UN Watch

Iraqi Minorities Seek UN Emergency Session

• Videos of speakers at rally
• Photos from rally
• Audio from the press conference (Featuring Hillel Neuer, Executive Director, UN Watch; Breen Tahseen, son of head of Yazidi community; Ramzi Wahida, member of the Christian Iraqi community and Maryam Wahida, member of the Christian Iraqi community)

GENEVA, – At a rally in Geneva today, an international coalition of activists launched an appeal for the U.N. Human Rights Council to convene an emergency session on the plight of minority groups in Iraq, including the Yazidis and Christians.

MPs & human rights activists urge UN rights council to act against Iraq massacres

GENEVA, – A coalition of 22 MPs and human rights activists today launched a global campaign, spearheaded by the Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch, urging UN rights chief Navi Pillay to lead the call for an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council over the atrocities committed by the Islamic State in Iraq against Christians, Yazidis, Turkmen, and other minorities. (See text below.)

NGO: William Schabas must recuse himself from UN Gaza inquiry

GENEVA, — A Geneva-based human rights group called on William Schabas to recuse himself from the UN’s new Gaza inquiry, saying that he is legally disqualified by prior statements expressing his wish to see Prime Minister Netanyahu and former President Shimon Peres indicted before the International Criminal Court.

NGO urges UN to condemn ‘global epidemic’ of anti-Semitic incidents

GENEVA, – Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch today called on UN leaders to condemn what it called a “global epidemic” of anti-Semitic attacks, spiraling from Paris to Ankara, in wake of the Israeli army’s Gaza operation to stop rocket fire against its cities.

Rights Group Welcomes 'Landmark' UN Vote Creating Inquiry on Eritrea Abuses

GENEVA, – Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch welcomed the Human Rights Council's "landmark" creation of a commission of inquiry into human rights abuses in Eritrea, in a resolution that was adopted by consensus today at the 47-nation body.

The UN Mocks an Israeli Mother's Grief

UN Testimony: Mother of Kidnapped Israeli Teen Addresses Human Rights Council, Appeals for Help

GENEVA, – Invited by Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch, Rachel Frankel, the mother of 16-year-old Israeli-American kidnap victim Naftali Frankel, who was one of three boys abducted on June 12th, addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council this morning to appeal for international support of the boys' safe return. (See video of her speech. Transcript below).

Today: Mothers of 3 Kidnapped Israeli Teenagers to Appear at UN

GENEVA, – Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch is bringing Rachel Frankel, the mother of 16-year-old Israeli-American kidnap victim Naftali Frankel, who was one of three boys abducted on June 12th, to speak before the United Nations Human Rights Council later this morning, on June 24.

June 24: UN to Hear Appeal from Mother of Kidnapped Israeli-American Teenager Naftali Frankel

GENEVA, – Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch is bringing Rachel Frankel, the mother of 16-year-old Israeli-American kidnap victim Naftali Fraenkel, who was one of three boys abducted on June 12th, to speak before the United Nations Human Rights Council on June 24.

Clash at UN: Venezuela and Cuba Reps Heckle Dissidents Testifying at UN Human Rights Council

GENEVA, – Dissidents from Cuba and Venezuela testified at a UN panel yesterday about being subjected to arbitrary arrest, torture and other human rights abuses, sparking shouts and accusations from delegates of both governments, who sat in the corner of a packed Geneva hall huddled with allied delegates from Syria, North Korea and other dictatorships.

Today: UN to Hear from Venezuelan Protest Leaders, Cuban Dissidents

GENEVA, – For the first time ever, the UN will hear testimony from leaders of the Venezuela protest movement, as well as from the survivor of the suspicious car crash that killed legendary Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya.

UN to hear testimony of foul play in Cuban dissident's death

GENEVA,- As world figures continue to call for an independent investigation into the July 2012 car crash that killed Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch is bringing Angel Carromero -- the Spanish politician who drove the car that many allege was targeted by Cuban security agents -- to testify before diplomats, rights activists and journalists at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Upcoming UN Summit of Venezuelan Dissidents Raises Ire of Caracas

GENEVA, June 15, 2014 – The head of the Venezuelan parliament was one of several top Caracas officials to lash out at an upcoming gathering of Venezuelan dissidents at the United Nations Human Rights Council, where the government's violent repression of protests is expected to come under intense scrutiny.

UN rights chief must call urgent session on “serious, mortal threat” against civilians in Iraq

GENEVA, – UN rights chief Navi Pillay should mobilize world attention to protect imperiled Iraqi civilians by calling for an emergency session of the 47-member UN Human Rights Council, whose delegates are already assembled in Geneva for a regularly-scheduled meeting, said the non-governmental human rights group UN Watch in an appeal today.

UN Elects Cuba to Chair World Health Assembly Even as Cubans Lack Aspirin, Basic Health

GENEVA, – The Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch criticized the UN's election today of Cuba to chair the 67th World Health Assembly, with executive director Hillel Neuer saying the decision "wrongly hands a coveted propaganda victory to a dictatorship that imprisons journalists and brutalizes human rights defenders," and that it "enables Cuba to further perpetuate myths about a health system that is in fact crumbling, with desperate citizens reduced to asking tourists to bring them Aspirin and other basic medicines."

Iranian Dissident Wins Geneva Human Rights Prize

GENEVA, – Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch announced today that it will be awarding its prestigious annual human rights prize next week to Iranian dissident and best-selling author Marina Nemat, now living in Canada, who was jailed and tortured as a political prisoner in Tehran when she was only 16 years old.

Goldstone Report Co-Author Christine # Loses Bid for Palestine Post to Indonesian Diplomat

GENEVA -- UN Watch condemned the UN's "bizarre, nepotistic, and politically-driven" decision today to hand a top human rights post to the controversial wife and academic partner of discredited official Richard Falk, on the same day that he ended his own 6-year term as UN investigator of Israeli violations.

Nepotism: Discredited UN rights official Richard Falk to be replaced by controversial wife for 6-year term

GENEVA, -- U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power must speak out now to stop a controversial Turkish lawyer -- the wife and employee of discredited UN official Richard Falk -- from winning a top U.N. human rights post this Thursday, said UN Watch in a letter that was also sent to ambassadors from Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Romania and the UK, all of whom are voting members on the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and to Canada, an observer.

Iran sweeps coveted UN rights posts

GENEVA, - The United Nations today elected the Islamic Republic of Iran and more than a dozen other repressive regimes to top committees charged with protecting women's rights and with overseeing the work of human rights organizations, according to an exclusive report by UN Watch, a non-governmental Geneva-based human rights group.

Another outrageous UN appointment

GENEVA,— Bowing to new pressure from the powerful Arab Group in the race to replace controversial official Richard Falk, the president of the U.N. Human Rights Council has decided to ignore the vetting committee’s official choice, and instead appoint Christine # — co-author of the Goldstone Report, and a law professor at the London School of Economics – as the UN’s next special rapporteur on “Israel’s violations of the bases and principles of international law.”