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Hello, this is Michelle. The Human Rights Council kept us busy this past month as a cascade of top human rights experts addressed the UN body. We took the opportunity to speak to some of them on the sidelines about some of the world’s worst crises, from the civil war in Sudan to the planetary emergency. Some of the strongest condemnations came from experts accusing Israel of indiscriminately attacking Gazans while triggering a famine.
Behind the scenes, a crisis of a different nature has been shaking the UN from New York to Geneva – money. We investigated the ripple effects on its notoriously overwhelmed and yet underfunded human rights branch.
The war in Ukraine continued to dominate political dynamics, with elections in Russia seen as a continuation of Vladimir Putin’s attempt to rewrite history to his benefit while international investigations into war crimes in Ukraine drag their feet.
Not all news was completely void of hope. In South Sudan, a humanitarian group is turning to artificial intelligence to tackle deadly snakebites. |
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UN secretary general António Guterres and UN human rights high commissioner Volker Türk at the opening of the Human Rights Council 55th session in Geneva, 26 February 2024. (UN Photo/Elma Okic)
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🎯 UN rights expert on Israel-Gaza war: ‘Everyone has been deemed targetable’.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, has said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel has committed acts of genocide against Palestinians. In a damning report released on Monday, the law expert argues that the scale and nature of Israel’s assault on Gaza “reveal an intent to physically destroy Palestinians as a group”.
Michelle Langrand
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Here’s what else happened this month
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Andrew Clapham, author of War and professor of international law at the Geneva Graduate Institute. (Magali Dougados for Le Temps)
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The Gdeim Izik encampment, November 2010. (The Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara)
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🏛️ ‘A mix of hope, expectation and realism’:
Guatemala’s anti-graft figures see uphill battle for new leader. As pro-democracy leader Bernardo Arévalo begins a four-year term as Guatemala’s president, exiled anti-corruption figures Jordán Rodas and Juan Francisco Sandoval warn that corruption is still deeply entrenched in the country’s institutions.
Michelle Langrand
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Bitis is a genus of venomous vipers found in African countries including South Sudan. (Wikimedia/Julius Rückert)Bitis is a genus of venomous vipers found in African countries including South Sudan. (Wikimedia/Julius Rückert)
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