Category: Human Rights

High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, have issued the following statement: “The intensification of fighting in the outskirts and within El Fasher, Sudan, is aggravating an already catastrophic humanitarian situation and having a dramatic impact on civilians. We strongly condemn the indiscriminate attacks from both sides, including on the Babiker Nahar Paediatric Hospital. […]

Three lesbian women have died and one more is in critical condition in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after a man threw a Molotov cocktail into their boarding house room on May 6, setting them all on fire. One woman, Pamela Fabiana Cobas, was severely burned and died almost immediately. Her partner, Mercedes Roxana Figueroa, died of […]

As Europe is preparing for the approaching wildfire season, the EU is taking significant steps to bolster firefighting efforts and safeguard communities, by pre-positioning firefighters and assembling a fleet of firefighting aircraft.  First, 556 firefighters from 12 countries will be strategically prepositioned across key locations in Europe this summer, such as France, Greece, Portugal, and […]

Concluding a five-day visit to the region, UNICEF Deputy Director Ted Chaiban noted that fighting has reached new heights and created the worst humanitarian crisis there since 2003. He highlighted growing concerns for safeguarding children’s rights and protection of civilians as the situation worsens. Grave violations mount “Children are being killed, maimed, abducted, and recruited […]

According to the report, Safe Pathways for Refugees – released on Monday – nearly 215,000 permits were granted to individuals displaced by conflict and crises by 37 OECD countries and Brazil in 2022, an increase of about 38 per cent over 2021. Approximately 156,000 permits were issued that year, while the figure in 2020 was […]

Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons Jessica Stern will travel to The Hague, Netherlands, and Paris, France, from May 13-19.  On May 14, Special Envoy Stern will attend the 11th annual European IDAHOT+ Forum in the Hague. Organized by the Council of Europe (COE), the Forum brings together European policymakers, activists, and […]

A Kazakh court has delivered a guilty verdict in the high-profile trial of the country’s former economy minister, Kuandyk Bishimbayev. On May 13, the court found Bishimbayev guilty of the torment and murder with extreme cruelty of his partner Saltanat Nukenova and sentenced him to 24 years in a maximum-security prison. Murder with extreme cruelty […]

A new Football Governance Bill currently being debated in the United Kingdom’s parliament will establish a much-needed independent regulator for English football. It is being established, following years of rising financial inequality between clubs, greed, and the politicization of the game, which was typified by a failed attempt by six of the larger football teams to break […]

The EU has allocated emergency humanitarian funding of €1 million to help Ethiopia address the cholera outbreak currently affecting the country.  Since August 2022, when the cholera epidemic first broke out, Ethiopia has reported a cumulative total of 44,044 cases, including 571 deaths.  In April 2024, over 600 cases were reported weekly, across 9 regions. The […]

U.S. Senior Official for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ambassador Matt Murray will travel to Arequipa, Peru from May 13 to 18 for the Second Senior Officials’ Meeting and Related Meetings (SOM2) of the APEC Peru 2024 host year.  While in Arequipa, Ambassador Murray will engage in a series of working group meetings, workshops, and stakeholder […]