UN Treaty Watch

US Declines to Respond to UN Human Rights Complaints

January 08, 2019

According to The Guardian, the US State Department is no longer responding to official complaints issued by UN human rights mandate holders regarding alleged US human rights violations and has not invited any UN monitors to investigate rights issues since President Donald Trump took office.
UN Agent Demands US Investigation of Migrant Child’s Death

January 08, 2019

UN Special Rapporteur of the human rights of migrants Felipe González Morales has demanded an investigation of the recent death of a Guatemalan migrant child in the custody of US immigration authorities and characterized US detention of minors on the basis of their migrant status “a violation of international law.”
UN Group Reiterates Call for Freedom of Wikileaks Founder

January 04, 2019

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has repeated its calls for the UK to permit Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he is residing to avoid extradition over a sexual-assault charge, in recognition of the “high price” he has paid for exercising his right to freedom of expression in releasing classified documents.
UN Agent: Fiji Needs External Aid to Protect Environmental Rights

January 03, 2019

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment David Boyd has called on Fiji to improve environmental conditions to ensure its citizens enjoy “the right to live in a healthy environment” and pushed rich governments to provide financial aid to the country to ensure the protection of this right.
UN Observers Warn Poland to Respect “Sexual” Rights

January 03, 2019

A group of UN human rights mandate holders recently issued a statement expressing concern that Poland’s understanding of women’s equality “seems to be limited to equal treatment in law” and calling on the Polish government to refrain from violating women’s “sexual and reproductive health rights” - often interpreted to include abortion.
Scientists Warn of Slow Progress on UN Biodiversity Treaty

December 18, 2018

A scientific team led by the California Academy of Sciences has published an essay warning that global progress on the UN Convention for Biological Diversity is not fast enough to achieve the environmental targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and prevent a “biodiversity crisis.”
UN Observers Lament Lack of Progress on “Right to Development”

December 13, 2018

A group of UN human rights mandate holders recently published a statement calling on governments “to intensify efforts to combat economic inequality and discrimination” as inherent threats to a legally binding, universal “right to development.”
Vatican Lawyer Warns of Dangers of Competing Rights Agendas

December 07, 2018

In a recent interview, president of the Vatican’s legal tribunal Giuseppe Dalla Torre warned that the proliferation of recognized human rights across the globe beyond basic “fundamental rights” such as the rights to life and to religious freedom leads to inevitable conflict among claimed rights and a resulting devaluation of all rights.
UN Working Group Warns of Arbitrary Detention in Australia

December 03, 2018

The Guardian reports that, in September, the UN working group on arbitrary detention listed Australia among China, Libya, Pakistan, and the Congo as a source of concern regarding arbitrary detention, citing cases including the country’s holding of a stateless man from the Western Sahara in immigration detention.
UN Rights Chief Identifies State Obligation to Act on Climate

November 28, 2018

Ahead of a UN meeting in December on climate change, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has published a letter warning governments that they have an obligation under international human rights law to take steps to halt global warming.