Human Rights - Page 66

May 4, 2016

EXCLUSIVE: UN sex abuse scandal: Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announces new inquiry

Faced with a growing uproar over the United Nations’ handling of allegations of child sexual abuse by non-U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has suddenly scrambled to announce an “external, independent review” panel to examine that issue, along with “a broad range of systemic issues related to how the U.N. responds to serious information of this kind.”

May 4, 2016

UN’s anti-sex abuse policy for peacekeepers is in go-slow mode

EXCLUSIVE: Bureaucratic red tape, lack of funding and internal consultations mean the zero tolerance campaign touted by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to curb sexual abuse and exploitation by members of the U.N.’s  peacekeeping missions is proceeding very slowly, even though U.N. officials say the campaign is a “very high priority.”

May 4, 2016

UN paid Russian air charters hundreds of millions while Putin invaded Ukraine

In the 14 months since Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea and sent proxy fighters to invade eastern Ukraine, Russian companies have won more than $212 million in United Nations contracts to ferry troops, supplies and equipment -- on peacekeeping missions.

May 2, 2016

Key US senator ratchets up urgency on UN sex abuse scandal

Senator Bob Corker, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is wading  into the highly charged debate about United Nations peacekeepers and sexual abuse with fast-track  proposals to push back against a “culture of impunity” that the U.N.’s own experts have said still permeates the far-flung peacekeeper operations.

May 2, 2016

China dissident's wife rejects invite to State Department

Relatives of Chinese dissidents were set to meet Wednesday with the No. 2 U.S. diplomat as the Obama administration sought to demonstrate it won't gloss over human rights during this week's state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping.   

May 2, 2016

White House: Obama wants to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees in 2016

The White House says President Barack Obama has told advisers he wants to let 10,000 Syrian refugees into the U.S. in the coming budget year.

May 2, 2016

Malaysia gets better grade on human trafficking, but senators suspect political influence

Senators angered by the decision to upgrade Malaysia in the State Department's human trafficking report threatened a subpoena on Thursday unless they receive all communications related to the annual U.S. ranking of countries' efforts to combat modern-day slavery.

May 2, 2016

Iran launches trial for US journalist on ‘absurd’ charges, renewing nuke talk concerns

The closed trial for a Washington Post reporter held in Iran on widely challenged espionage charges began Tuesday, drawing condemnation from American journalists and raising new questions about the regime's reliability as a partner in ongoing nuclear talks with the Obama administration.

May 2, 2016

US accuses Syria of new chemical weapons use

Three U.S. diplomats stepped up pressure against the Syrian government on Friday by accusing it of continuing to use chemical arms against its opponents in the country's four-year civil war.

May 2, 2016

US senators urge Saudi Arabia to halt ‘barbaric’ flogging of blogger

A high-powered group of U.S. senators is demanding that Saudi Arabia cancel the "barbaric punishment" of a blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes for criticizing the country's clerics, saying the floggings are particularly troubling in the wake of terror attacks driven by "religious intolerance."