Tag General Assembly

NEW YORK: Late Pakistani human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir has posthumously been awarded the UN Human Rights Prize 2018.

The prize was awarded to Jahangir, who passed away on February 11 after suffering a stroke at the age of 66. The award was accepted by her daughter Munizae Jahangir at a ceremony held at UN General Assembly, New York as part of activities to celebrate Human Rights Day.

“Many remember Pakistani lawyer Asma Jahangir as ‘a giant’ in the global human rights movement. Learn about her fearless contributions to human rights and why she’s one of this year’s UN Human Rights Prize winners,” the UN Human Rights Twitter account posted.

A large number of diplomats, human rights activists and senior UN officials attended the ceremony.

The Human Rights Prize is awarded every five years, in accordance with a resolution of the General Assembly that was adopted in 1966.

President of the UNGA María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés also congratulated Jahangir and the other three recipients of this year’s award on Twitter. “Warmest congratulations to the 2018 winners of the UN Human Rights Prize. Rebeca Gyumi, Asma Jahangir Joênia Wapichana and FrontLineHRD. Your work inspires us all.”

Jahangir was known for taking up court cases of victimised and marginalised sections of society, as well as for speaking against human rights violations and her courageous stand against the military rule of General Zia-ul-Haq.

An author and staunch activist of democracy, Jahangir also received several accolades for her work on human rights.

Jahangir was also a vocal opponent of judicial overreach and would often confront the superior judiciary when it would extend its jurisdiction in her opinion.

From 1998-2000, Jahangir served as the special rapporteur of the UN Commission on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions and was the special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief of the UN Commission on Human Rights since 2004.

NEW YORK: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday told the UN General Assembly that India was actively involved in the terrorist attacks in Pakistan by providing financial assistance to the extremists.

“Kulbhushan Yadav, on the behest of the Indian government, planned terror attacks inside Pakistan,” Qureshi said while addressing the representatives of the United Nations’ 195 member states during the UNGA’s 73rd session.

Speaking in Urdu, Qureshi said Pakistan sought resolution of all the issues through a comprehensive and serious dialogue. “The [Narendra] Modi government wasted an opportunity for a dialogue for the third time because of their negative attitude,” he underlined.

“Postcolonialism and cold war have left its imprints in the region,” he noted, adding that Pakistan would never forget the children killed in the 2014 Army Public School (APS) massacre.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi addresses the United Nations on the fifth day of the General Assembly’s (UNGA) 73rd session at the UN headquarters in New York, US, September 29, 2018. UN Web TV/The United Nations Live & On Demand/via Geo.tv/Screenshot

The Pakistani foreign minister said his country was engaged in the war against terrorism and its army, with the support of the masses, has ended the scourge from the country.

“Peace has been restored in the cities and villages. In the years to come, we will be able to provide an economic corridor to connect western China and Central Asia with the seaport,” he said.
Kashmir dispute

The Jammu and Kashmir dispute was the biggest hindrance to peace in the region, Qureshi said, adding that the issue would not be resolved until the UN resolutions were implemented properly.
Swaraj reiterates baseless allegations against Pakistan in UNGA

Referring to the first-ever report on Kashmir published by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that had called for an international probe into the numerous violations, he said it had exposed India’s face.

“We welcome the report. It has validated Pakistan’s view,” Qureshi stressed.

“We call for the implementation on its recommendations. India cannot continue with the bloody mayhem on the pretext of terrorism for long. We will welcome a commission on occupied Kashmir.

“We hope India will do it as well,” he added, and warned that India should not test the patience of Islamabad by continuously violating the Line of Control (LoC).

The entire South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) had become dysfunctional due to the attitude of India, Qureshi lamented, adding that New Delhi promoted state-sponsored terrorism in the occupied Kashmir in front of the international community.

The foreign minister said his country was ready to hold a dialogue with its eastside neighbour to curtail the arms race between the two nuclear states.
‘Will continue to support Afghan peace process’

Qureshi said Pakistan had concerns about the presence of Daesh in Afghanistan. The two neighbouring nations “have been the target of foreign power’s misunderstandings for long.

“We will continue to support the Afghan peace process,” he said.
Climate change

The foreign minister called climate change “a serious issue”, and said Pakistan was among those countries who were adversely being affected by the global warming. “We believe that the resolutions in the Paris conference should not be compromised for industrial interests,” he said.

The minister informed the international community that Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government of Pakistan has planned to plant as many as 10 billion trees in the country.
‘One country has held entire region hostage’

Speaking at a press briefing after addressing the UNGA session, FM Qureshi said that India prioritises politics over peace.

“One country has kept the entire South Asian region. We are a self-respecting nation and we know how to protect our interests, country and viewpoints.”

He further added, “Pakistan knows how to tackle India should it make a mistake.”

He added, a meeting of leaders of Pakistan, China and Afghanistan will be held in December to ponder over the present situation in Afghanistan and finding a solution to the Afghan issue.

Moreover, FM Qureshi said that he will be meeting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on October 2 to discuss bilateral matters.

Twelve months on from his explosive debut on the world´s biggest diplomatic stage, Donald Trump returns to the UN General Assembly on Monday to trumpet a turnaround in ties with last year´s number one enemy, North Korea´s Kim Jong Un.

But while relations with Kim have improved dramatically, leaders attending the annual gathering at UN headquarters in New York will hear how another of Trump´s adversaries, Iran´s Hassan Rouhani, remains beyond the pale for the American president.

After arriving in his hometown on Sunday, Trump has a packed schedule over the next few days, kicking off with a speech about the global drugs trade on Monday.

In addition to his address to the General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump has a series of bilateral meetings with allies such as French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain´s Theresa May and Japan´s Shinzo Abe, whom he met with late Sunday.

One of the most closely-watched will be Monday´s meeting with South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, who will brief him on last week´s inter-Korean summit with Kim in Pyongyang.

In his 41-minute speech at the General Assembly in 2017, the US president made clear he wanted to turn the clock back on the last half-century´s growth of global rules and institutions to return to the primacy of the nation-state.

While the implications of his “America First” philosophy rattled many world leaders who sat in the chamber, the main target of his invective was absent.

After months of escalating tensions over advances in the North´s nuclear program, Trump warned Kim that Washington would “totally destroy” North Korea if the US or its allies was attacked.

His colourful description of Kim as a “rocket man” on a “suicide mission” triggered an angry response from Kim, who called Trump “mentally deranged.”

While Kim will again be absent from New York, observers will look for pointers toward a second summit between the US and North Korean leaders since their historic get-together in Singapore in June.

Although he has expressed frustrations in recent months, Trump´s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says efforts to persuade Pyongyang to denuclearise are progressing.
Rouhani Meeting?

“We are hopeful that we can deliver this outcome for the world,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”

Pompeo — who has visited Pyongyang three times — will preside over a Security Council meeting Thursday where he will brief members on how the administration can persuade the North to turn its back on nuclear weapons.

He will also defend the Trump administration´s use of sanctions to force change, which has seen Chinese and Russian companies punished for doing business in North Korea.

Trump´s recent predecessors have all failed to bring about a lasting upturn in ties with the North and skepticism remains about whether Kim has taken any concrete steps, but that seems unlikely to deter Trump from pushing toward a follow-up to Singapore.

“It doesn´t appear that the Moon Jae-in summit did much more than continue a kind of atmosphere and pageantry leading into President Trump´s next summit,” said Mike Green, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

While Trump will dial down the rhetoric against Kim, there seems to be little prospect of him doing likewise with Rouhani.

The US annoyed many of its allies in Europe by pulling out of a deal they jointly negotiated in 2015 that lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

US allies in the Middle East, notably Saudi Arabia, have, however, been delighted by Trump´s stance.

Several of the president´s top lieutenants will address a meeting on Wednesday billed as a “United Against Nuclear Iran Summit” that will also feature speakers from Arab allies.

Rouhani has organised a press conference at the same time.

The White House has not completely closed the door on a Rouhani-Trump meeting and given how things with Kim have turned out, perhaps nothing should be regarded as impossible.

But in a weekend op-ed in The Washington Post, Rouhani charged that Trump´s offer of talks was not “genuine” and came with a list of “openly insulting preconditions.”