Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has denounced the recent terrorist attack that killed at least 70 people, including two journalists, in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province.
- Mourning those who perished in the 1945 atomic bombing and suffered through its horrendous after-effects, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today conveyed his solidarity to a peace memorial ceremony in Nagasaki, Japan, and urged all to “recommit to building a safer and more secure future.”
- Voicing concern over a number of worrying developments regarding capital punishment in the Maldives, the United Nations human rights chief today called on the Government to refrain from carrying out planned executions and to uphold the de facto moratorium that has been in place in the country for over six decades.
- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned today’s terrorist bombing at the Civil Hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, underscoring that the targeting of mourners at a civilian hospital made the attack “particularly appalling.”
- On anniversary of Hiroshima bombing, Ban urges all States to 'galvanize global will for disarmament'With global tensions rising and progress on nuclear disarmament hard to find, “the world needs the Hibakusha spirit more than ever,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, citing the determination and perseverance of those survivors of the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb attacks as an example for championing peace and a seeking a better future for all.
- The United Nations human rights chief today deplored the execution of 20 people in Iran this week for purported terrorism-related offences.
- Expressing deep concern about the critical health condition of a prisoner on hunger strike for three months, a group of United Nations independent human rights experts today called on the Government of China to stop all forms of ill-treatment and urgently provide him with specialized medical care, based on his full and informed consent.
- The United Nations is "deeply troubled" by the recent missile launches of the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK), a UN spokesperson said today after one of the rockets, reportedly landed in or near Japanese waters for the first time.
- The United Nations human rights chief today expressed serious concern that Iraq has created a committee to accelerate implementation of death sentences.
- The United Nations human rights office said today it is shocked by video footage that has emerged from Don Dale youth detention centre in the Northern Territory in Australia, showing children as young as 10 years old – many of whom are Aboriginal children – being held in inhumane conditions and treated cruelly.
- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific today marked International Tiger Day with a call for urgent action to protect tigers and combat illegal trade in wildlife.
- United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon and a group of UN rights experts today appealed to the Government of Indonesia to stop the reportedly imminent execution of a number of prisoners for alleged drug-related crimes.
- Voicing concern over the amended Child Labour Bill in India which could legitimize family work and further disadvantage children from poor families, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged the removal of certain provisions and establishing a robust monitoring mechanism with a thorough list of hazardous occupations for a stronger child protection framework.