The UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries warned Tuesday that rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies are making it harder to determine who is responsible for human rights abuses linked to mercenary and private military and security operations. In a report presented during the 63rd session of the UN Human [...]

In her State of the Union Address in Strasbourg on Wednesday, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen invited Canada to become the first “associate member” of the European Union (EU). Von der Leyen proposed upgrading the existing Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) to an “Alliance for the Future” that would create [...]

The International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement warned on Thursday that harsh drug laws and policies continue to play a role in systemic racism against “Africans and people of African descent around the world.” They advocated a shift to approaches based on public health and respect for human [...]

The UN Fact-Finding Mission in Venezuela stated on Wednesday that despite some limited improvements in the human rights situation in the South American country, institutions involved in rights violations and repression remained intact. Sofia Macher, chair of the UN mission said: “The reduction in some of the harshest forms of repression is notable, but it [...]

The UN Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus on Tuesday presented a report detailing the weaponization of the nation’s criminal justice system against government dissenters. The experts found violations of several international human rights treaties, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment [...]

The global food supply is under threat from laws that criminalize the sale and exchange of traditional peasant seed varieties, a group of UN experts said Wednesday. In their latest report to the Human Rights Council, the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas indicated that almost [...]

Amnesty International on Wednesday named 87 Iranian security and Interior Ministry officials who it says should face criminal investigation for crimes against humanity committed during the 2022 crackdown on the Woman Life Freedom protests, and urged the UN Security Council to refer Iran’s situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The 1,161-page report, titled “Architects of Atrocities,” [...]

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran on Monday called on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease hostilities and comply with international humanitarian law following reported US airstrikes that killed and injured civilians in southern Iran. The Mission said that recent strikes in Hormozgan province raise serious questions about whether the United [...]

Representatives for both Cambodia and Thailand on Tuesday delivered opening statements during the first meeting of a United Nations-sanctioned arbitration process intended to resolve a long-running maritime dispute between the neighboring countries. The meeting, which was held in Singapore, served as the first step in the compulsory conciliation process under the UN Convention on the [...]

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday warned that South Sudan’s hunger crisis is worsening amid ongoing armed conflict, diminishing international aid, and a “super El Niño” set to impact the nation and greater region. At a press briefing, WFP’s assistant executive director for program operations, Matthew Hollingworth, stated: “Conflict, displacement, economic hardship, climate [...]