Tuesday, February 25, 2025
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UN rights chief decries substantial rise in death penalty executions

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UN rights chief decries substantial rise in death penalty executions

While a number of countries argue that it lies within their national sovereignty, from my perspective, it is incompatible with human dignity and the right to life,” the High Commissioner told Member States, during a discussion about the contribution of judiciaries to advancing human rights over the issue.

The punishment had “no place” in the 21st century, Mr. Turk, continued, noting that “the top executing countries over recent years” include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and the United States.

Clear evidence

Latest UN data indicates that in 2023, 1,153 executions took place in 16 countries, representing a 31 per cent increase from 2022 and the highest number in the past eight years.

“That followed a 53 per cent increase in executions between 2021 and 2022,” the High Commissioner said, adding that the figures do not take into account China, “where there is a lack of transparent information and statistics on the death penalty. I call on the Chinese authorities to change this policy and join the trend towards abolition.”

Global South leading abolition

Although drug-related offences do not meet the “most serious crimes” justification for executions under international human rights law, they account for more than 40 per cent of death penalty executions – the highest number since 2016.

“This proportion has also risen sharply over the past two years, and almost all of these executions took place in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Mr. Türk explained.

In more positive developments and despite a global rise in executions, a growing number of countries are abolishing the practice – spurred by the Global South.

Today, 113 countries have scrapped the death penalty completely. This includes Zimbabwe – where President Emmerson Mnangagwa approved a law ending executions at the end of 2024 – along with 26 other countries in Africa.

Key to abolition are judicial reform and discretion in commuting executions to lesser punishments, the High Commissioner insisted. Malawi and Malaysia have implemented such reforms, leading to fewer death sentences, Mr. Türk continued, as he called for greater efforts globally to ensure fair trials and avoid wrongful convictions.

He urged nations to move towards the complete abolition of the death penalty, advocate for moratoriums, and ensure that the death penalty is only used for the most serious crimes.

Zimbabwe focus

Also addressing the Council, Zimbabwe Attorney General Virginia Mabiza explained that the death penalty had been introduced by colonial rulers in the 18th century, enduring beyond the country’s independence in 1980.

She said that more than 56 per cent of the population wanted the death penalty to remain in the statute books when asked in 1999, while between 1980 and 2005, 105 convicted offenders were executed.

“Since then, no other executions have been carried out in Zimbabwe, and this can be attributed to policy decisions coupled with judicial discretion against capital punishment,” the Attorney General told the Council.

Ms. Mabiza noted that a wide range of offences had been formerly punishable by the death penalty including conspiracy and attempted robbery, but by 2013, only a murder conviction could lead to death for the convicted offender, in compliance with the UN General Assembly resolution on reducing the number of offences that attract the death penalty.

And pointing to several instances where the Supreme Court in Harare determined that the death penalty constituted a violation of a prisoner’s human rights, Ms. Mabiza said that sentences were “often commuted death sentences to life imprisonment”.

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Happy 30th birthday, Europa website!

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Happy 30th birthday, Europa website!

 

We’re celebrating here: on 25 February, our very own Europa website is turning 30. What started as a website small enough to fit on a CD-Rom is now a web domain that includes 800 websites, attracting around 300 million visitors a year. Throughout the last 30 years, the Europa website has remained true to its original mission: to bring the European Union closer to citizens and communicate what the EU does for them. 

The European Commission launched the Europa website in 1995, just in time for a G7 conference that took place at the time. During that event, Klaus Hänsch, then President of the European Parliament, said: “Access to information on information must be available to all” – something which still rings true today. In this era of disinformation, people, of course, want reliable information from sources they can trust, and that is what the Europa domain stands for. 

The original Europa website was operated by the Commission and published in three languages. With email not yet widely available, the website team used to receive information via fax from different services and retype it manually before publishing on the website. The site’s come a long a way since then. Content has multiplied, other EU institutions have got on board, and technology has continued to advance. Europa now publishes information in 24 languages and certain other non-EU languages, like Ukrainian, Chinese and Arabic.  

We have archives that include video footage and photos of Europa, some of which mark big moments in our history. They are stored on the EU’s Audiovisual Service, which along with us, is also celebrating an anniversary of its own. We send them our best wishes!  

For more information 

From the archives: see the first Europa website  

From the archives: see former versions of Europa 

From the archives: press release announcing Europa’s launch  

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Ombudsman suggests ways for Commission to ensure EU border management funds comply with fundamental rights obligations

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Ombudsman suggests ways for Commission to ensure EU border management funds comply with fundamental rights obligations

The Ombudsman has made a series of suggestions to the European Commission to help it monitor EU funds granted to Member States for border management and ensure their use does not result in fundamental rights violations.
In particular, she suggested the Commission create guidelines for assessing compliance by Member States with fundamental rights throughout the entire duration of funding programmes. These guidelines should include the need to take into account independent sources of information on potential rights violations and establish public criteria for withholding or suspending EU funding.
The Ombudsman’s inquiry into this issue follows a complaint from several non-governmental organisations who had raised concerns that the Commission has failed to effectively monitor EU-funded border management activities in the face of persistent allegations of human rights violations by the Greek authorities.
In its assessment of comp

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Israel: Press remarks by High Representative Kaja Kallas after the EU-Israel Association Council

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Israel: Press remarks by High Representative Kaja Kallas after the EU-Israel Association Council

Israel: Press remarks by High Representative Kaja Kallas after the EU-Israel Association Council

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EU reaffirms unwavering support to Ukraine on anniversary of invasion

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EU reaffirms unwavering support to Ukraine on anniversary of invasion

On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The EU has condemned Russia’s unprovoked aggression, imposed wide-ranging sanctions, and offered unwavering support to Ukraine. The EU will stand with Ukraine until it achieves a just and lasting peace.

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EU reaffirms unwavering support to Ukraine on anniversary of invasion

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EU reaffirms unwavering support to Ukraine on anniversary of invasion

 

In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The EU reacted swiftly and decisively, condemning Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified aggression, imposing wide-ranging sanctions, and offering Ukraine its unwavering support. The EU remains committed to supporting Ukraine until it achieves a just and lasting peace. 

Strong and comprehensive EU response 

The EU has provided almost €135 billion in support to Ukraine, including economic, military, financial, and humanitarian aid. It continues to work with international partners to ensure sustained support and hold Russia accountable.  

Hard-hitting sanctions have significantly weakened Russia’s economy and war capabilities. The EU is also working to ensure those responsible for war crimes face justice through the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine in The Hague. 

Peace, reconstruction, and Ukraine’s European future 

On the third anniversary of the invasion, President von der Leyen and the College of Commissioners are visiting Kyiv. The President is meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and together, they are co-chairing a College-to-Government meeting to discuss Ukraine’s future as a free and sovereign nation.  

The EU continues to work with Ukraine on its EU accession process. Ukraine’s progress towards EU membership reflects the will of its people for democratic reforms and a European future.  

After the war, Ukraine will require extensive reconstruction. The EU has been actively contributing to the country’s resilience and recovery, but further support will be needed to rebuild a free and prosperous country, anchored in European values and well-integrated into the European and global economy.  

For more information 

EU solidarity with Ukraine 

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World’s ‘warmongers’ must end disdain for global order, UN chief insists

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World’s ‘warmongers’ must end disdain for global order, UN chief insists

On the opening day of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Secretary-General rounded on “warmongers who thumb their nose at international law, international humanitarian law and the UN Charter”.

To date, Ukraine has seen more than 12,600 civilians killed, many more injured and entire communities reduced to rubble, Mr. Guterres told the UN’s top human rights body. “We must spare no effort to bring an end to this conflict, and achieve a just and lasting peace in line with the UN Charter, international law and General Assembly resolutions, he insisted.

“One by one, human rights are being suffocated,” Mr. Guterres continued, singling out the “autocrats crushing opposition because they fear what a truly empowered people would do”, amid “wars and violence that strip populations of their right to food, water and education”.

Turning to the “precarious” ceasefire in Gaza, the UN chief insisted that a resumption of hostilities must be avoided at all costs for the sake of the enclave’s people who have endured 15 months of constant Israeli bombardment. Mr. Guterres also expressed deep concern about rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers – “and other violations, as well as calls for annexation”.

“It’s time for a permanent ceasefire, the dignified release of all remaining hostages, irreversible progress towards a two-State solution, an end to the occupation, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, with Gaza as an integral part.”

Silence the guns

In a wide-ranging speech to the world’s top human rights forum, the UN Secretary-General also called for diplomacy and dialogue to help resolve horrific, ongoing rights violations from the Sahel to Myanmar, Haiti and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“We see a deadly whirlwind of violence and horrifying human rights abuses, amplified by the recent M23 offensive, supported by the Rwandan Defense Forces – as more cities fall, the risk of a regional war rises,” Mr. Guterres said. “It’s time to silence the guns; it’s time for diplomacy and dialogue.” 

And amid growing intolerance towards many of society’s most vulnerable and marginalized people – from indigenous peoples, to migrants, refugees, the LGBTQI+ community and persons with disabilities – the UN Secretary-General also criticized the voices of “division and anger” for whom human rights threaten their quest for “power, profit and control.”

UN Photo/Jean Marc Ferré

Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the opening of the 58th session of the Human Rights Council.

Mulitlateralism under strain

Echoing the UN chief’s concerns that human rights are “being pummelled hard”  today, putting at risk 80 years of multilateral cooperation embodied by Organizations, UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned that the international system “is going through a tectonic shift, and the human rights edifice we have built up so painstakingly over decades has never been under so much strain”.

Beyond Ukraine, where Russian attacks have created “wanton destruction”, Mr. Türk told the Council’s Member States that the suffering borne by Gazans and Israelis since the Hamas-led attacks that sparked the war in October 2023 had been “unbearable”.

The UN rights chief also repeated his call for an independent probe into grave violations of international law “committed by Israel in the course of its attacks across Gaza, and by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups”.

Mr. Türk also condemned as “completely unacceptable” any suggestion that people can be forced from their land – amid proposals floated by the United States that Gazans should be resettled outside the devastated Strip.

His comments came on the opening day of the Human Rights Council in Geneva which meets in three scheduled sessions throughout the year. March is traditionally the “high-level” session where top national representatives rub shoulders at the Palace of Nations in Geneva.

Nigh-on six weeks of debates are slated to discuss emergencies in around 40 countries – from Belarus to DR Congo, DPRK/North Korea, Haiti, Sudan, Ukraine and more – along with thematic issues and some 80 reports from top independent rights experts and the UN human rights office, OHCHR – on disability rights, genocide, children in armed conflict and torture, among others – until the 58th session ends on Friday 4 April.

The Human Rights Council is the world’s principal body for discussions and action on human rights. It was founded in 2006 and has 47 Member States, although all 193 countries belonging the UN can take part as observers.

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Joint statement by the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Parliament on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

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Israel: Press remarks by High Representative Kaja Kallas after the EU-Israel Association Council

Joint statement by the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Parliament on the three year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.

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Decisions taken by the Governing Council of the ECB (in addition to decisions setting interest rates)

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Decisions taken by the Governing Council of the ECB (in addition to decisions setting interest rates)

February 2025

21 February 2025

Market operations

Extension of liquidity lines until January 2027

On 23 January 2025 the Governing Council approved the extension of the ECB repo lines with eight non-euro area central banks (Magyar Nemzeti Bank, Banca Națională a României, Bank of Albania, Andorran Financial Authority, National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, Central Bank of the Republic of San Marino, Central Bank of Montenegro and Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo) until 31 January 2027. The decision was taken pursuant to the new framework for euro liquidity lines, which was adopted in 2023.

Eurosystem climate stress test report

On 13 February 2025 the Governing Council took note of the main findings of the 2024 climate stress test on the Eurosystem’s balance sheet, which will feed into the Eurosystem’s climate-related financial disclosures.

Market infrastructure and payments

Inclusion of provisions on the TARGET Analytical Environment in the T2 Currency Participation Agreement

On 13 February 2025 the Governing Council approved the amendments to the agreement on the use of T2 services (T2 Currency Participation Agreement) to include the TARGET Analytical Environment as a standard feature offered to both current and future signatories of the T2 Currency Participation Agreement.

Advice on legislation

ECB Opinion on flood insurance

On 4 February 2025 the Governing Council adopted Opinion CON/2025/3 at the request of the Chair of the Oireachtas (Irish National Parliament) Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister).

ECB Opinion on indirect participants in, and access to, payment systems, and a new exemption from the cash rule

On 5 February 2025 the Governing Council adopted Opinion CON/2025/4 at the request of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority.

Corporate governance

ECB’s Annual Accounts for 2024

On 19 February 2025 the Governing Council approved the audited financial statements of the ECB for the financial year 2024. The annual accounts, together with a press release, are available on the ECB’s website.

ECB Recommendation on the external auditors of the European Central Bank for the financial years 2025 to 2029

On 12 February 2025 the Governing Council adopted Recommendation ECB/2025/6 to the Council of the European Union on the external auditors of the European Central Bank.

Statistics

Extension of the Integrated Reporting Framework and the Common Data Management investigation phases

On 17 February 2025 the Governing Council approved the revised Quality Review Gate 1 documentation (including the Financial Envelopes and Project Charters), extending until the end of September 2025 the investigation phases of the ESCB and SSM Common Data Management and the ESCB Integrated Reporting Framework projects.

Banknotes and coins

Composition of the design contest jury for the new euro banknotes

On 6 February 2025 the Governing Council took note of the composition of the design contest jury for the new euro banknotes. The jury will prepare a shortlist of designs to support the selection of the final design of the future euro banknotes by the Governing Council and is scheduled to start work in early 2025.

ECB Banking Supervision

Update of the 2025 Supervisory Examination Programme (SEP) for on-site inspections and internal model investigations at significant institutions

On 30 January 2025 the Governing Council did not object to a proposal by the Supervisory Board for an update of the 2025 SEP for on-site inspections and internal model investigations at significant institutions and outsourcing service providers. The on-site SEP is based on SSM supervisory priorities for 2025-2027 published on the ECB’s banking supervision website.

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Ukraine three years on: Pain, loss, solidarity and hope for a better future

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Ukraine three years on: Pain, loss, solidarity and hope for a better future

“I’m trying not to cry, but I can’t help it. I’m glad I have tissues on hand,” admits Natalia Datchenko, a Ukrainian staff member of the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, struggling to hold back her tears as she recounts the explosions that awoke many Ukrainians three years ago, heralding the start of the conflict.

Courtesy of Natalia Datchenko

Natalia Datchenko, employee of UNICEF-Ukraine

Alongside feelings of shock and anger, Ms. Datchenko also felt a surge of energy. “I knew, with absolute clarity, that I wanted to help others, to protect people. I knew I had to do something,” she recalls.

UNICEF leadership instructed staff to prioritise their own safety and that of their families before resuming their work. Ms. Datchenko evacuated to Lviv, a city in the west of Ukraine, with her family.

“There were 12 of us crammed into a small train compartment,” she says. “I held someone else’s child in my arms because there was no place for them to sit. The train moved slowly to avoid being targeted. When we finally arrived, we saw families with children sitting directly on the cold stone floor of the Lviv station. It was February, and it was freezing.”

Life goes on

Lyudmyla Kovalchuk, a staff member of the UN Women office in Ukraine, lived near Kyiv International Airport, one of the war’s first targets.

“We woke up at five in the morning to the sound of explosions,” she explains. “It was shocking. Even though we had heard warnings of an impending invasion, we couldn’t believe it was actually happening.”

Lyudmyla Kovalchuk, UN-Women Ukraine staff member

Photo provided by Ludmila Kovalchuk

Lyudmyla Kovalchuk, UN-Women Ukraine staff member

After three years, exhaustion has set in but life and work continue. Women in Ukraine need the UN’s support – psychological, legal, logistical and financial. Many Ukrainian women are raising children alone, searching for jobs to support them and constantly moving to keep them safe from the war. Ms. Kovalchuk says that about 75,000 Ukrainian women are serving in the military and represent a group with unique needs that require specific support.

“We have adapted to working under new conditions,” Ms. Kovalchuk says. “Whenever we arrange to meet somewhere, we check if there is a shelter nearby in case of an attack. We don’t plan long events as the risk of shelling increases the longer we stay in one place. During the pandemic, we learned to work in a hybrid format, and that experience has been invaluable.”

‘Hardest part was hearing their stories’

Anastasia Kalashnyk, another UN Women staff member, used to live in Zaporizhzhia. Two years ago, she relocated to Kyiv with her family. “After 24 February 2022, my children stopped attending daycare and school, and my husband lost his job – the foreign company he worked for immediately shut down operations and left the country,” she says.

However, Ms. Kalashnyk’s workload increased significantly. Since 2017, she has been responsible for emergency aid provided by UN Women in Ukraine, focusing on women in Luhansk and Donetsk regions. After 2022, many of these women were forced to flee their homes.

In a town in Mykolaivska Oblast, a reconstructed kindergarten shelter now provides 200 children with a safe, fully equipped space for learning during frequent air alerts.

© DRC Ukraine/Svitlana Koval

In a town in Mykolaivska Oblast, a reconstructed kindergarten shelter now provides 200 children with a safe, fully equipped space for learning during frequent air alerts.

“Looking back, the hardest part was hearing their stories – women I had known for years – about how they escaped occupied territories and what happened to their husbands who had gone to fight,” she says.

For these and other Ukrainian women in need, UN Women, in collaboration with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), established so-called “safe spaces”. These centres provide essential support, allowing women to connect, share experiences and heal.

“I watched as Olga, one of the women who came to the centre, quite literally come back to life after experiencing trauma,” a UN worker recalls. “She started smiling again. Now, Olga is one of the centre’s activists, helping others.”

The cost of war

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 12,600 civilians have been confirmed killed and over 29,000 injured over the last three years. At least 2,400 children are among the casualties.

Millions live in constant fear, while those in occupied territories face severe restrictions and limited access to humanitarian aid. An entire generation of Ukrainians is growing up in wartime.

Alina, 12, stands next to her damaged home in Kobzartsi, Mykolaiv region.

© UNICEF/Oleksii Filippov

Alina, 12, stands next to her damaged home in Kobzartsi, Mykolaiv region.

Relentless attacks on infrastructure are deepening the crisis. Over 10 per cent of Ukraine’s housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, leaving at least two million families without adequate shelter. More than 3,600 schools and universities have been hit, forcing hundreds of thousands of children into remote learning.

Repeated strikes on the energy system – three winters in a row – have left towns without electricity, heating and essential services in freezing conditions. A total of 12.7 million people require humanitarian aid.

Hopes for the future

“Of course, everything that has happened is exhausting,” Ms. Kalashnyk says. “But my children give me hope for a better future. What they are going through now is unfair. I have to be strong, not just for them but for all Ukrainian families.”

She adds that she also finds hope in the solidarity shown by the UN and other organizations. “They didn’t abandon Ukraine,” she explains. “They stayed. They continue to help. They didn’t come just for a month or two. They’ve been here for years. And now, they’re talking about rebuilding. These discussions about the future give me confidence that we have one.”

Ms. Datchenko from UNICEF also speaks of unity and solidarity. “At first, we were all united by anger,” she recalls. “We shared our burdens. We shared our pain. We were furious together. But anger is no longer the driving force. Now, we are united by the desire to rebuild what has been destroyed. We want to restore our communities, support families and rebuild our country, not as it was, but better, to leave behind the Soviet legacy and create a truly new nation, built on human rights.”

Supplies are distributed by UNFPA at a centre for survivors of gender-based violence in Kherson, Ukraine.

Supplies are distributed by UNFPA at a centre for survivors of gender-based violence in Kherson, Ukraine.

She says her work gives her hope. “I have a unique opportunity to reassess old programmes, create new ones, listen to the voices of the most vulnerable, direct resources where they are truly needed and bridge different sectors to bring together the best for those in need. I believe that working for UNICEF has helped me survive—it’s still my survival strategy.”

‘We have to become stronger’

Ms. Datchenko also finds solace in culture. “I seek inspiration and motivation in the beauty that still exists in Ukraine. Our museums are open, concerts are happening, music is playing. For many, culture is a survival strategy.”

Today, many Ukrainians are searching for their own survival strategies. “One of the biggest challenges we face in our work is the psychological toll, not only in supporting ourselves, but also our colleagues,” Ms. Kovalchuk says. “Recently, one of our colleague’s brothers went missing. Sometimes, it’s incredibly difficult to find the right words of comfort, yet we work with people – women and girls affected by war – who need our support.”

“But, on the other hand, when you face one tragedy after another, one crisis after another, you start to feel stronger and more experienced. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”

Then, with a sad smile, she adds that “maybe it’s true, but I always say I wish I didn’t have the experience I have now. But I have no choice. This experience is mine to bear.”

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