Geneva II: Iran left out of first round of nations for UN Syria peace talks

While Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has began sending out invitations for the Geneva II talks on the Syrian conflict on Monday, a UN spokesman says that Iran is not among them.

However, the invitations to the talks are subject to approval by the “initiating states,” Russia and the United States.

The Independent has reported that the United States and Russia have not yet agreed on Iran's role in the talks. But the UN spokesman  says the United Nations hopes that can be resolved at a 13 January meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The US has objected to Iran's participation because it hasn't publicly endorsed the principles from an earlier peace conference that called for a transitional government in Syria, and is backing militias, including the Iranian-allied Lebanese Hezbollah group that has aided the troops of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

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UN's Top Human Rights Official calls upon USA for Guantanamo Closure in Wake of Hunger Strikes

The United Nations' top human rights official pressed the U.S. on Friday to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, strongly criticizing the indefinite detention of inmates at the facility.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said she is "deeply disappointed" Washington hasn't closed the facility. She urged all branches of the government to work together to shut it. She also added:

"The continuing indefinite incarceration of many of the detainees amounts to arbitrary detention and is in clear breach of international law."

It may be recalled that President Barack Obama pledged to shutter the prison soon after taking office, but Congress opposed it, passing a law that prohibits the government from transferring Guantanamo prisoners to U.S. soil and requiring security guarantees before they can be sent elsewhere.

Pillay said of a hunger strike currently being staged by detainees that "given the uncertainty and anxieties surrounding their prolonged and apparently indefinite detention in Guantanamo, it is scarcely surprising that people's frustrations boil over and they resort to such desperate measures."

Read more about it at: Huffington Post
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US Drone Strikes violate Pakistan's Sovereignty, UN Says

A loud uproar in Pakistan over US drone strikes has not only been overwhelmingly criticized all over the world including even the USA, but has also been finally heard by the UN and the head of a U.N. team investigating casualties from U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan declared after a secret research trip to the country that the attacks violate Pakistan's sovereignty.

Ben Emmerson, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, said the Pakistani government made clear to him that it does not consent to the strikes – a position that has been disputed by U.S. officials.

"The position of the government of Pakistan is quite clear," said Emmerson. "It does not consent to the use of drones by the United States on its territory and it considers this to be a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

It may be added that President Barack Obama has stepped up covert CIA drone strikes targeting al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border since he took office in 2009.

The strikes have caused growing controversy because of the secrecy surrounding them and claims that they have caused significant civilian casualties – allegations denied by the United States.

According to a U.N. statement that Emmerson emailed to The Associated Press on Friday, the Pakistani government told him it has confirmed at least 400 civilian deaths by U.S. drones on its territory. The statement was initially released on Thursday, following the investigator's three-day visit to Pakistan, which ended Wednesday. The visit was kept secret until Emmerson left.

Read more about it at: Huffington Post
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Canada recalls diplomats in protest after Palestinians win UN vote

Canada is temporarily recalling its heads of mission to Israel and the West Bank, along with its United Nations representatives in New York and Geneva, to protest the Palestinians' successful bid on Thursday for upgraded status in the UN.

Nine countries voted against the Palestinian Authority's bid to have its status in the UN upgraded to state recognition.(CBC)

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird pledged to "review the full range of its bilateral relationship" with the Palestinian Authority in the wake of the vote in New York City.

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Canada was one of nine countries, including the U.S. and Israel, to oppose upgrading the UN observer status of the Palestinian Authority from "entity" to "non-member state."

Read more about it at: CBC News
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Malala Day today: UN honours Pakistan teen girl activist

With the world commemorating November 10 as 'Malala Day' in honour of Pakistani child activist Malala Yousafzai, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon extended his support to the young girl and her fight for education, describing her as the "global symbol" of every girl's right to an education.

The courageous Pakistan teen girl Malala

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Special Envoy for Global Education, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said November 10, a month after Yousafzai was shot at by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education in Pakistan, has been declared Malala Day.

The day would be commemorated in support of the 14-year-old and the 32 million girls like her around the globe who are denied their right to school, Brown said.

In his message of support for Yousafzai and girls' education, Ban said, "Malala Yousafzai is a global symbol of every girl's right to an education".

Read more about Malala Day at NDTV

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Russia proposes diluted UN text on Syria attack in Turkey

Russia on Thursday blocked adoption of a draft U.N. statement condemning a deadly Syrian mortar attack on a Turkish town and proposed a weaker text calling for "restraint" on the border without referring to breaches of international law.

Western diplomats complained that Russia's proposed Security Council statement, if accepted, would weaken the message to an unacceptable degree.

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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was "alarmed by escalating tensions along the Syrian-Turkish border" and worried that the risk of a wider regional conflict was growing, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Syria, meanwhile, wrote to the Security Council calling for restraint.

Read more: Daily Star

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UN envoy in Burma amid Muslim crackdown

The United Nations expert on human rights in Burma has arrived in Myanmar, days after the UN voiced fears that efforts to end unrest in Rakhine state had turned into a crackdown on Muslims.

UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana flew into the main city of Rangoon late on Sunday for a visit set to include a trip to the restive western state as well as meetings with Burma's president and civil society.

It comes after a warning by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay that Muslim communities in Rakhine, particularly the Rohingya minority, were being targeted by security forces.

"We have been receiving a stream of reports from independent sources alleging discriminatory and arbitrary responses by security forces, and even their instigation of and involvement in clashes," she said in a statement on Friday.

Read more: The Herald Sun

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Drone strikes threaten 50 years of international law

The US policy of using aerial drones to carry out targeted killings presents a major challenge to the system of international law that has endured since the second world war, a United Nations investigator has said.

US Drone attack and largely innocent victims in Pakistan

Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, summary or arbitrary executions, told a conference in Geneva that President Obama's attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere, carried out by the CIA, would encourage other states to flout long-established human rights standards.

In his strongest critique so far of drone strikes, Heyns suggested some may even constitute "war crimes". His comments come amid rising international unease over the surge in killings by remotely piloted unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Read More (The Guardian)

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Russia says rebels share Houla blame

Rebels in Syria are partly responsible for the massacre of more than 100 people in the Houla region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says.

Mr Lavrov, whose government a close ally of the Syrian regime, said some victims had been killed at close range in a district controlled by rebels.

The UN condemned the killings, saying government artillery was involved.

UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has arrived in Damascus for talks on implementing his peace plan.

Read more: BBC News

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Iran has expanded nuclear work - claims UN agency

Iran has sharply stepped up its controversial uranium enrichment drive, the UN nuclear agency said yesterday in a report that will further inflame Israeli fears the Islamic Republic is pushing ahead with atomic bomb plans.

"The Agency continues to have serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a quarterly report about Iran issued to member states.

Iran's increase of work that can have both civilian and military purposes underlines that it has no intention of backing down in a long-running dispute with the West that has sparked fears of war. IAEA's findings, which added to concerns that Iran's tensions with the West would escalate.

Read details: Today Online

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Iran not to yield to pressures over nuke issue

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that Iran has always beenready for the talks over its nuclear issue, but it will not yield to Western pressures to quit its rights.

Ahmadinejad made the remarks addressing a large crowd of people gathered at Tehran's Azadi (liberty) Square on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic republic.

"We have always been ready for (nuclear) talks within the framework of justice and respect. I clearly announce that if you (Westerners) talk in the language of coercion and disrespect (with Iranians), the Iranian nation will never surrender to you" over its nuclear rights."

"The only way you need to observe is to respect the rights of Iranian nation and to come to the negotiation table," said Ahmadinejad.

Read more: China Daily

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Iran invites UN nuclear agency to visit

[ via The Star ] 20 Dec

Iran has invited the U.N. nuclear watchdog to visit for talks, an Iranian envoy told Reuters on Tuesday, suggesting Tehran would be prepared to address concerns about its atomic ambitions.

Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Iran earlier this month sent a letter to U.N. nuclear agency chief Yukiya Amano, who last month issued a report which pointed to military links to Tehran's nuclear programme, a charge it denies.

Read  The Star  for more

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UN climate conference reaches deal

[ Sky News ] 11 Dec

The president of a United Nations conference has announced agreement on a program mapping out a new course by all countries to fight climate change over the coming decades.

The scorching sun's heat is increasing ( Photo: Jalalspages )

The European Union and India brokered a deal to push ahead with a roadmap for a new climate treaty.

The 194-party conference agreed to start negotiations on a new accord that would put all countries under the same legal regime to enforce their commitments to control greenhouse gases. It would take effect by 2020 at the latest.

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Fresh sanctions for Iran over nuclear programme

Full Story: BBC Middle East 21 Nov

USA, UK and Canada have imposed a number of fresh sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear programme.

The UK says it is cutting all ties with Iranian banks, while Canada is banning exports for the petrochemical, oil and gas industries. As for USA, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke of a "significant ratcheting-up of pressure" on Iran.

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Khmer Rouge trio to face trial for the "Killing Fields"

Full Story: BBC Asia 21 Nov 

Those who saw the 1984 British film "The Killing Fields" would still recall the atrocities committed by the government of the Pol Pot and of his notorious Khmer Rouge regime during the Cambodian Civil War 1970-75. The film highlighted the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime's soldiers of killing their own brethren who just happened to be in the opposite camp.

While the mastermind Pol Pot died in 1998, his three top aids survived. These include Nuon Chea, also known as Brother Number Two. These three, now in their 80s face a UN-backed trial, charged with crimes against humanity.

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Spain donates to UNICEF Flood Relief Operation in Pakistan

Full Story: Express Tribune 11 November

Spain has donated $0.68 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) for its water, sanitation and hygiene emergency response to the 2011 floods.

UNICEF Pakistan Representative Dan Rohrmann said:

“This support comes at a very important juncture when funding for the floods response is limited for flood victims who are in temporary shelters." 

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