World news summary: Deadly strikes in Ukraine, justice must be served for custodial deaths, FIFA calls to challenge Israeli clubs’ illegal behavior
The top U.N. aid coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, said attacks in the northeastern city killed or injured more than 190 people in September alone.
He continued: “One thought that comes to my mind is the mental trauma that people are suffering from these continuous strikes. “In September alone, there were 53 strikes in Kharkiv. That’s not normal. This should never be accepted as normal.”
Kherson strike
The development follows a deadly attack on a market in the city of Kherson on Tuesday that left scores of civilians dead and injured, and another attack a week ago on a hospital in Sumy, also in the south. northeastern Ukraine.
In a related development, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced that it has signed an agreement with the Zaporizhzhia municipality to support the school meal program.
The agreement means that for the remainder of the school year, the UN agency will provide meals to 14,000 students studying at 71 underground schools in the city.
Justice must be served for people of African descent who die in police custody
The United Nations human rights chief has stressed the importance of the families of people of African descent who have died in police custody seeing justice served.
Volker Türk made the call at Human Rights Council in Geneva in a debate about changes countries should make to prevent excessive use of force and other human rights abuses by law enforcement officials.
“Globally, the scourge of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” remains rampant, Türk said.
He demanded justice for the seven diaspora people whose deaths symbolize the need to reform the “institutional, structural and historical root causes of systemic racism.” , before naming Luana Barbosa dos Reis Santos, João Pedro Matos Pinto, Hanner García Palomino, Adama Traoré, Kevin Clarke, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
No end to discrimination
The UN human rights chief lists continuing racism and abuse globally, including in the Americas, where women and girls of African descent experience “profound disparities”. in accessing sexual and reproductive health services, leading to high maternal mortality rates.
In Australia, Mr Türk said young Australians in South Sudan had been subjected to racism, racial abuse in public and vilification by the media, while in Brazil, women of African descent had to face particularly high levels of gender-based violence and the killing of lesbians. , bisexual, transgender and intersex women.
In Europe, some African Muslim women wearing religious clothing have reported being targets of offensive gestures, verbal insults and physical attacks, the High Commissioner said, adding that in Libya , immigrant women and girls of African descent are at particular risk of abuse. violence.
UN experts called on the world football body to respect international law regarding violations in Israel
The United Nations’ independent experts are calling world football’s governing body – or soccer – FIFA, to demand that Israeli football clubs respect international law and their conduct regarding the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
According to seven experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, this call was made when many teams in the Israel Football Association (IFA) demonstrated racist behavior towards people and players. Palestine in recent years.
Experts say that this “behavior” needs to be acknowledged in the context of Israel’s “illegal presence” in Palestine. They explained that these actions “seriously violate international law” on the basis International Court of Justicebelong to (ICJ) advisory opinion issued on July 19 this year.
“Legally, this is an act of aggression and violation Jus ad bellum. These are serious violations [Fourth Geneva] convention and committed many crimes according to the provisions of Rome Statute”, experts said.
‘Standards that cannot be violated’
UN experts called on FIFA’s ruling council to consider the matter at a meeting to be held in October “to ensure that its decisions are in accordance with the inviolable rules of law”. international law”.
They said: “We remind FIFA that international human rights law, including the right to self-determination as well as the prohibition of racism and apartheid, applies to private international organizations, in particular organizations with global authority and mandate such as this one.” .
Experts say that the football association must ensure that human rights are respected and that self-regulation in sports does not harm said rights.
They also asked FIFA to establish and promote zero-tolerance policies that prohibit discrimination and racism against Palestinians by clubs and players in Israel.
The independent special rapporteur and working group members are not employees of the United Nations, do not receive a salary for their work and do not represent any government or organization.
