louis charbonneau

SABC News has reliably been informed that South African diplomat and veteran senior U.N. official Nicholas "Fink" Haysom has died. Haysom served as President Nelson Mandela's Chief Legal advisor from 1994-1999 and later served in various senior roles at the U.N. including his latest as the SGs Special Representative to South Sudan. He also served in the U.N. Mission in Iraq, as SRSG in Afghanistan and Somalia in a long and storied career. Haysom was 73. We are awaiting an official statement from the U.N. #sabcnews

📣 My remarks on behalf of @hrw at a March 16 "teach-in" on academic freedom at @CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice: "Academic Freedom in the US Under Threat: Book Bans, Distorted Curricula and Crackdowns on College Campus Protests" hrw.org/news/2026/03/1…

Only the Central and Eastern Europe Group has a competitive slate. Belarus, which has effectively outlawed civil society and prosecutes human rights defenders, is vying with #Estonia and #Ukraine for two spots and should be rejected.

Abusive governments that restrict civil society have long held a majority on the panel. Instead of vetting applications responsibly so that organizations can interact with UN bodies and officials, it has largely blocked applications, particularly of #humanrights groups.

🚨NEW▶️@hrw: UN NGO Committee election in April is largely uncompetitive. And some candidates are hostile to civil society, restricting or even persecuting them, such as #Belarus. 📢Rights-respecting Governments shld seek seats on gatekeeper Body. tinyurl.com/UNNGOPanel 🧵

Over 143 civilians have been killed and injured in Pakistan's attack in Kabul. Details remain unclear but this horror demands a thorough investigation and accountability. Families are searching for their relatives while many other are buried. Victims deserve more than silence.

For background, here's @hrw's report: "US Maritime Strikes Amount to Extrajudicial Killings" hrw.org/news/2025/09/1…

Pentagon’s Boat Bombings Are Illegal, Human Rights Panel Is Told - @nytimes @ACLU's @jdakwar said the Trump administration was engaged in a “very troubling, dangerous policy of attacking people on the high seas” and had not been providing any evidence. nytimes.com/2026/03/13/us/…

🚨NEW from @hrw: tinyurl.com/VanuICJ 🌍On this new round of discussions on Vanuatu's UN General Assembly resolution on @ICJ_org Advisory Opinion on #ClimateChange, we call on UN members to support it to translate the #ICJ’s findings into action. UN member states should🧵

🚨 New from @hrw: US School Attack in #Iran Findings Show Need for Reform, Accountability Use of Outdated Intelligence Shows Failure to Take All Feasible Precautions - @YagerSarahH 👉🏼 hrw.org/news/2026/03/1…

A child with a hearing disability was deprived of his hearing aids during a US deportation process, leaving him unable to communicate or understand what was happening. No child with disabilities should face immigration detention. hrw.org/news/2026/03/1…

NEW: Haitian security forces and private contractors working with them have conducted extensive and apparently unlawful lethal drone strikes. Dozens of ordinary people, including many children, have been killed and injured in these drone operations. hrw.org/news/2026/03/1…

🚨 🚨The UN Security Council to convene an emergency session this week on the situation in #Lebanon, at the request of France and with the support of European member states of the Council, including the UK, Greece, Latvia and Denmark. Date TBD. @francediplo @LatviaUN_NY @GRUN_NY

Iranian authorities should immediately end the ongoing internet shutdown and communications restrictions. These shutdowns violate human rights and place civilians at further risk of serious harm. hrw.org/news/2026/03/0…

Forced displacement is a war crime, and it’s becoming more of a risk. Only yesterday, the Israeli military called for the evacuation of the entire area south of the Litani River, approximately 8% of Lebanon’s territory and home to hundreds of thousands of people. Today, they issued displacement orders for all residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut, one of the most densely populated areas in the country.

Exclusive: US military investigators believe it is likely that US forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed scores of children on February 28 but have not yet reached a final conclusion or completed their investigation reut.rs/40b19JN

.@NYTimes: Analysis Suggests School Was Hit Amid U.S. Strikes on #Iran Naval Base nytimes.com/2026/03/05/wor…

Les dirigeants de l'UE défendent le droit international de manière sélective: L'absence d'appels directs aux US & Israël pr qu'ils respectent droit de la guerre est d'autant + choquante que certains responsables 🇺🇸 semblent ouvertemt se moquer des règles. hrw.org/fr/news/2026/0…

#EU leaders should never belittle role of international law or apply it selectively - as they've done since #USA/#Israel's strikes on #Iran & retaliatory strikes on neighboring countries. It goes against #EU values & its long-term interests. Our take 👇 hrw.org/news/2026/03/0…

The US is making clear that the M23’s territorial gains would have been impossible without the Rwandan military’s direct operational involvement, and that Rwanda should end its support to the M23 once and for all. hrw.org/news/2026/03/0…