Mr. Assange had been sought by US lawmakers after huge leaks of labeled materials through the WikiLeaks platform.
Alice Jill Edwards, Special Rapporteur on torture and different merciless, inhuman or degrading therapy or punishment, informed UN News that “people should not and should never be extradited to where they may face a torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of punishment”, together with penalties which are disproportionate to any alleged crimes that will have been dedicated.
“Those crimes that were exposed by Mr. Assange need to be taken seriously and properly investigated and prosecuted in the United States,” she mentioned. “Impunity for war crimes and other violations of the laws of war only embolden actors to take matters into their own hands.”
Until in the present day, Mr. Assange had been preventing extradition from jail in the United Kingdom to the US following the 2010 publication of secret navy paperwork and diplomatic communications.
His reported deal entails a responsible plea to at least one rely of violating the US Espionage Act, with out serving further jail time.
Ukraine: ICC points more arrest warrants towards prime Russian officers
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on Tuesday for 2 senior Russian officers for alleged conflict crimes and crimes towards humanity dedicated in the course of the Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The two males – Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov – held prime positions throughout the Russian Government and navy on the time of the reported crimes, which embody missile strikes on “numerous” energy stations in a number of areas.
Civilian hurt
In an announcement, the courtroom mentioned that it was cheap to think about that the hurt to civilians and harm from the strikes from October 2022 to March 2023 “would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage”.
The courtroom additionally famous that each people face allegations that they “caused excessive incidental harm to civilians” and had been liable for “inhumane acts” by both ordering the crimes to occur or by means of “failure to exercise proper control over the forces under their command”.
UN rights consultants: Stop criminalising homelessness and poverty
Independent UN human rights consultants on Tuesday known as on governments to scrap “cruel and counterproductive” legal guidelines which are criminalising homelessness and poverty.
A new study printed by two UN Special Rapporteurs – for sufficient housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, and on excessive poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter – paperwork rising proof exhibiting that individuals residing in homelessness and poverty are more and more being penalised merely for doing what is important for his or her primary survival.
This included fines and sanctions for actions comparable to sleeping, washing, cooking, consuming, begging and dealing on the road.
“Instead of addressing the global affordable housing and inequality crises, which are primarily responsible for homelessness, governments are increasingly turning to outdated and vague vagrancy laws, many of which have their roots in colonial rule, to move people off the streets and make them disappear,” Mr. Rajagopal mentioned.
Symptom of failure
He added that homelessness was a symptom of political and social failure, rooted in coverage and institutional elements.
“These laws will not solve homelessness or poverty. They are in direct violation of international human rights and must be urgently repealed,” he mentioned.
The examine finds that criminalisation solely pushes determined folks into additional poverty and homelessness.
“These laws result in a double punishment,” argued Mr. De Schutter. “People are punished first when they are pushed into homelessness and again when they are sanctioned. The [laws] are cruel, counterproductive and a disproportionate response even to any legitimate safety or public health concern presented by homelessness.”
End punitive strategy
The consultants urged governments to repeal blanket prohibitions towards begging and reallocate assets away from police motion to deal with the basis causes of poverty and homelessness. Prison sentences for these that may’t afford to pay fines must also be abolished and promote non-custodial measures for minor offences of the homeless, they mentioned.
“Homelessness and poverty are growing because of political choices that are making a decent income and adequate housing a distant dream for millions,” Mr. Rajagopal mentioned. “This must be addressed. Relying on law enforcement will not solve the problem.”
Protecting justice methods amid rising authoritarianism
In one other report back to the Human Rights Council on Tuesday, the impartial UN expert safeguarding the independence of judges and legal professionals warned that the function of impartial justice methods was coming beneath rising assault.
Margaret Satterthwaite mentioned some political actors had been seizing on a local weather of rising populism and authoritarianism to restrict or management justice methods, together with by means of the criminalisation of prosecutors, judges and legal professionals.
In her second report to the Council, the Special Rapporteur highlighted how governments had been making an attempt to subvert justice by curbing bar associations, wresting management from courts or attacking these working in the system in any respect ranges.
Fundamental values at stake
“Justice systems promote and protect a fundamental value that undergirds participatory governance: the rule of law,” she mentioned. “This principle insists that all people, even State actors, are subject to the same laws, applied fairly and consistently.
“I call on Member States to do more to revitalise public trust in justice institutions and to defend justice actors and their indispensable role in safeguarding democracy,” she added.
Special Rapporteurs and different UN Human Rights Council-appointed rights consultants are impartial of any authorities, obtain no wage for his or her work and serve in their particular person capability.