IX-11, UNPO Upcoming Activities & Events

Hmong delegation visit Brussels (5/9/11 – 9/9/11)

Ogaden parallel event at UN Human Rights Council (13/09/11)

Mapuche lobby visit to Brussels (14/09/11 – 19/09/11) 

Balochistan parallel event at UN Human Rights Council (15/09/11)

13th UNPO Presidency Meeting (16/9/11 – 18/09/11)

Sindh advocacy visit to Brussels (18-21 September)

UNPO-World Uyghur Congress Conference, Estonia (24-26 September)

International Day of Non-violence (2 October 2011) 

Subcommittee on Human Rights Hearing, Brussels, Belgium, Iraq’s Forgotten People? – The Turkmen of Kirkuk (3 October 2011) 

UNPO at International Day in The Hague

2nd September 2011

Dear UNPO Members and Friends,

 

On the 23rd of August, UNPO travelled to Abkhazia to monitor the 5th Presidential election since the position of President of the Republic of Abkhazia was created in 1994. On behalf of UNPO, I would like to congratulate Mr. Alexander Ankvab for this win in this closely fought Abkhazian Presidential election. Election observation missions are intrinsic with monitoring a key principle of good governance – free and fair elections. It is necessary for an independent judicator to monitor political elections to increase confidence in the election process through detecting fraud, ensuring all citizens can participate in political life and that the election result reflects the will of the people. 

UNPO welcomed the concluding observations of the United Nations Human Rights Committee following its 102nd Session review of Ethiopia and Kazakhstan, among others. UNPO, African Rights Monitor and the World Uyghur Congress attended the July 2011 review in Geneva and briefed the Committee on human rights abuses in the Ogaden and Oromo regions of Ethiopia as well as the case of Uyghur refugee Ershedin Israel who was extradited by Kazakhstan to China earlier this year. In early August the Committee issued a number of strong recommendations to both countries regarding their violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

 

Following years of investigation, the United Nations Environmental Programme published its findings on the environmental disaster within the Niger Delta this month. The investigation uncovered what many already knew, namely shocking levels of oil pollution, even in spill sites that oil companies claim to have cleaned up. The report concluded that the region will need to undergo the largest cleanup operation in history to remove all the pollution created by numerous oil spills. UNPO visited affected regions within Ogoniland in early 2010 and witnessed first-hand the environmental devastation resulting from one such spill. UNPO will be monitoring the implementation of the report’s findings and continuing its work in the Niger Delta with support from the Nando Peretti Foundation.

 

Further demonstrating the power of high-profile reporting, increased international scrutiny has been focused on Ethiopia following the broadcast of a joint undercover investigation by BBC Newsnight and the Bureau for Investigative Journalism. The investigation has substantiated earlier reports and news coverage by UNPO, Human Rights Watch and others on the government’s use of aid as a political weapon, as well as the shocking abuses of human rights perpetrated against those living in the Ogaden region. UNPO has taken these and other concerns to numerous bodies of the United Nations as well as the European Parliament in the past year, and hopes that the publicity surrounding this report will lead to greater international pressure on the Ethiopian government to halt such abuses.

 

Finally, UNPO would like to congratulate Lobsang Sangay on being elected as the new Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister) of the Central Tibetan Administration. The Harvard University academic and Tibetan law expert won the spring 2011 election by 55% of votes cast by Tibetans world-wide, and was sworn into office on 8 August, 2011.  Lobsang Sangay has taken over the political duties of the Dalai Lama, who will continue to be the spiritual leader of the Central Tibetan Administration. He has vowed to follow the ‘Middle Way’ path of negotiations pursued by his predecessor.

Sincerely,

Marino Busdachin

UNPO General Secretary