By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley has announced that President Donald Trump will chair a Security Council meeting on Iran later this month to spotlight its “violations of international law” during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly. Haley who holds the Council’s rotating monthly presidency said, Trump will […]
Global Ban on Killer Robots Vital for Ensuring Human Control over Weapons of War
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – The widespread deployment of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) – commonly known as “killer robots” – capable of operating with minimal human oversight, is likely to transform the future battlefield, accelerating the pace of fighting and delegating many critical battle decisions to machines, the Arms Control Association (ACA) […]
Sri Lanka Takes Over Presidency of a Landmark Convention Calling for ‘A World Free of Cluster Munition’
By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) – Sri Lanka has taken over the Presidency of the landmark Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) ten years after it was adopted, at the end of the Eighth Meeting of States Parties (8MSP) in Geneva from September 3-5, 2018. CCM is a legally binding international treaty that prohibits all use, […]
UN, Member States, Funding Institutions Unite to Ensure Security and Development in the Lake Chad Region
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN (IDN) – More than 17 million people across north-eastern Nigeria and parts of Cameroon, Chad and Niger, comprising the Lake Chad region, are facing a complex crisis driven by extreme poverty, climate change and violent conflict compounded by the terrorist activities of Boko Haram, a jihadist militant organization. As a result, […]
Mauritius Approaches UN Court for Return of Diego Garcia
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – When colonial powers redrew borders in Africa and picked choice lands for themselves and less desirable land for everyone else, some of those deals remained through this century. Few were undone. A case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will decide if colonial deals […]
Kazakhstan Persistently Pursuing Peace and Security Agenda
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – Four months before Kazakhstan’s eventful two-year non-permanent membership of the Security Council comes to an end, the Central Asian Republic continues to make its presence felt in an organ of the United Nations, which has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. 2018 began […]
Indigenous Peoples in the Grip of ‘Criminalization’, Warns New UN Report
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA (IDN) – A new United Nations report warns that “in a wide variety of countries,” both physical violence and legal prosecution are used against Indigenous Peoples defending their rights and lands. They are “criminalized”. The report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, to the […]
UN Determined to Protect Civilians, Humanitarian Aid Workers
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Fifteen years ago, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Iraq’s capital Baghdad killed 22 humanitarian aid workers, including the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. The Brazilian United Nations diplomat had been working for the world body’s humanitarian and political […]
The Indigenous Peoples, TRIPS & Biodiversity Convention
By Victoria Tauli-Corpuz The writer is the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and a Member of the South Centre Board. She has served as chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2005-2010). Following are extensive extracts from her presentation at the International Conference on the TRIPS-CBD Linkage: Issues […]
Kudos and Criticism for New UN Human Rights Chief
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Moments after the UN General Assembly unanimously agreed on August 10 to appoint Chile’s former President Michelle Bachelet as the seventh UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Secretary-General António Guterres tweeted: “Ms. Bachelet is a pioneer, a visionary, a woman of principle, and a great human rights leader […]