Mercenaries and private actors profit from operating cybercapabilities that could be used during hostilities ‑ or in non-conflict settings ‑ to violate human rights, an independent expert told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates continued their dialogues with special procedure mandate holders.
Special Rapporteurs presented reports on internal displacement, human trafficking and modern slavery today, warning that the number of people forcibly displaced within their own countries due to conflict is the highest on record, at 48 million, as Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) delegates engaged in interactive dialogues on human rights matters.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) continued its interactive dialogues on human rights today with experts calling for stronger international and national laws to uproot the entrenched vestiges of colonialism and gender-based discrimination, tackle extrajudicial and arbitrary executions, and end bias in the housing market.
Special Rapporteurs presenting reports on the human rights situations in Belarus, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Eritrea, and the occupied Palestinian territories invited Governments to show political determination, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) continued its interactive dialogues on human rights today.
Delegates in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today demanded freedom from unsustainable debt financing terms, as they tackled a range of areas in which human rights must be at the heart of efforts to create a more just world, from addressing discrimination against people with albinism to alleviating food shortages in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Laws that discriminate against minorities, people with disabilities and individuals affected by leprosy violate a range of human rights, at times relying on inaccurate and biased historical narratives, and promoting narrow visions of whom to include in future protections, Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) experts stressed today, as delegates drew attention to situations across the globe requiring action.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) continued its debate on human rights today, holding a series of dialogues with United Nations experts who called for a definitive break with exploitative systems that have left the world’s poorest without safe drinking water and healthy food, and struggling to avoid hazardous waste discharged by companies unconcerned by the planetary impact of their operations.
Scholars and human rights defenders warn that technology advances in neuroscience and cognitive psychology may enable access to the very content of human thought, affecting how people think, feel and behave, experts told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates discussed freedom of thought and religion, and the right to privacy.
Impediments to freedom of expression for women, discrimination against migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic and an uptick in enforced disappearances were among the concerns addressed by human rights experts in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates raised questions about how better to protect vulnerable communities during interactive dialogues.
Labour leaders, lawyers, journalists and citizens peacefully advocating for democratic reform are often jailed in reprisal for their engagement with United Nations mechanisms, the Independent Expert charged with investigating their plight told the Third Committee today as delegates took part in a series of virtual dialogues on broad human rights questions.
