GENEVA – On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, a group of 31 specialists – including Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai – from the largest body of independent experts in the United Nations Human Rights system called on all Governments to promote and protect the rights to freedom of expression and information, freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of association and public participation, essential for the full realization of all human rights for all and for the achievement of related development goals: “States must develop more inclusive… Continue reading →
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai will participate in a roundtable discussion about the ongoing protests in Venezuela at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on April 11. The event will be streamed live online at http://ustre.am/1c1VG. Kiai, who is the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, will join Alfredo Millán, a Venezuelan student from MIT, and Juán Andrés Mejía, a Venezuelan activist currently at Harvard who is also a member of Venezuela’s… Continue reading →
Issue No. 3 of the Assembly and Association Briefing, the newsletter of Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. In this issue: • UN experts condemn mass death sentences in Egypt • UN rights experts express concern as Turkey bans Twitter and YouTube ahead of elections • China: UN experts deplore events leading to death of HRD Cao Shunli, ask for full investigation • UN experts: Venezuela must account for arbitrary detentions and violence against protesters… Continue reading →
GENEVA – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, today pressed the alarm bell on the further deterioration of the human rights situation in Rakhine State. “Recent developments in Rakhine State are the latest in a long history of discrimination and persecution against the Rohingya community which could amount to crimes against humanity.” He warned that the evacuation of aid workers, following the recent attacks on UN and NGO premises in Sittwe, “will only increase the vulnerability… Continue reading →
GENEVA – A group of eight United Nations human rights experts*, including Maina Kiai, today urged the Egyptian authorities to quash the 529 death sentences announced in Egypt last week and give the defendants new and fair trials, so as to ensure respect of international human rights law. “The right to life is a fundamental right, not a toy to be played with. If the death penalty is to be used at all in countries which have not abolished it, international law requires the most stringent respect of a number of fundamental standards,” the experts… Continue reading →
