12/12/2014
The U.S. use of torture when interrogating prisoners captured in its “War on Terror” has damaged the country’s moral high ground and created a set-back in the global fight against the condemnable practice, a UN human rights expert declared. Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that governments must ramp up their efforts in eradicating the practice of torture and compensate the victims of this “most vicious of crimes.”
Juan Mendez, Special Rapporteur on Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas
“The example set by the United States on the use of torture has been a big draw-back in the fight against such practice in many other countries throughout the world,” Juan Mendez, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, on 11 December 2014 said in a news release*.
As a Special Rapporteur with a mandate to visit numerous countries across the globe, he added that now Member States were either implicitly or explicitly telling him “Why look at us? If the US tortures, why can’t we do it?”
“We have lost a little bit of the moral high ground,” he continued. “But it can be regained and it should be regained.”
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Posted in Asia, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords |
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12/12/2014
The more action that is taken today on climate change, the more likely countries will push for stronger agreements tomorrow, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 11 December 2014 told a high-level meeting at the UN Climate Change Conference, known also as the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20).
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) samples food prepared on fuel-efficient cook stoves at the UN Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru. Photo: UNFCCC
“The more we delay, the more we will pay,” warned Ban as he called on countries to deliver by closing tomorrow a draft text for the 2015 Agreement that provides a clear and solid foundation for negotiations to be held next year in France.*
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Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples |
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12/12/2014
Reconstruction efforts in Gaza continue as thousands of people will soon have access to building materials for urgent repairs to their homes following last summer’s conflict in the war-ravaged enclave, the UN special envoy in the region said. The UN estimates that over 100,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, affecting more than 600,000 people. Many people still lack access to the municipal water network, and blackouts of up to 18 hours per day are common.
Heavily damaged buildings in Gaza. Photo: UNRWA Archives/Shareef Sarhan
In a statement released on 11 December 2014, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, noted that more than 20,000 homeowners are expected to be able to procure construction material by the end of December for critical repairs ahead of an expectedly cold winter.*
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HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 