Nine members of the UN Human Rights Council accused of violating human rights - Independent

Nine members of the UN Human Rights Council accused of violating human rights

A new report details violations against people in those working with the UN on human rights issues

Mythili Sampathkumar New York @MythiliSk 19 hours ago2

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is seen on a TV screen while addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Nine members of the Council have been found as human rights violators.

Twenty-nine countries are said to retaliate against citizens that help the United Nations with its human rights work in those countries, according to a new UN report.

In previous reports, an average of 15 countries were listed, and never more than 20. This is a record.

The Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) issued the eighth annual report about the condition of the people working with it to identify human rights violations around the world.

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It was reported to OHCHR that these people had been abducted, detained, held incommunicado, or had disappeared, according to Andrew Gilmour, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights.

Other victims lost their jobs, had their homes or offices raided, were targeted by travel bans and asset freezes, as well as being forced to undergo unwanted psychiatric “treatment.” Many cases involved arbitrary detention and torture, sometimes by sexual assault or rape.

Nine of the 29 countries listed are actually members of the Human Rights Council, a Geneva-based group made up of 47 UN member countries. These are Burundi, Egypt, Rwanda, Cuba, Venezuela, China, India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Mr Gilmour called the Council “abhorrent” for allowing these countries to serve in that capacity.

China and Saudi Arabia have been on the list six out of eight years.

"There is something grotesque and entirely contrary to the Charter and spirit of the United Nations, and particularly this Council, that people get punished, through intimidation and reprisals, for cooperating with the UN on human rights," he said.

None of the countries in question that were contacted for comment have responded as yet.

The report, though extensive, does not report on all incidents revealed to the OHCHR for confidentiality and safety reasons.

It also only covers people who were actively working with the UN and Mr Gilmour warned the report only “represent[ed] only a small portion of a far more generalised backlash against civil society.”

As Mr Gilmour noted, however, many of the offending countries “justified” actions against activists by labelling them as terrorists or threats to the state for cooperating with a foreign entity, even though that entity is the UN.

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"I think we should see these individuals as the canary in the coal-mine, bravely singing until they are silenced by this toxic backlash against people, rights and dignity – as a dark warning to us all."

The other 20 countries in the report were Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Honduras, Iran, Israel, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Burma, Oman, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

This week is the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting where 193 countries' leaders converge.

Donald Trump lavished praise on the health care system of Nambia during a speech at the United Nations. But there's one little problem -- there's no such country. - CNN News

(CNN)President Donald Trump lavished praise on the health care system of Nambia during a speech at the United Nations. But there's one little problem -- there's no such country.

"In Guinea and Nigeria, you fought a horrifying Ebola outbreak," Trump told African leaders gathered Wednesday. "Nambia's health system is increasingly self-sufficient."

Trump mentioned Nambia twice during the session attended by leaders of several nations, including Ghana, Namibia and Uganda.

Namibia has stunning sceneries such as this private reserve where visitors can see giraffes, baboons, and zebras.

Namibia has stunning sceneries such as this private reserve where visitors can see giraffes, baboons, and zebras.

The gaffe lit up social media, with many speculating whether he meant Namibia, Zambia or Gambia, all of which have names that sound similar.

The White House later clarified that Trump was talking about the southwestern African nation of Namibia. Namibia dodged the Ebola outbreak that killed thousands in Africa two years ago and affected several nations, including the United States.

At the time, Namibia revamped its health care system to ward off an Ebola outbreak and treat sudden infections.

The tiny nation of 2.5 million people is one of the world's biggest producers of uranium. It shares borders with Angola, Zambia, South Africa and Botswana.

Nambia aside, Trump also applauded the continent's economic progress during the speech.

Trump: My friends go to Africa to get rich

Trump: My friends go to Africa to get rich 00:53

"Africa has tremendous business potential," he said. "I have so many friends going to your countries, trying to get rich. I congratulate you. They're spending a lot of money."

Meanwhile, here are nine reasons to spend your money in Namibia.

Top Republican Lindsey Graham says he is working with Steve 'Darth Vader' Bannon on Obamacare repeal - Independent

Top Republican Lindsey Graham says he is working with Steve 'Darth Vader' Bannon on Obamacare repeal

Mr Bannon has made moves to attack the Republican establishment

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said Steve Bannon – who he referred to as “Darth Vader” – is helping him build support for his bill that would repeal Obamacare.

Mr Graham’s bill, which he drafted with fellow Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, has gained momentum over the past week, reviving a fight that many in Washington thought was over when an Obamacare repeal bill failed on the Senate floor in July.

Mr Graham’s measure, known as the Graham-Cassidy bill, would give states money in block grants to run their own healthcare programmes.

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“Me and Darth Vader are now talking to each other,” Mr Graham told Axios. “Steve and I have our differences. But he loves the idea of federalism. He said, ‘This is the best idea I've heard in years, maybe not coming from the best guy I've known in years.’”

After leaving his role last month as Donald Trump’s chief strategist, Mr Bannon returned to his perch at Breitbart News, a far-right media outlet.

On Tuesday, Breitbart published an article saying Rick Manning, the president of Americans for Limited Government, had urged the Senate in a statement to pass the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill as the “last best chance” to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Republicans have until the end of the month before procedural rules in the Senate make it more difficult for the party to dismantle former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

On the Senate floor, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the opportunity to repeal Obamacare “may well pass us by if we don’t act soon”, calling the Graham-Cassidy bill “an intriguing idea and one that has a great deal of support.”

Republicans assert that Obamacare, otherwise known as the Affordable Care Act, has destabilised the individual markets for health insurance and forced consumers to buy insurance they do not want or cannot afford.

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The Graham-Cassidy bill is expected to push millions off of their health insurance and weaken protections for people with pre-existing conditions, according to the progressive Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

While Mr Bannon may be helping Mr Graham, the ex-White House Chief Strategist has made moves to attack the Republican establishment and Mr McConnell.

“Darkness is good,” Mr Bannon said last year in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. “Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That's power. It only helps us when they (liberals) get it wrong. When they're blind to who we are and what we're doing.”

South Korea approves $8m aid package for North Korea - Guardian

South Korea approves $8m aid package for North Korea

Decision to release funds for humanitarian programmes for infants and pregnant women risks rift with US and Japan

Justin McCurry in Tokyo

Thursday 21 September 2017 17.23 AEST

South Korea has approved an $8m (£5.9m) aid package for North Korea, in a humanitarian gesture at odds with calls by Japan and the US for unwavering economic and diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang.

South Korea’s unification ministry agreed to provide the funds, which will go towards programmes for infants and pregnant women, days after the UN security council agreed a further round of sanctions in response to the regime’s recent nuclear test.

The ministry, which oversees cross-border relations, said humanitarian aid to impoverished North Korea should remain unaffected by rising political tensions on the peninsula.

The aid package did not include cash payments, the ministry said, and there was “realistically no possibility” that it could be of any use to the North Korean military.

South Korea’s unification minister, Cho Myung-gyon, said the government had “consistently said we would pursue humanitarian aid for North Korea in consideration of the poor conditions there among children and pregnant women”.

The decision is a break with the hardline policy on aid pursued by Seoul since the start of last year. It also risks causing a rift with the US and Japan, which regard engagement as a concession to North Korea, while it accelerates its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, reportedly asked the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, to reconsider the timing of the aid package in a recent telephone call. Japan’s government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said it could undermine international efforts to put pressure on North Korea.

About $4.5m of nutrition-rich supplies will be distributed to children and pregnant women through the UN World Food Programme. A further $3.5m will go to Unicef to fund vaccinations and treatments for diarrhoea, acute respiratory diseases and malnutrition, the unification ministry said.

The ministry said the timing of the shipments would be announced at a later date.

Unicef’s regional director for East Asia and the Pacific, Karin Hulshof, said North Korean children faced problems that were “all too real”.

“Today, we estimate that about 200,000 children are affected by acute malnutrition, heightening their risk of death and increasing rates of stunting,” Hulshof said. “Food and essential medicines and equipment to treat young children are in short supply.”

An estimated 18 million of North Korea’s 25 million people require assistance due to food shortages and malnutrition, according to the UN. The World Health Organization estimates the mortality rate among North Korean children aged five and under at 25 per 1,000, compared with three in every 1,000 in South Korea.

Moon’s conservative predecessor Park Geun-hye halted humanitarian aid to North Korea after the regime conducted a nuclear test in January 2016.

The decision to resume aid is unpopular among many South Koreans. Realmeter, a South Korean polling organisation, said the measure had dented Moon’s popularity, although his approval rating is still high at just over 65%.

Moon, Abe and Donald Trump are due to discuss the North Korean crisis on the sidelines of the UN general assembly later on Thursday.