Derechos Humanos / Human Rights

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has issued the fourth in its series of Practical Guides for Civil Society, focusing this edition on Human Rights Funds, Grants and Fellowships. The guide aims to assist prospective applicants by briefly describing the menu of funding sources, grants and fellowships administered by or with the participation the OHCHR. The guide is available in a variety of languages: English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish.

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR)
• Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

Geneva, Oct. 2 (DP.net).

Sixty-three countries sponsored the landmark human rights resolution on "The Rights of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association," the result of a drawing to an end a hard-fought campaign by civil society groups. The resolution calls upon States to ensure the rights of individuals to assembly and association by taking all necessary measures to abide by obligations under international human rights law. Most importantly, the resolution also calls for the appointment of a UN Special Rapporteur to monitor and study trends, developments, and challenges in relation to the exercise of these rights, and to make recommendations on ways and means to ensure the promotion and protection of these rights. Among other duties, the Special Rapporteur will report on violations and discrimination, as well as threats or use of violence, harassment, persecution, intimidation, or reprisals directed at persons exercising these rights.

The resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council establishes the mandate of a Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and extended the mandates of the Working Group on arbitrary detention, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia. The Council also adopted a statement on religious intolerance.

With regard to the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the Council decided to appoint, for a period of three years, a Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.

[ Full text of the Resolution ]
[ More about the resolution ]
[ Other perspectives ]

A group of experts has released a new report that critically analyzes claims that Israel committed crimes against humanity during the Israel-Gaza War. The study covers from October 7, 2023, to June 1, 2025, including intentional killings, premeditated starvation, and even "genocide."  In order to separate propaganda from fact and expose structural flaws in significant worldwide communication organizations, the study employs a special combination of quantitative-statistical analysis, forensic documentation, primary sources, and comparative military history.

The authors emphasize that their objective is not legal or moral exoneration, but a rigorous factual analysis of the methodologies and evidence behind genocide claims. Accordingly, this study adheres to the highest academic and evidentiary standards. The authors do not speak for any government or political entity. The publication is forthcoming from the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. 

Among the findings, the study reveals that there is no basis for the starvation claims because more food entered Gaza during the war than before October 7, 2023. The claim that 500 aid trucks are required daily stems from a misrepresentation by UN bodies, one which has been left unchallenged and unchecked. Pre-war UN records cite an average of 73 food trucks per day in 2022. During the fighting (until January 17, 2025), the Coordination and Liaison Administration of the Gaza Strip (COGAT) recorded an average of 101 food trucks daily, whereas retroactively corrected but still incomplete UNRWA data indicated 83 food trucks per day. The study reveals that severe food shortages are being caused by Hamas' actions, which seize most of the cargo and stockpile it for trading.

As set forth in the Genocide Convention of 1948, ”the crime of genocide requires that a perpetrator kill, seriously harm, or inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of a group, in whole or in part, with the intent to destroy the group as such.” However, according to the University Network for Human Rights (UNHR), a consortium of human rights centers at colleges across the world, has released its finding, “after reviewing the facts established by independent human rights monitors, journalists, and United Nations agencies, we conclude that Israel’s actions in and regarding Gaza since October 7, 2023, violate the Genocide Convention.”