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Tag: Zeid Al Hussein

  • Demand for Qatar to close down al-Jazeera ‘unacceptable’ – UN

    Demand for Qatar to close down al-Jazeera ‘unacceptable’ – UN

    The UN says the demand by Saudi Arabia and three other Arab nations for Qatar to close down its al-Jazeera TV channel is an “unacceptable attack” on the right to freedoms of expression and opinion.

    Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a boycott on Qatar on June 5, accusing it of backing militants, then issued an ultimatum, including demands it shut down a Turkish military base in Doha, shutting Al Jazeera and curbing ties with Iran.

    UN High Commissioner is “extremely concerned by the demand that Qatar close down the Al Jazeera network, as well as other affiliated media outlets”, his spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing.

    Al Jazeera

    “Whether or not you watch it, like it, or agree with its editorial standpoints, Al Jazeera’s Arabic and English channels are legitimate, and have many millions of viewers.

    “The demand that they be summarily closed down is, in our view, an unacceptable attack on the right to freedom of expression and opinion,” Colville said.

    NAN reports that on June 24, the four Arab states handed the country a list of 13 demands, including some likely to infuriate Doha and exacerbate the region’s worst crisis in decades.

    Some of the key demands include shut down the Al Jazeera media network and its affiliates, halt the development of a Turkish military base in the country and reduce diplomatic ties with Iran.

    Others are cut ties to extremist organisations, stop interfering in the four countries’ affairs, stop the practice of giving Qatari nationality to citizens of the four countries.

  • Congo rejects UN-led investigation into violence in Kasai region

    Congo rejects UN-led investigation into violence in Kasai region

    The Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday rejected an independent investigation into violence in its Kasai region which has been called for by a top UN human rights official.

    The UN Human Rights Council is likely to vote on Thuesday on whether to authorise such an investigation into violence that has killed hundreds in central Congo since last August, including two UN experts who were murdered earlier this year.

    “Carrying out an investigation that excludes the Congolese authorities would be unacceptable. It would be as if we were not an independent country,” Justice Minister Alexis Mwamba told reporters in Geneva.

    UN human rights chief Zeid Al-Hussein called on the Council to mandate an investigation after Congo missed a deadline to agree to investigate alleged massacres jointly.

    Mwamba said: “that would be a pity, for the simple reason that if a resolution is voted for and doesn’t take us into account, implementing it will be difficult.

    “Do you want experts to go into a foreign country without reporting to the national authorities?

    “How will they get visas? How will they get access to the countryside? The best way would be to go towards a solution that is acceptable for everyone … If you think you can do the investigation without us, go ahead.”

    He said it was baseless to suggest that Congo had not met a June 8 deadline set by Zeid, since it had presented its roadmap for investigating on May 24 in Kinshasa. Zeid has said the government’s response “falls short”.

    Some legal proceedings had already begun, Mwamba said, including the trial of people suspected of killing UN sanctions monitors Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan, an American and a Swede who disappeared in March and whose bodies were found two weeks later in a shallow grave.

    Mwamba said about a dozen suspects were identified from a video of the murders, and the four principal suspects have been arrested.

    The others are still being sought.

    In May, a military prosecutor said two militia men had been arrested, and denied that Congolese forces were involved.

    “We have deployed the whole arsenal to establish responsibility – who committed the act, who ordered it, are there politicians at the provincial or national level who could have played any sort of role?,” Mwamba said.

    The minister also said Congolese opposition leader Moise Katumbi, who has been abroad since he was accused of plotting against the state a year ago, was free to come back to Congo whenever he wants, although he would have to face justice.

    Mwamba added that Katumbi could be barred from standing for election because Congo’s constitution does not permit dual nationalities.

    He also commented on a lawsuit against him in Belgium, which accuses him of involvement in the downing of an airliner in 1998, with the loss of 40 lives.

    He said he was unfazed by the lawsuit, and was very happy to respond to the court through his lawyer, and would not invoke diplomatic immunity.

  • FG concerned over human rights chief remarks

    FG concerned over human rights chief remarks

    The Federal Government on Wednesday expressed “deep displeasure” over remarks by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Al-Hussein for describing Nigeria as being an “uncooperative” member and for blocking multiple UN expert visits to these human rights hot spots.

    Foreign Affairs Ministry, Permanent Secretary Sola Enikanolaiye, registered Nigeria’s displeasure at the 35th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

    In a statement, Enikanolaiye said: “Nigeria has has always cooperated with international experts and committed to discharge its human rights obligations.

    “This amounts to gross misrepresentation capable of eroding the confidence and credibility of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the eyes of Nigerians,” he said

    Enikanolaye, who led Nigerian delegation to the conference, said that the attention of the UN would be drawn to the impeccable record of Nigeria in the sphere of human rights protection and scrutiny by the UN.

    “The delegation will state at the allotted time that Nigeria has continued to cooperate fully and unconditionally with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the various human rights mechanisms.

    “In January 2016, Nigeria received four Human Rights Mandate holders, namely the Special Rapporteur on sales of children, child prostitution and pornography.

    “Nigeria also received Maud de Boer-Buquicchio; Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Ms Urmilla Boola, and the Special Rapporteur on Right to Mental and Physical Health, Mr Dainus Puras.

    “Nigeria similarly received the Special Rapporteur on Internally Displaced Persons, Prof. Chaloka Beyani, from Aug. 23 to Aug. 26, 2016,” he said.

    He said that Nigeria had a known disposition to cooperating with such bodies.

    According to him, delegation has expressed the country’s preparedness to receive the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, in November this year.

    He said that the delegation was however vindicated by the acknowledgement of this misrepresentation by the Office of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, as conveyed in the Revised Version of his report.

    “Nigeria is ever ready and committed to scaling up its human rights obligations by applying globally acknowledged best practices,” he said.

    NAN reports that Al-Hueesin called out members such as Venezuela, Egypt, Nigeria and the Philippines for blocking multiple UN expert visits to these human rights hot spots.

    “Most astonishingly, in spite of having been elected to this council in 2015, Burundi continues to commit some of the most serious human rights violations dealt with by this council,” he said.

  • UN rights chief calls out uncooperative council members

    UN rights chief calls out uncooperative council members

    A number of countries that sit on the UN Human Rights Council are not cooperating with international experts who want to shed light on abuses, UN rights chief Zeid Al-Hussein said Tuesday in Geneva.

    Zeid’s unusual finger-pointing at the start of a UN Human Rights Council session came shortly before a highly anticipated address by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, to the 47-member body.

    The U.S. administration of President Donald Trump has been reviewing its future engagement with the council, and Haley was expected to lay out Washington’s criticism and reform demands.

    Zeid called out members such as Venezuela, Egypt, Nigeria and the Philippines for blocking multiple UN expert visits to these human rights hot spots.

    “Most astonishingly, in spite of having been elected to this council in 2015, Burundi continues to commit some of the most serious human rights violations dealt with by this council,” Al-Hussein said.

    Al-Hussein said China has let in rights monitors but they have not been able to move freely.

    Washington has questioned the legitimacy of the UN rights council, pointing not only at serious violations committed by some members, but also at the council’s strong focus on Israel and its occupation of Palestinian territory.

    In his speech, the human rights chief made a point of highlighting the suffering that both Palestinians and Israelis have had to endure in their conflict.

    “Maintain the occupation, and for both peoples there will only be a prolongation of immense pain,” he said.

    NAN reports that the U.S. threatened to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council unless reforms are ushered in including the removal of what it sees as an “anti-Israel bias”, diplomats and activists said.

    U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who holds cabinet rank in President Donald Trump’s administration, said on Friday that Washington would decide on whether to withdraw from the Council after its three-week session in Geneva ends this month.

    Under Trump, Washington has broken with decades of U.S. foreign policy by turning away from multilateralism.

    His decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement last week drew criticism from governments around the world.

    The Council’s critical stance of Israel has been a major sticking point for its ally the U.S.
    Washington boycotted the body for three years under President George W. Bush before rejoining under Barack Obama in 2009.

  • Women are Africa’s active agents of change – UN report

    Women are Africa’s active agents of change – UN report

    The UN Human Rights Council launched a joint report with the African Union and UN Women on Tuesday, describing women as active agents of change.

    The report, ‘Women’s Rights in Africa’, explained the progress and challenges to women’s struggle for human rights in Africa.

    “When African women, as around the globe, exercise their rights to access education, skills, and jobs, there will be a surge in prosperity, positive health outcomes, and greater freedom and well-being, not only of women but of the whole society.

    “When all women are empowered to make their own choices and share resources, opportunities and decisions as equal partners, every society in Africa will be transformed,” the report said.

    It, however, regretted that in most countries in Africa, women continue to be denied their rights to full enjoyment.

    “Statistics show that some African countries have no legal protection for women against domestic violence, are forced to undergo female genital mutilation, and forced to marry while still children.”

    Among other recommendations, the report called on African governments to encourage women’s full and productive employment, to recognize the importance of unpaid care and domestic work, and to ensure women can access and control their own economic and financial resources.

    The report stressed that women should not be seen only as victims but as active agents in formal and informal peace building processes.

    “Human rights are not a utopian fairy-tale-they are a recipe for sound institutions, more sustainable development and greater peace,” Mr. Zeid Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, wrote in the Foreword to the report.