|
Tuesday, 11 November 2008 10:45 |
UN rights chief calls on Haiti to strengthen fight against impunity
The top United Nations human rights official
has called for strengthening Haiti’s police and judicial systems, as
well as for greater assistance for the victims of the series of
hurricanes that ravaged the tiny Caribbean nation in recent months.
Wrapping up a three-day visit to the country today, Navi Pillay noted
that the Government and people of Haiti are facing a “multitude” of
human rights issues, including lack of access to food and water,
prolonged detention without trial, and poor prison conditions.
In her meeting with President René Préval, the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights voiced concern about the vulnerability of the population
to natural disasters and discussed the development of policies to human
rights to adequate food, health, housing and water.
Haiti remains in desperate need of support after four hurricanes and
tropical storms – Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike – lashed the country
between mid-August and mid-September, killing nearly 800 people and
affecting an estimated 1 million people.
While noting the significant progress made in the area of security, she
reminded the President that security and maintenance of public order
could not be achieved at the expense of respect for human rights and
the rule of law.
Ms. Pillay, who took up her post in September, also visited Cité
Soleil, a poverty-stricken neighbourhood in the capital,
Port-au-Prince, where she visited Kay Jistis (“House of Justice”) – a
community-focused project supported in part by the UN Stabilization
Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
The project aims at improving access to justice, and offers legal
assistance to victims of detention-related violations. It also
addresses the issue of prolonged pre-trial detention, which continues
to contribute enormously to the crisis of overcrowding in the prisons.
During the trip, she also met with senior ministers, police and
judicial authorities, the Ombudsman and members of civil society,
including human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs), all of
whom highlighted the situation in the prisons, where some 8,000
detainees live in unacceptable conditions and face long pre-trial
detention.
The High Commissioner also met with Hédi Annabi, the
Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of MINUSTAH, which
is assisting Haitian authorities in building strong national
institutions. She noted in particular the need to strengthen the
ability of the authorities to detain, prosecute and punish perpetrators
of serious crimes, as well as to restore the rights of victims. |
|
Tuesday, 11 November 2008 10:44 |
Ukraine: UN experts call for progress on arbitrary detention issues
A group of independent United Nations human
rights experts has urged Ukraine to address issues such as access to
justice by detainees and the right to a fair trial, while noting the
progress made by the country in dealing with arbitrary detention.
Members of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which wrapped
up a two-week visit to the country today, welcomed new legislative
efforts to better protect the rights of persons regarding detention,
saying they will help meet some of their concerns.
“Each little step forward will help protect the rights of detainees
despite continued challenges faced for persons deprived of their
liberty,” expert Malick Sow of Senegal said in a news release.
“Arbitrary detention has no place in a democratic structure and must be
addressed effectively.”
The Group applauded what it called a “new opening on the part of the
State to different methods of dealing with alleged crimes, including
potential alternatives to detention.”
It also lauded the cooperation and access they received during their
visit, including “unfettered access to all places where people are
deprived of their liberty.” The mission held meetings and visits to
places of detention in Kyiv, Donetsk, Simferopol, Sevastopol, Lviv,
Chop, Mukhachevo and Uzhhorod.
Members also met with the First Lady of Ukraine, the Ombudsperson,
Justices of the Supreme Court, Appellate Courts and the Constitutional
Court, the Prosecutor General’s Office, lawyers, relatives of
detainees, representatives of civil society, and international
organizations.
The Group was particularly pleased that it could conduct interviews
with nearly 140 detainees, including those convicted of offences. “This
is an example that other countries should follow. Only people who have
courage and confidence will lay themselves open to public scrutiny,”
expert Shaheen Ali stated.
The Ukrainian authorities were encouraged to be equally open to other monitoring elements, including those of civil society.
Despite the positive steps taken by authorities, the Working Group
voiced concern about issues such as access to justice by detainees, the
right to a fair trial, and repeated reports of abuse and torture,
particularly during arrest and detention.
“The Working Group recognizes the economic challenges which the State
may face but calls on it to respect its international human rights
obligations,” the release added. |
|
|
Tuesday, 11 November 2008 10:43 |
UN human rights expert outlines priorities for addressing the scourge of racism
The relationship between racism and migration,
ethnic conflicts and poverty will all be under the spotlight of the new
United Nations independent expert on racism during his time in office,
he told journalists today.
“Migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers are among the most vulnerable
groups to racial discrimination,” said the Special Rapporteur on
contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance, Githu Muigai.
Mr. Muigai predicted that racism aimed at these groups will be
aggravated by the current financial crisis as economic strains and
competition for scarce resources will foster more ethnic or racial
tensions as migrants are seen as competitors for jobs and welfare.
The threat of terrorism to security adds to the anxiety caused by the
meltdown of global markets and compounds the discrimination felt by
migrant groups, noted Mr. Muigai at a media conference at UN
Headquarters in New York.
“Legitimate national security considerations have unfortunately
generated practices that amount to racial profiling,” the Special
Rapporteur told reporters.
Refuting the idea that ethnic conflicts have their root causes in
racial divisions, Mr. Muigai said that in recent conflicts, such as the
ongoing fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the
causes of the violence are political, and racial and ethnic differences
have been manipulated and used as instruments for political ends.
The Special Rapporteur said that the relationship between racism and poverty lies at the centre of his mandate.
“Victims of racism, in particular minorities, tend to form the most
economically marginalized groups in any society, both in developed and
developing countries,” he said.
“It is essential that we identify the appropriate legal tools and
policymaking mechanisms to put forward concrete recommendations that
can be implemented by Member States at the national, regional and
international level.”
Mr. Muigai said that he would closely monitor how Member States address
the issue of poverty and racism and create a “solid body of knowledge”
with the aim of eradicating the obstacles to equality and development. |
|
Tuesday, 11 November 2008 10:41 |
|
4 November 2008 – Nearly
three years since its creation, more patience is needed in judging the
work of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which is still in an
“evolutionary” stage, the body’s President told the General Assembly
today.
The Council was set up in 2006 to replace the Commission on Human
Rights, which had been dogged by accusations of bias and
politicization, as part of ongoing UN reform.
“All too often, and most times without any real justification, the
Human Rights Council has been criticized in the manner and outcome of
its work. Let me appeal for greater circumspection, objectivity and
patience in assessing the work of the Council,” President Martin
Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi of Nigeria said.
“Two years is hardly enough time to be overly critical of an
institution which we strongly believe holds great promise as a
universal human rights body.”
The Assembly decision to establish the Council showed nations’
commitment to boosting the UN’s role in ensuring the enjoyment of human
rights for all, said Mr. Uhomoibhi, who was elected for a one-year term
in June.
One of the reforms differentiating the Council from the Commission on
Human Rights is the Universal Periodic Review, a mechanism to examine
the record of every Member State.
“In a very particular sense, the decision to empower the Council to
consider human rights situations in all countries, through the
mechanism of the Universal Periodic Review, not only emphasized the
principle of equality among all states, but also underscored the
universality of all human rights,” the President said.
He highlighted some of the Council’s activities to the 192-member body,
including the adoption in June of the Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
The Council has also taken steps to address serious rights issues, with
three special sessions being held during the reporting period on the
situation in Myanmar, violations in the occupied Palestinian territory
and the food crisis.
“Given that we live in a globalizing world where an event in one part
has the potential of affecting life in other parts, the Council found
it necessary to remain vigilant and seized with all situations namely
of growing inequality, continuing armed conflicts or other menaces such
as climate change and food crisis,” Mr. Uhomoibhi noted. |
|
|
Friday, 31 October 2008 10:32 |
|
The United Nations human rights chief today
praised Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe for dismissing three army
generals and 24 other officers over the alleged illegal killing of
civilians in the South American country.
“I support the commitment expressed by the highest civilian and
military authorities that progress in security should be achieved with
full adherence to legality and respect for human rights,” said UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay during her visit to Colombia.
Last month, the High Commissioner called on the authorities to take
urgent measures to stop a wave of apparent extrajudicial executions
after 25 bodies were found in the north of the country, according to a
press released issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR).
The Office said it had already officially informed the authorities of
other disappearances and deaths of young people who, according to
various accounts, had been promised work in the provinces, only to be
reported as killed in fighting with the army a couple of days later.
Ms. Pillay applauded the fact that these cases were being investigated
by civil courts and encouraged the Colombian Attorney General to
strengthen its Human Rights Unit to address all claims of illegal
executions and enforced disappearances.
During her week-long visit of Colombia to review the country’s human
rights situation, the High Commissioner has held meetings with Mr.
Uribe and senior ministers, as well as with members of Congress, the
judiciary, civil society and UN colleagues. She also plans to visit
OHCHR field operations in the east of the country. |
|
Friday, 31 October 2008 10:31 |
|
Over two-thirds of young people in Latin
America feel they suffer discrimination, partly because so many are
poor and under-educated, according to a report released today by the
United Nations office for the region.
An average of 69 per cent of youths in Latin America said they have
experienced discrimination, with over 20 per cent of those saying it
had occurred because they were poor, the study – which was launched at
the Ibero-American Summit in El Salvador – finds.
The “Youth and Social Cohesion in Ibero-America: A model in the making”
report also noted that almost 11 per cent of young people in the region
say they are discriminated against because they lack education.
“Those with the least probabilities of finishing high school are those
youths whose parents didn’t conclude their formal education, those of
indigenous and Afro-descendent origin, those living in rural areas and
those who enjoy less material well-being,” said the report, stressing
that education as a means of mobility does not work for everyone.
The study, published by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC)
and the Caribbean, nonetheless provided some optimism by pointing out
that unemployment among youths has fallen across all income groups over
the past decade.
Young people are also at the forefront of communications and knowledge,
said the study, while warning that the digital gap based on
socio-economic and educational differences is notorious.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also praised the heads of State and
government at the Ibero-American Summit for their convention
recognizing the human rights of young people, in a video message to attendees today.
Mr. Ban addressed the Ibero-American Summit – a yearly meeting of the
political leaders of the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking nations of
Europe and the Americas – at the start of the three-day gathering in El
Salvador.
“I commend the countries in the region for their many important
initiatives to benefit youth, from education to employment to the
effects of migration,” he told the meeting, held in the nation’s
capital, San Salvador.
The Ibero-American Convention on the Rights of Youth entered into force
on 1 March this year, and includes a range of civil, political,
economic, social and cultural protections for young people.
The rights detailed include the right to object to compulsory military
service, the right to sexual education, to freedom of thought and
religion, justice and shelter. |
|
