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The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar expresses dismay over the continued arrests, detentions and charges against political and human rights activists |
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Monday, 18 February 2008 13:35 |
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The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, issued the following statement today:
5 February 2008
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, expressed
his dismay that four months on from the violent crackdown on peaceful
demonstrators, political and human rights activists continue to be
arrested, detained and sentenced to prison terms under the security
laws of Myanmar. He further raised concern for their physical and
psychological integrity while in detention. Reports have been received
expressing serious concerns regarding the health conditions of some of
the prisoners who require immediate care and specific medication.
The Special Rapporteur would like to appeal to
the Government of Myanmar to take all necessary steps to secure the
right to freedom of opinion and expression as well as peaceful
association of the above mentioned persons, in accordance with the
fundamental principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He
further calls on the authorities to secure urgent medical treatment for
the prisoners.
The Special Rapporteur recalled that the ongoing
prosecutions are a flagrant abuse of people's right to a free and fair
trial in accordance with international recognized standards and the
requirements of the due process of law. As the recent resolutions of
the United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council have
reminded, the Government of Myanmar has a prime responsibility and duty
to protect, promote and implement all human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
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UN human rights office to send human rights fact-finding mission to Kenya |
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Monday, 18 February 2008 13:34 |
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Geneva,
5 February 2008 – Following the agreement late last week from the
Government of Kenya, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Ms. Louise Arbour, will deploy a fact-finding mission to assess
allegations of grave human rights violations committed in Kenya in the
recent weeks. The mission is set to arrive in Nairobi on Wednesday, 6
February 2008 and will conduct research for an initial period of
approximately three weeks.
The mission will gather first-hand information from diverse sources
including victims and witnesses, government officials, representatives
of the opposition, civil society organizations, the Kenyan National
Commission on Human Rights, and other stakeholders.
"Truth and accountability are of critical importance in putting an end
to the violence and preventing future human rights violations.", High
Commissioner Arbour said.
The mission's findings, which will include recommendations on
accountability mechanisms, will be made public by the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights.
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HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CALLS FOR PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN CHAD |
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Monday, 18 February 2008 13:33 |
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Geneva, 5 February 2008--
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Louise Arbour, expressed
her deep concerns regarding the military escalation in Chad in recent
days and the threat this represents for civilians. In expressing her
sorrow at the reported loss of lives and wounded among the Chadian
population, the High Commissioner called on both Government forces and
rebel groups to respect international human rights and humanitarian law
and to take all appropriate measures to protect civilians.
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HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS TO VISIT MEXICO |
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Sunday, 17 February 2008 02:00 |
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Geneva, Mexico City, 1 February 2008--
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour,
will officially visit Mexico from 5 to 8 February 2008. During the
visit, the High Commissioner will sign an agreement with the Government
of Mexico to continue the Office's support to national efforts in
promoting and protecting human rights. She also intends to discuss the
human rights situation in Mexico, including progress made and main
challenges ahead, as well as to assess national initiatives aimed at
promoting respect for human rights.
The High Commissioner will meet with President Mr.
Felipe Calderon, with Foreign Minister Ms. Patricia Espinosa, as well
as with other high-level officials from the Executive, Legislative and
Judicial branches. She will also meet with representatives of the
National Commission on Human Rights and of civil society, including
human rights defenders, women and indigenous organisations, and members
of academia.
The High Commissioner is also expected to visit the
state of Guerrero, where she will meet with the Governor and the
Coordination Committee in charge of the preparation of the Local Human
Rights Assessment, as well as with local indigenous organisations.
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COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CONCLUDES FORTIETH SESSION |
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Friday, 15 February 2008 02:00 |
Committee on Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women
ROUND-UP
1 February 2008
Issues Conclusions on Reports of Bolivia, Burundi, Saudi Arabia, France, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Morocco and Sweden
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women today closed its fortieth session, held from 14 January
to 1 February 2008 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, and issued
concluding comments on the reports of Bolivia, Burundi, Saudi Arabia,
France, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Morocco and Sweden on how those countries
are implementing their obligations under the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. This was the
first session of the Committee since its transfer to Geneva, as part of
wider reforms to rationalize and streamline the work of the human
rights treaty bodies.
Also during this session, the Committee held two
meetings with representatives of non-governmental organizations and
national human rights institutions, in order to discuss national
reports.
Having considered the report of Bolivia, the
Committee noted with satisfaction the many efforts made to implement
the Convention through the adoption of a considerable number of laws,
policies, plans and programmes. The Committee was concerned at the lack
of institutional stability of national machineries for the advancement
of women, their limited decision-making power and the fact that they
lacked the financial and human resources to effectively promote the
implementation of the Convention and foster gender equality. The
Committee encouraged Bolivia to formulate, adopt and implement an
integrated and comprehensive national plan of action directed to
achieving gender equality and the advancement of women.
With regard to the report of Burundi, the Committee
congratulated the State party on the imminent establishment of the
steering committee responsible for the implementation of Security
Council resolution 1325 (2000) (on women, peace and security). The
Committee continued to be concerned about the persistence of
patriarchal attitudes and deep-rooted stereotypes regarding the role
and responsibilities of men and women in society, which were
discriminatory to women. The Committee urged the Burundi to take
measures to eliminate cultural practices and stereotypes that
discriminated against women, and to adopt a comprehensive strategy to
combat all forms of violence against women.
Subsequent to its consideration of the report of
Saudi Arabia, the Committee congratulated the State party on the
establishment of institutional mechanisms for the advancement and the
protection of women from violence. The Committee was concerned with
Saudi Arabia's distinctive understanding of the principle of equality,
which implied similar rights of women and men as well as
complementarities and harmony between women and men, rather than equal
rights of women and men. The Committee called upon Saudi Arabia to
incorporate fully into the legislation the principle of equality
between women and men, as well as a definition of discrimination on the
basis of sex.
On the report of France, the Committee welcomed
gender-mainstreaming policies through the Charter on Equality between
Women and Men of 8 March 2004, as well as the increase in gender
budgeting, which had resulted in better involvement of the various
ministries in activities to advance women's rights and gender equality.
The Committee noted with concern the persistence of stereotypes that
affected women's position in the labour market, characterized by high
unemployment rates, part-time work, and limited participation in public
life and in decision-making. The Committee urged France to strengthen
measures to accelerate women's full and equal participation in all
aspects of political and public life and in decision-making bodies.
In the context of the report of Lebanon, the
Committee commended post-conflict efforts to mainstream the role of
women in peace-building, decision-making, development and the
rehabilitation process in 10 villages that had been heavily affected by
the conflict in Lebanon in July and August 2006. While welcoming the
ongoing efforts to address the need of women in the post-conflict
period, the Committee was concerned that the promotion of women's human
rights and gender equality had not been considered as a priority, in
particular in efforts to address the consequences of the conflict and
in the peace-building and reconstruction processes. The Committee urged
Lebanon to devote serious attention to the specific needs of women in
the post-conflict period and ensure women's equal participation in
decision-making.
Following the consideration of the report of
Luxembourg, the Committee noted with satisfaction the work developed by
the national machinery, led by the Ministry of Equal Opportunity, to
promote equality between women and men. The Committee noted with
concern that, despite the initiatives undertaken by Luxembourg to
eliminate gender-role stereotypes, stereotypes related to traditional
roles of men as breadwinners and women as mothers and caregivers
persisted and affected the educational and professional choices of
women. The Committee recommended that Luxembourg intensify and expand
its efforts to prevent and address all forms of violence against women,
including sexual violence, rape, sexual exploitation, and pornography.
Upon consideration of the report of Morocco, the
Committee commended the State party on the various plans, programmes
and other measures aimed at implementing human rights on the domestic
level, such as national strategies for gender equity and equality, to
eliminate violence against women, for universal basic education, and on
migration. The Committee expressed concern that traditional
discriminatory practices and strong stereotypical attitudes persisted
about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in family and
society, presenting a significant impediment to the implementation of
the Convention. The Committee urged Morocco to enact as soon as
possible legislation on violence against women and girls to ensure that
all violence against women constituted a criminal offence.
With regard to the report of Sweden, the Committee
commended Sweden for the adoption of the action plan to combat men's
violence against women, violence and oppression in the name of honour
and violence in same-sex relationships. The Committee was concerned
about the persistence of stereotypical attitudes towards women, and
noted with concern that such attitudes were particularly prevalent in
the media, where women and men were often depicted in a stereotyped
manner. The Committee called upon Sweden to introduce effective
monitoring and accountability mechanisms at all levels in the context
of its system for gender mainstreaming, and to take proactive and
sustained measures to eliminate stereotypical attitudes about the roles
and responsibilities of women and men.
At the conclusion of the session, the Committee adopted its report, as well as the above concluding comments.
The next session of the Committee will be held from
30 June to 18 July 2008, when the Committee is scheduled to consider
the fifth periodic report of Finland (CEDAW/C/FIN/5), the fifth
periodic report of Iceland (CEDAW/C/ICE/5), the third periodic report
of Lithuania (CEDAW/C/LTU/3), the sixth periodic report of Nigeria
(CEDAW/C/NGA/6), the fourth periodic report of Slovakia
(CEDAW/C/SVK/4), the fifth and sixth periodic reports of the United
Kingdom (CEDAW/C/UK/5 and CEDAW/C/UK/6), the combined fourth, fifth and
sixth periodic reports of Tanzania (CEDAW/C/TZA/6), and the sixth
periodic report of Yemen (CEDAW/C/YEM/6). |
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A CAMPAIGN TO CELEBRATE HUMAN RIGHTS IS BEST VIEWED WITH THE HEART |
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Tuesday, 12 February 2008 18:46 |
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Which is why we, the moderators of the KnowYourRights campaign to
celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, have chosen Le Petit Prince to speak for us.
Or was it the Little Prince who chose us?
A few months ago, when we were setting up the KnowYourRights campaign,
we met Olivier d’Agay guardian of the St Exupéry estateand also grand
nephew of St Exupéry. D’Agay was one of the first people to support the
initiative and graciously gave the KnowYourRights2008 campaign the
rights to the image of Le Petit Prince and to name him our spokesperson.
Miracles do happen.
The world famous novel, in which The Little Prince is the main
character, has been translated into nearly 200 languages, not that far
behind the number of languages into which the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights itself has been translated. The book, with which most of
us grew up, has sold over 50 million copies and is consistently on the
list of the top 50 best-selling books world wide.
We are honoured to have Le Petit Prince and his creator, Antoine de
Saint Exupéry, speak for us because their message is universal. The
essence of the book is contained in the famous line uttered by the fox
to the Little Prince: "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur, l'essentiel est
invisible pour les yeux." (It is only with the heart that one can see
rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye).
We once again wish to thank the estate of Antoine de Saint Exupéry and
in particular Olivier d’Agay for helping to spread the word. |
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