Author Archives: JAMEY KEATEN

UN: Women migrants in Libya often face gang rape, abuse

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The "overwhelming majority" of women and older girls who passed through Libya as migrants reported being gang-raped by traffickers or having witnessed others taken away to be sexually abused, the United Nations said Thursday in a report based on hundreds of interviews.

Major powers report progress on new Syria constitution body

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The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed Tuesday to facilitate convening the first session of a committee to draft a new Syrian constitution early next year, saying they hoped it will lead to the launch of a "viable and lasting" peace process.

Countries detail plans after adopting UN migration accord

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Government envoys and advocacy groups worked Tuesday to flesh out and refine a migration policy blueprint adopted by most United Nations countries, while one of the supporting states said it wanted to "clarify" its position because of perceived ambiguities in the pact opposed by several member nations.

UN-led talks on Western Sahara end with plans to meet again

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The U.N. secretary-general's envoy for Western Sahara on Thursday wrapped up the first talks in six years over the future of the territory mostly controlled by Morocco, saying the sides have agreed to meet again early next year.

Top diplomats at UN meeting offer support for Afghanistan

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The Afghan president appealed for support for his reform efforts in a speech to top diplomats and other senior officials gathered at a U.N.-backed conference focusing on development, peace and security in the war-battered country.

In latest quirky Swiss poll, voters asked to save cow horns

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As a hollow cowbell echoes through a rolling, misty Swiss countryside, cattle herder Armin Capaul smiles and cracks wise about the feat he's pulled off: Using the country's system of direct democracy to force a vote on an issue dear to his life and livelihood — whether cows keep their horns.

UN rights body renews experts’ probe of Yemen crimes

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The U.N.'s top human rights body voted Friday to renew work by experts investigating alleged rights violations and crimes in war-torn Yemen, brushing aside the objections of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen's internationally recognized government itself.

UN rights body sets up new team to document Myanmar crimes

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The U.N.'s top human rights body agreed Thursday to set up a team to collect evidence of alleged crimes committed in Myanmar against Rohingya Muslims and others since 2011, information that one day could be used to prosecute suspected perpetrators.

Showdown looms as UN rights experts in Yemen hindered

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Saudi Arabia and allied states balked at efforts to renew work by U.N.-backed "eminent experts" investigating human rights violations in Yemen, setting up a possible diplomatic showdown with some Western countries over scrutiny of a 3-1/2-year war that has killed thousands of civilians and created the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Experts air new concerns about UN response to Myanmar crisis

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U.N.-backed investigators who examined a crackdown by Myanmar security forces that caused hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh issued a searing critique Tuesday of the United Nations' own response to the human rights crisis.

China, academics tout Beijing’s human rights record at UN

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Pro-Beijing scholars brought together by the Chinese government have briskly defended the country's human rights record as criticism grows over the mass internment of ethnic minority Muslim Uighurs in China's far west.

UN seeks ‘hope’ for war-torn Yemenis as peace talks resume

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The U.N. envoy for Yemen said Wednesday that he hopes Yemenis can draw a "flickering signal of hope" from peace talks set to resume after a two-year hiatus — a new bid to end a grueling war that has spawned the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

UN agency: Trips across Mediterranean fall, but risks rise

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The U.N. refugee agency says people smugglers are taking greater risks to ferry their human cargo toward Europe as Libya's coast guard intercepts more and more boats carrying migrants, increasing the likelihood that those on board may die during the Mediterranean journeys.

Experts: UAE, Saudis may have committed war crimes in Yemen

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Three experts working for the U.N.'s top human rights body say the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia may have been responsible for war crimes including rape, torture, disappearances and "deprivation of the right to life" during 3½ years of escalated fighting against rebels in Yemen.

UN rights chief warns UN could ‘collapse’ without change

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The outgoing U.N. human rights chief said Monday that the Security Council's five permanent members wield too much power at the United Nations, warning the imbalance must change to avert possible "collapse" of the world body "at great cost to the international community."