Pakistan on Wednesday failed to win a re-election to the United Nations' human rights body. The 193-member General Assembly voted here to elect 18 new members of the UN Human Rights Council.
The 193-member UN General Assembly on Thursday voted to adopt a draft resolution moved by the US to suspend Russia from the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) over allegations that Russian soldiers killed civilians while retreating from towns near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
The announcement came barely a day after the UNHRC condemned the Trump administration for its policy of separating children from the families at the US-Mexico border.
The 18 new members were elected by absolute majority through a secret ballot.
Sri Lanka on Wednesday stoutly opposed a United States sponsored resolution coming up against the country at the ongoing UN Human Rights Council, terming it as "unfair and unjust".
The UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has voiced concern over the arrest and detention of social activist Setalvad and called for her immediate release.
In a significant victory, India has been re-elected to the UN's main human rights body for the period of 2015-17, receiving the highest number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has appealed to the United Nations to intervene on behalf of religious minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh, citing human rights violations.
In May, 40 Rohingyas were blindfolded and flown to the Andaman and Nicobar islands and then thrown into the sea and made to swim to an island in Myanmar. And after the Pahalgam attack, at least 300 Muslims were 'pushed back' to Bangladesh from Assam.
India played a key role in making the Human Rights Council possible.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a tweet said the rights to peaceful assembly and expression should be protected both offline and online.
India on Wednesday hit out at Pakistan and the OIC for raising the Kashmir issue at the UN Human Rights Commission and said the grouping has 'helplessly' allowed itself to be held 'hostage' by Islamabad.
Some 40,000 Rohingyas have settled in India, and 16,000 of them have received refugee documentation, the UN estimates.
UN experts have voiced serious concerns regarding the ongoing abduction and forced religious conversion through marriage of women and girls from minority communities in Pakistan, highlighting that impunity is fuelling the practice.
China is mediating talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan to address their ongoing military conflict, following Pakistan's operation against terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan and UN reports questioning Pakistan's evidence of militant presence in Afghanistan.
India's report outlining its steps towards the promotion and protection of human rights will be taken up for review as part of a mechanism under which UN member States review the human rights performance of fellow States, on Thursday in Geneva, according to the ministry of external affairs.
The United Nations has said that the verdict against Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina on charges of crimes against humanity is an 'important moment' for the victims, but expressed regret over the imposition of the death penalty.
Indian-origin International Criminal Court judge Navanethem Pillay has been named the United Nations' new human rights chief, despite some initial opposition from the United States. Pillay, 67, who is from South Africa, will succeed Louise Arbour of Canada who completed her term on June 30.
The two men had been found guilty of crimes against the civilian population of the town of Dujail in 1982.
Human Rights Watch urges Sri Lanka to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the civil war, citing a UN report on sexual violence against Tamil civilians.
A top UN official has emphasised the critical role of women in India's development, highlighting that gender equality should be viewed as both a human right and a key factor in development effectiveness.
China's week-long mediation between Pakistan and Afghanistan concludes without a formal agreement, though Beijing claims progress in exploring solutions to resolve their differences.
A UN report highlights the lack of justice for Tamil civilians who experienced sexual violence during Sri Lanka's civil war, primarily by security forces.
Pakistan's military operation against the Afghan Taliban has reportedly resulted in significant casualties and destruction of infrastructure along the border, prompting calls for de-escalation from the UN.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has voiced concern over the violence in Bangladesh, including the lynching of a Hindu man. The UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk has also expressed concern over the killing of a protest leader.
Iran's men's national soccer team wore black armbands and held schoolbags as their anthem played ahead of a match in Turkey on Friday, in what a team official said was a protest over the killing of schoolgirls on the first day of the Iran war.
Every UN secretary-general has flagged the financial situation, but Antonio Guterres has issued the direst warning yet, calling it a 'race to bankruptcy and of imminent financial collapse, points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
AG Mukul Rohatgi led the Indian delegation at the UN Human Rights Council.
India strongly criticized Pakistan at the United Nations for misusing UN platforms to promote a divisive agenda by repeatedly raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
India was voted to have a one-year term.
Human rights and sports advocacy groups are urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reconsider reported plans for universal genetic sex testing for female athletes and a blanket ban on transgender and intersex competitors, warning of potential harm to gender equity in sports.
'Why he wasn't released, and why he had to die in custody?'
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Margaret Sekaggya met members of the local civil society and various human rights activists in Srinagar on Wednesday evening. Margaret arrived in Srinagar on Wednesday afternoon on a two day visit to Kashmir to 'asses the human rights situation in the Valley'. This is the first visit of the UN special rapporteur on human rights to Kashmir Valley after the outbreak of militant violence in 1990.
India on Wednesday slammed Switzerland's remarks on minorities at the Human Rights Council, urging the Swiss to focus on their own issues like racism, systematic discrimination, and xenophobia instead of lecturing India.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that he did not want lessons on human rights from outside, days after the UN Human Rights Council adopted a US-sponsored resolution censuring Colombo.
Swamy died at the Holy Family Hospital, where he was admitted on May 29, in Mumbai on Monday, a day after he suffered a cardiac arrest and was put on ventilator support.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined other senior United Nations officials in urging countries to refocus attention on human rights in the fight against terrorism, as experts began considering innovative ways to combat the global scourge.
Raising the issue of Balochistan for the first time before the United Nation, India on Wednesday accused Pakistan of widespread human rights violations there as well as in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances