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☆ UN human rights chief fears pushback on gender issues, cites Iran clampdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Cecile Mantovani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The new U.N. human rights chief said on Wednesday there was a worrying pushback against progress in easing rights abuses, above all on gender issues, pointing to Iran's violent clampdown on unrest touched off by a woman's death in police custody. Turk, whose predecessor Michelle Bachelet drew criticism in some quarters for appearing soft on some governments when they were backsliding on human rights, also promised to speak out "when we feel our voice can make a difference". He takes charge of the U.N. human rights office at a time of turbulence in Europe over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as some of the most widespread unrest in Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Turk pointed to what he called a pushback on human rights, especially with respect to gender issues, and highlighted to a "strongman mentality" and autocratic tendencies in a number of countries. "And unfortunately, human rights is thrown into the vortex of these dynamics and has become a battlefield which we cannot afford and human beings cannot afford," he said.

☆ Factbox: Russia prepares to formally annex 15% of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Sergei PivovarovLONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin is preparing to formally annex around 15% of Ukrainian territory after referendums on joining Russia in areas controlled by Russian forces or Russian-backed separatists. The United States is prepared to impose additional economic costs on Russia in conjunction with U.S. allies if Moscow moves forward with annexing portions of Ukrainian territory, the White House said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine had received sophisticated air defence systems, known as National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), from the United States. Taken together, Russia would be annexing at least 90,000 square km of Ukrainian territory. With Crimea and the territory in the four other areas, Russia would have annexed at least one fifth of Ukrainian territory.

☆ UN report on China’s Uyghurs: What you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-01 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Just minutes before the end of her term on Wednesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights dropped a damning report on China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. China has repeatedly and vehemently denied accusations of human rights abuses in the region, and decried the UN report on Wednesday as “based on the disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces.”Here’s what you need to know. The 45-page report was the final offering from Michelle Bachelet, the head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), whose term ended at midnight Geneva time. China responded to the report with its own 131-page document, saying the UN’s investigation “distorts” China’s laws and policies. However, activists and overseas Uyghurs have welcomed the report as a symbolic step and a new level of recognition by the UN of the human rights violations alleged in Xinjiang.

☆ A new Taliban decree orders Afghanistan's women to veil their faces in public, and if they don't comply, male relatives face punishment
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-07 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Taliban ruled that Afghan women will have to cover their faces in public. If women do not comply, their closest male relative could face imprisonment or be fired from government jobs. Most women in Afghanistan already choose to wear a headscarf but often do not cover their faces in urban areas like Kabul, Afghanistan's capital. Since taking control of Afghanistan in August of last year, the Taliban have introduced draconian laws imposing restrictions on women's freedom. The experts criticized what they described as the Taliban's "attempt to steadily erase women and girls from public life."

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