GENEVA: The European Union on Thursday won its battle at the UN Human Rights Council to create a new special rapporteur on Afghanistan, despite opposition from China, Russia and Pakistan.
The rapporteur will be responsible for monitoring the rights situation in the country following the Taliban takeover, and will make recommendations on improvements.
“This is an essential step to ensure continued monitoring, through a dedicated and independent expert, and to help prevent a further deterioration of the human rights situation in Afghanistan,” said Lotte Knudsen, the EU’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.
“The rights of women and girls are of particular concern to us. The actions of the Taliban directed against women and girls and the violation of their rights is highly worrying.”
The resolution creating the 12-month post was tabled with backing from the United States and the envoy appointed by the former Afghan government before the Taliban seized power.
It was comfortably adopted by the 47-member council, the United Nations’ top rights body.
Twenty-eight countries voted in favor, 14 abstained and five voted against, with Venezuela and Eritrea joining Pakistan, Russia and China.
Before the vote, Beijing’s representative said the resolution had “serious defects,” adding: “The US and its allies are the initiators of the Afghan problem” caused by their military intervention and occupation for 20 years.
During the council’s August 24 special session on Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover, some nations unsuccessfully tried to establish a mechanism to monitor the rights situation in the country.
Since taking power on August 15, the Taliban have tried to convince Afghans and the outside world that their regime will be less brutal than their 1996-2001 spell in control.
In recent weeks, the EU and UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet took up the cause again.
A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters they had tried to make the resolution as consensual as possible.
“The amount of support is as important as the message” that the world is watching Afghanistan, the diplomat said.
The rapporteur is charged with following the developing human rights situation in Afghanistan and making recommendations to improve it.
The expert will also be tasked with helping the country to fulfil its human rights obligations and “offer support and advice to civil society.”
The resolution also calls for an “immediate end to all human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law in Afghanistan.”
It also calls for respect for fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression.
The text condemns discrimination against women and girls, including forced marriages, and calls for an inclusive and representative government.
The rapporteur will submit a written report to the council within a year.
Amnesty International’s secretary general Agnes Callamard hoped it would be “a cornerstone in the quest for justice, truth and reparation for the people of Afghanistan,” given the gravity of the crisis engulfing the country.
John Fisher, the Geneva director of Human Rights Watch, said the rapporteur would bring “much-needed scrutiny to the rights crisis in Afghanistan” and “pave the way for a full investigative body to ensure that those responsible for violations and abuses are held to account.”
UN rights council creates Afghanistan rapporteur
https://arab.news/r837t
UN rights council creates Afghanistan rapporteur
- The rapporteur will be responsible for monitoring the rights situation in the country following the Taliban takeover, and will make recommendations on improvements
- “The actions of the Taliban directed against women and girls and the violation of their rights is highly worrying,” said the EU's ambassador to the UN in Geneva
Russia says Trump’s new weapons pledge a signal for Ukraine to abandon peace efforts
“It is obvious that the Kyiv regime consistently perceives such decisions by the collective West as a signal to continue the slaughter and abandon the peace process“
MOSCOW: US President Donald Trump’s decision to ramp up arms shipments to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Russia said on Thursday, vowing it would not accept the “blackmail” of Washington’s new sanctions ultimatum.
Trump announced a toughened stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine on Monday, setting a 50-day deadline for Moscow to reach a ceasefire or face sanctions. The US also promised more missiles and other weaponry for Kyiv.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, condemned the move.
“It is obvious that the Kyiv regime consistently perceives such decisions by the collective West as a signal to continue the slaughter and abandon the peace process,” Zakharova told a news briefing in Moscow.
Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine in February, 2022, has led to Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two, with the United States estimating that 1.2 million people have been injured or killed.
Moscow says it was forced to launch the war to protect itself from an expanding NATO. Ukraine and most Western governments call Russia’s war a colonial-style land grab.
Russian forces now control around one fifth of Ukrainian territory and are slowly but steadily advancing across a vast frontline, sustaining what the US believes are heavy losses along the way.
Trump, who has made ending the conflict a priority of his administration, is threatening “100 percent tariffs on Russia” and secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if Moscow does not agree to a ceasefire deal by his 50-day deadline.
“An unprecedented number of sanctions and restrictions have been imposed on our country and our international partners. There are so many of them that we view the threat of new sanctions as mundane,” Zakharova said.
“The language of ultimatums, blackmail, and threats is unacceptable to us. We will take all necessary steps to ensure the security and protect the interests of our country.”
’PROXY WAR’
Both Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Trump have repeatedly cautioned over the escalatory risks of the conflict, which they cast as a proxy war between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers.
US efforts to broker peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, however, have faced repeated setbacks.
Russia says it is ready to hold further talks, but has made it clear it wants all of the territory of four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own — terms which Ukraine say are unacceptable and would amount to a capitulation.
Moscow is also keen to revive its battered bilateral relationship with the United States if possible, though Trump’s latest moves on Ukraine have soured the atmosphere.
Trump said on Monday that he was “very unhappy” and “disappointed” with Putin and cast his decision to send more arms to Ukraine as intended to jolt Russia toward peace.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that Putin intends to keep fighting in Ukraine until the West engages on his terms for peace, unfazed by threats of tougher sanctions, and that his territorial demands may widen as Russian forces advance.
Earlier on Thursday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia had no plans to attack NATO or Europe. But he said it should respond and, if necessary, launch preemptive strikes if it believed the West was escalating what he cast as its full-scale war against Russia.
“We need to act accordingly. To respond in full. And if necessary, launch preemptive strikes,” Medvedev was quoted as saying.
The remarks by Medvedev, reported in full by the TASS state news agency, indicate that Moscow sees the confrontation with the West over Ukraine escalating after Trump’s latest decisions.
“What is happening today is a proxy war, but in essence it is a full-scale war (launches of Western missiles, satellite intelligence, etc.), sanctions packages, loud statements about the militarization of Europe,” Medvedev said, according to TASS.
Slovenia bars two far-right Israeli ministers
- Slovenian government accused the ministers of inciting “extreme violence and serious violations of the human rights of Palestinians” with “their genocidal statements”
LJUBLJANA: Slovenia announced on Thursday that it would ban two far-right Israeli ministers from entering in what authorities said was a first in the European Union.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will be declared “persona non grata,” the Slovenian government said in a statement, accusing them of inciting “extreme violence and serious violations of the human rights of Palestinians” with “their genocidal statements.”
In June, Australia, Canada, Britain, New Zealand and Norway imposed similar sanctions on Smotrich and Ben Gvir, key coalition partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Ben Gvir and Smotrich have drawn international criticism for their hard-line stance on the Gaza war and comments about settlements in the occupied West Bank, the other Palestinian territory.
Smotrich, who lives in a West Bank settlement, has supported the expansion of settlements and has called for the territory’s annexation.
“This is the first measure of this nature in the EU,” Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said of the ban.
On May 21, President Natasa Pirc Musar in an address to the European parliament urged the EU to take stronger action, condemning “the genocide” in Gaza.
Slovenia was in May among six European countries to say that they “firmly reject any demographic or territorial change in Gaza” after Israel announced plans to expand its military offensive in the Palestinian territory.
Last year, Slovenia announced it was recognizing a Palestinian state after Ireland, Norway and Spain, in moves partly fueled by condemnation of Israel’s bombing of Gaza after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Nearly 150 countries recognize a Palestinian state.
Russia jails major general for six years over fraud at military theme park
- Major General Vladimir Shesterov was detained last August for his role in the scheme at the Patriot Park
- The scandal at Patriot Park is one in a slew of criminal cases against former top officials
MOSCOW: A senior Russian Defense Ministry official was sentenced to six years in prison on Thursday after being found guilty of fraud and forgery in relation to an embezzlement scheme at a military theme park, the RIA state news agency reported.
Major General Vladimir Shesterov was detained last August for his role in the scheme at the Patriot Park, a war-themed tourist attraction outside Moscow. Two other men, including Pavel Popov, a former deputy defense minister, are also facing prosecution.
RIA, citing the investigation materials, said Shesterov and the ex-director of the park, Vyacheslav Akhmedov, who is also in custody, forged documents related to completed construction work at the park in the amount of some 26 million roubles ($332,000).
The scandal at Patriot Park is one in a slew of criminal cases against former top officials that have engulfed the Russian army in recent months.
Shesterov fully admitted guilt, but insisted he had not received any material benefit from the scheme.
“I am to blame, I don’t whitewash myself, I sincerely repent,” he said in court, according to RIA.
Akhmedov has also entered a guilty plea in his trial.
The case against Popov, the former deputy defense minister, is ongoing. RIA reported that Popov had instructed Shesterov and Akhmedov to build him a two-story house, a guest house with a sauna, and a two-story garage on land Popov owned in the Moscow region — with the Defense Ministry footing the bill.
Popov has previously denied wrongdoing. Reuters was unable to contact his lawyer on Thursday.
Patriot Park displays a vast collection of Russian and Soviet weaponry, and offers visitors the chance to clamber on tanks and take part in combat simulations. On its website, it also features a photo gallery of “heroes of the special military operation” — Russia’s official term for its war in Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia’s NCNP drives non-profit growth, global ties at World Expo
- NCNP hosted the panel session — The Future of Non-Profits — at the Saudi Pavilion
- The panel demonstrated the NCNP’s goal of activating the Kingdom’s SDGs through innovation, collaboration, and strategic partnerships
OSAKA: Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Non-Profit Sector (NCNP) is expanding at a rapid pace with the number of registered NPOs surpassing 5,700 last year.
In a bid to capitalize on the situation and position Saudi Arabia as a global leader in the sector, the NCNP brought together leading voices from the Kingdom’s non-profit organizations (NPOs) for a high-profile panel discussion and for a separate U-Table meeting at the World Expo in Osaka.
NCNP hosted the panel session — The Future of Non-Profits — at the Saudi Pavilion to highlight how the Kingdom has advanced the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through non-profit entities.
The panel demonstrated the NCNP’s goal of activating the Kingdom’s SDGs through innovation, collaboration, and strategic partnerships.
The panel featured HRH Princess Luluah Bint Nawaf Al Saud, President of the Board at Mawaddah Association for Family Stability (MAFS), Reem Abukhayal, Media and PR Manager of Alwaleed Philanthropies, and Dr. Abdullah AlMuhanna, Vice President of Sector Empowerment at National Developmental Housing Foundation (Sakan).
NCNP’s International Communication lead, Alaa Alghamdi addressed the successful models and initiatives led by Saudi NPOs and the challenges and opportunities in scaling impact through innovation, partnerships, and sustainability.
“We were very excited to highlight how NCNP is building a sustainable future through non-profit innovation during our informative panel discussion,” Mishari Alturaif, GM of Government Outsourcing at NCNP, said.
“The Future of Non-Profits discussion underscores the ambitious efforts that NCNP is putting into supporting innovation across the local and global non-profit sector through constructive dialogue and engagement.”
NCNP also hosted a U-Table meeting with leading Saudi and international NPO’s that introduced NCNP and its international collaboration goals.
Participants from the Saudi nonprofit sector included Bunyan Charity, the National Developmental Housing Foundation (Sakan), Saudi Food Bank, and Alwdad Orphanage Care.
The participants exchanged best practices in non-profit governance and public-civil partnerships and identified areas for future collaboration aligned with national priorities and SDGS.
They also discussed the importance of shifting the mindset in the non-profit sector from one that focuses on charity to one of development, allowing for social innovation and entrepreneurship to support economic growth.
“At the U-Table, we had the opportunity to learn about how NCNP is partnering globally to advance non-profit solutions for a better world, solutions that support economic growth and innovation,” Sadakazu Ikawa, co-founder and Executive Director at the Trust Based Philanthropy Japan and Manager at the AVPN.
“We look forward to working with NCNP to activate solutions that help achieve sustainable development worldwide.”
In Osaka, the NCNP team also met with the Japan Foundation to explore opportunities for collaboration with Japanese entities and to exchange international expertise and best practices in the non-profit sector.
Under NCNP’s leadership, Saudi Arabia’s non-profit ecosystem has expanded rapidly. The number of registered NPOs surpassed 5,700 last year, with over 6,000 fundraising licenses issued and more than 2,000 active civil associations. Volunteerism has surged from just under 23,000 in 2015 to 1.2 million in 2024.
Thirty government entities now contribute to non-profit development, showing their rising national importance. Thus, NCNP continues to serve as the Kingdom’s catalyst for non-profit growth, linking local action with global collaboration to unlock sustainable impact.
French court tries couple accused of plan to ‘sacrifice’ son
- The two music teachers were arrested in southern Spain in late 2023
- The couple, who hold “anti-system” and “mystical” beliefs, vehemently reject their charges
BORDEAUX: A French couple went on trial on Thursday accused of planning to “sacrifice” their five-year-old son in the Moroccan desert, accusations they have strongly denied.
The two music teachers were arrested in southern Spain in late 2023 as they were about to board a ferry to Morocco after buying a new four-wheel-drive and subletting their apartment near the French city of Bordeaux.
An alarmed relative had told French prosecutors that the father intended to “sacrifice” his son in the desert because he believed he was “possessed,” the investigation showed.
The father, Florian L., denies ever having said that, his lawyer Audrey Boussillon said.
“Never did he have the intention to harm his son in any way,” she added.
The couple, who hold “anti-system” and “mystical” beliefs, vehemently reject the charges of being part of a criminal gang and failing in their duties as parents, their defense team has said.
The attorney for the mother Marie L., Aurelie Filippi-Codaccioni, said the couple had been to Morocco two years earlier and had wanted to return for an undetermined period.
But Merlene Labadie, a lawyer representing the interests of the child, said the couple’s beliefs endangered their son, who spoke of the importance of “being cold, scared and removing the snake within us” when found.
He is now in the custody of his maternal grandparents, she said.
The trial is to last a single day and the verdict will likely be announced at a later date.
