RightsBase

human rights news & views

UN seeks human rights experts

The United Nations wants to hear about people suited to the top human rights positions known as ‘Special Procedures mandate-holders’.  Also called Special Rapporteurs, Special Representatives or Independent Experts, or appointed to Working Groups, these leading experts investigate human rights violations and their causes. There are presently 13 country mandates concerned with the human rights […]

‘Intermediaries’ charged over Politkovskaya murder

A year after the assassination of esteemed Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, nine people have been charged with involvement in the murder. One of them is a lieutenant-colonel in Russia’s secret service.  It is alleged Pavel Ryaguzov gave Politkovskaya’s home address to another of the suspects, who in turn gave it to her killer.  The 48 […]

New trial over Munir murder

"Human rights in the sense of human solidarity has created a new universal and equal language going beyond racial, gender, ethnic or religious boundaries.  That is why we consider it a doorway to dialogue for people of all socio-economic groups and all ideologies." — Munir Said Thalib (1965-2004) Leading human rights defender Munir Said Thalib […]

Implementing the rights of the poor

In 1998 the UN created the post of Independent Expert on Extreme Poverty and floated the idea of a Declaration on human rights and extreme poverty.  In 2001 the Commission on Human Rights (now the Human Rights Council) decided to issue guiding principles on the implementation of existing human rights norms in the fight against […]