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Hello, this is Michelle, bringing you our top stories from June. As international Geneva’s hectic agenda started to wind down before the summer break, human rights were at the centre of big UN gatherings.
At the International Labour Conference, the choice of Qatar to preside over the annual meeting, despite a dubious human rights record and being in the middle of a corruption probe, sparked controversy. The Human Rights Council also kicked off another stormy summer session underpinned by heightened geopolitical tensions – to the dismay of a Sudanese activist who says it’s thwarting efforts to address crises.
June was also filled with seismic activity for the Red Cross movement. The Swiss Red Cross was shaken by the sudden departure of its president, followed by an unrelated decision from the president of its parent organisation, the IFRC, to also step down amid controversy. The ICRC’s financial crisis continued to make headlines, prompting Swiss and Geneva authorities to come to the rescue. While all these crises remain internal, they have an impact on the ground – such is the case in Ukraine.
We also dug deeper into how UN institutions are responding to a crisis of a whole other nature – that of sexual abuse. We took the pulse of Syria peace talks after the opposition held a meeting in Geneva in an attempt to kick-start the stalled process. And with tech giants unveiling one disruptive product after another, we spoke to the UN’s human rights office about the implications this has for people worldwide. |
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Health workers wearing protective gear check on a patient isolated in a plastic cube at an Ebola treatment centre in Beni, Congo. Four days before the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak an international emergency after it spread to eastern Congo's biggest city, Goma, 13 July 2019. (Keystone/AP/Jerome Delay)
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Sara Ibrahim Abdelgalil, a Sudanese UK-based doctor and democracy activist, was in Geneva this week to speak about human rights abuses being committed as two rival generals fight for power in Sudan. (Geneva Solutions/Michelle Langrand)
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Here’s what else happened this month
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Protesters support the Rohingya outside the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, 10 December 2019. (Keystone/EPA/Sem Van Der Val)
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⚖️War crimes round-up.
“In Buenos Aires, Argentina, victims are seeking justice against the perpetrators of the atrocities that forced 750,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee Myanmar in 2017. Argentina's constitution provides for universal jurisdiction for international crimes, through which the judiciary was able to open its investigations in 2021. This case is a prime example of how vital this legal principle is: These atrocities are not being prosecuted in Myanmar, so victims of international crimes are turning to South America – confirming once again that Argentina is a pioneer of international justice, and reminding us that the exercise of universal jurisdiction is not solely a European-led practice.” – Alain Werner, director of Civitas Maxima
Civitas Maxima
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