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	Peoples under Threat 2016 by Minority Rights Group International   June 2016   Further mass migration inevitable as persecution is ignored in states where peoples are under threat, says MRG New global ranking of countries where civilians most at risk of mass killing.   With the refugee crisis far from over, the failure to address persecution in states where peoples are under severe threat makes further mass population movements inevitable, says Minority Rights Group International (MRG).   The international human rights organisation launches today the 2016 Peoples under Threat index and online map , which seeks to identify those countries around the world that are most at risk of genocide, mass political killing or systematic violent repression.   ‘Peoples under Threat demonstrates that although the prediction of mass killing has improved substantially since the 1990s, prevention mechanisms are still woefully inadequate. In particular in 2016, there is a global failure to address the needs of highly vulnerable internally displaced populations, making new refugee flight only a matter of time,’ says Mark Lattimer, MRG’s Executive Director.   The global refugee crisis in 2015 was a direct manifestation of the abuses faced by communities in those states now at the top of the index. That the crisis is ongoing is indicated by rising threats in an expanding range of countries in 2016, says MRG.   The Middle East and Africa dominate the 2016 rankings, with Syria topping the table for the second year. Iraq, South Sudan, Libya, Turkey, Ukraine and Azerbaijan are among the most significant risers.   ‘Just in South Sudan and Iraq, for example, there are 5 million internally displaced victims of ethnic or sectarian persecution, but the UN''s crisis response plans are barely one-quarter funded. Meanwhile, the situation in the two most significant refugee embarkation points for Europe, Libya and Turkey, is rapidly deteriorating,’ adds Lattimer.   The agony of Syria goes on as a partial ‘cessation of hostilities’ agreed in February continues to break down and the formal entry into the conflict of the US and Russia fails to bring a resolution any closer. Over a quarter of a million people had been killed by August 2015, with the vast majority of civilian casualties caused not by ISIS, but through indiscriminate bombardment by Syrian and Russian aircraft. Over four million people have fled to neighbouring countries.   Christians and other minorities, historically subject to repression under the Syrian government, now find themselves largely confined to government-held areas. Meanwhile, the Kurdish-held cantons in northern Syria, the closest to a functioning democracy the country possesses, are threatened by ISIS to the south and to the north by Turkey.   Ukraine has jumped another six places up the Peoples under Threat index this year. Despite Vladimir Putin’s professed respect for people of all ethnic groups living in Crimea following the annexation of the peninsula in 2014, just two years later Russian government suspended the Crimean Tatars’ representative council on trumped up charges of extremism. In east Ukraine, Russian-backed separatists are waging a war against Ukrainian government forces and paramilitaries, resulting in over 2,500 civilian deaths and 2.5 million people forced to flee their homes.   Political intimidation and tight controls on freedom of expression continue in Azerbaijan, which rose seven places in the index. The biggest risk for mass killing is the rising tension over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The intensification of hostilities between Azerbaijani forces and Armenian-backed separatists in April 2016 led to the worst violence for 20 years.   While a significant rise in the Peoples under Threat index provides early indication of risk in the future, the mass killing of civilians is already under way in the 13 states at the top of the index. Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burma and Iraq consistently dominate the top ten. Visit the related web page
	Governments that are restricting NGOs domestically step up efforts to take away NGO voices by International Service for Human Rights, agencies   27.05.2016   The UN’s Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association has added his voice to the alarm expressed about the practice of the UN’s NGO Committee, which acts as the gatekeeper to NGO participation in many UN bodies and processes. The Special Rapporteur’s call comes on top of an unprecedented mobilisation of over 230 NGOs from around the world calling this week on the Committee to respect basic principles of transparency, due process, non-discrimination and respect for fundamental human rights in its work.   In a commentary published today, UN expert Maina Kiai condemned yesterday’s vote at the NGO Committee against granting accreditation to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ). States including Azerbaijan, Burundi, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Sudan and Venezuela all voted against accrediting CPJ, striking a blow against freedom of expression, a free press, access to information, and the protection of journalists.   According to the Special Rapporteur, despite repeated expert calls for reform of the practice of the Committee, including through his own report to the UN General Assembly in 2014, ‘not much has changed’.   ‘The practice of NGO harassment by some Committee members’ continues to ‘profoundly undermine the ability of the United Nations to constructively engage with civil society,’ Mr Kiai said.   According to ISHR’s Eleanor Openshaw, the practice of many States at the UN’s NGO Committee in seeking to silence civil society is emblematic and reflective of attacks and restrictions on civil society at the national level, a view shared by the Special Rapporteur.   ‘The same governments that are restricting NGOs domestically are stepping up efforts to take away NGOs’ voices on the international stage as well. They are doing this by hijacking, and subsequently closing, the main door used by civil society to enter the United Nations system: the Committee on NGOs,’ Mr Kiai said.   By contrast, States that stood with civil society and on the side of freedom of expression and association by voting in favour of CPJ included Greece, Guinea, Israel, Mauritania, the US, and Uruguay.   ISHR’s Eleanor Openshaw noted, ‘In voting against granting accreditation to the Committee on the Protection of Journalists, the NGO Committee has shown its practice is to bring restrictions on civil society experienced globally, to the heart of the UN. This is a bad day for press freedom and for rights to access and participate at the UN. ECOSOC must ensure this Committee takes politics out of its practice and acts in accordance with foundations UN instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.’   The NGO Committee will consider to assess NGO applicants for consultative status today, including that of the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), which has had its application for status delayed and denied for around eight years.   * Access the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) homepage via the link below.   http://www.ishr.ch/news/un-special-rapporteur-condemns-practice-un-ngo-committee-silencing-civil-society http://www.ishr.ch/news/china-domestic-record-achilles-heel-would-be-human-rights-council-heavyweight http://www.ishr.ch/news/protecting-human-rights-defenders-reprisals http://freeassembly.net/news/commentary-ngo-committee/ Visit the related web page
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