#ohchr

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Children in Botswana

© OHCHR

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Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds

GENEVA – Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the

[theinconvenientlifestyle]

ObjectivesThe thematic report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,

[lessergoodnow]

Attacks against human rights defenders and obliteration of civic space in Gaza unacceptable, says UN expert

Attacks against human rights defenders and obliteration of civic space in Gaza unacceptable, says UN expert

GENEVA – Ten months into Israel’s war on Gaza, following the heinous 7 October Hamas attacks, Israeli Defence Forces continue to intentional

16 September 2024

Israeli Defence Forces continue to intentionally starve and kill civilians, while human rights defenders face enormous challenges conducting their peaceful work, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor said today.

In recent months the oldest human rights organisation in Gaza, the Palestinian Human Rights Centre (PCHR), has seen staff members killed and its offices damaged beyond repair in air strikes and ground attacks by the Israeli Defence Forces.

“There is literally no place left for human rights defenders and civil society actors to continue documenting the litany of human rights violations to which Israel is subjecting the people of the Gaza Strip,” the Special Rapporteur said.

Two women lawyers from the PCHR were killed in February 2024. Nour Abu al-Nour died along with her two-year-old daughter, her parents, and four siblings in an air raid on her house in Rafah on 20 February 2024. Two days later, Dana Yaghi and 37 family members were wiped out in an Israeli air raid on a house to which they had relocated for safety in Deir el-Balah, 14 km south of Gaza City.

“It is a terrible tragedy that justice for these two women human rights defenders, their family members and their children, seems so far away. Human rights defenders keep hope alive for justice through their work but are becoming victims themselves. This is why Israeli authorities seem so intent on targeting and silencing them,” she said.

The PCHR headquarters in Gaza City and branch offices in Jabalya, Khan Younis, and Rafah have all been severely damaged in air raids and ground attacks, forcing staff to relocate and rent office space and logistical support at skyrocketing prices, while some international funding has been suspended. They have also been subjected to a vitriolic online smear campaign by the Israeli group, NGO Monitor, which has falsely accused PCHR of being linked to terrorists.

“Human rights defenders have told me that they will continue their work despite this online defamation, which is targeted at drying up their international support and intimidating them,” Lawlor said.

“This organisation continues to bear witness, document and record gross human rights violations and war crimes. Many Palestinians have spoken to them on condition of anonymity. Such is their fear of Israeli repercussions if they are to be publicly identified.”

Recent media reports have highlighted Israeli surveillance of PCHR, and other Palestinian human rights organisations, including Al-Haq and Addameer in the Occupied West Bank, for much of the past decade, in relation to information they were submitting on Israeli human rights violations to the International Criminal Court.

“I repeat my call for human rights defenders to be recognised as essential in times of armed conflict, and to be protected. As independent observers, lawyers and researchers, they document and preserve evidence of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and ensure the possibility of accountability and justice,” Lawlor said.

The physical integrity of Human Rights Defenders should be protected against attacks and harassment, unlawful killings should be promptly and independently investigated in accordance with international law, and measures adopted to protect them against future serious violations, she said.

The expert has previously raised these concerns with authorities in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territory.

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Israel rejects UN allegations of unlawful killings in Gaza, denounces claims as 'blood libel'

by Mike Wagenheim

According to the IDF, there is no record of any operation or incident in the Al Remal neighborhood in Gaza City that aligns with the OHCHR's assertions

Israel has firmly rejected allegations made by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which claimed that it has information that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were responsible for the killing of at least 11 unarmed Palestinian men in Gaza City. 

The OHCHR report, titled "Unlawful Killings in Gaza City," raised concerns about the possible commission of war crimes and urged Israel to conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the allegations.

The IDF promptly conducted its investigation into the claims and found no evidence to support the allegations. 

According to the IDF, there is no record of any operation or incident in the Al Remal neighborhood in Gaza City that aligns with the OHCHR's assertions. Israel strongly contends that the UN is basing its accusations on unverified and unsubstantiated claims made by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), terming it as "blood libel."

The Israeli mission to the UN said this accusation is an example of partisan and prejudiced approach by OHCHR when it comes to issues involving Israel. Additionally, the Israeli mission accused the UN agency of a concerning trend of publishing unverified information, calling into questio

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More than 100 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike on school

More than 100 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced people in the Daraj

Those "strong words" and "urging" and "condemnations" from Penny Wong, Albo, Starmer, David Lammy, et al. really showing Israel who's boss. Having a great effect.

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UK: Keep calm and respect diversity, says UN expert

Abusive rhetoric by politicians, the media and social commentators has trickled down to produce increasingly abusive and hateful speech against LGBT persons in the United Kingdom (UK), the UN independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity warned today.

“I am deeply concerned about increased bias-motivated incidents of harassment, threats, and violence against LGBT people, including a rampant surge in hate crimes in the UK,” said Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, who visited the UK from 24 April to 5 May 2023. “All of this is attributed – by a wide range of stakeholders – to the toxic nature of the public debate surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity,” he said.

Madrigal-Borloz warned that these developments could endanger very significant achievements, built over decades, to address violence and discrimination in the country.

In a statement after his 10-day visit to England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, Madrigal-Borloz lauded achievements in data gathering and said the UK was poised to take transformational public policy steps, on the basis of solid evidence. The data makes it possible to determine social exclusion against LGBT persons but, equally importantly, the manner in which factors such as race, ethnic background, and socio-economic status interact with sexual orientation and gender identity to exacerbate the risk of violence and discrimination, the UN expert said.

Madrigal-Borloz also noted significant work in the country through strategies, plans of action and public policies, which are in vibrant development in all four nations of the UK. He was also encouraged by the actions of national governments and civil services in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in relation to devolved competencies in health, education, housing, and employment. While acknowledging achievements in health and education, the UN expert expressed concern at the overrepresentation of LGBT persons in homelessness and relatively scarcer data in relation to employment. “Waiting lists for gender affirming treatment at the National Health Service continue to be years-long, and current initiatives risk erosion of achievements in comprehensive sex education,” he said.

The expert expressed grave concern about delays in long-promised legislation to ban practices of “conversion” of sexual orientation and gender identity. “The vicissitudes of this and other necessary public policies appear to be connected to political discourse concerning gender-diverse persons and refugees and asylum seekers, two areas in which recent State actions are cause for concern,” Madrigal-Borloz said.

He cited the example of the Illegal Migration Bill, and blanket policy decisions in relation to trans persons deprived of liberty. The expert also took issue with recent advice by the UK Equalities and Human Rights Commission to the UK Government that promoted the reduction in human rights protections for trans persons with legal recognition of their gender. “These actions were admittedly with the objective of withdrawing trans women from legal protections to which they are entitled under the Equality Act,” Madrigal Borloz said.

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(via Embodying Sufism: The Spiritual Culture of Third Gender (Khwaja Sira) Communities in Pakistan | South Asia@LSE)

Emphasising the mismatch between their visible bodies (HAZIR) and the invisible soul (RUH), they presented the khwaja sira as a feminine soul that was stuck in a masculine body. Sufism may be best described as Islamic mysticism or asceticism, which through belief and practice helps Muslims attain nearness to Allah by way of direct personal experience of God. A dominant position in these debates characterized khwaja siras as a biological category and following this characterization, the state institutions mandated with certifying their citizenship demanded medical examinations as proof of their third gender. One response to this discourse was to highlight its inherent discrimination, but some khwaja siras took an entirely different line of reasoning – they shifted the terrain of this debate to their soul.