UN
US Legislators Place Atheists on Equal Footing with Faith Groups
A United Nations human rights expert on freedom of religion or belief has welcomed the United States’ legislative amendments aimed at protecting non-believers and atheists. “This is an important development, as believers, atheists and non-believers must all be equally protected,” on 28 December 2016 said the newly appointed Special Rapporteur… »
Noam Chomsky: Israel’s Response to the UN Resolution on Palestine Is ‘Hysterical’
Israel’s suspension of relations with the UN Security Council member nations that voted for the resolution—powerful countries including the U.K. and France—has effectively realized a goal of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. By Ken Klippenstein / AlterNet December 28, 2016 The United… »
Australia’s No to Prohibit-Nukes Resolution Triggers Debate
By Neena Bhandari As the curtain falls on 2016, the year that marked the fifth anniversary of Fukushima and the 30th anniversary of Chernobyl nuclear disasters, sending a sombre reminder of the devastating humanitarian and environmental consequences of these weapons of mass destruction, the resolve to free the world of… »
‘Aleppo Now Synonym for Hell’ – Ban Ki-Moon
In his last press conference as United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon on 16 December 2016 delivered stark warnings on two issues at the forefront of international concern: that “the carnage in Syria remains a gaping hole in the global conscience;” and that South Sudan faces a risk of genocide as the… »
Nuclear Disarmament – A challenge for the New UN Chief
Analysis by Alyn Ware* NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations General Assembly has on October 13 affirmed António Guterres, the former Prime Minister of Portugal and UN High Commissioner for Refugees, as the next United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG). The UN Security Council had on October 5 nominated him for… »
UN admits it needs to do more after causing Haiti cholera epidemic
By Phoebe Braithwaite NEW YORK, Aug 18 2016 (IPS) – Update: On Thursday 18 August the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the immunity of the UN from legal proceedings in the case of Georges et al v. United Nations et. »
The Human Rights Council adopts the Declaration on the Right to Peace
By Christian Guillermet Fernández and David Fernández Puyana GENEVA, Jul 29 2016 (IPS) – On 1 July 2016, the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the United Nations in Geneva adopted a Declaration on the Right to… »
The Great Leap Backward: America’s Illegal Wars on the World
No presidential candidate who does not call for the end of bipartisan militarist aggression can stem the domestic descent into social brutalization. If none calls this foreign policy debacle “imperialism,” elections will be a sleepwalker’s exercise. Nothing will change. Except, almost certainly, for the worse. by Luciana Bohne Can we… »
International organization criticizes Macedonia
Geneva, Apr 11 (Prensa Latina) The Office of the High Commisionner of the United Nations for Refugees (UNHCR) issued a communique Monday, in which it criticized the violence by the Macedonian police against migrants and refugees in the mutual border with Greece. Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the UNHCR, said… »
Hold-out deal in Argentina makes solving debt crises more difficult, UN rights experts say
By Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky and Alfred de Zayas for ALAI In the context of the Argentinean Congress discussing the implications of a proposed agreement between Argentina and hedge funds, the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt on human rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, and the Independent… »