Posts Tagged ‘UN’

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UN human rights monitor on Iran has to rely on diaspora

November 29, 2011

The United Nations announced today that its Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, will launch a fact-finding mission to three European countries which host Iranian diaspora. He will visit France, Germany and Belgium from 30 November – 8 December 2011 to gather information about alleged human rights violations in Iran.  As reported in this blog earlier, serial cooperation refusnik Iran (7 July and 8 August 2011), the independent expert has made official requests to the Islamic Republic of Iran for a country visit, without obtaining a positive response from the authorities. “I will continue to make every possible effort to get the Iranian authorities’ support,” Mr. Shaheed said. “A country visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran would have allowed me to gain better understanding of the situation in the country, explore possible areas of cooperation, offer constructive dialogue with the authorities and produce report that reflect the views of all parties concerned, not the least the views of the Government.” … “ I will now study wide range of human rights issues by meeting activists within Iranian diaspora, alleged victims of human rights violations, intergovernmental and civil society organizations,” he explained. “The information collected in France, Germany and Belgium will help shape my report to the Human Rights Council in March 2012.”  The human rights expert will hold a press conference on Thursday 8 December 2011 at 10:30 at the United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) office in Brussels.

NB. The person the Iranian regime is refusing is Ahmed Shaheed, a Visiting Lecturer at the Maldives National University, a member of the presidential Commission Investigating Corruption and a former foreign policy advisor to the President of the Maldives. Mr Shaheed was Foreign Minister of the Maldives from 2005 to 2007 and from 2008 to 2010.

see also: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/IRIndex.aspx

 

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Human Rights Defenders illustrated in YouTube video

November 9, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

This short video from 2010 is worth viewing. It is an excellent collection of tiny portraits of individuals from a variety of countries who explain what they do to defend the rights of others and in that way demonstrate what Human Rights Defenders are. An amazingly lively UN product, helped by Bob Marley’s “Stand up for your rights” in the background.

 

Human Rights Defenders 2010 – YouTube.

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UN Special Rapporteurs urge Cambodia not to go ahead with draft Law on Associations and NGOs

September 28, 2011

According to a UN press release (issued 28 September 2011) the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya Subedi, together with colleague-rapporteurs on freedom of  assembly and association, Mr. Maina Kiai, and on the situation of human rights defenders, Ms. Margaret Sekaggya,urged the Cambodian authorities to take fully on board the concerns raised during the consultation process before enacting the law, especially the onerous requirements for registration and the lack of clear criteria on which registration applications will be considered. The draft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations, in its current form, “may hamper the legitimate work of NGOs in the country.”
“The Government of Cambodia should not proceed with the draft NGO law in its present form,” Mr. Subedi said presenting his annual report on the situation of human rights in Cambodia to the UN Human Rights Council. “Of course, as a sovereign country, Cambodia is entitled to enact a law on NGOs, but the decision to adopt a law to regulate NGOs and associations is a critical initiative which requires careful attention, given its long-term implications for the development of Cambodian society – and in turn the country – itself.”  The UN expert drew attention to the fact that many of the civil society organizations in Cambodia have been playing a complementary role to that of the State in helping or delivering key social services in the areas of education, health, rural development, sanitation, social welfare and the protection of natural resources and the environment.

Mr. Subedi acknowledges that the overall situation of human rights had improved over the years in Cambodia, but that there still was “a great deal of work to be done to strengthen the rule of law, to accelerate the process of democratisation and to enhance the capacity of parliament to hold executive to account.”

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UN publishes Commentary on the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders

August 10, 2011

You probably have seen already references to this new publication which came out during my leave. I still refer to it simply because a blog on HRDs is not complete without it.

The Commentary to the Declaration on human rights defenders is a 100-page document which maps out the rights provided for in the Declaration, based mostly on information received and reports produced by the two Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights defenders, Hina Jilani (2000-2008) and Margaret Sekaggya (since 2008), during the past eleven years. The ‘Commentary’ analyses what these rights entail and what is needed to ensure their implementation. It also addressesthe most common restrictions and violations faced by defenders, and provides recommendations to facilitate States’ implementation of each right. As should be expected from a UN publication it is fairly dry and does not break new ground but it certainly is well-organised guide to the work done in the last decade. It is arranged in 10 sections, each addressing a right in the Declaration, namely: the right to right to be protected, the right to freedom of assembly, the right to freedom of association, the right to access and communicate with international bodies, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the right to protest, the right to develop and discuss new human rights ideas, the right to an effective remedy and the right to access funding. A final section addresses permissible derogations to these rights.

To access the resource in PDF, please control/click here

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Iran ‘continues’ its good cooperation with the UN………

August 8, 2011

According to the official iranian students news agency (ISNA) on 6 August, Iran continues to work with the UN Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as it used to do. “We have good relations with the UN Human Rights Council and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. We are sorry that some countries use the issue of human rights as an instrument and this time the US and some western states have employed human rights as an instrument to press Iran, but these pressures will go nowhere,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in a press conference referring to reports that a special United Nations human rights reporter has called for travel to Iran.

see: ISNA – 08-06-2011 – 90/5/15 – Service: / Foreign Policy / News ID: 1821676.

On 20 July I reported already in this blog that Mohammad Javad Larijani, Iran’s secretary general of the high council for human rights, had rejected the appointment of a rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran and that  Iran “will not accept the decision”; so the Minister of Foreign Affairs is not totally aware of the position taken by the SG of the High Council for Human Rights.

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