Some governments ‘using’ Covid-19 to stifle dissent, UN human rights chief warns
16 May 2020 |
11:00 am
In an interview with FRANCE 24, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned that some governments were taking advantage of emergency powers imposed amid the Covid-19 crisis to stifle dissent. She also called for the response to the pandemic to be "driven by science-based facts", rather than politics or the economy.
Related
7 Nov 2021
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the army takeover was "not a coup" but just an adjustment to the democratic transition. The US and UN are calling for the return of the government.
9 Nov 2021
Top UN rights official Michelle Bachelet has slammed the military's violent repression following the October 25 coup. Sudan's prime minister is under house arrest.
8 Nov 2021
Photos on social media claim to show the skeleton of one of the murdered DR Congo human rights activist, Fidèle Bazana. The posts also claim that the skeleton was found in the property of a high-ranked police officer. False! These skeletons actually belong to archeological findings from last year.Also, fake photos of the Day of the Dead in Mexico emerge online. Find out more on this edition of Truth or Fake.
10 Nov 2021
The council's 15 member countries released the statement as Tigrayan rebels threatened to capture the capital, Addis Ababa, a year into the fighting. Twitter also has disabled the trends section on Ethiopia.
8 Nov 2021
COVID and conflicts have pushed the number of people facing food insecurity to 45 million, with Afghanistan fast becoming the "world's largest humanitarian crisis."
27 Nov 2021
Photos on social media claim to show the skeleton of a slain DR Congo human rights activist, Fidèle Bazana, who was assassinated in 2010. The posts also claim the remains were found at the property of a high-ranking police officer. But most of these skeletons are actually archaeological findings from 2019. Also, a fake photo of a Day of the Dead light show in Mexico emerges online. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.
14 Nov 2021
Authorities in Portugal have launched raids after a tipoff that Portuguese troops may have smuggled contraband from the Central Afridan Republic. The country has 180 UN peacekeepers stationed in the African nation.
14 Nov 2021
The UN's special adviser on genocide prevention, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, says the parties fighting in Ethiopia's war have few options but to negotiate.
11 Nov 2021
United Nations officials said staffers were rounded up by government authorities in raids targeting ethnic Tigrayans. Six have been arrested and released, while 16 others remain in custody.
14 Nov 2021
Stories of courage, specifically about women, are the theme of a special festival organised this weekend by Amnesty International in Paris. For three days, the curtain will go up on the 12th Cinema and Human Rights Festival. The event invites moviegoers and activists to watch a series of short and longer films and then debate their content. In Perspective, we spoke to coordinator Ievgeniia Sokova.
20 Nov 2021
Police have previously denied that the arrests are ethnically motivated. Almost 200 young children have starved to death in Tigray.
19 Nov 2021
On his first visit to Africa, US top envoy Antony Blinken has addressed Ethiopia's raging Tigray conflict, the terrorism threat in Africa and human rights concerns in Nigeria.
Latest
1 hour ago
Google uses unclear language and deceptive designs that trick users into agreeing to give up their data, EU watchdogs have said. The tech company has two other pending antitrust suits in the EU.
1 hour ago
Germany is on the path to legalizing recreational marijuana use. Safety and public health will be top priorities in the upcoming legislation, the health minister has said.
4 hours ago
Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.
4 hours ago
Authorities shut down internet and restricted gatherings in the western Indian town after a widely-circulated video showed two men slitting a tailor's throat. It comes amid widespread religious tensions in India.
4 hours ago
At the summit in Spain, leaders say they want to send a message to Russia, as NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says Moscow's war in Ukraine presents the "biggest challenge" in the alliance's history.
6 hours ago
Migration has become the major option of survival for many Nigerian youths. Many reasons have been argued to be the cause for youth migration abroad. One of such reasons is the extreme rate of poverty. And as poverty keeps biting hard on the population, Nigerians especially the youths tend to seek various creative means to go in search of greener pastures abroad. Guardian TV was out to speak with young Nigerians on why migration is an option.