of being too soft on Beijing.

President Joe Biden is expected to issue a strong condemnation of emboldened antisemitism in the U.S. and around the world during a Hanukkah reception at the White House on Monday. The president will deliver remarks at the event, which he is hosting with first lady Jill Biden, following blessing and a menorah lighting, a White House official said. In his remarks, Biden will forcefully argue that silence is complicity amid rising antisemitic attacks and emphasize that all forms of hate, antisemitism and violence have no place in America, the official said. The Bidens are also expected to mark a new tradition by adding the first menorah to the White House collection. Last week, Biden formed a new interagency group to develop a national strategy to combat antisemitism.

☆ China fails to weaken Iran motion before UN rights body
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GENEVA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - China tried but failed to pass an amendment to a motion on Iran before the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday that would have stripped out the main paragraph referring to a new investigative probe into Iran's suppression of mass protests. The last-minute amendment was rejected with 25 against, six in favour and 15 abstentions. China's envoy Jiang Yingfeng told the council that the motion led by Germany was "overwhelmingly critical" of Iran. Representatives from the dozens of countries backing the motion, including the United States and Britain, criticised the last-minute change and called for the 47-member Geneva council to vote it down. The U.S. ambassador for human rights Michele Taylor said she was "appalled" by China's last-minute revision.

☆ More than 1 million Ukrainians may have been deported, U.S. envoy says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterGENEVA, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A U.S. envoy said that Russia has forcibly deported between 900,000-1.6 million Ukrainians, citing unnamed sources, and urged a U.N.-mandated commission of inquiry to investigate. "We urge the commissioners to continue to examine the growing evidence of Russia's filtration operations, forced deportations and disappearances," U.S. Ambassador Michele Taylor told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, referring to a commission of inquiry into Ukraine. "Numerous sources indicate that Russian authorities have interrogated, detained and forcible deported between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens," she said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Emma Farge, editing by Rachel MoreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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