Human Rights

On Monday, the UAE tried 15 extremists charged with joining and financing the Syrian wing of al-Qaeda and a rebel group, the official WAM news agency reported. Eleven of the fifteen defendants, whose nationalities have not been disclosed, appeared at the preliminary hearing in the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi, WAM reported. It is not clear why the other …

Land Seizure, Settlement Construction, Forcible Displacement of Palestinians (Jerusalem) – Israel should immediately reverse its illegal appropriation of a large swath of land in the occupied West Bank south of Jerusalem, Human Rights Watch said today. The appropriation, announced on September 1, 2014, paves the way for substantial settlement construction near the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Transferring civilian settlers …

Ramallah, August 21, 2014—Israeli soldiers repeatedly used Ahmad Abu Raida, 17, as a human shield for five days while he was held hostage during Israel’s ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Ahmad, from Khuza’a, near the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, was just 16 years old when he was taken from his family on July 23. He was forced …

On Monday, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously agreed to quickly dispatch an emergency mission to Iraq to investigate atrocities committed by extremist group Islamic State (IS), as Baghdad warned that the country was “facing a terrorist monster”. The 47-member UN human rights wing of the UN accepted a resolution urging an investigation presented by Iraq and supported by over …

The United Nations on Friday said that there are now over three million Syrian refugees due to the civil war in Syria, as US President Barack Obama revealed that the US government has no strategy in place to tackle the advancing extremists. António Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in Geneva that Syria has become the “biggest …

A United Nations probe on Wednesday said that lashings, amputations, mock crucifixion and public executions are all regularly performed in extremist-controlled parts of Syria, and accused the Syrian government of using chemical agents on civilians repeatedly. “Executions in public spaces have become a common spectacle on Fridays” in Syrian territory controlled by extremist group Islamic State (IS), the independent Commission …

Former New York Supreme Court judge appointed to UN Gaza investigation committee Mary McGowan Davis, a former New York City judge, on Monday was appointed to the UN commission to investigate the Israeli offensive and the actions of Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, the UN’s Human Rights Council said. Lebanese-born British human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin was previously offered the …

The current war in Gaza has set off several takes on the Ice Bucket Challenge, with several Palestinians dumping buckets of debris over themselves and an Israeli dumping a bucket of manure. The ice bucket challenge has been spreading across the internet, with people filming themselves pouring buckets of ice water over their heads to raise awareness and funds for …

Over 191,000 people have been killed in Syria, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said on Friday before lashing out at “international paralysis” on the conflict in Syria. Pillay, who will end her six-year-stint as the UN’s humanitarian chief later this month, has called out global leaders for their lethargy on several conflicts worldwide. After admonishing the UN …

UN aid workers on Thursday called for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and warned that the violence is impeding with their ability to help the affected in the Palestinian enclave. Anne-Claire Dufay, the chief of UNICEF’s field office in Gaza, said that the renewed hostilities threatened the delivery of aid to several hundreds of thousands of children. “We urgently need …