August 22, 2019 No comments
Myanmar military committed ‘routine, systematic’ sexual violence against ethnic minorities, UN experts find
INTERNATIONAL, 22 August 2019, Human Rights - Myanmar’s military must stop using sexual and gender-based violence to terrorize and punish ethnic minorities, according to a new report released on Thursday by the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission. “Extreme physical violence, the openness in which it is conducted … reflects a widespread culture of tolerance towards humiliation and the deliberate infliction of severe physical and mental pain or suffering on civilians,” the report said. The Mission painted a picture of the brutal tactic being employed in Kachin and Shan states. It underscored that during the 2017 “clearance operations”, which led to more than 700,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, the severity in Rakhine state became an indicating factor of Myanmar military’s genocidal intent to destroy the Rohingya...
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August 22, 2019 No comments
FROM THE FIELD: Argentina Preserving Pristine Forests
INTERNATIONAL, 22 August 2019, Climate Change - Thousands of species of animals and plants which are indigenous to a vast forest in Argentina could be saved thanks to a partnership between the United Nations and the South American country. The Iguazú Falls in Misiones, north-east Argentina, part of the Paranaense Forest.(file) © Fucundo Luque The Paranaense Forest which has been designated as a biodiversity hotspot is under threat from the expansion of agriculture, despite already suffering a loss of 95 per cent of its land area over the past 120 years. The plan, has been developed by UN-REDD, a UN body which focuses on reducing harmful gas emissions caused by deforestation. It has been working with the Argentinian authorities to establish sustainable forest management practices which will...
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August 22, 2019 No comments
World must stamp out persecution of religious groups, Guterres declares on new UN Day
INTERNATIONAL, 22 August 2019, Peace and Security - UN chief António Guterres called for an end to the persecution of religious groups on Thursday, the first ever International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion and Belief. The Day was created in response to an increasing number of attacks against individuals and groups, targeted simply because of their religion or belief, around the world. Examples, said the Secretary-General, include “Jews have been murdered in synagogues, their gravestones defaced with swastikas; Muslims gunned down in mosques, their religious sites vandalized; Christians killed at prayer, their churches torched.” Reject those who ‘spread fear and hatred’ Mr. Guterres declared that the Day was an opportunity to reaffirm support for the victims of violence based on religion...
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August 22, 2019 No comments
Kashmir communications shutdown a ‘collective punishment’ that must be reversed, say UN experts
INTERNATIONAL, 22 August 2019, Peace and Security - End the crackdown on freedom of expression, was the strong call to the Government by India from five United Nations independent rights expert on Thursday. India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir as its sovereign territory. Since the Indian Government’s 5 August announcement revoking Kashmir’s special status, tighter central Government control has resulted with access to information and peaceful protests quashed. Reports have described a near total communications blackout in Jammu and Kashmir since the evening of 4 August, with internet access, mobile phone networks, and cable and Kashmiri television channels cut off. The experts expressed concern that the measures, imposed after the Indian Parliament revoked the Constitutionally-mandated status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, would exacerbate tensions...
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August 22, 2019 No comments
Relentless sequence of disasters in Asia-Pacific ‘sign of things to come’, cautions UN regional body
INTERNATIONAL, 22 August 2019, Economic Development - Changing patterns and worsening impacts of natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific, coupled with environmental degradation and climate change, are not only making efforts to predict such catastrophes more difficult, but are also a “sign of things to come”, the United Nations development arm in the region has warned. Issued on Thursday by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2019 revealed that the annual economic losses due to disasters cost the region nearly $675 billion, about 2.4 per cent its gross domestic product. In addition to the impact of disasters on human lives, the economic losses also threaten to reverse hard-won development across the Asia-Pacific region. According to Armida Alisjahbana,...
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