![]() ![]() There were no immediate responses from any of the countries Türk mentioned.Įnding on a more positive note after an otherwise withering look at the worsening human rights situation around the world, Türk said his office’s support of Mauritania’s efforts to end discrimination, notably the persistent issue of slavery, was bearing fruit. He said he was extremely worried by the deteriorating situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory where he said, “excessive use of force and unlawful killings of Palestinians by the Israeli Security Forces have increased, including apparent extrajudicial executions.” In his presentation to the Council, Türk expressed concern about widespread human rights violations in Iran including “the massive recent increase in executions, as well as continuing discrimination against women.” Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, she said the de facto authorities have relentlessly issued edict after edict, “of which the vast majority restrict the rights of women and girls, including their rights to education, work, health, access to justice and freedom of movement, attire, and behavior.” She said, “women and girls are systematically discriminated against in every aspect of their lives…Women are wholly excluded from participation in political and public life.” UN Chief Lambastes Taliban for 'Systemic Attacks' on Afghan Women's RightsĪt a comprehensive examination of the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan that took place later in the day, human rights experts accused the Taliban of practicing a form of “gender apartheid.”ĭorothy Estrada-Tanck, chair of the working group on discrimination against women and girls, said that they were being “erased” in Afghanistan. Türk said he was deeply worried about the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan where “the Taliban de facto authorities have dismantled the most fundamental principles of human rights, particularly for women and girls.” The Commission report on Ethiopia is due to be presented to the Council in September. ![]() On the other hand, he said Ethiopia has cooperated with his office, enabling him to send international human rights monitors to the north, where a war in the Tigray region ended last November. Türk slammed Eritrea for its ongoing refusal to engage with the full spectrum of human rights bodies, noting that Burundi also has not granted access to or cooperated with the Council’s Commission of Inquiry or other investigative bodies since 2016. “There has been little action by the authorities to hold perpetrators to account,” he said, “while senior government officials allegedly implicated in serious crimes remain in office.” He deplored worsening conditions in South Sudan where violent incidents affecting civilians rose by 12 percent in the first three months of this year. Mali's Top Diplomat Demands UN Peacekeepers Leave Immediately He criticized Mali’s request for the withdrawal of MINUSMA, the U.N.’s peacekeeping mission, saying “human rights must always be above the fray of politics.” The High Commissioner singled out what he considers egregious cases of abuse and discrimination in sub-Saharan Africa, such as in Uganda, which recently adopted legislation criminalizing homosexuality. Turning to the war in Ukraine, Türk called on Russia to grant his colleagues access to both Ukrainian territory occupied by the Russian Federation, and to the Russian Federation itself - “not least, to visit civilian detainees, prisoners of war and Ukrainian children and people with disabilities who have been taken to these areas.” In a report that spared few governments, he lambasted the human rights record of Honduras, expressing concern about land-related conflicts and “attacks against human rights and environmental defenders.” He castigated Nicaraguan authorities for undermining the human rights of its people “with extremely harsh repression of civil society and a drastically reduced civic space.” ![]() ![]() FILE - The United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva for a special session devoted to Sudan, May 11, 2023. ![]()
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