Category: Human Rights

(Seoul) – The South Korean government should reconsider the new Protected Birth Bill, which promotes anonymous births and adoption or orphanage care as solutions to unregistered births and unwanted pregnancies, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to South Korean National Assembly members. The bill, set for a National Assembly vote on October 25, […]

The International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia said it was vital independent investigators continue to review the country’s dire human rights situation.” “We are gravely concerned about the situation in Ethiopia and the potential for future atrocities,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chairperson of the Commission. Risk factors remain “Our report shows that the […]

(Washington) – Governments and international financial institutions should make a commitment to create social security systems that enable everyone to realize their rights, 43 human rights and economic justice organizations said today. Governments and financial institutions should end policies that have been failing millions of people. The groups sent a joint statement to the World […]

Abdoulaye Bathily, who is also UN Special Representative, said that plans floated by different institutions and leaders for reconstruction, run the risk of deepening the existing rift between the internationally recognized Government and rival administration in the east. He added that rebuilding could be impeded without an agreed plan going forward, and that failure to […]

Speaking to reporters in Geneva on her first official day as head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Amy Pope said that migrants were “people first” who should not be seen as a problem. That distinction was more critical than ever today, the IOM Director-General added, noting that it is almost 10 years since […]

In a message commemorating Sunday’s International Day of Older Persons, the UN chief underscored the pervasive issue of ageism in society and the vulnerability of older persons in the face of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty and climate emergencies. “Addressing these and other issues is a human rights imperative that will benefit everyone,” […]

“Costa Rican society does not teach us that there are indigenous people in this country,” she said. “It is a form of discrimination, making the existence of indigenous peoples invisible.” Faustina Torres belongs to the Bribri indigenous community in Costa Rica. Amid an alarming trend of spiraling hate speech and discrimination online platforms, Costa Rica, with […]

The Chinese government appears increasingly anxious to silence critics of its appalling human rights record. At home, it arbitrarily detains or forcibly disappears them; abroad, it harasses them. At the United Nations, it’s seeking anotherterm on the UN’s top human rights body – the Human Rights Council – while telling member states to boycott public […]

We are at a fork in the road regarding states’ approaches to facial recognition surveillance. On the one hand, governments in places like Israel and the United Kingdom are progressing plans to roll out widespread use of this powerful biometric technology. On the other hand, the latest draft of the European Union’s AI Act reveals […]

At least 30 people have reportedly been killed, hundreds injured, and thousands displaced, since clashes erupted on July 31 between factions in Ain el-Helweh, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon where more than 50,000 Palestinian refugees live. As is often the case in times of violence, children who live in Ain el-Helweh are among […]