UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has filed a legal brief with the Iraqi High Tribunal arguing that international law prohibits the death sentence on former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan on grounds of breach of due process.
A statement issued by Arbour's office said, "The High Commissioner argues that the Court's imposition of the death sentence on Taha Yassin Ramadan would violate Iraq's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights." More
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has filed a legal brief with the Iraqi High Tribunal arguing that international law prohibits the death sentence on former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan on grounds of breach of due process.
A statement issued by Arbour's office said, "The High Commissioner argues that the Court's imposition of the death sentence on Taha Yassin Ramadan would violate Iraq's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights." More
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday that it is poor countries that will suffer the most from global warming.
In a message to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council in Nairobi, Ban said, "The world has reached a critical stage in its efforts to exercise responsible environmental stewardship...It is also becoming increasingly clear, in North and South alike, that there is an inextricable, mutually dependent relationship between environmental sustainability and economic development." More
A trial testing the effectiveness of microbicides in preventing HIV in women has been stopped, according to UN agencies. The trial was halted because of a higher number of infections among women taking the microbicide cellulose sulfate compared with those in the placebo group.
In a recently released statement, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said, "This is a disappointing and unexpected setback in the search for a safe and effective microbicide that can be used by women to protect themselves against HIV infection."
The statement also noted that while there is no present explanation for the higher rate of HIV transmission, "the need to continue research to find a user-controlled means of preventing HIV infection in women is urgent." More
Jessica Ogden, a Senior HIV/AIDS Specialist at the International Center for Research on Women, says that while this cessation is a setback, "it is vital that the search for new HIV prevention options continue...Women need to have an option that is practical and practicable in the context of their everyday lives, and microbicide science holds out much hope in this regard."
For more information on women and HIV/AIDS, go to the International Center for Research on Women.
For more information on microbicides, check out the Global Campaign for Microbicides, the Alliance for Microbicide Development, and the Global Microbicides Project.
Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner and anti-landmine campaigner, will lead a high-level UN team to investigate the human rights situation in Darfur.
The other mission members are United Nations Human Rights Council president and Mexican Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba; Mart Nutt, an Estonian Parliament Member and Member of the Council of Europe's European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance; Bertrand Ramcharan, the former Acting and Deputy UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Patrice Tonda, Gabon's Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Geneva; and Indonesian Ambassador Marakim Wibisono, President of the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights. More
Also see the Associated Press.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced the 10 finalists for one of five Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development (Seed) Awards yesterday.
Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, said, "As we meet in Davos and Nairobi to discuss scaling up sustainable solutions, the Seed Initiative is again offering inspiring examples of local level entrepreneurs in all parts of the world who are setting up new partnerships and using 'global/local' networks to address sustainable development challenges with a business-case approach."
The winners of the Seed Awards will be announced in May 2007. More