قال مدعي عام المحكمة الجنائية الدولية، لويس مورينو أوكامبو، اليوم إن المحكمة ستجري تحقيقا في ارتكاب نظام الرئيس الليبي معمر القذافي جرائم ضد الإنسانية، بينما دعت الأمم المتحدة إلى اتخاذ إجراء عاجل لتفادي أزمة إنسانية في البلاد. وقال أوكامبو اليوم إن التحقيقات الأولية من المعلومات المتاحة توضح بأن هناك أمر بإجراء تحقيق، وذلك بعد أن طلب مجلس الأمن الأسبوع الماضي من المحكمة النظر في القمع العنيف للتظاهرات في ليبيا مما أسفر حسب التقارير الواردة عن مقتل أكثر من 1000 شخص وإصابة آخرين. وسيقدم أوكامبو في مؤتمر صحفي غدا لمحة عامة حول الجرائم التي يزعم ارتكابها في ليبيا منذ الخامس عشر من شباط/فبراير والمعلومات المتعلقة بالهيئات والأشخاص الذين يمكن محاسبتهم.

Libya/UN: GA unanimously suspends Libya from HRC

At a historic General Assembly session this afternoon, the GA voted, by consensus, to suspend Libya’s membership in the Human Rights Council. In her remarks, Ambassador Rice said, “This unprecedented action sends another clear warning to Mr. Qadhafi and those who still stand by him: they must stop the killing. When the only way a leader can cling to power is by grossly and systematically violating his own people’s human rights, he has lost any legitimacy to rule. He must go, and he must go now.” Rice also spoke to reporters after the vote.

Sénégal: Déjeuner d'Echanges par le Groupe Thématique Genre

"Nous allons tout simplement au delà de la revendication qui est celle portant sur l'égalité des sexes, c´était hier ! Aujourd´hui, nous réclamons des compétences techniques et spécialisées à partir desquelles nous pourrons utiliser des outils efficaces pour amener la volonté politique dans la réalité de tous les secteurs en matière de genre." Citation de la déclaration par SE Madame Awa Ndiaye, Ministre d’Etat, Ministre du Genre et des Relations avec les Associations féminines Africaines et Etrangères - Dakar, Sénégal, 30 Novembre 2010.

Senegal: Reviewing implementation of UN Women and Millennium Development Goals

“We are moving beyond simply asking for gender equality, that was then! We are now calling for technical and specialized skills to use effective tools in bringing the political will into reality across all sectors in terms of gender” - HE Mrs Awa Ndiaye, Minister of State for Gender and Relations with African and Foreign Women Associations. Dakar, Senegal, on Nov 30, 2010.

Endorse WLUML's nomination of Zarizana Abdul Aziz for new UN Working Group

Women Living Under Muslim Laws is nominating WLUML board member Ms. Zarizana Abdul Aziz from Malaysia as the most knowledgeable and experienced candidate for the Asia representative of the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law and Practice. You can find a copy of Zarizana Abdul Aziz’s CV here: http://www.wluml.org/sites/wluml.org/files/CV_Zarizana%20Abdul%20Aziz_2010.pdf and instructions on how to make your endorsement follow.

Saudi Arabia: Place on the board of UN Women 'a sad joke'

It took years to make the United Nations' newest agency, UN Women, a reality, and then just one day to effectively kill it. Death was effected by allowing onto its board a kingdom where women are not just infamously prohibited from driving but are also virtual minors who need a male guardian's permission to travel and to have surgery — and must be covered from head to toe in public. As one of two countries guaranteed seats as emerging donor nations, Saudi Arabia essentially bought its way onto the board of UN Women, which is dedicated to gender equality around the world. Just three days after securing an automatic seat, Saudi Arabia gave us a reminder of just how oxymoronic its place on UN Women is, when its team showed up at the Asian Games in China without a single woman among the 180-strong delegation.

Iran: UN Resolution on Human Rights Violations Approved by Huge Margin

The Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly’s strong approval of a draft resolution, condemning Iran for grave human right violations, is a welcome step in the continuing effort to put a stoplight on the country’s growing human rights crisis, said the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran today.

UN: Saudi Arabia "bought" a seat on the UN Women board

Iran failed Wednesday to secure a seat on the board running the new UN super agency for women in the face of a fierce diplomatic onslaught against its rights record. Saudi Arabia, criticised for refusing even to let women drive, got an automatic seat and rights groups said they will now seek to put the spotlight on the Islamic kingdom's record. Four UN agencies were merged this year to set up UN Women, with a 500-million-dollar budget per year, under the leadership of former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet.

Algérie: les violences contre les femmes exposées à la Rapporteure Spéciale

Depuis avant-hier, la rapporteuse spéciale des Nations unies sur la violence contre les femmes, Rashida Manjoo, est l’invitée de l’Algérie. Durant le séjour de la responsable sud-africaine, qui durera une vingtaine de jours, il sera question d’évaluer la situation des violences faites aux femmes et de s’enquérir aussi des suites données, par les autorités algériennes, aux recommandations faites, en 2007, par la précédente rapporteuse spéciale, Yakin Erturk. Des recommandations qui, pour la plupart, sont restées lettre morte. Pour mener à bien son travail, Mme Manjoo s’entretiendra avec les instances nationales en charge du dossier de la femme, ainsi qu’avec des associations et organisations de la société civile, dans la capitale, mais également dans d’autres régions du pays, plus particulièrement à Constantine, Oran et Hassi-Messaoud.

UN: Special Rapporteur Violence Against Women to Visit Algeria

GENEVA – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against women, its causes and consequences, Rashida Manjoo, will conduct an official visit to Algeria from 1 to 10 November 2010 at the invitation of the Government. “During my visit, I intend to meet with national stakeholders involved in fighting all aspects related to violence against women, with a view to appreciate the phenomenon in Algeria. I will also seize the opportunity of this mission to review progress made since the visit of my predecessor in 2007”, said the human rights expert, who will travel to Alger, Constantine, Oran and Hassi-Messaoud.

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