Be informed. Be challenged. Be inspired.

Taliban bars UN human rights special rapporteur from Afghanistan

Kabul, Afghanistan Reuters The Taliban have barred United Nations-appointed special rapporteur Richard Bennett from entering Afghanistan, the administration’s spokesperson told local broadcaster Tolo, accusing the human rights watchdog of “spreading propaganda”. Bennett was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2022 to monitor Afghanistan’s human rights situation after the Taliban took over the […]

UN human rights chief decries “shockingly routine” abuses in Ukraine war

Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, attends the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on 27th February, 2023.

Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Turk deplored on Friday how grave human rights violations were “shockingly routine” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and said the number of civilian casualties was far higher than official figures. Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Turk said Ukraine was a nation […]

Sri Lankan detainees tortured while in custody, rights group alleges

Sri Lanka Gotabhaya Rajapaksa 2019

New Delhi, India/Colombo, Sri Lanka Reuters Political detainees in Sri Lanka are being tortured while in police and military custody, a human rights lawyer who wrote a report on alleged abuses said, ahead of a UN human rights summit. The International Truth and Justice Project, a rights group documenting alleged abuses in Sri Lanka, gave […]

UN urged to investigate organ harvesting in China

Organ harvesting protest Hong Kong

London Thomson Reuters Foundation A senior lawyer called on Tuesday for the top United Nations human rights body to investigate evidence that China is murdering members of the Falun Gong spiritual group and harvesting their organs for transplant. Hamid Sabi called for urgent action as he presented the findings of the China Tribunal, an independent […]