Human Rights

THE HAGUE, June 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The international community bashed U.S. sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) officials, investigating possible war crimes by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The White House said, U.S. President, Donald Trump authorised economic sanctions against ICC officials “directly engaged with any effort to investigate or prosecute United States personnel, without the consent of the United States,” as well as, the expansion of visa restrictions against these officials and their family members.

LONDON, June 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) – More than 100 people were arrested, during Saturday’s far-right protests in London, which turned violent later and left six police officers injured, Scotland Yard said.

As of 21:00 BST (2000 GMT), at least 100 were arrested for offenses including violent disorder, assaulting police officers, possession of an offensive weapon, possession of class A drugs, being drunk and disorderly and breach of the peace, Scotland Yard said.

13 June 2020; MEMO: The UN human rights office said Friday it regrets a set of sanctions authorised by the administration of US President Donald Trump against International Criminal Court (ICC) officials who prosecute American troops, Anadolu Agency reports.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a video press briefing expressed the regret and impact the US measures may have on the investigations and trials underway in the ICC.

LONDON, June 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a wave of anti-racism protests across Britain had been “hijacked by extremists”, as fears mounted about clashes between activists and far-right groups.

In London, authorities boarded up several statues, including of World War II leader Winston Churchill, after previous damage and with further demonstrations planned.

Mayor Sadiq Khan said the monuments, as well as the Cenotaph war memorial, were being protected against the risk of “disorder, vandalism and violence”.

GENEVA, June 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — African countries called on the UN Human Rights Council to urgently debate racism and police brutality amid the unrest in the US and beyond over George Floyd’s death.

In a letter written on behalf of 54 African countries, Burkina Faso’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva asked the UN’s top rights body for an “urgent debate” on “racially inspired human rights violations, police brutality against people of African descent and the violence against the peaceful protests that call for these injustices to stop.”

NEW YORK, June 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The state of New York adopted a series of laws designed to put an end to police brutality against the African American community, a sign of the impact that nationwide protests over the George Floyd are having.

Governor Andrew Cuomo officially signed 10 laws that the two houses of the state legislature passed earlier in the week.

RAMALLAH, June 13 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian officials, on Friday, criticised the decision by U.S. President, Donald Trump, to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its judges.

“It is an absurd, aggressive and arrogant decision,” Mahmoud al-Habbash, the supreme judge of Palestine, said in a press statement.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Hamas movement, ruler of the Gaza Strip, said, “the decision reflects the logic of bullying that governs the behaviour of this administration and its hostility to all international laws and norms.”

Delhi; 13 June 2020 (UMMN): Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that a visa request was denied to United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) teams, a non-governmental advisory body to the US Congress, after its denouncement of the state of religious freedom in India under BJP government in Delhi.

12 June 2020; MEMO: US President Donald Trump has escalated hostilities against the International Criminal Court (ICC) by authorising new sanctions against prosecutors and officials of the intergovernmental organisation.

Trump signed an executive order to block ICC officials directly involved in investigating American troops and intelligence officials and those of allied nations.

12 June 2020; MEMO: Over a hundred jurists and law scholars from around the world, including scores from Israel, have said Israel’s plans to annex the occupied West Bank would “constitute a flagrant violation of bedrock rules of international law, and would also pose a serious threat to international stability in a volatile region.”