Edited News , Statements | UNOG , UNITED NATIONS
Coronavirus: UN rights chief warns against stigmatization of ethnic groups
Discrimination against those affected by coronavirus/COVID-19 must be tackled head on by Governments everywhere, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Thursday, in an appeal for “transparency and information” to help combat the epidemic.
Speaking at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Ms. Bachelet explained that the epidemic “has set off a disturbing wave of prejudice against people of Chinese and East Asian ethnicity”.
Amid reports of xenophobic abuse aimed at Asian people in Europe and elsewhere, she added: “I call on Member States to do their utmost to combat this and other forms of discrimination.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), some 81,000 cases of infection have now been registered, for the most part in China, where the illness emerged late last year.
Ahead of the High Commissioner’s speech, Swiss health authorities earlier confirmed that the first case of coronavirus infection had been detected in Geneva – just the latest city to be affected by the outbreak’s rapid spread across the globe.
On Wednesday, Brazilian authorities also confirmed Latin America’s first case of COVID-19, as data indicated that for the first time, the number of new cases outside China has surpassed those identified inside it.
The UN agency’s latest data from Wednesday 26 February showed that more than 2,700 people had died from the virus in China, with 44 deaths in another 37 countries.
In common with other epidemics, health workers are deemed to be particularly vulnerable to infection from COVID-19, whose symptoms include breathing difficulties and fever, the High Commissioner intimated.
“I extend my deepest respect to the medical teams around the world who are tackling the coronavirus, COVID-19, which constitutes a serious threat to the rights to life and to health of people everywhere,” she said.
Likening the outbreak to “a test of our societies’ resilience”, Ms. Bachelet insisted that human rights norms provided “crucial guideposts” that could improve the effectiveness of the response.
“To effectively combat the virus, all public health measures should be carried out without discrimination of any kind, with an emphasis on transparency and information to empower people to participate in protecting health,” she said.
“Quarantines, which restrict the right to freedom of movement, should be proportionate to the risk, time-bound, and safe. The rights of those under quarantine must be protected, including rights to food and clean water, the right to be treated humanely, access to healthcare, the right to be informed, and freedom of expression. Our field presences will support all stakeholders to uphold the rights of all affected people.”
According to the WHO, the disease is most dangerous for elderly people and those suffering from existing chronic conditions including high blood pressure and diabetes.
“People living in collective institutions, including many older people and people deprived of their liberty, are likely to be more vulnerable to this infection,” Ms. Bachelet said.
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Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk addressed the Human Rights Council during a meeting on the Israeli strike on negotiators in Qatar on Tuesday. “Israel’s strike on negotiators in Doha on 9 September was a shocking breach of international law, an assault on regional peace and stability, and a blow against the integrity of mediation and negotiating processes around the world,” he said.
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Statements , Conferences | HRC
The Human Rights is holding an Urgent debate to “discuss the recent military aggression launched by Israel against the State of Qatar on 9 September 2025”.
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Edited News | UNICEF
Gaza: Thirsty and starving, war-battered families face ‘inhumane’ evacuation
As bombs continue to fall on Gaza City as part of the intensifying Israeli military operation, families with starving children are being pushed southwards from one “hellscape” to another, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
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Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
New UN Human Rights report finds 10 years of increased suffering repression and fear
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday published a report on the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since 2014.
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Edited News | UNICEF , UNHCR
The ongoing humanitarian response to the devastating Afghanistan earthquake disaster continued on Friday, although essential services have been cut for operational reasons following reinforced Taliban restrictions on women working with the UN, the global body said.
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Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Un nouveau rapport du Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme sur la République démocratique du Congo évoque le spectre de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l'humanité dans le Nord et le Sud-Kivu.,
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Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
A high-level independent rights probe into the Sudan crisis on Tuesday condemned the many grave crimes committed against civilians by all parties to the war, citing disturbing evidence indicating that they had been “deliberately targeted, displaced and starved”.
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Statements | UNOG
Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme, Volker Türk - Dialogue interactif renforcé sur la République démocratique du Congo, 60e session du Conseil des droits de l'homme
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Edited News | WHO
Ukraine: ‘Relentless’ attacks rattle health system as winter approaches: WHO
Ambulances attacked, chronically ill patients lacking care and no peace in sight: for millions of Ukrainians, the run-up to another winter of war is just the latest life-or-death challenge they face, the UN health agency (WHO) said on Tuesday.
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Statements , Conferences | HRC
Interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in the Sudan.
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Statements , Conferences | HRC
"Women and girls face extreme forms of gender-based discrimination and oppression that amount to systematic gender persecution", said UN deputy rights chief at the enhanced interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.
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Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his report on Sri Lanka to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.