Violence erupts across more than 75 US cities on a sixth night of protests sparked by the death in police custody of African American George Floyd. In London, the UK Government delays the release of an official review of the impacts of COVID-19 on black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) Britons. At the end of April one of the UN’s …
At the end of April one of the UN’s most high-profile Special Rapporteurs, Philip Alston , finished his six-year mandate on extreme poverty and human rights . Over that time, he completed around a dozen country missions to places including Spain, Malaysia, Lao, Ghana, Saudi Arabia and China. Yet in many ways his tenure as Special Rapporteur was defined by two visits in particular: to the United States (December 2017). and …
Mayo 27 de 2020, Ginebra El ascenso de líderes populistas alrededor del mundo, con su particular marca Orwelliana de políticas post-verdad, ha sido una de las tendencias geopolíticas determinante de los últimos cinco años. Desde Trump hasta Orban, de Bolsonaro a Johnson, y de Erdogan a Modi, estos políticos parecen llevarse todo por delante. A pesar de esto, ¿quizás finalmente …
The rise of populist leaders around the world, with their particularly Orwellian brand of post-truth politics, has been one of the defining geopolitical trends of the past five years. From Trump to Orban, Bolsonaro to Johnson, and Erdogan to Modi, these politicians have seemed to carry all before them. Yet perhaps they have finally met their match in COVID-19? Although …
Back in February, during a preparatory meeting of the 2020 Glion Human Rights Dialogue at the Permanent Mission of Mexico , one of the most contentious discussion points was how – and indeed whether – States should manage the growing problem of ‘fake news,’ especially online. During the dialogue, a diplomat from South-East Asia presented her government’s pioneering efforts to address ‘fake news’ where it threatens public safety …
According to her son, Eleanor Roosevelt said the same prayer every night and closed with this wish: ‘save us from ourselves and show us a vision of a world made new.’ This prayer reminds me that in the midst of managing crisis we must also keep one eye on the better future we want to create. COVID-19 is both a …
miércoles 29 de abril de 2020, Bogotá En un reporte para el Consejo de Derechos Humanos tras su visita a Colombia en los últimos meses de 2018, el Relator Especial de la ONU sobre la situación de los defensores de derechos humanos Michel Forst, reconoce los esfuerzos del Gobierno de Colombia para crear un entorno seguro para la defensa de los …
Wednesday 29th April 2020, Bogota In a report to the Human Rights Council following his visit to Colombia at the tail-end of 2018, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst, recognised the efforts of the Colombian Government to create a safe environment for the defence of human rights yet bemoaned the continuing risks faced by human …
In a significant move for women’s rights in Sudan and the wider region, the country’s transitional government has outlawed the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The amendment to the criminal code that makes ‘whoever removed, mutilated the female genitalia by cutting, mutilating or modifying any natural part of it leading to the full or partial loss of its functions’ punishable …
Yesterday, beneath the radar of most diplomats at the UN, Facebook launched what is, in effect, a global first: a private sector-led human rights ‘Treaty Body’ designed to monitor its own compliance with international human rights standards. Specifically, the tech giant’s new ‘Oversight Board’ will review Facebook’s decisions about what content to ‘take down’ (because, for example, it constitutes ‘hate …
