Human Rights

Tackling insecurity in Haiti, where gang violence has killed and injured thousands and displaced tens of thousands, must be the utmost priority, a United Nations report released on Friday said, urging Haitian authorities and the international community to do more to protect people and prevent further suffering. The Caribbean nation is facing a worsening humanitarian crisis, with more than 5.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

At a ministerial meeting on Wednesday, the United Nations and Member States issued an urgent call for stepped-up action to end the war in Sudan and accelerate the humanitarian response in the region. 17 months of brutal conflict in Sudan have fueled the world's worst hunger crisis and one of the world's largest displacement crises, with more than 10 million people forced to flee their homes.

As world leaders gather in New York for the 79th United Nations General Assembly and the threat of a wider regional escalation looms, the world's humanitarian leaders are demanding an end to the appalling human suffering and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.  "These atrocities must end," they said in a statement signed Monday by the heads of UN agencies and representatives of the world's non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

United Nations investigators warn that the humanitarian crisis in Syria is threatening to spiral out of control as violence increases and the collapsing economy keeps the population mired in poverty and hopelessness 13 years after civil war broke out in the country. Across Syria, 16.7 million people - more than 70 percent of the population - are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, with women and children particularly affected.

Amid growing fears of a wider war, the UN Security Council held an emergency session on Friday after Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut and in the south left at least a dozen dead and more than 60 injured. The meeting came amid an upsurge in cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces and two days of terrorist attacks in Lebanon that used deadly explosions from wireless devices, killing at least 37 people and maiming or injuring more than 3,400.

A United Nations fact-finding mission warns that repression in Venezuela has worsened following flawed presidential elections on July 28, with Nicolás Maduro's government crushing all dissent in a bid to retain power "at any price." Tuesday's report comes as there is no end in sight to the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, with at least 7.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously renewed for another year an arms embargo on conflict parties in Sudan's Darfur region, where war between rival generals has intensified in recent months, exacerbating the world's largest humanitarian crisis. But human rights groups and UN experts say Wednesday's renewal of the embargo does not go far enough and should include all of Sudan.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that aid workers in the Gaza Strip continue to face daily threats to their safety and ongoing obstruction of their efforts to reach Palestinians in need of life-saving assistance. The warning comes after a UN convoy was stopped and surrounded by Israeli forces. Soldiers pointed their weapons directly at UN personnel in the convoy, live shots were fired, and vehicles were damaged.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk has strongly criticized politicians and some media outlets for scapegoating migrants, refugees, and minorities during election campaigns in countries such as Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Speaking at the opening of the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, Türk urged all voters to be vigilant and warned against "strongman" politicians.

The warring parties in Sudan have committed an appalling range of harrowing human rights violations and international crimes, including many that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, United Nations-appointed experts said on Friday. They called for the immediate deployment of an "independent and impartial force" with a mandate to protect civilians.

A local "humanitarian pause" allowed the launch of the emergency polio immunization campaign, with nearly 87,000 children vaccinated in central Gaza on the first day of the campaign on Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of young Palestinian children are on track to be vaccinated. Despite this, Israeli air and land bombardment continues throughout the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian deaths, injuries, maiming, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

According to media reports, around 200 people were killed and another 140 injured in an attack by the armed group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) in the Burkinabe town of Barsalogho over the weekend. The horrific assault comes as large parts of Burkina Faso are controlled by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and more than 1 million people are trapped in dozens of blockaded towns across the central Sahel country.

More than ten months into the Gaza war, civilians are crammed into an ever-shrinking space without adequate access to water, food, sanitation or health care. They are repeatedly uprooted by evacuation orders, which also disrupt the aid centers that are supposed to assist them. More than 88 percent of Gaza has been placed under evacuation orders or declared a "no-go zone" by Israeli security forces, confining up to 1.9 million internally displaced people (IDPs) to about 11 percent of the tiny territory.

August 25 marks the seventh anniversary of the start of a campaign of mass atrocities by Myanmar's security forces in Rakhine State, which forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to seek refuge in Bangladesh. UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Friday expressed grave concern about the sharply deteriorating situation across Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine, where hundreds of civilians - mostly Rohingya - have reportedly been killed while trying to flee ongoing fighting.

Myanmar's Rohingya ethnic minority, victims of a brutal campaign of mass atrocities and persecution by the country's military in 2016 and 2017, is again facing a wave of deadly violence that raises the "specter of ethnic cleansing." This time, however, the perpetrators are said to be the Arakan Army (AA), one of several ethnic groups fighting the nation's ruling junta, as well as Myanmar's security forces, according to survivors and human rights groups.

As the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza passed the grim milestone of 40,000, United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk on Thursday called for an end to the killing "once and for all" and the release of all hostages. Meanwhile, international negotiators meet in Qatar on Friday to renew efforts to end the conflict and avert a wider war in the Middle East.

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar has strongly condemned the escalation of violence in the country, which has resulted in heavy civilian casualties. There are alarming reports of civilians being killed in recent days in Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, and Lashio town, northern Shan State, while trying to flee ongoing fighting.

The United Nations human rights office has condemned the increasing frequency of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) strikes on schools in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians have sought shelter, carried out "with apparent disregard for the high rate of civilian fatalities." The condemnation follows dozens of IDF attacks on schools-turned-shelters in July, and horrific early Saturday morning strikes that killed up to 100 people.

July saw the highest number of civilian casualties in Ukraine since October 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said on Friday. Coordinated attacks by Russian forces across Ukraine on July 8, which killed dozens of people in a single day, made last month exceptionally deadly.

Thousands of Palestinians have been arbitrarily and secretly detained, tortured and ill-treated by Israeli authorities since the October 7 attack by Palestinian armed groups that triggered Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, according to a report released Wednesday by the United Nations human rights office. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment continues throughout much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in increasing civilian deaths, maiming, injuries, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

Senior United Nations officials on Monday expressed alarm at the continued escalation of conflict in Myanmar, amid reports of the direct targeting of civilians in aerial bombardments and the abduction and forced recruitment of children by the Myanmar Armed Forces (MAF) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). Meanwhile, 18.6 million women, children and men in Myanmar are in need of humanitarian assistance - the fifth-largest number in the world.

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, has strongly condemned indiscriminate attacks in the town of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State. Local authorities reported that at least 97 civilians were killed or injured when a hospital, a cattle market and residential areas came under attack on Saturday.

United Nations officials warn that the Gaza Strip has descended into a state of anarchy, obstructing efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to millions of Palestinians in desperate conditions. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment from the air, land and sea continues to be reported throughout much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in increasing civilian deaths, maiming, injuries, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

More than 1.9 million people displaced throughout the Gaza Strip - 90 percent of the population - continue to face harrowing conditions, according to the United Nations, as Israeli evacuation orders continue and Israeli air, land and naval bombardment is reported throughout much of the Gaza Strip, causing further civilian deaths, displacement and destruction of homes and other civilian infrastructure.

United Nations officials say talks between Sudan's warring parties continued in Geneva on Friday, focusing on regional peace efforts as well as an immediate cessation of hostilities and a resolution of the more than 14-month conflict through dialogue. The development comes as fighting rages in many parts of the country, which has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with some 25 million people - half of Sudan's population - in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has condemned the widespread human rights violations and abuses committed on a massive scale and with impunity against migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in Libya. Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday, Türk also accused Libya's leaders of crushing political dissent in order to cling to power, leaving the country divided, and its people mired in crisis, poverty and misery.

A top United Nations official has expressed grave concern over the rapid expansion of the M23 armed group in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo), particularly in North Kivu province and its spillover into neighboring South Kivu province. Briefing the UN Security Council on Monday, Bintou Keita, the UN special envoy to the DRC, described the situation as "one of the most serious, complex and neglected humanitarian crises of our times."

A wave of deadly strikes hit several cities throughout Ukraine on Monday morning, killing and injuring scores of civilians, including children. Kyiv experienced several attacks, which impacted many residential homes. The children's hospital in the center of the city was severely damaged as children were being treated. Today's attacks also struck one of the country's main health facilities for women in Kyiv, as well as key energy infrastructure.

Thousands of refugees and migrants risking their lives on dangerous land routes across the African continent face extreme forms of violence, human rights abuses and exploitation, according to a report released Friday by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC). The organizations say the deaths of refugees and migrants in the Sahara Desert are believed to be twice as high as those at sea.

Israel's relentless bombardment from the air, land and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, causing further civilian deaths, injuries, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure. The United Nations has expressed grave concern over Israel's latest evacuation order for large parts of Khan Younis, which covers about one-third of the Gaza Strip and affects up to 250,000 civilians.

The latest analysis of acute food insecurity in the Gaza Strip concludes that as long as Israel's war on Gaza continues and humanitarian access is restricted by its military and political authorities, the risk of famine remains high throughout the territory. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on Gaza, released on Tuesday, paints a stark picture of ongoing hunger, finding that 96 percent of the population faces acute food insecurity at crisis level or worse, with nearly half a million people in catastrophic conditions.

United Nations officials have once again outlined the dire situation in Afghanistan, with more than 50 percent of the population - some 23.7 million people - in need of humanitarian assistance in 2024, the third-highest number of people in need in the world. Meanwhile, Afghanistan's de facto rulers, the Taliban, are touting a UN invitation to an international conference in Qatar later this month, which they see as a recognition of their government's growing global importance.

Independent investigators appointed by the United Nations have accused Sudan's warring parties of driving the country into a humanitarian abyss by flagrantly disregarding basic human rights and international humanitarian law. The three-member International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan presented its first oral update to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday.

United Nations human rights chief Voker Türk has expressed dismay at the extent to which warring parties in many settings have overstepped the bounds of what is acceptable and legal, "trampling human rights at their core." Moreover, data collected by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) shows that the number of civilian deaths in armed conflicts skyrocketed by 72 percent in 2023 compared to 2022.

In 2023, children living in situations of war and conflict experienced intolerable levels of violence, according to a new United Nations Secretary-General's report on children and armed conflict released this week. Children were recruited and used, including on the front lines, attacked in their homes, abducted on their way to school, their schools used for military purposes, their doctors targeted, and the horrific list goes on.

Israeli government and military authorities are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during military operations and attacks in Gaza since October 7, 2023, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a report released Wednesday. The Commission also found that Palestinian non-state armed groups are responsible for war crimes committed in Israel.

While negotiations for a comprehensive cease-fire and hostage deal in the Gaza Strip are reportedly underway between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas, a US-led proposal has not been officially accepted by either side. At the same time, the carnage and humanitarian catastrophe on the ground continues as the war entered its ninth month, with people dying across Gaza from Israeli attacks, starvation, or lack of basic resources.

Many of the hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa who seek protection, asylum or work in Europe each year are "at great risk of harm and death" because few protection services are available to help them on their perilous journeys, according to a report released this week by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The United Nations says more than one million Palestinians have fled the southernmost town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip as Israeli attacks there continue despite a binding order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to halt the offensive in Rafah immediately. Meanwhile, the Israeli government is torpedoing its own proposal to achieve a full and complete ceasefire in Gaza as part of a deal that would secure the release of all hostages, offer a roadmap to end the war, and rush desperately needed humanitarian aid throughout Gaza.

Violence against children in the central Sahel region increased sharply in the last quarter of 2023, surging by 70 percent compared to the previous three months, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Wednesday. The UN agency said that in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, cases of recruitment and use of children by armed groups, as well as killings and maiming, jumped by more than 130 percent between the two reporting periods.

Alarming reports are emerging of new atrocities being committed in a concerted campaign of violence and destruction by non-state armed groups and the Myanmar Armed Forces (MAF) against members of the Rohingya people in northern Rakhine State. Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced in recent days in relation to fighting in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships. Some 45,000 Rohingya have reportedly fled to areas near the border with Bangladesh.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on Friday that Israel must immediately halt its military offensive in the Rafah Governorate of the Gaza Strip and keep open the Rafah border crossing for the unimpeded delivery of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian aid at scale. The new interim measures come as the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the bombed and besieged Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate, with extremely limited aid reaching the besieged enclave.

Some 800,000 people have been forced to flee Gaza's southernmost town of Rafah since Israel launched a military operation in the area in early May, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Saturday, urging greater protection for civilians in Gaza, safe humanitarian access and a ceasefire.  The renewed appeal comes as virtually no aid has entered Gaza for more than ten days, and essentials such as fuel, food and water are in dangerously short supply.

United Nations humanitarian and human rights officials are calling on Russia to immediately cease its armed attacks in Ukraine, as the intensification of fighting in the northeast of the country in recent days is causing a surge in civilian casualties and displacement, and the destruction of critical infrastructure. They also urge an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and for the UN Security Council to seek an end to the war.

The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that more than 216,000 people were forcibly returned to Haiti in 2023, despite the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis, and despite repeated calls that Haitians should not be forcibly returned to the Caribbean nation. According to an IOM report released Monday, most of the Haitians were returned from the neighboring Dominican Republic - 96 percent - but also from the United States, Cuba, the Bahamas, Turkey, and Jamaica as well as Turks and Caicos.

In what they call an "unprecedented emergency," United Nations agencies are warning that humanitarian operations throughout the Gaza Strip will cease within hours or days unless Israel reopens border crossings and allows critical fuel supplies into the Palestinian territory. Virtually no aid has entered Gaza in the past five days, and essentials such as fuel, food and water are in dangerously short supply.