United Nations

UN Rights Chief Expresses Alarm over EU-Turkey Deal

April 06, 2016

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has expressed doubts over the compliance of the deal between EU countries and Turkey, providing for the return to Turkey of migrants attempting to enter the EU, with international human rights law and has called for the EU to open new avenues for regular migration by refugees and others.
Bayefsky: US Must Withdraw from HRC over Israel-Bashing

April 06, 2016

Anne Bayefsky writes that, in light of the annual ritual in which the UN Human Rights Council ("HRC") adopts an array of resolutions condemning Israel for rights violations, and a condemnation of Israel by the UN Commission on the Status of Women for violating the rights of Palestinian women, the US must refuse to sit on the HRC and decline to "legitimize" the UN.
UN Lacks Information on Needs for Syrian Relief Effort

April 06, 2016

George Russell reports that the UN, in large part due to bureaucratic obstacles and "intimidation" by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has little understanding of the needs on the ground in Syria for the international organization's relief effort.
UK Denies Any Effect of UN Commission Ruling on Falklands

April 06, 2016

Responding to Argentina's claim that a ruling by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf expands the country's maritime territory to include the Falkland Islands, which are under the control of the UK, the British Foreign Office has stated that the Commission "has no jurisdiction over the sovereignty" of the islands.
Rhodes: US Must Reject Cuba's Version of "Human Rights"

April 05, 2016

Criticizing US President Barack Obama's expression of sympathy with Cuba President Raul Castro's model of economic and social "human rights," human rights activist Aaron Rhodes has called for the US to continue to pressure other countries and the UN system to reject the false equivalency between such "rights" and basic civil and political human rights.
Abrams Criticizes Selection of UN Observer on Palestine

April 05, 2016

Senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Elliott Abrams writes that the UN's selection of Michael Lynk as Special Rapporteur on Palestinian issues in spite of a long train of Lynk's expressions of bias against Israel is a "despicable" development but also "par for the course" in a UN system that has disproportionately targeted Israel on human rights issues.
Woman Prepares UN Complaint in Child Custody Dispute

April 05, 2016

A mother locked in a custody battle and who has been ordered by a New Zealand court not to leave the country with her children to return to Ireland is preparing to file a complaint before the UN Human Rights Committee seeking a declaration that the court has violated her right to a fair trial.
UN Calls for "Decoupling" Water from Economic Expansion

April 05, 2016

Opening an additional front in the UN's fight for governments to implement its "sustainable development" agenda, the UN Environment Programme's International Resource Panel has predicted that half the world will face a water crisis by 2030 and has called for large government investments in water efficiency and sustainability to "decouple" water from economic growth.
Countries Petition UN Security Council on Climate Change

April 04, 2016

AFP reports that the UN's "Small Island Developing States" group has petitioned the organization's Security Council for "financial and technical assistance" to confront the threats they face from global warming.
UN Rapporteur: Denmark Must Prevent Religious "Exclusion"

April 04, 2016

UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Heiner Beilefeldt has called for the Government of Denmark to "prevent feelings of stigmatization and exclusion among religious minorities," including "secular people" and Muslims, by promoting a "more inclusive" version of "Danishness."