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Stories tagged with “Ban Ki-Moon”

LGBT

UN Secretary General: Culture, Tradition, And Religion Can ‘Never Justify’ LGBT Inequality

By Zack Ford on Apr 17, 2013 at 10:14 am

This week, South Africa and Norway cohosted the International Conference on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Oslo, which was designed to follow through on the United Nations’ resolution to support LGBT human rights. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon submitted a video message to the conference, pointing out that culture, tradition, and religion cannot justify the denial of human rights:

BAN: We must institutionalize our efforts to address discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We need public education to change popular attitudes.

Some will oppose change. They may invoke culture, tradition or religion to defend the status quo. Such arguments have been used to try to justify slavery, child marriage, rape in marriage and female genital mutilation.

I respect culture, tradition and religion – but they can never justify the denial of basic rights.

Watch it:

Ban has previously decried anti-LGBT violence as a “monumental tragedy,” calling on African leaders in particular to end the criminalization of homosexuality and the ongoing persecution of LGBT people.

NEWS FLASH

U.N. Chief Scorns Iran For Anti-Israel, Anti-Semitic Rhetoric | United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon criticized Iran in a speech to the Nonaligned Movement summit in Tehran today for its anti-Israel rhetoric and denying the Holocaust. “I strongly reject threats by any member state to destroy another or outrageous attempts to deny historical facts such as the Holocaust,” Ban said without naming Iran directly. “Claiming that Israel does not have the right to exist or describing it in racist terms is not only wrong but undermines the very principle we all have pledged to uphold,” he added.

NEWS FLASH

Syria Says U.N. Mission Needs No More Than 250 Monitors, No Independent Air Support | Following reports that the Syrian army ontinues to attack rebels, in some cases using heavy weapons in violation of the U.N-Arab League ceasefire which went into effect last week, Syria’s government said today that a U.N. observer mission needs no more than 250 monitors nor independent air support. The assessment runs counter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s call for more monitors and aircraft to make the mission more mobile in a country of Syria’s size. However, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told journalists in Beijing that monitors should come from “neutral” countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and that Syria would supply air transport if necessary.

By Eli Clifton on Apr 18, 2012 at 11:30 am

Security

Arab League Exploring Possible Joint U.N. Observer Mission To Syria

By Eli Clifton on Feb 9, 2012 at 5:43 pm

Violence in Syria continues to rage as security forces killed more than 50 protesters in the city of Hom today. With the death toll for the past six days totaling over 400, Arab League ministers are exploring a new proposal to send a joint U.N-Arab League mission to Syria.

“There is a proposal from the secretary-general of the Arab League to form a joint mission for Syria in coordination with the United Nations, and it will be presented before the planned Arab foreign ministers’ meeting on Sunday in Cairo,” the Arab League’s deputy head, Ahmed Ben Helli, told reporters today.

The upcoming ministerial meeting in Cairo may also issue a statement on China and Russia’s veto of a U.N. Security Council Resolution last Saturday, reports Reuters. The resolution was based on an Arab peace plan that had the support of the rest of the Security Council but China and Russia’s veto brought criticism from both Western and Arab nations.

The ongoing artillery bombardment of Homs, a recently leaked report detailing the failures of an Arab League observer mission, and the Russian and Chinese veto have left the Arab League and the United Nations looking for new strategies to halt the bloodshed.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby announced this week that a new mission would need international backing, better equipment and more observers than the Arab League mission. Yesterday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirmed that Elaraby had proposed a joint mission.

Consultations will be held with the Arab League and Security Council members “before fleshing out the details,” said the U.N. chief. But Western powers offered a lukewarm response to the proposal. Agence France-Presse reports that France said there would have to be “guarantees” for the mission and Germany called it a “very serious” idea but emphasized that conditions would have to be met before such an effort could be launched.

While diplomats discuss what steps to take next, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Syrian government to stop shelling residential areas of Homs. “Those responsible for such horrific attacks will have to answer for them,” HRW’s Anna Neistat in a statement earlier today.

Rights groups estimate that more than 6,000 people have died since protests began eleven months ago.

NEWS FLASH

Ban Ki-Moon Calls On Israel To Halt West Bank Settlements | Last month, British Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy, Nick Clegg, spoke out against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying they jeopardize the two-state solution. Today, U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-Moon echoed those sentiments. Continued settlement “does not help the ongoing peace process,” Ban said. “They should refrain from further settlement for the sake of ongoing peace talks. This can be a way of expressing goodwill gestures.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to push back on Ban’s request, saying that the settlements “should be part of the final peace talks and final peace agreements.” In a related development, State Department spokesman Mark Toner yesterday criticized an recent Israeli government announcement that it would subsidize West Bank settlement construction. “We find those unconstructive and unhelpful,” he said.

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