UN Treaty Watch

UN Agent Warns of Threat to Speech in EU Copyright Rules

March 13, 2019

UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression David Kaye has called on EU institutions to revise the proposed EU Copyright Directive to reduce the pressure on internet companies to provide for “pre-publication filtering” of protected content, warning such pressure will harm online “information diversity and media pluralism.”
UN Official: Economic, Social Rights Are Key to SDGs

March 08, 2019

In remarks to the UN Human Rights Council, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed underlined the international organization’s commitment to linking the 169 targets of its comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the realization of its broad agenda for economic, social, and cultural rights.
UN Rights Chief Focuses on Economic Inequality in Address

March 07, 2019

According to NPR, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet used part of her annual report to the UN Human Rights Council to focus on income and wealth inequality as “fundamental challenges” to the international human rights agenda.
UN Agent: Confinement Based on Disabilities Violates Rights

March 07, 2019

UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities Catalina Devandas has referred to the confinement of people on the basis of a disability, including the institutionalization of children with disabilities by their parents, as a “massive human rights violation.”
UN Observers Call for Accountability for Israeli “War Crimes”

March 07, 2019

Responding to the findings of a UN Commission of Inquiry on the treatment of Palestinian demonstrators at the Israeli border in 2018, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the rights of Palestinians Michael Lynk echoed the body’s calls for international legal accountability of Israeli forces for alleged “war crimes.”
UN Agent Promotes “Impact Assessments” of Economic Reforms

March 07, 2019

UN Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky is using his reports on Ukraine and Sri Lanka, demanding a “balance” between economic development and human rights, to promote his Guiding Principles on Human Rights Impact Assessments of Economic Reforms at the UN Human Rights Council.
UN Observer Identifies Air Pollution as Rights Threat

March 07, 2019

In a recent interview, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment David Boyd called on governments "to fulfill their human rights obligations by reducing air pollution to acceptable levels," including by shutting down all coal-fired power plants and creating “national air quality action plans.”
UN Agent: Governments Have Rights Obligation to Provide Housing

March 06, 2019

UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing Leilani Farha has presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council demanding action from governments on a global “crisis” in housing and accusing some countries of ”perpetuating a hierarchy of human rights” where some matter more than others.
UN Agent Proposes Standards for State Transfer of Personal Data

March 06, 2019

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy Joseph Cannataci has proposed global standards for governments to follow when overseeing the international transfer of personal information between intelligence services and law-enforcement agencies.
Lawyers: Australian Drug Treatment Law Violates UN Treaty Rights

February 20, 2019

Human rights lawyers from Monash University in Melbourne have warned that a South Australian government proposal to give youth courts the authority to require the detention of minors for mandatory drug or alcohol treatment violates Australia’s UN treaty obligations to respect due process and children’s rights.