Law and Crime Prevention

UNPOL police patrol in Timbuktu, in Northern Mali, in 2017, to secure the population of the city against terrorist threats and organized crime.
UN Photo/Harandane Dicko

UN-backed meeting of African States targets terrorism, violent extremism

2 August 2018
Africa

Regional security topped the agenda of a United Nations-backed joint summit on Central and West Africa searching, among other things, for a practical approach to fighting terrorism.

A village bank in Takeo province, Cambodia. Photo: Brett Matthews
Brett Matthews

Cambodia: Before crucial vote on Sunday, UN chief calls for ‘pluralistic political process’

27 July 2018
Asia Pacific

As Cambodians prepare to vote in general elections on Sunday, the United Nations Secretary-General issued a statement on Friday calling for “an inclusive and pluralistic political process” saying that it “remains essential for safeguarding the progress made by Cambodia in consolidating peace.”

Flag of Egypt
UN Photo/Loey Felipe

UN human rights experts urge Egypt to release jailed poet who penned hit protest song

26 July 2018
Middle East

Galal El Behairy has been held in detention since February after penning a song critical of Egypt’s policies, prompting United Nations human rights experts on Thursday to urge the government to release him immediately.

A 71-year-old Salvadorian refugee living in Mexico shows a picture of her daughter, who was murdered by a gang at the age of 27, before the family fled.
UNHCR/Daniele Volpe

UN chief welcomes new push by El Salvador’s political parties to begin fresh dialogue

19 July 2018
Americas

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the decision announced on Wednesday by El Salvador’s political parties to set up a new “negotiating framework”.

Prof. Yuji Iwasawa (center) is one of the five new members of the International Court of Justice, elected by the General Assembly on 22 June 2018.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Japanese law professor elected new judge at the International Court of Justice

22 June 2018
Global

An international law professor from Japan has been elected to serve with the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, following the resignation of a sitting judge, earlier this month.

Former Congolese Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo. (file)
Photo: ICC-CPI

ICC Appeals Chamber acquits former Congolese Vice President Bemba from war crimes charges

8 June 2018
Africa

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC), on Friday, decided to acquit Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, former Vice President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and head of a rebel group in the country, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Migrants lie on mattresses inside a detention centre, located in Libya. (file)
UNICEF/Alessio Romenzi

As Security Council imposes sanctions on six human traffickers in Libya, UN chief calls for more accountability

8 June 2018
Africa

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has called for more accountability for human traffickers in Libya, after the UN Security Council on Thursday added six individuals accused of leading smuggling and trafficking networks in the country, to its Sanctions List.

Theodor Meron, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, briefs the Security Council.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

UN court fully assumes remaining functions of tribunals for Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, officials tell Security Council

6 June 2018
Global

Despite challenges and resource constraints, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals is operating without the support of its two predecessors – criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda – and has thus assumed the full scope of their residual functions, the legal body’s President told the Security Council on Wednesday.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development acknowledges the importance of sports for social progress as well as an important enabler of sustainable development.
UNIC Tokyo/Takashi Okano

Weeding corruption out of sport an investment in development: UN crime-fighting agency

5 June 2018
Global

Sports scandals, including allegations of endemic corruption and the involvement of organized crime, threaten to undermine the sector’s potential to contribute to peace and global development, a senior United Nations official said on Tuesday

A view of participants in a march for freedom and solidarity in Paris, held in the wake of the deadly terrorist assault on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. UNESCO/C. Darmouni

France: New terrorism laws may undercut human rights and freedoms, says UN expert

25 May 2018
Europe

While commending efforts by the French government to combat terrorism, a United Nations rights expert has raised concerns about the effect recent counter-terrorism laws are having on fundamental human rights there, including freedom of movement, religion and association.