MICHELLE BACHELET

The U_N_ human rights chief says if insecurity in Burkina Faso keeps up, the West African country could spiral into a humanitarian and human rights “catastrophe.”.

The United Nation’s top human rights official has condemned actions by military leaders following a coup in Sudan and says that excessive use of force by security forces has left at least 13 people dead and more than 300 injured.

U.N. says atrocities in "reckless" war between Ethiopian government and Tigrayan rebels "may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity," as the U.S. urges citizens to pack their bags.

The U.N. human rights chief says Ethiopia’s yearlong war has been marked by “extreme brutality" as a joint investigation into alleged atrocities faults all sides for committing abuses.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said Glasgow "is not the end of the road" and countries must keep raising their targets over the coming years.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said Glasgow "is not the end of the road" and countries must keep raising their targets over the coming years.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said Glasgow "is not the end of the road" and countries must keep raising their targets over the coming years.

Countries participating in an upcoming climate summit in Scotland are being called on to fulfill their Paris Accord pledges.

Countries participating in an upcoming climate summit in Scotland are being called on to fulfill their Paris Accord pledges.

Countries participating in an upcoming climate summit in Scotland are being called on to fulfill their Paris Accord pledges.

The U.N.‘s top human rights official and U.S. President Joe Biden’s envoy to this year’s climate summit called Thursday for countries to step up the fight against global warming.

Warplanes attacked Turkey-backed opposition fighters in northern Syria on Sunday, killing and wounding about 20, an opposition war monitor and pro-government media said. The airstrike struck a position in an area near the town of Afrin. It came amid increasing tensions between government forces and insurgent groups who still have a stronghold in northwestern Syria, mainly in the province of Idlib.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has bracketed Myanmar with Afghanistan and Ethiopia as nations where peace and stability remain a distant dream.

The World Bank has dropped a popular report that ranked countries by how welcoming they are to businesses after allegations that it bowed to pressure from China and other governments.

A new report by the U.N. human rights office warns that artificial intelligence has the potential to facilitate "unprecedented level of surveillance across the globe by state and private actors."

The United Nations human rights chief on Monday said a highly awaited joint investigation into abuses in Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict was unable to deploy to the site of one of its deadliest attacks, the alleged massacre of several hundred people in the holy city of Axum. Michelle Bachelet told the U.N. Human Rights Council that deployments to eastern and central Tigray, where witnesses have accused Ethiopian and allied forces from neighboring Eritrea of some of the worst abuses of the 10-month war, “could not proceed.” The war saw a dramatic shift in late June when the Tigray forces retook much of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region and Ethiopian and allied forces withdrew.

The Pentagon says all flights of Afghan evacuees into the United States have been halted for another seven days.

Women are not to go to work until procedures are in place to ensure their safety, a spokesman says.

U.S. President Joe Biden says he will stick with his Aug. 31 deadline for finishing a U.S.-led evacuation of Americans, at-risk Afghans and others.

Tens of thousands have fled their homes in northern Afghanistan in recent days to escape fighting.

Human rights and press freedom activists are up in arms about a new report on NSO Group, the notorious Israeli hacker-for-hire company.

Cuban officials have rallied tens of thousands of supporters in the streets nearly a week after they were stunned by the most widespread protests in decades.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has asked his Southeast Asian counterparts to press for an end to violence in Myanmar, its return to a democratic path and the release of all political prisoners.

The U.N. human rights chief on Monday urged countries to “fully fund comprehensive processes" and take “a wide range of reparations measures” to address the legacies of slavery, colonial rule and racial discrimination. Michelle Bachelet presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council a landmark report launched after the killing of George Floyd in the United States and released last month. Bachelet told the council in Geneva that research “could not find a single example of a state that has comprehensively reckoned with its past or accounted for its impacts on the lives of people of African descent today," despite some attempts at seeking out the truth through apologies, litigation and memorialization.

The U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday praised the “incredible resilience” of Myanmar’s people in helping each other in the wake of a military takeover and violent crackdown, while calling on the international community to keep up pressure on the junta to halt violence and restore democracy. Michelle Bachelet said the rights situation in Myanmar has changed from a political crisis to a “multi-dimensional human rights catastrophe,” noting that nearly 900 people have been killed and 200,000 forced to flee their homes because of military raids.

The U.N. human rights chief on Thursday urged the Palestinian Authority to ensure the safety of protesters after security forces and supporters of President Mahmoud Abbas attacked demonstrators over the weekend. The protests erupted after an outspoken critic of the PA died shortly after his family says he was severely beaten by security forces who arrested him. The PA, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has grown increasingly autocratic and unpopular in recent years.

Two days after the sentencing of Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd, the U.N. Human Rights Council released a report, ordered last year in the wake of Floyd’s death, calling on countries to adopt a “transformative agenda” to fight systemic racism.

In a landmark report, the U.N.'s human rights chief said structural racism blocks access to jobs, healthcare, housing, education, and justice.

"There is today a momentous opportunity to achieve a turning point for racial equality and justice," the report from the U.N. human rights chief said.

The U.N. human rights chief is urging countries worldwide to do more to help end discrimination, violence and systemic racism against people of African descent and “make amends” to them — including through reparations.

The seaside condominium that collapsed in Florida this week was a true reflection of Miami’s international mix _ South American immigrants, Orthodox Jews, foreign retirees.

Nicaragua's arrests of opponents ahead of its November elections have spurred international condemnation and sanctions and may lead to tougher consequences.

A Beijing representative said that China was "seriously concerned by the violations of the rights of refugees and migrants" in countries like the US.

In recent weeks, authorities in Nicaragua have stepped up the persecution of President Daniel Ortega’s political rivals in particular.

Notable speakers include Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, and President of Ethiopia Sahle-Work Zewde.

Notable speakers include Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, and President of Ethiopia Sahle-Work Zewde.

The U.N. human rights chief is warning of a military buildup in parts of Myanmar and rising violence, with the army using heavy weapons against armed groups as well as civilian targets, including Christian churches. Michelle Bachelet said more than 108,000 people have fled their homes in eastern Kayah state in the last three weeks, and her office cited “credible reports” that security forces have shelled civilian homes and churches and blocked access for humanitarian aid. “Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, have a duty to protect civilians,” said Bachelet, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

Troops are patrolling the city of Cali after weeks of violent anti-government demonstrations.

The top U.N. human rights body has passed a resolution aimed to intensify scrutiny of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

Member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are calling on the U.N. Human Rights Council to set up a permanent commission to report on human rights violations in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. If passed, it would mark an unprecedented level of scrutiny authorized by the U.N.’s top human rights body. The proposal, formally presented late Tuesday, comes ahead of a special session of the Geneva-based council on Thursday to address “the grave human rights situation” in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Human rights groups and Western nations led by the United States, Britain and Germany are accusing China of massive crimes against the Uyghur minority and demanding unimpeded access for U.N. experts.

One hundred days since their takeover, Myanmar’s ruling generals maintain just the pretense of control over the country.

The guilty verdict in the trial over George Floyd's death was not just celebrated in America.

AdEthiopia continues to deny the Eritreans’ presence, even as senior officials with the interim Tigray government that Ethiopia appointed are increasingly outspoken about them. The Telegraph, citing witnesses, has reported one in Debre Abay. CNN, citing witnesses, has reported one in Dengelat. Even as it announced the limited media access, Ethiopia warned journalists to essentially behave themselves. An access map published this week by the U.N. humanitarian agency showed much of Tigray inaccessible beyond major roads and cities.

According to the U.N. report, at least 133 human rights defenders were murdered in Colombia in 2020, a 23% increase from 2019. The United Nations also registered 76 massacres across the country last year, which are defined as events in which three or more civilians are executed at once. AdThe report will be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. The United Nations urged Colombia’s government to increase its presence in these areas to protect civilians and bring down violence. Critics of his government have said that it has been slow at implementing some aspects of the peace deal, including the coca substitution projects.

Francisco Vera, 11, who is well-known in Colombia for his environmental campaigns and defense of children's rights, gives an interview in Villeta, Colombia, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021. The 11-year old activist who received a death threat over Twitter, says that he will continue to lead campaigns and urged other young people to use social media to support causes they believe in. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)VILLETA – A social media death threat aimed at an 11-year-old environmental activist has roused outrage in Colombia, a nation where attacks on social leaders are common and threats are taken seriously. Colombian officials said they are investigating the death threat against Francisco Vera and President Ivan Duque recently promised in a television appearance that his government would find “the bandits” behind the Twitter message. She said a town official suggested shutting down her son’s social media account, but she prefers to let him decide whether to stop campaigning.

Santana, who runs an organization that helps community leaders fleeing violence to settle in Bogota, is one of the thousands of activists assigned some sort of government protection. The Afro-Colombian community leader sometimes she uses a hat or a turban for disguise. Last year 120 community leaders were murdered in Colombia according to the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, up from 107 a year earlier. Now 46, he's spent half of his life promoting human rights and fighting against illegal mining and corruption in his province. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, recently urged the government to increase protection for activists in rural areas.

In this fragile refugee community on the edge of Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict, those who have fled nearly two months of deadly fighting continue to bring new accounts of horror. “So if I go to Tigray, they would pick up that I’m Amhara because Amhara is not a part of them. For Tewodros, the conflict has been one civilian casualty after another since shelling began in early November as he worked at a hospital in Humera. Ethiopia's prime minister often speaks of “medemer,” or national unity, Tewodros said, in a country with more than 80 ethnic groups. In this conflict that remains so much in the shadows, he now relies on strangers to know their fate.

Others say it was Tigrayan forces and their allies who were responsible. In Sudan, where nearly 50,000 people have fled, one ethnic Amhara refugee gave The Associated Press a similar account. “Anyone they found, they would kill,” Tesfaalem Germay, an ethnic Tigrayan who fled to Sudan with his family, said of Ethiopian and Amhara forces. But another refugee, Abebete Refe, told the AP that many ethnic Amhara like him who stayed behind were massacred by Tigrayan forces. In Mai-Kadra, witnesses told the visiting Ethiopian rights commission they saw police, militia and members of a Tigray youth group attack Amhara.

Protests in Belarus have continued for almost four months after President Alexander Lukashenko won his sixth term in office in an election the opposition says was rigged. Police in Minsk said they detained more than 300 people. The Viasna human rights group released the names of 215 people detained in Minsk and other cities, where rallies also took place. At least four journalists have been detained in Minsk and the western city of Grodno, according the Belarusian Association of Journalists. On Friday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement that the situation with human rights in Belarus is getting worse.

Riot police block Belarusian pensioners wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. (AP Photo)GENEVA – The United Nations' human rights chief lamented a deteriorating situation in Belarus and said Friday that reported beatings of protesters by security forces may in some cases amount to torture. Police have cracked down hard on the largely peaceful demonstrations, using stun grenades, tear gas and truncheons to disperse protesters. Thousands of people have been detained and many of them badly beaten since the protests began, human rights advocates say. Opposition leaders in Belarus have sought discussions with the government about a transfer of power or a new election, which Lukashenko has rejected.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's 72-hour ultimatum for the region's leaders to surrender ends on Wednesday. The diplomatic vacuum has brought Ethiopia, one of Africa’s most powerful and populous countries, to what Amnesty International calls “the brink of a deadly escalation” at the heart of the strategic Horn of Africa. I mean, our goal is a quick end to the conflict," Nagy told reporters late last week. In a rare intervention on an African issue, Trump told the State Department to suspend millions of dollars of aid to Ethiopia and asserted that Egypt would “blow up” the dam. But where Ethiopia will be by the time Biden takes office two months from now is unknown.

Ethnic Tigrayans arrested, in hiding or cut off from the world. Ethiopia’s deadly conflict is spilling beyond the country's northern Tigray region and turning identity into a mortal threat. Ethnic Tigrayans report being questioned and threatened. “It's not just me, several dozens of others have faced the same situation.” Other ethnic Tigrayans said they are being blocked from boarding flights. “I’m really afraid this might lead to ethnic attacks on Tigrayans,” said Mekonnen, who leads an association of ethnic Tigrayans.

GENEVA – The U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday urged India’s government to do more to protect human rights defenders, who have come under mounting pressure in recent months in the world’s largest democracy. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet's office pointed to three “problematic” laws in India that have variously tightened restrictions on non-governmental organizations and led to a crackdown on dissent. Critics say India under Modi has grown increasingly intolerant, with a crackdown on dissent unprecedented in scale. Leaders of Modi’s party have routinely labeled critics as “anti-nationals,” and the authorities have dealt with many rights advocates and activists with an iron fist. Rights groups have condemned the arrests as “illegal” and a “grave abuse of state power.”

(Manuel Elias/UN Photo via AP)JOHANNESBURG – In a diminished spotlight because of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading human rights defenders on Friday urged people in these fractured times to connect through politics — and vote, too. People must push back even in this socially distanced world, speakers said. U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet warned of a “crisis of governance” and a marginalization of voices that she said will only deepen grievances and harm all of society. “We are witnessing an erosion of public trust in institutions and traditional politics,” said Eamon Gilmore, the European Union’s special representative for human rights. As the global toll closed in on 1 million deaths, the U.K.’s minister for human rights, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, reminded listeners: “It’s only over when it’s over for all of us.”

At the same time, Duterte spotlighted Filipino health care workers' contribution to the virus fight at home and around the globe. Duterte, who took office in 2016, often lashes out at what he decries as international meddling in Philippine domestic affairs. Western governments and human rights groups see it as expressing justifiable alarm about an anti-drug crusade that has left more than 5,700 mostly poor suspects dead. Duterte has denied authorizing extrajudicial killings but has repeatedly and openly threatened drug dealers with death. “We firmly reject attempts to undermine” a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated most of China’s claims, Duterte said.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko gestures as he addresses a women's forum in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said late Thursday that he was putting the army on high alert and closing the country’s borders with Lithuania and Poland. But the national Border Guard Service said all border checkpoints remained open, though it said controls and inspections have been strengthened. A spokeswoman for the Polish Border Guard, Agnieszka Golias, said traffic at Poland's border with Belarus was as busy as usual. This week, Russia has sent 300 paratroopers for joint military drills with Belarusian soldiers near Brest on the border with Poland.

(BelTA Pool Photo via AP)GENEVA – A representative of Belarus, backed by Russia, China and Venezuela, tried and failed to limit speeches as the U.N.'s top human rights body held an urgent debate Friday on alleged rights violations by Belarusian authorities under President Alexander Lukashenko. Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, the Austrian ambassador in Geneva, allowed speakers who included Lukashenko's main election challenger to continue decrying a string of alleged rights violations in Belarus. “The council’s consideration of the recent events in Belarus is timely,” U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said in remarks delivered by her deputy. Council president Tichy-Fisslberger brushed off the appeal, and the former presidential candidate finished her statement. ___This reference corrects the spelling of the UN human rights chief’s surname on second reference.

The comments from Michelle Bachelet came in a catch-all speech to open the latest session of the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council on Monday. She also raised concerns about the human rights situation in Myanmar, Nicaragua and Venezuela, among other places on her agenda. Many see the law as Beijing’s boldest move yet to remove a legal firewall between the semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong and the mainland’s Communist Party system. “The Hong Kong authorities have consistently stated that the law is not intended to impact negatively on the peaceful exercise of human rights by Hong Kong residents,” said Bachelet. She said her office had documented 47 killings of human rights defenders in Colombia this year.

Seven human rights experts affiliated with the U.N. raised concerns over Hong Kong's national security law in a letter addressed to Chinese authorities, saying that the law infringed on certain fundamental rights. The security law makes secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities illegal, as well as foreign intervention in the citys internal affairs. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has insisted that it will help bring stability back to Hong Kong after months of unrest. The security law extends beyond Hong Kong, targeting anyone overseas who violates it, although it is not clear how it would be enforced. The letter follows the first in-depth appraisal of the Hong Kong security law from the U.N. human rights system, though officials including U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet have previously expressed concerns about it.

A heavy-handed focus on countering national security threats and illegal drugs has resulted in serious human rights violations in the Philippines, including killings and arbitrary detentions, as well as the vilification of dissent, a summary of the report said. It said many of the human rights concerns have become more acute in recent years.The report, requested by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, is based on nearly 900 submissions as well as government input, court and police records, and interviews with victims and witnesses. Unfortunately, the report has documented deep-seated impunity for serious human rights violations, and victims have been deprived of justice for the killings of their loved ones, said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. People who use or sell drugs do not lose their human rights, she said. The poll also stated that 73% said the number of illegal drug users had fallen since Duterte took office in mid-2016.

(AP Photo/Felipe Dana)ISLAMABAD Pakistan reported a record single-day spike in coronavirus-related deaths with 82 new fatalities and 4,688 cases that it says resulted from increased testing in the past 24 hours. ___HERES WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK: The pandemic has stranded merchant ship crews at sea for months There are no secrets in India's largest slum. The country registered 9,304 new cases in yet another record single-day spike in infections, raising its totals to 216,919 cases with 6,075 deaths, the Health Ministry reported Thursday. The coastal state of Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected, with 74,860 cases and 2,587 deaths. ___MEXICO CITY -- The coronavirus toll in Mexico has soared to a new daily high, with the health department reporting 1,092 deaths.

Costa Rica became the latest country to legalize same-sex marriage early Tuesday when a ruling from its supreme court went into effect ending the country's ban. (AP Photo/Carlos Gonzalez)SAN JOSE Costa Rica became the latest country to legalize same-sex marriage early Tuesday when a ruling from its supreme court went into effect ending the country's ban. Theirs was the first legal gay marriage in Costa Rica and it was streamed live on the internet. Costa Rica is the sixth country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, following most recently Ecuador, which allowed it last year. The Legislative Assembly did not act, so at midnight the law banning same-sex marriage was nullified.

Postelection violence causing turmoil in the South American nation of Bolivia could spin out of control if officials resort to the use of disproportionate force, the United Nations human rights chief said Saturday. Surviving protesters and family members of the victims blamed security services, but government officials said some demonstrators were also armed during clashes. I am really concerned that the situation in Bolivia could spin out of control, said Bachelet, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement. Morales stepped down under military pressure last Sunday and fled to Mexico, where he was granted political asylum. Morales has labeled her government illegitimate and called for national dialogue brokered by the United Nations or the Vatican.

The Hong Kong protests have reached Disney. The hashtag #BoycottMulan is trending worldwide after Mulan star Liu Yifei voiced support for the police crackdown in Hong Kong this week. Crystal Liu Yifei, the well-known Chinese-American actress starring in Disney's upcoming live-action Mulan remake, expressed support for the city's police on social media. "I support the Hong Kong police. RELATED CONTENT:'Mulan': Why There Isn't Any Singing in Trailer for Disney's Live-Action Remake'Mulan': Watch the 1st Trailer for Disney's Live-Action Remake!

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet is appalled at the conditions in which the United States is keeping detained migrants and refugees, including children, her office said in a statement on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump has made a hardline immigration stance a key issue of his presidency and 2020 re-election bid. In most of these cases, the migrants and refugees have embarked on perilous journeys with their children in search of protection and dignity and away from violence and hunger, Bachelet said. Detaining a child for even short periods under good conditions could have a serious impact on their health and development, she added. Border management... should not be based on narrow policies aimed only at detecting, detaining and expeditiously deporting irregular migrants, she said.

In the middle-class streets of Eastern Caracas, protesters gathered in large numbers at the call of opposition leader Juan Guaido. UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who oversaw the report, they said, had simply been following a script written by Washington. The OHCHR reportIssued one day earlier, the 16-page report has renewed longstanding criticisms of the embattled Maduro regime. It was created by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a group Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has repeatedly criticized as "biased." In 2018 alone, 5,287 Venezuelans were killed while "resisting authority," the report said, citing the Maduro administration's own figures.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (center) speaks at the Balcn del Pueblo of the Miraflores Government Palace on Jan. 23, 2019, in Caracas, Venezuela. CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) - A week before he died, a Venezuelan navy captain was arrested and accused of plotting to remove embattled President Nicolas Maduro from power. Rafael Ramon Acosta Arevalo's death Saturday remain a mystery in a country marred by political and humanitarian crises. In recent months, dozens of active and retired military officers have been detained by Venezuelan counterintelligence officers on treason charges. But Acosta is the first known military officer to die in custody amid allegations he was tortured.

UnitedHealth and one other Dow stock could be on the cusp of a...As the Dow closes in on records, just four stocks have been shut out of the rally. Some could be on the verge of a major breakout. Trading Nationread more

Obama sympathizes with Chile over “tough” World Cup loss Ahead of a meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, President Obama lauded the “incredible skill and talent” of the country’s men’s soccer team against a "very tough Brazilian team on their home turf.”