rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights rings hollow to the millions of people around the world who have to struggle in extreme poverty, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today as he called for progress on human development to go hand in hand with advances in security and human rights.

The United Nations has often failed to live up to its responsibility to promote human rights, with the ongoing killing and displacement of civilians in Darfur only the latest example of how the world has not improved its act, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today as he urged Member States, organizations and individuals to make the protection of rights a reality in every country.

The members of the United Nations Human Rights Council must be careful to avoid becoming divided between developed and developing countries, Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned today as he urged them to embrace the universality of rights.

The United Nations Human Rights Council passed three resolutions and adopted seven decisions as it resumed its second session today, considering subjects ranging from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights to the integrity of judicial systems to access to water.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced the hope that the new United Nations Human Rights Council, a major reform he had sought, would broaden its work from just considering the Palestinian-Israeli issue so as to avoid the perception of unfairness.

Condemning Israel’s recent military activities in the northern Gaza Strip, including an attack at Beit Hanoun which resulted in 19 deaths, the United Nations Human Rights Council today called for urgent international action to end those incursions and voted to send a fact-finding mission to the region.

An independent United Nations human rights expert has expressed concern about reports of serious abuses, including murder, perpetrated by a paramilitary group taking place amid the Mexican Government’s efforts to regain control of the city Oaxaca where protestors have run parts of the city for the past five months.

Ukraine needs to substantially revamp its approach to protecting children or face serious negative consequences for future generations, an independent United Nations children’s rights expert said in a statement after a six-day visit at the month’s end.

United Nations experts urged the international community to act quickly to address serious and deteriorating human rights situations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Sudan, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Sri Lanka, with specific actions recommended in several instances.

Poverty and underdevelopment continue to exacerbate abuse, neglect and discrimination, in the process denying millions the enjoyment of their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, according to the United Nations top human rights official.