Cebo.org is a collegial approach to information sharing between ethics-based
organizations with NGO status at the United Nations. Please contact member parties regarding the
positions of their respective organizations on matters expressed in this online journal.
Posted 10:42 AM
by Mary
UN Human Rights High Commissioner: Investigations Must Go To Top Political Levels
Below are excerpts from an article released today by Reuters and published online at
alternet.org:GENEVA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. prosecutor's investigation into alleged criminal CIA interrogation techniques must go right to the top political level, the chief U.N. rights official said on Thursday.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, 67, in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters, urged European and other countries to resettle Guantanamo detainees so that President Barack Obama can close the U.S.-run prison in Cuba by year-end.
The U.S. Justice Department named a special prosecutor this week to investigate CIA interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States under then-President George W. Bush.
"Whenever people come under the jurisdiction of the United States, the United States has to be seen to be upholding the very high standards that they claim for their own citizens," Pillay told Reuters in her office overlooking Lake Geneva.
Any torture or death inflicted on suspects held by U.S. authorities in places including Bagram detention centre in Afghanistan should be part of this investigation, she said.
Asked whether it should go beyond establishing the criminal liability of CIA interrogators, Pillay replied: "That is international law on accountability -- that you do not stop at the foot soldiers, you go right up to the ultimate authority that is legally responsible."
"And these would include those who devised the policy, those who ordered it," said Pillay, a Tamil from South Africa.
She expected Washington to play a significant role in the U.N. Human Rights Council -- where it has taken up a seat for the first time.
But she said she was trying to overcome "regional bloc voting" in the 47-member forum where some states vote together to shield their friends from censure.
I commend the Obama administration for appointing a US representative to the Human Rights Council, signifying to the world that yes, America believes in, supports, and will defend the inborn right to human dignity of all peoples of the world.
Labels: torture, UNHRC
Posted 8:42 PM
by Mary
Geneva Conventions are obscure or ineffective-poll
Source:
Reuters By Olesya Dmitracova
LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Sixty years after the Geneva Conventions laid down laws to protect civilians during war, most people in violent countries either do not know they exist or say they do not work.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) published its poll on Thursday ahead of next week's 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions which bind 194 countries to basic humanitarian principles during armed conflict.
The four conventions deal with the treatment of wounded members of armed forces in the field and at sea, the treatment of prisoners of war and the protection of civilians.
"People in war-affected countries want to see better respect for and implementation of the law," the ICRC's director for international law, Philip Spoerri, said in a statement.
Less than half of 4,000 respondents -- in Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Georgia, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia and the Philippines -- knew such rules existed.
Half of those people who had heard of the Geneva Conventions believed they did limit civilian suffering in war.
Jakob Kellenberger, President of the Geneva-based ICRC, said earlier the conventions remain relevant, preventing humanitarian disasters from Darfur to Sri Lanka from turning out even worse, but they need to be updated to reflect the fact that most conflicts now take place inside states rather than between them. [ID:nL5558524]
Around 75 percent of the respondents said there should be limits to what combatants are allowed to do, with 10 percent saying there should be no such limits and the rest undecided.
The vast majority disapproved of attacks on enemy fighters in densely populated villages or towns where many civilians would likely be killed, and as many said attacks on health workers and ambulances are never acceptable. Virtually everyone agreed that all wounded or sick should have the right to health care during an armed conflict.
Labels: geneva conventions
Posted 10:05 AM
by Mary
Mary Robinson to be given
presidential medal of freedom by Obama.Mary Robinson was the first female President of Ireland (1990 - 1997) and a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997 - 2002), a post that required her to end her presidency four months early. Robinson served as a prominent member of the Irish Senate prior to her election as President. She continues to bring attention to international issues as Honorary President of Oxfam International, and Chairs the Board of Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI Alliance). Since 2002 she has been President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, based in New York, which is an organization she founded to make human rights the compass which charts a course for globalization that is fair, just and benefits all.
Also, Muhammed Yunus
Muhammad Yunus
Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a global leader in anti-poverty efforts, and has pioneered the use of "micro-loans" to provide credit to poor individuals without collateral. Dr. Yunus, an economist by training, founded the Grameen Bank in 1983 in his native Bangladesh to provide small, low-interest loans to the poor to help better their livelihood and communities. Despite its low interest rates and lending to poor individuals, Grameen Bank is sustainable and 98% percent of its loans are repaid - higher than other banking systems. It has spread its successful model throughout the world. Dr. Yunus received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work.
Also, Desmond Tutu and othesrs.
Labels: Mary Robinson, UNHCR
