GENEVA – Two independent human rights experts on torture and indigenous peoples respectively* today sharply criticised state and territory youth justice systems in Australia, where disproportionately large numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children continue to be jailed. “The various criminal legal systems operating in Australia appear to be in crisis nationwide,” said Alice Jill Edwards,… Read More »
Joint Letter by the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, April 2025 In our capacity as Expert Members of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of… Read More »
GENEVA – Ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a group of UN experts issued the following joint statement: “The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination offers a particular opportunity this year as we mark the 60th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD, the… Read More »
GENEVA – UN experts* today expressed grave concern about urgent protection needs and dire living conditions of displaced civilians in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Intensified hostilities between the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group and the armed forces of the DRC, supported by allied militias and mercenary and related actors have displaced… Read More »
GENEVA – The Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Albert Kwokwo Barume, has commended the decision by outgoing United States President Joe Biden to issue an Executive Grant of Clemency for Indigenous leader Leonard Peltier, who has been imprisoned for nearly 50 years. The decision, signed on 19 January 2025, commutes the remainder of… Read More »
