“Without universal and meaningful connectivity for all, the right to information is an empty promise for billions of people around the world,” Irene Khan said in her message to mark the International Day for Universal Access to Information, observed annually on 28 September.
The focus this year is on the importance of the online space.
She said the Internet is not equally available or accessible, which is “deepening existing inequalities and creating new inequities along lines of gender, geography, ethnicity, income and digital literacy, increasing the vulnerabilities of those most marginalised in society.”
Ms. Khan described the right to information as “the oxygen” without which neither democracy nor development can flourish.
She said access to information, whether online or off, enables people to be better
informed and better equipped to participate in decision-making, thus improving the quality and sustainability of development outcomes
Additionally, by empowering citizens, civil society and the media to hold governments and companies to account, it makes democracy more meaningful.
Laws and restrictions
Her latest report, published in April, revealed that many States have adopted laws on access to information, with some even recognizing access to the Internet as a legal right.
However, the “bad news” is that these laws often are not implemented effectively, she said. Various tactics are used to restrict or deny access to information, both online and offline, to investigative journalists, human rights defenders and other civil society representatives.
Ms. Khan reported that over the past five years, Governments in more than 74 countries have shut down or slowed down the Internet or blocked mobile communications for intermittent or prolonged periods.
These measures affected access to information and disrupted health, education and other essential services.
Vital to sustainable development
“Information, freedom of expression and active participation, online and offline, of youth, civil society and independent media are vital, whether to tackle global challenges, such as climate change and pandemics or to break age-old patterns of discrimination, exclusion and violence,” she said.
She added that both universal and affordable access to the Internet and access to information are “clear targets” of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the blueprint to a more just and equitable world.
Last week, world leaders gathered in New York for the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly attended the SDG Summit aimed at shoring up commitment to achieve the goals by their 2030 deadline.
She urged States to translate commitments made at the Summit into concrete action.
Special Rapporteurs like Ms. Khan are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor specific thematic issues or country situations.
They are not UN staff and are not paid for their work.
The UN migration agency (IOM) called on Friday for the setting up of a humanitarian corridor in Niger to enable voluntary returns of stranded migrants, after July’s military takeover triggered border & airspace closures
Armenia says it has counted 42,500 refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, while the European Council works on on Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation.
26 September 2023
Under the auspices of President Michel, his Diplomatic Advisers Simon Mordue and Magdalena Grono hosted a meeting between Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan and Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev, with the participation of Diplomatic Advisers to FR President Macron and DE Chancellor Scholz, Emmanuel Bonne and Jens Ploetner, as well as EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar.
President Michel joined the participants for a brief exchange.
The EU invited participants to exchange views on the current situation on the ground and various efforts aimed at addressing the urgent needs of the local population.
The European Union closely follows all these developments and has been engaged at the highest level to help alleviate the impact of hostilities on civilians. The EU reiterated in this context its position on Azerbaijan’s military operation last week.
Hikmet Hajiyev outlined Azerbaijan’s plans to provide humanitarian assistance and security to the local population. The EU stressed the need for transparency and access for international humanitarian and human rights actors and for more detail on Baku’s vision for Karabakh Armenians’ future in Azerbaijan. The EU is providing assistance to Karabakh Armenians.
The meeting also allowed for intense exchanges between participants on the relevance of a possible meeting of the leaders in the framework of the Third EPC Summit scheduled for 5 October 2023 in Granada. The participants took note of the shared interest of Armenia and Azerbaijan to make use of the possible meeting in Granada to continue their normalisation efforts.
In this regard, Armen Grigoryan and Hikmet Hajiyev engaged in talks on possible concrete steps to advance the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process in the upcoming possible meeting, such as those with regard to border delimitation, security, connectivity, humanitarian issues, and the broader peace treaty.
Concrete action and decisive compromise solutions are needed on all tracks of the normalisation process.
The EU believes that the possible meeting in Granada should be used by both Yerevan and Baku to reiterate publicly their commitment to each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in line with agreements reached previously in Prague and Brussels.
Classroom teaching at these institutions is almost exclusively in Mandarin, with little or no use of the Uyghur language, they said in a statement.
They warned that separating the children from their families “could lead to their forced assimilation into the majority Mandarin language and the adoption of Han cultural practices.”
The experts said they have received information about large-scale removal of youngsters from their families, including very young children whose parents are in exile or “interned”/detained.
The children are treated as “orphans” by State authorities and placed in full-time boarding schools, pre-schools, or orphanages where Mandarin is almost exclusively used.
“Uyghur and other minority children in highly regulated and controlled boarding institutions may have little interaction with their parents, extended family or communities for much of their youth,” the experts said.
“This will inevitably lead to a loss of connection with their families and communities and undermine their ties to their cultural, religious and linguistic identities,” they added.
Local schools closed
They said the children reportedly have little or no access to education in their own Uyghur language and are under increasing pressure to speak and learn only Mandarin, compared to education aimed at bilingualism.
Teachers can also be sanctioned for using the Uyghur language outside specific language classes.
The UN experts said they were also informed of an exponential increase in the number of boarding schools for other Muslim and minority children in Xinjiang in recent years.
Conversely, many local schools providing education in Uyghur and other minority languages have been closed.
“The massive scale of the allegations raises extremely serious concerns of violations of basic human rights,” they said.
Madrid, 26 September 2023- After 76 years of development as an integral part of Spanish society, the Bahá’í Community has been officially recognised by the Government as a community as deeply rooted in the country. The report of the Advisory Commission on Religious Freedom was unanimously favourable, marking a step forward in the recognition of minority rights and religious diversity in Spain.
Since the formation of the first group of believers in Spain in 1947, the Bahá’í Community has worked to put into practice its fundamental principle, which is the unity of humanity, within Spanish society through initiatives and processes of education, institutional development and social action, processes that this week have led to its official recognition as a community deeply rooted in the country, published in the BOE No. 230-Sec.III (the Official Bulletin or Gazette of the Spanish state).
This recognition, based on the provisions of Royal Decree 593/2015, has been made after the analysis of the report submitted to the General Subdirectorate of Religious Freedom, which supports the five fundamental criteria, among which is “the presence and active participation in Spanish society“.
Working with the society
In this regard, the declaration as deeply rooted of the Bahá’í issued by the Ministry of the Presidency highlights “the activity it carries out in society in the field of non-formal education, the defence of Human Rights, in particular, of religious freedom and of those persecuted for their Bahá’́í status, of equality between men and women, which forms part of the principles of the Bahá’í faith expressed by its founder“. In addition, the legal provision refers to “activity in the academic and legal fields, as well as participation in forums and inter-religious dialogue roundtables“.
Spain awards next level of religious recognition to the Bahá'í Faith 3
In addition to the social role of this community, the ministerial order of notorious rootedness (or deeply rooted) recognises the fulfilment of a series of fundamental requirements: the Bahá’í Faith has been registered in the country for 55 years, with 108 registered entities and 17 places of worship listed in 15 Autonomous Communities and Autonomous Cities. It is stressed that this community “has a structure ranging from the National Assembly to the Local Assemblies, with its statutes defining how its legal representatives are elected, the minimum number of members to form a local community and the rules of coordination within its structure that guarantee continuity and responsibility within it“.
A step forward to equal treatment
“With the publication of this resolution, Spain and its administration are moving forward in the process of equalising the rights of minorities,” said Patricia Daemi, a member of the Bahá’í Community’s legal team. “The Bahá’í Faith becomes the eighth denomination to be granted this recognition in our country but, in this case, and for the first time, Royal Decree 593/2015 regulating the objective criteria for the deeply rooteddeclaration of religious denominations in Spanish territory is being implemented,” emphasises Daemi.
Another element to highlight is the unanimous favourable report issued by the Advisory Commission on Religious Freedom, composed of experts, government representatives and religious leaders of denominations with notorious roots, as it represents a step forward in the establishment of equal relations within the context of religious diversity in Spain.
Validity of Bahá’í religious marriages
Having the status of “deeply rooted” automatically allows religious communities to give civil validity to marriages celebrated under their worship, a permanent seat in the Advisory Commission on Religious Freedom of the Ministry of the Presidency and the formal capacity to establish a bilateral negotiation process with the Government.
“We understand that our role, like that of every religion, must be to build a more cohesive, just and prosperous society, taking advantage of the strength of spiritual principles such as love and the recognition that humanity is one family,” explains Virginia Pedreño, Secretary General of the Bahá’í Governing Council. “For this reason, the recognition of the well-known rootedness is not only a goal achieved but also an impulse and a motivation to continue contributing to the development of society“.
Two very different catastrophes in Morocco and in Libya united by the “unimaginable trauma” of bereaved families, continue to mobilize the UN’s relief efforts, the Organisation’s top aid official Martin Griffiths said on Friday.
HAMBURG, GERMANY, September 28, 2023 /EINPresswire/ — On the first weekend in September, the Church of Scientology Hamburg celebrated its 50th anniversary in Hamburg with members and invited guests. In an illustrated journey through time, Scientologists from the very beginning, new Scientologists and invited guests were given an insight into the eventful history of Scientology in Hamburg.
As a special guest speaker, a German religious scholar gave those present an insight into his work and explained why, from his scientific perspective, Scientology is without question a religion, as the highest German courts have confirmed.
Numerous congratulations and greetings from at home and abroad reached the Hamburg church. The leader of a Christian religious community personally presented the church leadership with a letter of thanks for allowing his congregation to use the Church of Scientology premises free of charge for their church services for a year.
It all began in 1970 when a student at the University of Hamburg brought the book “Dianetics – The Modern Science of Mental Health” by L. Ron Hubbard to Hamburg from a trip to Canada. She quickly got two other fellow students interested and the foundation was laid. Scientology grew from a small group in a private living room on Flughafenstrasse in 1970, to the founding of a mission in 1973 on Gerhofstrasse at Gänsemarkt, to a large Scientology church with several thousand square meters on Domplatz in the heart of the Hanseatic city.
Scientology in Hamburg can look back on an eventful history. The 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium in particular were characterized by a number of disputes with officials who had set themselves the goal of impairing the free exercise of religion by the church and individual members. In contrast, however, the courts insisted on facts rather than opinions, and their rulings strengthened the rights of the church and its members.
A decision by the Hamburg Higher Administrative Court in 2004 was of groundbreaking importance. In a legal dispute, a Scientologist sued against the “technology declaration”, the so-called “sect filter”, distributed by the city of Hamburg, because, in her view, its distribution constituted an infringement on her religious freedom in accordance with Article 4 of the Basic Law. The Hamburg Higher Administrative Court ruled that the dissemination of this statement by the city of Hamburg was unlawful and ruled in favour of the Scientologist.
In 2005, this judgment was confirmed by the highest court the Federal Administrative Court, among other things, with the following words: “The Higher Administrative Court determined on the merits that the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard determined the goals of people, spoke to the core of their personality and explained in a comprehensive way the meaning of the world and human life.
For this purpose, it referred as an example to the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard about the immortal soul as the carrier of a life energy that changes through countless lives, as well as about the path to higher levels of existence that is reminiscent of levels of redemption Goal of human existence. The Higher Administrative Court correctly assumed that such statements of Scientological teachings were suitable for fulfilling the concept of faith or worldview.”
The review of the past 50 years also included the commitment of the Hamburg Scientologists in various humanitarian areas.
Scientology Commitment to human rights
“Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream”, L. Ron Hubbard once wrote. The commitment to human rights and especially religious freedom was already a matter close to the hearts of the Hamburg Scientologists in the 1990s. With numerous large-scale demonstrations, they emphatically pointed out the need to respect religious freedom.
At the end of the 1990s / beginning of the 2000s, Hamburg was the final point of the European Marathon for Human Rights with large rallies and concerts. Information stands were used to inform the public about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and thousands of information brochures about this human rights document were distributed. Representatives of various religious communities and dignitaries from Hamburg, Germany and the world came to the open days to talk about the importance and respect for human rights.
30 years of commitment to a drug-free life
L. Ron Hubbard wrote in the 1960s “Drugs are the most destructive element in society.” Hamburg Scientologists have been active in drug education and prevention since the 1990s. In winter, warm drinks and food were often distributed to those in need at the main station. An anti-drug art exhibition was held in the foyer and from the 2000s onwards there were more information stands, street distribution activities and lectures.
The publications of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, which is recognized as a non-profit organization and based in the USA, are used. To date, more than 2.7 million educational booklets have been distributed in Hamburg and the surrounding area.
Volunteer Ministers
The motto of the volunteer ministers is “There is always something you can do about it.” True to this motto, Scientologists flew from Hamburg to Sri Lanka in 2004 and stayed for several weeks to help people after the devastating flood disaster in Southeast Asia. Even after the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley, volunteer ministers set out to give those affected the help they needed.
And during the pandemic, volunteer ministers were out in Hamburg with the stay-well message and distributed the information booklets in shops and the neighbourhood. The booklets contain basic information about what you can do to generally protect yourself and others from infections. Direct assistance was also given to a friendly Islamic community by regularly disinfecting its premises so that believers could perform their prayers safely.
The Way to Happiness
True to Rule 12 from The Way to Happiness, “Protect and improve your environment”, Scientologists have carried out a large number of clean-up operations in the Hanseatic city in recent years, thereby contributing to a clean Hamburg. Almost 150,000“The Way to Happiness” booklets were also distributed to interested citizens.
Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR )
Here too, Hamburg Scientologists were involved in a variety of actions to protect the human rights of psychiatric patients. A large part of the work of CCHR consists of the documentation of psychiatric abuse cases. In the 1990s, cases of sexual abuse by psychiatrists against patients came to light. However, these cases could not be prosecuted because there was no corresponding criminal law provision in the statute book.
Members of the CCHR Germany national office, based in Hamburg in the early 1990s, drafted a legislative proposal to make sexual abuse in therapy a punishable act and made it available to hundreds of decision-makers. In 1996, CCHR sent out thousands of copies of the brochure “Psychiatric Rape” and raised awareness among large sections of the German media, which helped to shape public opinion. Finally, in 1998, a law was passed making sexual abuse in therapy a punishable offense.
The TV station Scientology Network also portrays Freedom Medal winners Nicola Cramer and Bernd Trepping, who have been campaigning for human rights and the protection of psychiatric patients for decades. Both met the Church of Scientology in Hamburg in the late 1980s. The Freedom Medal is the highest international recognition that can be awarded to a Scientologist for outstanding, humanitarian service to society
A comprehensive solution to the Syrian conflict remains elusive, the UN Special Envoy for the country said on Wednesday, calling for “concrete moves” and confidence-building measures to break the impasse.
“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.
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.”
Top UN officials pledged support for Pakistan on Wednesday as it continues the painstaking process of rebuilding in the wake of last year’s devastating floods.
