March 01, 2021 No comments
Russia responsible for Navalny poisoning, rights experts say
INTERNATIONAL, 1 March 2021, Human Rights - Russia is responsible for the poisoning and attempted killing of jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny, two independent UN rights experts said on Monday, issuing an “open call” for an international investigation into the incident. Special Rapporteurs Agnès Callamard and Irene Khan believe the politician was poisoned to send a “clear, sinister warning” to anyone wanting to criticize the Government. Mr. Navalny fell violently ill on a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow last August. He was later flown to Germany where toxicology reports determined he had been poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. On returning to Moscow last month, he was imprisoned for violating a sentence for alleged embezzlement. “It is our conclusion that Russia is responsible for the attempted arbitrary killing of Mr. Navalny”, said Ms. Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, speaking during a press conference in Geneva. Part of a larger trend The independent...
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March 01, 2021 No comments
Yemen pledging conference: Severity of suffering ‘impossible to overstate’ says Guterres
INTERNATIONAL, 1 March 2021, Humanitarian Aid - The international response to Monday’s High-Level Pledging Event on Yemen has been described as “disappointing” by the UN chief, announcing that pledges totalled less than last year’s humanitarian response, and a billion dollars less than the figure raised in 2019. Despite that, millions of Yemenis desperately need more aid to survive, with some $1.7 billion pledged by the end of the morning – falling short of the appeal when the conference began, for $3.85 billion. “Cutting aid is a death sentence”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said after the event concluded. “The best that can be said about today is that it represents a down payment”. Thanking those who did pledge generously, he urged others to reconsider what they can do to “help stave off...
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March 01, 2021 No comments
UN’s nuclear watchdog agency will not be ‘bargaining chip’ in Iran nuclear deal
INTERNATIONAL, 1 March 2021, Peace and Security - The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency told journalists on Monday that inspections in Iran should not be used as a “bargaining chip” to revive a troubled nuclear deal. After speaking to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors, Director General Rafael Grossi told a press conference that while the agency had opened a window of opportunity for diplomacy in Iran, it should not be put in the middle of negotiations between Iran, the United States and other nations over the deal. On 15 February, Iran announced that it would stop implementing “voluntary transparency measures” in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known commonly as the Iran nuclear deal, along with other arrangements in Iran’s Safeguards...
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March 01, 2021 No comments
COVID-19 cases rise for first time in seven weeks: WHO
INTERNATIONAL, 1 March 2021, Health - After six consecutive weeks of decline, COVID-19 cases worldwide increased last week for the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. Four of the agency’s six regions reported a rise in numbers, with Africa and the Western Pacific excluded. “This is disappointing, but not surprising”, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking during his biweekly press briefing from Geneva. “Some of it appears to be due to relaxing of public health measures, continued circulation of variants, and people letting down their guard.” The jump in cases comes as the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines continues. “Vaccines will help to save lives, but if countries rely solely on vaccines, they’re making a mistake”, Tedros warned, underscoring the importance of basic public health measures such as...
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March 01, 2021 No comments
Fate still unclear of ‘tens of thousands’ of civilian detainees in Syria
INTERNATIONAL, 1 March 2021, Human Rights - The fate of tens of thousands of civilians being held in Syria’s “notorious” prisons or detention centres is still unclear, 10 years after the country’s civil war began, UN investigators said on Monday. According to the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, thousands more have been subject to torture, sexual violence or death in captivity. Despite the “staggering” wealth of evidence, almost all parties to the conflict “failed to investigate their own forces”, said Commissioner Karen Koning AbuZayd. “The focus appears to be on concealing, rather than investigating crimes committed in the detention facilities”, she added in a statement. More than 100 detention sites The findings, which the panel will deliver to the Human Rights Council in Geneva next week, highlight investigations into more than 100 specific detention facilities. They cover mass arrests of demonstrators in the early days to the mass internment of men, women...
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