Switzerland

05 Dec 2022; MEMO: UNHCR has criticised a report issued by the Centre for Policy Studies on UK asylum reform, which includes a blanket ban on anyone arriving on a small boat from claiming asylum, with the UN agency stating that access to asylum should not be dependent on how people arrive, or their nationality.

Among the report's recommendations is that the Modern Slavery Act should be reformed to include a ban on entire nationalities such as Albania using the act to claim asylum.

24 Nov 2022; MEMO: The UN Human Rights Council voted, Thursday, to establish an independent international fact-finding mission to investigate alleged human rights violations in Iran related to protests that began on 16 September, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The Council adopted its Resolution with 25 votes in favour of the resolution, six against, and 16 abstentions.

The United Nations coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, yesterday called for an "immediate and comprehensive investigation" into a recent Israeli killing to a teenage Palestinian girl, Fulla Masalmeh.

"Appalled by the tragic killing of a 15-year old Palestinian girl, Folah Al-Masalmah, by Israeli security forces during a raid this morning near Ramallah. My heartfelt condolences to her family & loved ones," he wrote on Twitter.

GENEVA, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Unilateral sanctions against Syria should be lifted as soon as possible, a UN expert said on Thursday.

The sanctions are contributing to the destruction and trauma suffered by the Syrian people, said Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures and human rights.

Following a 12-day visit to Syria, Douhan said she was struck by the humanitarian impact of the measures imposed on Syria, a country attempting to rebuild in the wake of a decade-long war.

ZURICH (AP) — Soccer fans from Israel and the Palestinian territories can share flights to the World Cup in Qatar in a breakthrough agreement announced by FIFA on Thursday.

Charter flights to Doha from Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv for soccer games starting on Nov. 20 will be open to all Palestinians, FIFA said. This includes residents from the occupied West Bank and blockaded Gaza Strip who typically cannot travel through Israel’s main airport.

08 Nov 2022; MEMO: A Palestinian human rights group told a UN panel on Monday it had been subject to threats and "mafia methods" during a campaign of harassment organised by Israel to silence groups documenting alleged Israeli rights violations, Reuters reports.

Israel dismissed the process overseen by the panel as a sham, while it declined comment on the specific allegations.

08 Nov 2022; MEMO: A series of public hearings with victims of alleged Israeli human rights violations opened at the United Nations in Geneva on Monday, with Israel dismissing them as "sham trials", Reuters reports.

The independent Commission of Inquiry established by the UN top Human Rights body last year, plans five days of hearings which it says will be impartial and examine the allegations of both Israelis and Palestinian authorities.

ZURICH, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Switzerland should avoid following the European Union by imposing sanctions on China if it cares about Swiss-Sino relations, the Chinese ambassador to Bern told the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.

Last year, the EU accused Chinese officials of mass detentions of Muslim Uighurs and human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and imposed its first sanctions against Beijing since an arms embargo in 1989 following the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Switzerland has not yet decided to follow the EU's lead.

GENEVA, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Saturday issued an open letter to Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of Twitter, saying "ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter".

The letter followed reports of Twitter's massive layoff of staff on Friday, including its human rights team and ethical AI team.

"Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platform's use and evolution," Turk said in the letter.

ZURICH (AP) — Soccer’s top officials have urged the 32 teams preparing for the most political World Cup in the modern era to focus on the game in Qatar and avoid handing out lessons in morality.

A letter urging teams to “let football take center stage” was sent by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and secretary general Fatma Samoura ahead of intense media focus on coaches and players when World Cup squads are announced next week.