“Azerbaijan must also promptly and independently investigate alleged or suspected violations of the right to life reported in the context of its latest military offensive…during which dozens of people, including peacekeepers, were killed,” said, Morris Tidball-Binz, the UN Human Rights Council-appointed Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

Thousands have moved into Armenia from the Karabakh Economic Region of Azerbaijan in the span of just a few days, including many elderly, women and children.

UN chief António Guterres said on Tuesday he was “very concerned” about the displacement.

“It’s essential that the rights of the displaced populations be protected and that they receive the humanitarian support they are owed,” Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists at UN Headquarters.

Long-running conflict

Conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region has persisted for more than three decades, but a ceasefire and subsequent Trilateral Statement was agreed almost three years ago following six weeks of fighting, by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, leading to the deployment of several thousand Russian peacekeepers.  

Amid last week’s flare-up in fighting and the arrival of the first refugees in Armenia, the UN chief called for fully-fledged access for aid workers to people in need.

International standards must apply

Mr. Tidball-Binz said that “investigations must be conducted in accordance with international standards, in particular the Revised UN Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, also known as the Minnesota Protocol”.

This requires that investigations be carried out promptly and be thorough, complete, independent, impartial and transparent.”

“I reaffirm my readiness to provide technical assistance to the authorities for ensuring compliance with their international humanitarian law and human rights obligations to properly investigate every potentially unlawful death in line with applicable standards of forensic best practice,” the Special Rapporteur said.

Special Rapporteurs and other UN experts are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organisation. They serve in their individual capacity and receive no salary for their work.

Taking questions from reporters in New York, the UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the UN has been in communication with the Government of Azerbaijan on issues relating to international law and humanitarian principles, noting that the Government has given public assurances that all citizens in the region would be protected.

Alarming images

He also flagged a statement issued on Wednesday by Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.

“She reiterated her strong concern over the ongoing situation in the South Caucasus region…She said the images of people leaving due to fear of identity-based violence are very alarming”.  

Ms. Nderitu called for “all efforts to be made” to ensure the protection and human rights of the ethnic Armenian population who remain in the area and for those who have left.

Emergency shelter, ‘critical’

In a press briefing in Geneva earlier in the day, the World Health Organization’s head of Health Emergencies, noted that possibly up to a third of the population of the Karabakh region has moved “in a very, very short time.”

They don’t have their normal meds with them. They haven’t eaten, they are thirsty. There is a risk of dehydration, there’s a risk to disease and other psychological traumas which go along with that. I think right now, given the cold temperatures at night emergency shelter is absolutely crucial.” 
 

They called for his immediate release and for the US “to comply with its obligations under international law…and drop all charges against him.”

Allegations

Mr. Saab was appointed as a Special Envoy by the Government in Caracas in April 2018 to undertake official missions in Iran to secure humanitarian deliveries, including of food and medicine, a press release issued by the UN human rights office detailed.

The US alleges the envoy was behind a corruption network involving a Government-subsidized food programme called CLAP that was in effect, stealing from the Venezuelan people, while also using food as a form of social control, according to the US Treasury.

In July of the same year, Mr. Saab was placed under US sanctions for allegedly being responsible for inter alia engaging in transactions or programmes administered by the Venezuelan Government.

On 12 June 2020, during his third trip to Iran, while in transit through Cabo Verde, he was arrested and detained by local authorities. Following an extradition request by the US, he was ultimately extradited in October 2021.

Problematic arrest

According to the Human Rights Council-appointed experts, the Cabo Verde courts dealing with his case reportedly rejected his numerous appeals against the extradition, his diplomatic status as an ad hoc diplomat and the decision in his favour by an ECOWAS Court in the region.

They said the courts also “discarded numerous official communications” from Venezuela, and recommendations from international rights bodies, including the Human Rights Council’s Special Procedures and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

“We note with concern the reported irregularities in the arrest and detention in Cabo Verde of Mr. Saab, prior to his extradition to the US,” the experts said.

“In particular, information we received indicates that at the exact moment of his arrest, while he was on his place at the Amílcar Cabral International Airport, there was no Red Notice by Interpol, nor an arrest warrant presented to him. Both were instead issued ex post facto,” they noted.

Charges against Saab

Following his extradition, US judicial authorities dropped seven counts of money laundering against him, while maintaining a single count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

“We deeply regret that for almost two years since his extradition, Mr. Saab remains in detention awaiting trial for alleged conduct which is not considered an international crime, and thus should not have been the subject of extraterritorial or universal jurisdiction,” the UN experts said.

The experts were informed that since his extradition Saab was being detained at the Federal Detention Center in Miami, which is not a correctional institution, but instead a pre-trial administrative facility.

Violation ‘for millions’

“The actions against Mr. Saab are not only violations of his human rights…but also a violation of the right to an adequate standard of living for millions of Venezuelans, as result of the abrupt interruption of his mission for the procurement of essential goods,” the experts said.

Special Rapporteurs and other independent UN experts are not UN staff. They serve in their individual capacity and receive no salary for their work.

According to findings from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 130 million students worldwide experience bullying, which has been exacerbated by the spread of digital technologies. UNICEF estimates that one in every three students from 13 to 15 is a victim. 

Suicide risk

The Council heard heartfelt testimony from 15-year-old Santa Rose Mary, a children’s advocate from Uganda, who said that once one’s personal information or intimate photos have been shared online, “you can’t even face the community where you live, you can’t even face your own parents”. 

She warned that such situations can bring a child to take their own life when they “have that feeling of not being needed in the community”.

UN deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif noted that according to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), cyberbullying affects girls almost twice as much as boys. 

Far-reaching effects

Ms. Al-Nashif quoted research from the UN World Health Organization (WHO), showing that children who are subject to bullying are more likely to skip school, perform less well on tests and can suffer sleeplessness and psychosomatic pain. 

Some studies also show “far-reaching effects extending into adulthood”, such as high prevalence of depression and unemployment, she said.

Getting it right

Ms. Al-Nashif told the Council that the “complex” topic of cyberbullying lies at the intersection of human rights, digital and policy issues.

“To get this right, we must adopt a holistic approach, and address root causes”, she said, underscoring that “central to this is the voice of children themselves”.

She also stressed the “centrality and power of companies in the online space”, insisting on the responsibility of tech companies to provide adapted privacy tools and follow content moderation guidelines “in line with international human rights standards”. 

15 million attacks: Facebook and Instagram

A representative of Meta, Safety Policy Director Deepali Liberhan, took part in the discussion and spoke to the magnitude of the problem.

She said in the third quarter of 2023 alone, some 15 million pieces of content had been detected on Meta’s platforms Facebook and Instagram that constituted bullying and harassment; most were proactively removed by Meta before even being reported, she said. 

Ms. Liberhan highlighted the company’s content moderation policies and ways in which Meta was enforcing them on its platforms, partnering with experts to inform the action it takes, and incorporating anti-bullying tools into the user experience.

Collective responsibility 

At the conclusion of the session, panellist Philip Jaffé, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, stressed the “collective” responsibility for the safety of our children.

“We need to make children more aware of their rights and make States and other components of society more aware of their obligations to protect [them],” he insisted.

“Each day, the people of Myanmar are enduring horrifying attacks, flagrant human rights violations and the crumbling of their livelihoods and hopes,” said Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

He was briefing the Human Rights Council – the UN’s primary body for the protection and promotion of rights globally, including findings since his July report was issued.

Junta’s ruthless repression

Mr. Türk emphasized the military’s blatant disregard for fundamental principles of humanity as well as the Security Council’s repeated demands for an immediate cessation of hostilities and unhindered humanitarian access.

“We are faced here with a system of ruthless repression designed to coerce and subjugate its people and to erode a society so that the predatory interests of the military are preserved,” he said.

“Senseless military attacks are exacerbating the human rights crisis with interconnected humanitarian, political, and economic impacts, imposing an unbearable toll on the people in Myanmar.”

Muzzling free press

He also voiced concerns over the military’s denial of humanitarian access to those affected by Cyclone Mocha in May, particularly in Rakhine state, where widowed Rohingya women have reportedly been forced to beg for food.

The military also threatened legal action against anyone reporting a different death toll from the massive disaster to the junta’s official figure of 116 deaths.

In this context, a photojournalist was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by a military for covering the post-cyclone situation in Rakhine, the biggest sentence handed down to a journalist since the 2021 coup.

Reliance on foreign sources

Mr. Türk pointed to three specific military tactics employed against civilians: airstrikes, mass killings, and the burning of villages.

Between April 2022 and May 2023, the military conducted 687 airstrikes, more than double the number in the preceding 14 months.

The report corroborated data confirming that the increased use of air power, along with heavy weaponry, military hardware and aviation fuel, “can only be purchased from foreign sources”, the rights chief said.

‘Inhumanity in its vilest form’

Mr. Türk further reported that ground operations resulted in 22 documented mass killings – involving the murder of ten or more individuals. Witnesses described soldiers using horrific methods to inflicting pain on civilians, including burning alive, beheading, dismemberment, rape and more.

“This is inhumanity in its vilest form,” the High Commissioner said, stating that entire villages were set ablaze, leading to the destruction of over 75,000 structures, driving displacement and increasing humanitarian needs.

Civilian rule has vanished

“Civilian rule of law in Myanmar has vanished, with the military deliberately eroding the foundations of governance and justice in the country,” Mr. Türk said, urging the Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

According to credible sources, 24,836 people have been arrested, 19,264 are still detained, and 150 have been sentenced to death by military-controlled courts that lack any independence or adherence to due process or fair trial rights.