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Violence in Sudan likely to spark record levels of hunger

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United Nations News
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Violence in Sudan likely to spark record levels of hunger

In an alert on the situation, the World Food Programme (WFP) said that it expected between two and 2.5 million more people to face acute hunger in the coming months, because of conflict that erupted on 15 April between forces loyal to rival Generals Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

This development would take the already dire food insecurity in Sudan to a “record high”, WFP said, with two-fifths of the country’s population affected. 

According to the UN agency, the biggest spikes in food insecurity could occur in West Darfur, West Kordofan, Blue Nile, Red Sea and North Darfur states.

‘Huge’ needs, scarce resources

Meanwhile, the UH High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi shared on Twitter that more than 150,000 people have now fled Sudan – both Sudanese citizens and refugees hosted in the country.

“Needs are huge. Resources are scarce. Aid is required, urgently!” Mr. Grandi wrote. 

Soaring food prices

UN humanitarians expect the price of basic food items to increase by 25 per cent in the next three to six months.

If the situation in the country bars farmers from accessing their fields and planting key staples between May and July, food prices could rise even more, WFP said.

Lifesaving aid

The UN agency has resumed its operations in Sudan, after a temporary pause following the killing of three of its aid workers at the start of the conflict. Since last week, and despite a dire security situation, WFP has reached over 35,000 people with food assistance.

The aid is a lifeline for the most vulnerable, including families who have recently fled the conflict, refugees living in Sudan and internally displaced people and their host communities.

Overall, the agency aims to support 4.9 million vulnerable people in areas where the security situation allows, in addition to “preventing and treating moderate acute malnutrition” for 600,000 children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women. 

WFP also said that the UN Humanitarian Air Services (UNHAS), which it manages, is starting “regular” air connections between Port Sudan and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to enable the “safe transportation of frontline humanitarians and critical aid”.

WFP staff monitor emergency food distribution at a displaced camp in Sudan.

Support for neighbouring countries

The UN agency is also providing emergency food assistance to thousands who have fled Sudan to neighbouring Chad, South Sudan, Egypt and the Central African Republic, amid dire funding shortages.

In South Sudan for instance, where more than 40,000 returnees have fled across the border, WFP says that it is “cash-strapped” and that any extra pressure on resources could force it to take food and funding from others to support new arrivals.

According to figures from the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR’s data portal, the largest outflows from Sudan have been to Egypt, which has seen the arrival of over 68,000 Sudanese refugees and close to 5,000 refugees of other nationalities fleeing the fighting.

Last week, the agency appealed for $445 million to support the displaced until October.

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Real household income rises in the second half of an otherwise weak 2022

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Newsdesk
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white front load washing machine

Real household income per capita grew by 0.6% in the OECD in the fourth quarter of 2022, exceeding growth in real GDP per capita of 0.1% (Figure 1). Despite moderate growth in the third and fourth quarter, on an annual basis 2022 real household income per capita fell by 3.8% in the OECD, the largest annual decline since the beginning of the series.

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Real household income rises in the second half of an otherwise weak 2022
Real household income rises in the second half of an otherwise weak 2022 5

Household income results varied widely across OECD countries in Q4 2022. Of the 21 countries for which data is available, eight recorded an increase in real household income per capita, while the other 13 recorded a fall. Among G7 economies for which data is available, the United Kingdom saw the largest increase in real household income per capita in Q4 2022 (1.2%), driven by wage growth and government support for household energy consumption. Canada, France and the United States also reported increases in real household income per capita, exceeding the performance of GDP per capita, which grew by 0.5% in the United States and contracted in Canada and France (Figure 1). Conversely, real household income declined by 3.5% in Italy as spiking energy prices in Q4 2022 led to high inflation, undermining household income when measured in real terms.

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Real household income rises in the second half of an otherwise weak 2022
Real household income rises in the second half of an otherwise weak 2022 6

In 2022 as a whole, real household income per capita fell by 3.9% in the G7 economies (Figure 2). The largest decrease    was in the United States (-6.0%), where COVID-19 related government assistance paid to households in 2021 ceased. Among other OECD countries (Figure 3), Chile saw the largest decline in real household income per capita in 2022 (-15.1%), driven by the discontinuation of pandemic-related early pension withdrawals permitted in 2021.Even in economies that were not affected by the end of pandemic-related assistance programmes, increases in inflation undermined household incomes in real terms in 2022[1], despite the growth in GDP per capita.

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Real household income rises in the second half of an otherwise weak 2022
Real household income rises in the second half of an otherwise weak 2022 7
ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Real household income rises in the second half of an otherwise weak 2022
Real household income rises in the second half of an otherwise weak 2022 8

[1] More information on the role inflation plays when measuring household economic well-being is available in this blog piece.

Who is Maria Gabriel?

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Newsdesk
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Maria Ivanova Gabriel is the proposal of the first political force in the parliament for Prime Minister of Bulgaria. This became clear from the rostrum of the Bulgarian National Assembly.

GERB leader Boyko Borisov proposed EU Commissioner Maria Gabriel as prime minister from the rostrum of the parliament, reports OFFNews.

Yesterday, May 9, 2023, Boyko Borisov announced that there will be a government with a prime minister nominated by them, who will be presented to the parliamentary groups. He described the candidate as “undisputed” and a person who can lead the country out of the economic crisis, work on the adoption of the laws on PMV and bring the country into the Eurozone and Schengen. Borisov described their nomination as a “smart and handsome” person.

She was born on May 20, 1979 in Hadjidimovo. In 1997, he graduated from the “Dr. Petar Beron” Language High School, Kyustendil, and in 2001 he obtained a bachelor’s degree in “Bulgarian and French Philology” at the “Paisii Hilendarski” University of Plovdiv.

He continued his education at the Institute of Political Sciences in Bordeaux, France, where he studied international relations, history of European institutions, political sociology, comparative politics. He completed his MA in “Comparative Politics and International Relations” at the Doctoral Academy of Political Sciences, Bordeaux in 2003. From 2004 to 2008, he was an assistant researcher at the Institute of Political Sciences in Bordeaux.

From 2012 to 2014, she was the coordinator of the EPP in the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament.

On October 19, 2012, Maria Gabriel /Nedelcheva by father/ was elected as the vice-president of the EPP Women.

In June 2013, she was elected MEP of the Year in the Gender Equality category.

From July 7, 2017 to December 1, 2019, she was European Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society in the Juncker Commission. He then became European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth in the Von der Leyen Commission.

A central place in its extra-parliamentary activity is occupied by initiatives aimed at young people.

According to the EC website, her responsibilities are:

Ensuring rapid agreement on the future Horizon Europe program and its full implementation.

Securing investment flows for ground-breaking research and cutting-edge innovation, including within the framework of the European Innovation Council.

Development of the European research area in cooperation with the member states.

Ensuring complementarity between research priorities and the economy.

Leading the Commission’s work on the creation of a European Education Area by 2025.

Promoting excellence and networking between European universities and implementing the European Universities initiative.

Update the digital education action plan and raise awareness about misinformation and other online threats.

Ensuring the full implementation of the new European agenda for culture, promoting the creative sector and promoting the Creative Europe programme.

Promoting sport as a means of inclusion and well-being, extending the EU Sports Awards initiative under the motto #BeInclusive and the European Week of Sport.

Strengthening international cooperation in the field of education, scientific research, innovation and culture.

Maria Gabriel is married with one child.

Among her indisputable advantages are that she is quite well educated and has an enviable experience in European institutions. He knows the workings of the union inside out and can do a lot of work on passing the laws needed to get the Recovery and Resilience Plan funds.

According to informed sources, the idea to propose a young, educated woman came from the German party foundations, which have expertise in Bulgaria and influence in GERB.

Photo credit: commissioners.ec.europa.eu/mariya-gabriel_bg

Tonia Kiousopoulou, Emperor or Manager: Power and Political Ideology in Byzantium before 1453. La Pomme d’or, Geneva 2011.

By
Gaston de Persigny
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0

https://www.pommedor.ch/emperor.html

 Byzantium in the 15th century is too easily dismissed as the anachronistic tail end of an ancient ecumenical empire, whose only achievements, apart from the heroic last stand of Constantinople in 1453, were the contribution of literary Hellenism to Renaissance humanism, and the preservation of Orthodoxy from the encroachment of Catholicism.

This book argues that in struggling to survive as a small fortified enclave at the heart of Ottoman territory, Byzantium adopted the social structure and political ideology of a secular, territorial city-state on the Italian model.

It thus presents the empire of the last Palaiologoi in an entirely new light.

15 people detained for an attack with stones against an election rally in Turkey

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News desk
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Erzurum’s police, in eastern Turkey, arrested 15 people after a group of people threw stones at an opposition campaign bus. During the provocation, the candidate for vice president from the main opposition bloc of the National Alliance, Ekrem Imamoglu, who is also the mayor of Istanbul, spoke at an impromptu rally from the roof of the bus.

Teams from the Erzurum Provincial Police Department reviewed the camera footage of the attack and identified 19 suspects. Police detained 15 people as investigations continue into the capture of the other four people, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Accordingly, the identification of the participants in the attack continues.

However, a Turkish court released 14 people shortly after being detained under judicial review measures, one of whom was released immediately after testifying.

Meanwhile, 17 people who were wounded with daggers in the attack have been discharged from hospitals.

A group of ultranationalists threw stones at the election bus of Istanbul’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) mayor and vice presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu as he addressed citizens during a rally in the eastern province of Erzurum on May 7.

Istanbul’s mayor said after the incident that he was fine but would file criminal complaints against the governor and security forces for failing to prevent the attack. The opposition complained that the police officers who were nearby watched the attack indifferently.

Leaders of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused Istanbul’s mayor of instigating the attack on himself.

Photo: Ekrem Imamoglu / Credit to The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

On Europe Day – The European Union matters

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European Parliament
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On Europe Day - The European Union matters
© European Parliament

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola´s address at This is Europe -debate with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Europe Day, 9 May 2023.

On Europe Day – this day of symbolism, of history and of the future, we welcome Germany’s Bundeskanzler, Olaf Scholz.

“World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it” – so begins the Declaration presented by Robert Schuman on 9th May 1950. It rings true today.

Every year, on this day, we celebrate Europe. An unprecedented project of reconciliation fundamentally based on solidarity. A project that brings people together without trying to make us all the same. A project that lit a light that permeated through iron curtains and concrete walls.

Europe Day reminds us of what is possible when we come together, of the responsibility that we have to keep moving forward.

The Schuman Declaration, our European Union, took bravery. Change takes courage.

The European Union is not perfect, I know many share our frustrations with some of our processes. But the fundamental pillars of hope, of possibility, of freedom, democracy and the rule of law, make this political project unique. We cannot take what we stand for, and we have achieved – and what we must achieve still – for granted. We must keep evolving.

European progress, was made possible thanks to daring solutions. And more daring solutions will be needed moving forward.

I know that we can count on Germany for just that. Yours, dear Chancellor, is a Member State, which shows unwavering commitment to the betterment of Europe.

So let me thank you for Germany’s support for Ukraine; for Germany’s contribution to the construction of new EU security architecture; for Germany pushing new technologies, for Germany defending human rights, such as the rights of women and men in Iran, and for so much more.

Chancellor you have said “We have every reason to be more optimistic about our future”. That is the spirit that must drive us forward.

We must reform. Anticipate change, not suffer it. We must find that courage that underpinned the Schuman Declaration again. We must help that light keep shining brighter.

We know that we are so much stronger, when we are together. And we will look to Germany – as to all Member States – to help reform and prepare our European future.

The European Union matters. It is worth it.

Es lebe Europa.

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Olaf Scholz: “We need a geopolitical, larger, reformed EU, open to the future”

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European Parliament
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Olaf Scholz: “We need a geopolitical, larger,

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz debated with MEPs during the ‘This is Europe’ series, calling for a united Europe capable of changing to secure its place in the world of tomorrow.

Chancellor Scholz stressed that Europe has a global responsibility beyond its borders “because the well-being of Europe cannot be separated from the well-being of the rest of the world.” The world of the 21st century, he said, “will be multipolar, it already is”. Chancellor Scholz identified three lessons for the EU: “First, Europe’s future is in our hands. Secondly, the more united Europe is, the easier it will be to secure a good future for ourselves. And thirdly, not less but more openness and more cooperation are the order of the day.”

To secure Europe’s place in the world of tomorrow, the EU must change, the Chancellor said. “We need a geopolitical EU, an enlarged and reformed EU, and an EU open to the future”.

On Russia’s war against Ukraine, he said the EU must now set the course for the reconstruction of Ukraine. A prosperous, democratic, European Ukraine is the clearest rejection of Putin’s imperial, revisionist and illegal policy.

In a multipolar world, the countries of the global south are important partners, Olaf Scholz continued. Europe must stand up for food security and poverty reduction and it must keep its promises of action on international climate and environmental protection.

With regard to enlargement, the Chancellor said, “an honest enlargement policy implements its promises – first and foremost to the states of the Western Balkans”. He also announced to push for extending qualified majority decision-making to more decisions dealing with foreign policy and taxation.

Speaking about migration and asylum, he said, “we are united by the goal of better managing and regulating irregular migration – without betraying our values.” In many parts of Europe, workers, from third countries are needed he continued, and if Europe links regular migration with the demand that countries of origin and transit also take back those who have no right to stay in Europe, “then all sides will benefit”.

Reactions from MEPs

Reacting to Mr Scholz’s EU reform proposals, MEPs demanded courage from Europe’s leaders to take the EU into the future and called on Chancellor Scholz to push for a Convention before the 2024 European elections. Several MEPs demanded the continuance of support for Ukraine in the Russian war of aggression until a just peace is secured, while others criticised Germany for providing tardy support to Ukraine, and the EU for providing more money to the arms industry.

A number of MEPs stressed the importance of fighting the economic impact on European citizens of the Russian war in Ukraine and some called for new legislation to ensure social justice as well as for a reform of the EU electricity market to guarantee fair prices. Some speakers stressed the importance of Europe’s green and digital transition and requested more investment in these areas so that Europe can lead on technological breakthroughs.

Background

This is the tenth “This is Europe” plenary debate, following Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on 19 April 2023, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on 14 March 2023, and debates in 2022 with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob.

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May 9th, 73rd Anniversary for Europe and Dianetics

By
Charlie W. Grease
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Dianetics book and Europe map, with anniversary stars

L. Ron Hubbard’s “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health” made its debut on May 9, 1950, and the results of the technique contributed to its swift rise to the top of bestseller lists. Numerous Scientology Churches, Missions, and organizations across the globe mark the book’s release date, as do countless others who have just picked it up, read it, and found comfort and hope in it.

“In Europe, we are experiencing the understatement that Dianetics is needed like the water in the sea, in a moment in which too many people in the higher echelons of society continue to let themselves succumb to their reactive minds rather than acting analytically. Misery, hunger, corruption and war should have never happened again in our world” says Ivan Arjona, EU and UN representative for Scientology, “and Dianetics can greatly contribute to this still today”.

A real need of ending wars

In an article published in World Religion News,  “Dianetics is Still Needed and Timely After 73 Years” it is explained that the postwar world groped for answers; that the United Nations came into being essentially to forestall any future global conflagration by bringing the combatants to the table rather than the battlefield; and that scholars and philosophers, theologians and scientists alike knew that politics and diplomacy alone could not provide a permanent solution to the problems of insanity, criminality and their ultimate fruits, conflicts and bloodshed.

It is with the above introduction that the article signals two quotes from the author of Dianetics, “Attack unreason, not the society or the man,” and “There is a higher goal, a better goal, a more glorious victory than gutted towns and radiation-burned dead. There is freedom and happiness and plenty and a whole Universe to be won,” and so many Scientologists in Europe have come to think that, according to Arjona:

“there was not a better time to publish such a brilliant ‘weapon’, a weapon against irrationality and cruel behaviors.”

Dianetics and the European Union

Asked about the relation between the launching of Dianetics and the creation of the European institutions, in view of the coincidence, Ivan Arjona stated that 

“By coincidence or not, the fact is that it was also on May 9th, 1950, the same day as the call for a European Community to repair the devastation after World War II. L Ron Hubbard launched the most popular book on the power of thought and the human being, which began helping each person to spread a smile. That book is the bestseller Dianetics.”

He also stated that Hubbard’s discoveries on the field of the mind and the spirit 

“led to the birth of the Scientology religion in 1952. Since then, millions of people in more than 160 countries celebrate this religious holiday every May 9th as the milestone of the book that today, as it celebrates its anniversary in a world on the verge of hysteria, fear and despair, it continues to help spread a smile toward a better world”.
ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== May 9th, 73rd Anniversary for Europe and Dianetics

A religious holiday

Dianetics is so accepted as the founding stone of the Scientology religion, that its publishing date is even marked in the religious holidays’ calendar that the Spanish government publicizes through its Foundation Pluralism and Convivence.

Dianetics, an adventure in 50 languages

Most bookstores (physical or online) have “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health” and it exists and is acquired worldwide in 50 languages. The experience might easily be started with “The Dianetics Seminar”, which was launched in 2009 by Scientology’s ecclesiastical leader Mr David Miscavige. There are Scientology Churches, Missions and organisations all throughout the world that offer the Dianetics Seminar but “if you don’t have one near, you can always watch L. Ron Hubbard’s ‘What is Dianetics?’ on the Scientology Network to learn more” concluded Arjona.

In the book’s first few pages, L. Ron Hubbard penned the words:

“You are beginning an adventure… Treat it as an adventure. And may you never be the same again.”

L. Ron Hubbard

As a last statement, Arjona explained that “In celebration of this 73rd anniversary of Dianetics, the European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights, located in Brussels, is organizing showings of introductory videos for people who want to either help themselves, their families, friends or society at large”.

Haiti: International support needed now to stop spiralling gang violence

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United Nations News
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Haiti: International support needed now to stop spiralling gang violence

In the month of April alone, more than 600 people were killed in violence in the country’s capital, according to information gathered by the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH). This follows the killing of at least 846 people in the first three months of 2023.

BINUH said that overall, the number of victims of killings, injuries and kidnappings increased by 28 per cent in the first quarter of the year, with a total of 1,634 cases reported.

Rise in vigilantism

Mob killings and lynchings of alleged gang members are also on the rise, as “vigilantes take the law into their own hands”, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said. At least 164 such murders were documented in April.

The latest report from OHCHR and BINUH points to the emergence of vigilante groups, “following calls by some political figures and journalists for citizens to form self-defence organizations to fight gang violence”.

Commenting on the findings, the UN rights chief stressed that vigilantism will only “fuel the spiral of violence”.

Extreme violence

The report notes that gangs use snipers on rooftops to “indiscriminately shoot people carrying out their daily activities”. In some instances, gang members burst into neighbourhoods on a killing spree, “burned people alive in public transportation vehicles” and executed “everyone perceived to be opposed to the gang”.

The report also documents the use of sexual violence, including collective rape, “to terrorize and inflict pain” on populations under the control of rival gangs.

According to a local human rights organization quoted in the report, at least 652 women and girls were “subjected to individual and collective rape in gang-controlled areas over the past year”.

Root causes of a ‘human rights emergency’

The UN rights chief underscored that poverty and the lack of basic services were among the root causes of the gangs’ stranglehold over the country.

Earlier this year, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) had warned that half the population of Haiti, or some 4.9 million people, were struggling to access food.

“The Government, with support from the international community, must do its utmost to comply with its obligation to provide people with regular and unimpeded access to clean water, food, health and shelter,” Mr. Türk said.

He said a “robust response” was needed to what he billed as a “human rights emergency”.

‘Coordinated international action’ required

Mr. Türk reiterated his call on the international community to “deploy a time-bound, specialized and human rights-compliant support force, with a comprehensive action plan to assist Haiti’s institutions”.

Last month, the country was on the agenda of the Human Rights Council, which adopted a resolution calling for the appointment of an independent rights expert on Haiti.

Sponsored by Haiti itself, the resolution called for “coordinated and targeted international action”.

In line with the resolution, the duties of the new independent expert on human rights in Haiti, William O’Neill, include focusing on the situation of children and of human trafficking and providing advice and technical assistance to the Haitian Government, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations to help promote and protect human rights.

Independent rights experts appointed by the United Nations rights chief in accordance with Human Rights Council resolutions are not UN staff nor are they paid for their work.

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Iran: Over 200 executed since January; Türk calls for end to death penalty

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United Nations News
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Iran: Over 200 executed since January; Türk calls for end to death penalty

More than 10 people are put to death each week in Iran, High Commissioner Türk said, making the country “one of the world’s highest executors”, with at least 209 people executed since the beginning of the year according to sources quoted by the UN rights office (OHCHR), in a press release.

Incompatible with international norms

Executions are carried out “mostly” for drug-related offences. Mr. Türk said this was “incompatible with international human rights norms and standards”.

OHCHR said that minorities were over-represented on Iran’s death row, and said that according to sources, at least 45 people, including 22 from the Baluch minority, were executed in the last 14 days alone.

“Most were executed for drug-related charges”, added the UN rights chief.

‘Abominable record’

“At this rate, Iran is worryingly on the same track as last year, when around 580 people were reportedly executed, said Mr. Türk. “This is an abominable record, particularly when you consider the growing consensus for universal abolition of the death penalty.”

Only a small number of States still impose and apply the death penalty, said OHCHR.

On Saturday, Iran executed Habib Chaab, a Swedish-Iranian citizen from the Ahwazi Arab minority, the rights office added, who had been charged and found guilty of “corruption on earth” – a capital offence under Iran’s strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Reports on Monday, said that Yousef Mehrdad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare had been executed for crimes including blasphemy, said OHCHR.

Speaking before the Human Rights Council last month, Mr. Türk had called the death penalty an “atavistic relic from the past that should be shed in the 21st century”.

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