• A Chance for South Africa to do the Right Thing for Syria
    Commentary
    Feb 2, 2012

    Will history repeat itself at the United Nations Security Council? The last time South Africa was called to vote on a resolution on Syria, on October 4 last year, it chose to abstain, along with India and Brazil.

  • Letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Regarding Contact between UN Representative Gambari and Sudanese President al-Bashir
    Letter
    Feb 1, 2012
  • Universal Periodic Review of Brazil
    Written statement
    Jan 5, 2012
    Brazil’s congress adopted a law on October 25, 2011expanding public access to government information, implementing a recommendation accepted by Brazil during the previous UPR cycle. However, other serious concerns addressed by the UPR recommendations –all of them being accepted by Brazil in 2008 – require further measures by the Dilma Rousseff administration. Faced with high levels of violent crime, some Brazilian police units throughout the country engage in abusive practices with impunity, instead of pursuing sound policing practices. Many Brazilian prisons and jails are severely overcrowded and experience high levels of violence. Torture is a chronic problem at certain detention centers and police stations in various states. There has also been little progress in prosecuting those responsible for atrocities committed by state agents during the military dictatorship period from 1964 to 1985.
  • United Nations: Landmark Report by High Commissioner for Human Rights on Discriminatory Laws and Practices and Acts of Violence Against Individuals Based on Their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
    Written statement
    Dec 20, 2011
    On December 15, 2011 the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council documenting discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. The report also shows how international human rights law can be used to end violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
  • Brazil and the Syrian People
    Commentary
    Dec 18, 2011

    With two weeks left in its two-year tenure on the UN Security Council, Brazil has a tremendous opportunity to make its vote count for the Syrian people. With Brazil’s support, the Security Council could overcome eight months of inaction and join the Arab League, Turkey, and dozens of other countries in applying real pressure on the Syrian government to end the bloodbath. 

  • Yemen: Spate of Killings Defy UN Order
    Press release
    Nov 25, 2011
    Yemeni troops appear to have unlawfully killed as many as 35 civilians in the city of Taizz since a United Nations Security Council resolution demanded on October 21, 2011 that Yemen stop attacks on civilians.
  • Indonesia: UPR Submission November 2011
    Written statement
    Nov 22, 2011

     

    Although Indonesia has made great strides in consolidating a stable, democratic government with a strong civil society and independent media since the previous UPR in 2008, serious human rights concerns remain. While senior officials pay lip service to protecting human rights, they seem unwilling to take the steps necessary to ensure compliance by the security forces with international human rights and to appropriately punish those responsible for abuses. Violence by various groups continued to rack the provinces of Papua and West Papua, with few effective police investigations to hold the perpetrators accountable.

  • Syria: UN General Assembly Should Condemn the Violence
    Letter
    Nov 21, 2011

    On November 17 a large and diverse group of countries, including many from the Middle East and North Africa, tabled in the Third Committee of the General Assembly a resolution condemning the systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities. The text calls for an end to the widespread abuses by the Syrian security apparatus and for the implementation of the plan of action of the Arab League, as well as cooperation with the UN commission of inquiry. The undersigned civil society groups urge UN member states to support this resolution and demonstrate that the world will not simply stand idle while ordinary Syrians are being killed, arbitrarily detained, and tortured. 

  • UN Security Council: Press for Cooperation with ICC
    Press release
    Nov 1, 2011
    Members of the United Nations Security Council should press for the arrest and surrender to the International Criminal Court (ICC) of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Sanussi by Libya or any state to which the two men might have fled. On November 2, 2011, the ICC prosecutor will brief the Security Council on his Libya investigation.
  • On Women’s Choices, South Africa Should Continue to Lead
    Commentary
    Oct 31, 2011
    The United Nations is not always known for clarity, but on October 24 it issued a report that is crystal clear. Women who need or choose to have abortions should not be punished by their governments. Women, the report affirmed, are entitled to information, family planning, and health services that constitute the human right to health.