UN rights chief cites ‘communication’ about issues in China
March 8, 2023 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The new U.N. human rights chief said Tuesday that his office has opened “channels of communication” to help follow up on concerns about the rights of minorities in China, including Uyghur Muslims and Tibetans.
IOC publishes rights strategy months after Beijing Olympics
September 9, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The IOC approved its human rights strategy on Friday, completing a years-long process months after the Beijing Olympics brought scrutiny on how sports engage with a host nation’s record on discrimination and civil liberties.
UN approves Austria’s Volker Türk as new human rights chief
September 8, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday approved a veteran Austrian diplomat to be the global body's human rights chief and its advocate for adherence to universal rights at a time when the office is under harsh criticism from China for accusing Beijing of abusing Muslim minorities.
UN chief says North Korea has increased repression of rights
September 2, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea has increased its repression of the rights and freedoms of its people and the U.N. Security Council should consider referring the country to the International Criminal Court for possible crimes against humanity, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a new report circulated Thursday.
UN cites possible crimes vs. humanity in China’s Xinjiang
September 1, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — China's discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity, the U.N. human rights office said in a long-awaited report Wednesday, which cited “serious” rights violations and patterns of torture in recent years.
UN rights chief hints report on Xinjiang may miss deadline
August 25, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The outgoing U.N. human rights chief suggested Thursday that her office may not make good on her promise to release its long-awaited report on China’s Xinjiang region by the end of her term next week.
Bangladesh PM tells UN that Myanmar must take Rohingya back
August 17, 2022 GMTDHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh's leader told a visiting U.N. official on Wednesday that hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority Rohingya refugees living in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh must return home to Myanmar, where they had fled waves of violent persecution.
UN office points to Israel in Al Jazeera reporter’s death
June 24, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office said Friday that veteran Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh and her crew were hit by “seemingly well-aimed bullets” fired from the direction of Israeli troops and called for a criminal probe into her death last month.
Bachelet won’t seek 2nd term as UN human rights chief
June 13, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said she will not seek a new four-year term, citing a desire to return to her native Chile after a tenure that has been recently overshadowed by criticism of her response to China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in western Xinjiang.
UN human rights chief asks China to rethink Uyghur policies
May 28, 2022 GMTBEIJING (AP) — The top U.N. human rights official said Saturday that she raised concerns with Chinese officials about the impact of the broad application of counterterrorism and deradicalization measures on the rights of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim groups in China's Xinjiang region.
Chinese leader Xi defends record to UN human rights chief
May 25, 2022 GMTBEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping defended his country's record to the top U.N. human rights official on Wednesday, saying each nation should be allowed to find its own path.
Xi, who heads the ruling Communist Party that allows no political opposition and strictly limits speech, criticized countries that he said lecture others on human rights and politicize the issue.
China claims sabotage as UN rights official visits Xinjiang
May 24, 2022 GMTBEIJING (AP) — China on Tuesday said the U.S., Britain and other foreign powers are seeking to sabotage its foreign relations by orchestrating criticism surrounding a trip by the top United Nations official for human rights.
Xinjiang in focus as UN rights chief arrives for China visit
May 23, 2022 GMTBEIJING (AP) — Allegations of human rights abuses in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region will dominate a visit by the United Nations’ top rights official that began Monday.
UN rights chief to visit China next week, travel to Xinjiang
May 20, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The United Nations' top human rights official will visit China next week on a trip that will take her to the Xinjiang region, where rights groups and some Western governments allege the Chinese government is committing genocide and serious abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.
UN team in China ahead of rights chief visit to Xinjiang
April 26, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — A United Nations team has landed in China ahead of a long-delayed visit by the U.N. human rights chief to Xinjiang, where rights groups and some Western governments allege the Chinese government is committing genocide and serious abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.
UN rights chief sees ‘horror story’ of violations in Ukraine
April 22, 2022 GMTBERLIN (AP) — The United Nations' human rights office on Friday pointed to what it said is growing evidence of war crimes since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, declaring that humanitarian law appears to have been “tossed aside.”
UN human rights council asked to act against Myanmar army
March 16, 2022 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — The main opposition organization in military-ruled Myanmar on Wednesday urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to act strongly to restore democracy in the Southeast Asian nation, saying that the international community should put sanctions and other pressures on the country's generals.
US tells China: Give UN rights chief wide access in Xinjiang
March 9, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The United States called on China's government Wednesday to grant “unhindered and unsupervised access" to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, when she visits China and its western Xinjiang region in May.
UN rights chief to visit Xinjiang as groups press for report
March 8, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief said Tuesday that her office and China’s government have reached an agreement for her to visit in May the western region of Xinjiang, where human rights groups and Western governments have alleged that genocide and other crimes are being carried out against the predominantly Muslim minority group known as Uyghurs.
Germany urges UN rights office to publish Uyghur report
March 3, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called Thursday for the U.N. human rights office to release a report it has compiled on the situation of the Uyghur Muslim minority in China.
UN: Worse now for women peace builders than before COVID
January 19, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Women seeking to participate in shaping and building peace and defending human rights face a “vastly worse” situation now than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations human rights chief said Tuesday.
UN hails landmark conviction of senior Syrian official
January 13, 2022 GMTKOBLENZ, Germany (AP) — A former Syrian secret police officer was convicted by a German court Thursday of crimes against humanity for overseeing the abuse of detainees at a jail near Damascus a decade ago, a ruling the top United Nations human rights official described as “historic.”
UN rights chief: Burkina Faso is facing a security crisis
December 1, 2021 GMTOUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — If insecurity in Burkina Faso keeps up, the West African nation could spiral into a humanitarian and human rights “catastrophe,” the U.N. human rights chief said Wednesday.
UN rights body holds urgent session in wake of Sudan coup
November 5, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The United Nations' top human rights official on Friday condemned actions by military leaders in Sudan following a coup almost two weeks ago and called on them to “step back” to let civilian rule return.
UN, US officials urge action to avert climate disaster
October 28, 2021 GMTBERLIN (AP) — The U.N.'s top human rights official and U.S. President Joe Biden's climate envoy called Thursday for countries to step up the fight against global warming, describing it as an issue of sheer survival for humankind.
UN tallies 350K dead in Syria war, admits toll likely higher
September 24, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The United Nations human rights chief said Friday that her office has documented the deaths of 350,209 people — civilians and combatants — in Syria’s civil war over the last decade, while admitting the real number for those killed in the conflict is almost certainly far higher.
UN urges moratorium on use of AI that imperils human rights
September 15, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief is calling for a moratorium on the use of artificial intelligence technology that poses a serious risk to human rights, including face-scanning systems that track people in public spaces.
UN: Probe in Ethiopia’s Tigray didn’t reach Axum massacre
September 13, 2021 GMTNAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The United Nations human rights chief on Monday said a highly awaited joint investigation into abuses in Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict was unable to deploy to the site of one of its deadliest attacks, the alleged massacre of several hundred people in the holy city of Axum.
EXPLAINER: Target list of Israeli hack-for-hire firm widens
July 20, 2021 GMTBOSTON (AP) — Human rights and press freedom activists are up in arms about a new report on NSO Group, the notorious Israeli hacker-for-hire company. The report, by a global media consortium, expands public knowledge of the target list used in NSO's military-grade spyware.
UN rights chief alarmed by reported use of powerful spyware
July 19, 2021 GMTBERLIN (AP) — The United Nations' human rights chief voiced alarm Monday over the reported use of military-grade malware from Israel-based NSO Group to spy on journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents.
UN rights boss urges ‘wide range’ of reparations over racism
July 12, 2021 GMTBERLIN (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief on Monday urged countries to “fully fund comprehensive processes" and take “a wide range of reparations measures” to address the legacies of slavery, colonial rule and racial discrimination.
UN rights chief asks world to keep pressure on Myanmar junta
July 6, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday praised the “incredible resilience” of Myanmar’s people in helping each other in the wake of a military takeover and violent crackdown, while calling on the international community to keep up pressure on the junta to halt violence and restore democracy.
UN official urges Palestinian security to allow protests
July 1, 2021 GMTJERUSALEM (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief on Thursday urged the Palestinian Authority to ensure the safety of protesters after security forces and supporters of President Mahmoud Abbas attacked demonstrators over the weekend.
UN rights chief: Reparations needed for people facing racism
June 28, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief, in a landmark report launched after the killing of George Floyd in the United States, is urging countries worldwide to do more to help end discrimination, violence and systemic racism against people of African descent and “make amends” to them — including through reparations.
International criticism of Nicaragua crackdown grows
June 22, 2021 GMTMANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — International criticism of Nicaragua's government grew on Tuesday after another night of arrests in Managua. Fifty-nine countries at the United Nations Human Rights Council signed onto a statement expressing concern over arbitrary arrests and the restriction of fundamental rights.
Debate over Myanmar upends start to UN rights body session
June 21, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s top human rights body opened its latest session on Monday and was immediately embroiled in a debate over the representation of Myanmar, where a military takeover toppled the civilian government in February.
UN rights chief: Justice at stake in trial over Floyd death
March 19, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief said Friday that the U.S. trial over the killing of George Floyd presents a “crucial, defining opportunity for justice” that has been denied to countless other families, urging efforts to address the root causes of racial discrimination...
UN rights chief expects US will be ‘much better’ under Biden
December 9, 2020 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The U.N human rights chief says she expects the U.S. administration of President-elect Joe Biden will be “much, much better” when it comes to human rights, and warned of shrinking “democratic space” in Hong Kong — saying her office will be monitoring the rights situation there...
UN rights chief laments worsening situation in Belarus
December 4, 2020 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The United Nations' human rights chief lamented a deteriorating situation in Belarus and said Friday that reported beatings of protesters by security forces may in some cases amount to torture...
With Ethiopia on brink of escalation, diplomacy in doubt
November 24, 2020 GMTNAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Alarm spiraled Tuesday over Ethiopia's imminent tank attack on the capital of the defiant Tigray region and its population of half a million people, while the U...
UN rights chief to AP: Biden’s pledges are ‘encouraging’
November 10, 2020 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief is hailing “some extremely encouraging pledges” from U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, citing his call to address issues like systemic racism, women’s rights, torture, and climate change, and signs that his team could shepherd in a “more humane” approach to migration...
Nearly 40 nations criticize China’s human rights policies
October 6, 2020 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Nearly 40 mainly Western countries criticized China’s treatment of minority groups, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet, on Tuesday and expressed grave concern at the impact of its new national security law on human rights in Hong Kong...
UN protection back for threatened Nobel-winning Congo doctor
September 9, 2020 GMTJOHANNESBURG (AP) — For weeks, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning Congolese doctor has faced death threats, leading alarmed supporters to urge the United Nations to reinstate the peacekeepers who were withdrawn from his hospital months ago...
UN rights chief airs concerns about NKorea detention centers
March 10, 2020 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The United Nations' human rights chief said Tuesday that “apparently systematic” human rights violations in North Korean detention centers, including sexual violence against women and girls, could amount to crimes against humanity.
UN rights chief ‘appalled’ by conditions in US for migrants
July 8, 2019 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The United Nations' human rights chief said Monday she was "appalled" by the conditions migrants and refugees face in U...
UN report on firms linked to Israeli settlements stalls anew
March 5, 2019 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The United Nations' human rights chief has delayed publication of a report on companies doing business in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying in a letter made public Tuesday that her office needs more time to carry out a complex and unprecedented task — one with deep political implications.
UN: At least 890 killed in December clashes in Congo
January 16, 2019 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office says "credible sources" indicate that at least 890 people were killed last month during three days of clashes among villages in western Congo.