detainees

A once busy street in Baghdad, Iraq.
UNAMI

Iraq: Put torture prevention laws into practice, urges Bachelet

3 August 2021
Human Rights

 Although laws in Iraq criminalize torture and set out procedural safeguards to prevent it, a new report released on Tuesday by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), makes clear that the practice continues in jails throughout the country. 

A family arrives in Afrin in northern Aleppo governorate in Syria after escaping conflict in rural Idlib. (file photo)
UNICEF/Ashawi

Traumatic waiting game for Syrians unsure of the fate of detained loved ones 

3 March 2021
Interviews

After 10 years of war in Syria, there are likely tens of thousands of detainees across the country, held by the Government and opposition groups – a traumatic waiting game for the families unsure of their fate. 

In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, rights investigator Hanny Megally from the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, explains what steps the international community is taking to try to resolve the situation – and what obstacles it still faces. 

Audio -
8'51"
Destroyed buildings in eastern Aleppo city, Syria.
OCHA/Halldorsson

Fate still unclear of ‘tens of thousands’ of civilian detainees in Syria 

1 March 2021
Human Rights

The fate of tens of thousands of civilians being held in Syria’s “notorious” prisons or detention centres is still unclear, 10 years after the country’s civil war began, UN investigators said on Monday. 

A prison cell. (file)
UNICEF/Rajat Madhok

DPR Korea: Impunity prevails in prisons, amid potential ‘crimes against humanity’ – Bachelet

2 February 2021
Human Rights

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) is gravely concerned by “credible accounts of forced labour” in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) prison system, according to a new report published on Tuesday. 

(FILE PHOTO) A cyclist in Wonsan City, in DPRK.
OCHA/David Ohana

Human rights report details ‘heartbreaking’ accounts of women detained in DPRK

28 July 2020
Human Rights

Women forcibly returned to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are subjected to torture, ill treatment, sexual abuse, and other violations, according to a report published on Tuesday by the UN Human Rights office.

In Idlib, Syria, a displaced woman sits on the floor outside the damaged school that she now lives in.
© UNOCHA

Security Council stalemate frustrates families of Syria’s missing detainees

23 July 2020
Peace and Security

Families of the more than 130,000 people believed to be detained and forcibly disappeared in Syria, are deeply frustrated by the Security Council’s failure to unite and make progress on the issue, the 15-member organ was told on Thursday.

Visiting time at Ngaragba Prison in Bangui, CAR during COVID-19 pandemic.
MINUSCA

Take ‘all appropriate public health measures’ to protect detainees from coronavirus, UN urges

13 May 2020
Human Rights

UN agency chiefs on Wednesday highlighted the heightened vulnerability to COVID-19 of detainees, and others in confinement, urging Governments to take “all appropriate public health measures” to keep them safe from the deadly disease. 

San Juan Comalapa in Guatemala has been called the “Florence of America” because of its rich history of art. (April 2018)
UN Women/Ryan Brown

Monday’s Daily Brief: Guterres on Bolivia and multilateralism, Syria and Iraq’s displaced, forest initiative, the healing arts

11 November 2019
Human Rights

A recap of Monday’s stories in brief: UN chief spotlights multilateralism at peace forum; Bolivian authorities must uphold safety of citizens; new programme to feed Kenya’s children; experts concerned for detained in Syria and Iraq; UN forest management project fights climate crisis; and, from Warhol to the Wiggles – the role of art in keeping you healthy.

Children sitting next to their tent at the Al-Meshqafah camp in Yemen. (26 February 2019)
© UNICEF/Saleh Baholis

News in Brief 30 September 2019

30 September 2019
News in Brief
  • Yemen prisoner release boosts hopes of peace at last for war-weary civilians 
  • First group of vulnerable refugees evacuated from Libya to Rwanda 
  • International Day recognizes pivotal role of multilingualism for peace  
Audio -
2'55"
Houses in Sana'a, Yemen, destroyed by airstrikes. (file)
OCHA/Charlotte Cans

Yemen prisoner release boosts hopes of peace at last for war-weary civilians

30 September 2019
Peace and Security

Hopes for a possible end to the war in Yemen grew slightly on Monday, following the news that nearly 300 detainees have been released as a gesture of goodwill by Houthi forces, pitted against the Government of Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.