GENEVA, Aug. 6, 2026 — UN Watch today strongly condemned the appointment of the Eritrean regime as Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 2026 Social Forum, calling the decision “a grotesque farce that places one of the world’s most repressive dictatorships in charge of a body tasked with advancing human rights.”

The post UN Watch Condemns Appointment of Eritrea as Chair of UN Human Rights Council Social Forum: “Inmates Running the Asylum” appeared first on UN Watch.

By acclamation, the 54-nation council elected Algeria’s Amar Bendjamav to a one-year term.

BREAKING: 🇩🇿 Algeria's authoritarian regime has just been elected by acclamation to become President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the primary UN organ overseeing human rights commissions.

“I hear no objection.” Room breaks out into long applause. pic.twitter.com/pTZeIWUIag

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) July 23, 2026

“Handing the gavel of a key UN human rights body to a regime that jails journalists, tortures dissidents, and outlaws its own human rights groups sends absolutely the wrong message to human rights victims worldwide,” said Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch.

Neuer called on UN chief Antonio Guterres and rights chief Volker Türk to condemn the election, citing Algeria’s human rights violations.

Algeria’s Record of Repression

Algeria is rated by Freedom House in 2025 as “Not Free,” with a score of 31/100 on civil liberties and political rights. It has recently escalated a crackdown on fundamental freedoms.

On July 7, 2026, Algerian authorities arrested journalist Mourad At-Mimou over social media posts critical of Algeria’s July 2 parliamentary elections, which had record-low voter turnout after the government barred nearly a third of prospective candidates. Mimou’s arrest follows a well-established pattern of journalist arrests to suppress freedom of speech and political dissent, with three other journalists, Hassan Bouras, Omar Ferhat, and Abdelali Mezghiche, also imprisoned in 2026.

According to the U.S. State Department’s 2024 report, security forces routinely detain people for participating in unauthorized protests or publicly criticizing the government, often holding them for hours before releasing them without charge. Human rights groups have documented at least 250 arbitrary detentions in 2024 alone of individuals merely for expressing their opinions.

Algerian government officials also use torture against detainees. Trade unionist Ali Mammeri, who was held incommunicado for several days after his March 2025 arrest over social media posts supporting imprisoned activists, said he was tortured during interrogation. In February 2026, a court upheld his conviction and 10-year prison sentence.

Algerian authorities have targeted civil society groups that criticize the government’s human rights violations. On June 29, 2022, an Algerian administrative court dissolved the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, the country’s oldest independent human rights organization.

This pattern of repression has continued. In March 2026, authorities forcibly closed SOS Disparus, which advocates for families of dissidents and journalists forcibly disappeared.

As ECOSOC president, the regime that silences rights groups and dissidents at home now gets to preside over the body that determines their access to the world stage.

The post UN Elects Algeria President of Key Body Overseeing Human Rights appeared first on UN Watch.

The debate is important because Germany today is the largest government donor to UNRWA, providing over $118 million in direct funding to the agency in 2025 alone, more than double the amount of the next closest state donor. Berlin gives even more to UNRWA via the EU’s own additional grants.

The new report, which accuses UN Watch of undue influence in Germany, says that UN Watch’s reports on UNRWA terror ties achieved “rapid resonance in politics and the media,” entered mainstream media “almost without delay,” and were “widely taken up” in parliamentary debate.

For example, the report complains that UN Watch’s UNRWA Terror Network “is treated by Die Welt as an important reference point.”

Other findings in the report, which mentions UN Watch over 60 times:

• “For more than a decade, UN Watch has portrayed UNRWA as a structurally compromised institution that has been systematically infiltrated by Hamas, while simultaneously leveling accusations of politicized education and the misuse of humanitarian aid.”

• “Following the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, UN Watch intensified its activities and rapidly spread allegations that UNRWA staff members had been involved in both the violence and subsequent public celebrations.”

• “UN Watch published corresponding reports and briefed members of the German Bundestag… These allegations were widely picked up in the German media and in parliamentary debate.”

• “UN Watch published an interactive database, the UNRWA Terror Network, a  tool which transformed the collected allegations into a continuously updatable infrastructure that could be specifically used for repeated interventions in the media and politics.”

• “Following the publication of UN Watch’s “UNRWA Terrorgram,” nine countries, including Germany, temporarily suspended their payments to UNRWA… Soon, 18 countries had suspended their funding.”

• “Through reports, policy briefs, parliamentary interventions, and media outreach, the UNRWA issue remained permanently on the political agenda.”

UN WATCH’S WORK AND IMPACT IN GERMANY

UNRWA’s apologists in Germany have good reason to be afraid of UN Watch. Here is what we have accomplished in the country in just the last year:

• Parliamentary Testimony: In September 2025, Hillel Neuer traveled to Berlin to testify against UNRWA in the Bundestag. He presented UN Watch’s latest report, Schools in the Grip of Terror, uncovering how for decades Hamas terror chiefs controlled UNRWA’s school system.

• Major Media Coverage of Bundestag Briefing: The briefing at the German Bundestag and UN Watch’s new report were reported in major articles in leading media, including the Berliner Morgenpost, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and numerous other newspapers across the country.

• Die Welt Reports on UNRWA Terror Network: In November 2025, UN Watch launched its new UNRWA Terror Network, an investigative platform that compiles documented evidence involving nearly 500 UNRWA employees engaged in terrorism, incitement, or membership in extremist organizations. The launch of the platform was covered in a major article in Germany’s Die Welt.

• “Remarkable Political Shift”—Germany Changes UNRWA Vote: In December 2025, for the first time ever, Germany and five other EU countries withheld support in a UN vote on renewing UNRWA’s mandate. Der Spiegeldescribed the vote as a “remarkable political shift.”

• Chancellor Merz’s Party Votes to Defund UNRWA: In February 2026, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, unanimously adopted a motion at its congress calling for an end to UNRWA funding.

UN WATCH ACCUSED OF “WILD UNRWA DEFAMATION”

The report by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation was picked up in Germany by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which quoted an anonymous German parliamentary staffer describing Hillel Neuer’s September 2025 testimony there as “an hour of the wildest UNRWA defamation.”

UN Watch responded by showing that Neuer’s entire testimony was video recorded, showing there was not a single word of defamation. On the contrary, UN Watch’s evidence-based presentation shows proof of UNRWA’s infestation by terrorists.

UNRWA Chief Philippe Lazzarini Commends German Report — After UN Watch Called for His Indictment for War Crimes

The report accusing UN Watch of undue influence was amplified in a social media post by former UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, who was exposed by UN Watch for his ties with Hamas officials.

In a formal letter to the Secretary-General, UN Watch recently called on the United Nations to waive Lazzarini’s UN immunity so that competent national authorities may investigate and prosecute him for complicity in terrorism, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

The post German Report Attacks UN Watch For “Significantly Influencing International and German Discourse on UNRWA” appeared first on UN Watch.

Speaking at the U.N. Human Rights Council on behalf of UN Watch, terror survivor and human rights attorney Arsen Ostrovsky delivers a harrowing and emotional testimony regarding the rise of antisemitism. Having traveled from Sydney to address the Council’s review of Australia, Ostrovsky details his personal experience surviving a brutal terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach, where 15 people were killed and he was shot in the head.

Full Speech:

Mr President, Excellencies, My name is Arsen Ostrovsky. I have travelled from Sydney today to speak not only on behalf of UN Watch and the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, but as a survivor of antisemitic terror.

Last November, Australia submitted its Universal Periodic Review to this Council. But just weeks later, during a Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach, my country suffered the worst terror attack in our history.

Fifteen people, including a 10-year-old girl, were murdered. I was at the festival with my family, but was shot in the head when I ran towards them.

I speak before you today though not seeking sympathy, but sounding a warning. That hatred directed at Jews, when ignored, excused or mainstreamed, inevitably leads to violence.

Mr. President, Excellencies, Bondi did not occur in a vacuum. It was built chant-by-chant, march-by-march.

For two years, repeated warnings from the Jewish community went largely unheeded. Synagogues firebombed. Jewish children harassed. People afraid to wear the Star of David. Even teachers now reluctant to teach about the Holocaust for fear of causing offence.

This should indeed concern us all. As the late Chief Rabbi Sacks warned, antisemitism is the early warning sign of a wider societal breakdown.

When antisemitism is allowed to thrive, it erodes the very foundations of a free society: tolerance, social cohesion, the rule of law and moral clarity.

Australia has taken important steps, including establishing a Royal Commission into Antisemitism, which I addressed just days ago. But more must be done.

I urge this Council to encourage Australia to confront antisemitism in all its forms, including when it masquerades as anti-Zionism, so every citizen can live openly and safely.

Because history teaches while Jews may be the first target when antisemitism flourishes, we are seldom the last.

Thank you.

The post “I Was Shot in the Head” — Terror Survivor, Arsen Ostrovsky, Stuns UN with Powerful Warning appeared first on UN Watch.

Statement by United Nations Watch, delivered by intern Issy Lyons, before the 62nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, 30 June 2026. Agenda Item 6, Universal Periodic Review of Mauritania.

Full Speech:

Thank you, Mr. President.

United Nations Watch is concerned by the gap between Mauritania’s legal commitments and the reality experienced by many of its citizens.

Despite legal prohibitions and repeated government commitments, slavery remains prevalent. According to the Global Slavery Index, as of 2023, at least 149,000 people in Mauritania remained enslaved. 

This reality has been brought to international attention by Biram Dah Abeid, one of Mauritania’s most prominent anti-slavery activists and winner of our 2020 Geneva Summit Courage Award.

Mr. Abeid has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for his efforts to expose hereditary slavery and defend its victims. Persecution of anti-slavery activists raises serious concerns about the protection of human rights defenders and the authorities’ willingness to address slavery in practice, not only in law.

We are also concerned by severe challenges affecting children and women. According to a 2022 UNICEF report, more than half a million girls were married before the age of 18, representing roughly two in five women in Mauritania. This is particularly concerning because, despite Mauritania’s formal establishment of 18 as the minimum age of marriage, exceptions remain under national law and are justified by reference to Sharia principles.

The true measure of progress is not the number of strategies adopted, institutions created, or laws passed. It is whether those trapped in slavery are actually freed, whether women and girls enjoy equal protection under the law, and whether human rights defenders like Biram Dah Abeid can advocate for the values this council claims to strive for without fear of arrest or imprisonment.

United Nations Watch, therefore urges Mauritania to strengthen enforcement of anti-slavery laws, remove barriers to justice for victims, protect human rights defenders, and ensure that legal reforms translate into real change for all Mauritanians.

Thank you.

The post UN Watch Calls on Mauritania to Strengthen Anti-Slavery Laws appeared first on UN Watch.

On behalf of UN Watch on June 30th, Rabeea Abu Saleh, father of Ameer Abu Saleh, one of the 12 Druze children killed by a Hezbollah rocket while playing football in Majdal Shams, Israel, addressed the UN Human Rights Council during the debate on Lebanon.

Speech Transcript (English Translation):

Peace be upon you. My name is Rabeea Abu Saleh. I am from the Golan Heights, in northern Israel, from the village of Majdal Shams.

Ours is a peaceful, traditional, and well-educated village. All of its residents are Druze. We have always respected and continue to respect, all religions and beliefs, and we view life from a purely humanitarian perspective. On July 27, 2024, our village was struck by a rocket fired by Hezbollah.

It claimed the lives of 12 innocent children and wounded more than 40 others while they were playing football in a field in the center of the town. The oldest of these children was, tragically, my eldest son, Ameer Abu Saleh, who was 16 years old.

Also seriously injured in this incident, was my second son, Julian Abu Saleh. His injury kept him in hospitals receiving treatment for more than a year. This is my message to anyone listening: We, as citizens, always call for peace and love for others.

Do we not deserve to live with dignity and in peace? I firmly believe that there are no winners in war. All sides lose. As a father who has lost my son Ameer and has another child injured, I ask everyone who is able to to help bring peace to the region.

Especially between the Lebanese government and the Israeli government. In order to achieve a just peace in the Middle East we must also eliminate organizations like Hezbollah, which continuously seek to bring death, destruction, and suffering to civilians in Israel, in Lebanon, and in every place.

May God have mercy on my son Ameer, on his friends, and on all victims of war throughout the world. Thank you.

Speech Transcript (Original in Arabic):

السلام عليكم. أنا ربيع أبو صالح من هضبة الجولان الواقعة في شمال إسرائيل من قرية مجدل شمس. هذه القرية مسالمة ومحافظة متعلمة. جميع مواطنيها من الدروز. دائمًا كنا وما زلنا نحترم جميع الأديان والمعتقدات وننظر إلى الحياة من الجانب الإنساني البحت. في 27.7.2024 تعرضت هذه البلدة إلى قذيفة من حزب الله أدت بحياة اثني عشر طفل أبرياء وأكثر من أربعين جريحًا كانوا يلعبون كرة القدم في ملعب وسط البلدة. كان أكبر هؤلاء الأطفال للأسف ابني البكر أمير أبو صالح الذي يبلغ من العمر ستة عشر سنة، وأصيب في هذه الحادثة ابني الثاني جوليان أبو صالح إصابة بالغة أبقته في المستشفيات يتلقى العلاج لأكثر من سنة.

رسالتي إلى من يسمعني هي نحن كمواطنين دائمًا ندعو للسلام ومحبة الآخر. ألا نستحق أن نعيش باحترام وسلام؟ لأن قناعتي أنه لا يوجد رابح في الحروب. كل الأطراف خاسرة. أنا كأب فاقد لابني أمير وطفل آخر مصاب، أطلب من كل من هو قادر أن ينعم السلام في المنطقة. خاصة بين الحكومة اللبنانية والحكومة الإسرائيلية. من أجل تحقيق سلام عادل في الشرق الأوسط، والقضاء على كل تنظيم مثل حزب الله الذي يسعى دائمًا للقتل والخراب وأذية المواطنين في إسرائيل ولبنان وكل مكان. رحم الله ابني أمير ورفاقه وكل ضحايا الحروب في كل العالم. شكرًا لكم.

Speech Transcript (Hebrew Translation):

שלום עליכם ,אני רביע אבו סאלח מרמת הגולן, הנמצאת בצפון ישראל,  מהכפר מג׳דל שמס.  הכפר הזה הוא כפר שוחר שלום, שמרן ומשכיל. כל תושביו הם בני העדה הדרוזית. מאז ומתמיד כיבדנו, ועודנו מכבדים את כל הדתות והאמונות ורואים את החיים מנקודת מבטאנושית טהורה.

ב-27.7.2024 נפגע היישוב הזה מרקטה ששיגר חיזבאללה, שגבתה את חייהם של שנים־עשר ילדים חפים מפשע, והביאה לפציעתם של יותר מארבעים בני אדם בעת ששיחקו כדורגל במגרש שבמרכז היישוב. המבוגר מבין הילדים האלה היה לצערי בני הבכור, אמיר אבוסאלח, שהיה בן שש־עשרה, ובאירוע הזה נפצע גם בני השני, ג׳וליאן אבו סאלח, פציעה קשה, שבעקבותיה נאלץ לשהות בבתי חולים ולקבל טיפול במשך יותר משנה.  

המסר שלי לכל מי ששומע אותי הוא: שאנחנו כאזרחים תמיד קוראים לשלום ולאהבת האחר. האם איננו ראויים לחיות בכבוד ובשלום? כי אני מאמין שאין מנצחים במלחמות. כל הצדדים מפסידים. אני, כאב שאיבד את בני אמיר ושגם בני השני נפצע, מבקש מכל מי שיכוללפעול למען השכנת שלום באזור, במיוחד בין ממשלת לבנון לממשלת ישראל, למען השגת שלום צודק במזרח התיכון, ולמען פירוקו של כל ארגון כמו חיזבאללה, ששואף תמיד להרג, להרס ולפגיעה באזרחים בישראל, בלבנון ובכל מקום. ירחם האל על בני אמיר ועל חבריו,ועל כל קורבנות המלחמות בכל העולם. תודה לכם. 

The post Father of Druze Child Killed By Hezbollah Addresses UN Human Rights Council appeared first on UN Watch.

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Leopoldo Lopez addresses the 62nd session of the U.N. Human Rights Council on June 29, 2026, during the Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner’s report on the Situation of Human Rights in Venezuela.

Speech Transcript (English Translation):

Mr. President,

Right now, there are families searching for their loved ones under the rubble.

Forty-eight hours ago, two earthquakes struck Venezuela. It has been devastating. At this time, the number of victims remains unclear—estimates put the figure in the tens of thousands.

What we are witnessing in real time is a simultaneous double collapse: the collapse of the physical infrastructure and the collapse of a state incapable of addressing the magnitude of the tragedy.

That collapsed state is exactly what the report under consideration today portrays. Because, as the report presented today details, the extensive repressive apparatus remains intact. Since January 3—already under the current government—there have been at least 87 new political arrests. Three people have died in custody. Nearly 500 political prisoners remain behind bars.

The earthquake did not strike a country under normal conditions. It struck amid a complex and ongoing humanitarian crisis.

That is why we ask this Council for two specific things: complete openness to international humanitarian aid, and the opening of all channels so that civil society—which, as always, has been the first to respond—has the tools to build solidarity.

Venezuela will have to rebuild itself. And not just its infrastructure. It must also rebuild its institutions, trust, and the rule of law. To do so, it needs this Council to be present—today and in the months to come.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Speech Transcript (Original Spanish):

Señor Presidenta,

En este momento, hay familias buscando a sus seres queridos bajo los escombros.

Hace cuarenta y ocho horas, dos terremotos sacudieron Venezuela. Devastador. A esta hora no hay claridad sobre el número de víctimas — las estimaciones hablan de decenas de miles.

Lo que estamos viendo en tiempo real es un doble colapso simultáneo: el colapso de la infraestructura física, y el colapso de un Estado incapaz de atender la magnitud de la tragedia.

Ese Estado colapsado es exactamente el que retrata el informe considerado hoy. Porque, como relata el informe presentado hoy, la extensa maquinaria represiva permanece intacta. Desde el 3 de enero — ya bajo el gobierno actual — al menos 87 nuevas detenciones políticas. 3 personas fallecidas bajo custodia. Cerca de 500 presos políticos siguen tras las rejas.

El terremoto no cae sobre un país en condiciones normales. Cae sobre una crisis humanitaria compleja y continuada.

Por eso pedimos a este Consejo dos cosas concretas: apertura total al apoyo humanitario internacional, y apertura de todos los canales para que la sociedad civil — que ha dado la primera respuesta, como siempre — tenga las herramientas para construir solidaridad.

Venezuela tendrá que reconstruirse. Y no solo la infraestructura. También las instituciones, la confianza, el estado de derecho. Para eso necesita que este Consejo esté presente — hoy, y en los meses que vienen.

Gracias, señor Presidenta.

The post Venezuela’s Double Collapse: Earthquakes Strike A Nation Already In Crisis appeared first on UN Watch.

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Perkins Rocha, legal coordinator of the Vente Venezuela party and representative of Comando Venezuela to the National Electoral Council, addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council by video on June 29, 2026, speaking from house arrest to explain why the regime continues to target him. 

Speech Transcript (English Translation):

My name is Perkins Rocha. I am a Venezuelan attorney and served as a national representative to the CNE during the last presidential election. I defended the validity of the election records that showed Edmundo González Urrutia—not Nicolás Maduro—as the winner.

That is why I was violently arrested on August 28, 2024, and confined to a cell by the Maduro government’s political police for 535 days, without contact with or information from my family and without legal representation.

After more than a year and a half imprisoned in darkness, I was transferred out of the Helicoide and remain under house arrest, with an electronic ankle monitor and a 24-hour police presence at my front door.

The other seven people who, like me, were charged by the same court, have been released. I alone am being denied amnesty, and requests to modify the terms of my detention—which would allow me to receive medical treatment for my ailments and physical conditions requiring specialized care—are being rejected. Everyone except me has been released.

The judge who is denying me amnesty has publicly stated his fear of granting me my freedom, as he has been threatened that if he does so, “not only would he be removed from office, but he would also go to prison.” In Venezuela, this is known as the Afiuni effect.

Today, I am the only defendant in my case; the trial has been suspended, and the higher court has not ruled on my appeal.

It is inconsistent that, for the very same offense for which seven people are charged, the decision is made to grant amnesty to six and punish only one. I am being discriminated against for having defended the electoral truth that denies Nicolás Maduro’s victory.

Speech Transcript (Original Spanish):

Mi nombre es Perkins Rocha. Soy abogado venezolano y fui representante nacional ante el CNE en las últimas elecciones presidenciales. Defendí el valor de las actas electorales que arrojaron resultados que dieron el triunfo a Edmundo González Urrutia y no a Nicolas Maduro.

Por eso fui violentamente detenido el 28 de agosto del 2024, confinado a un calabozo por la policía política del gobierno Maduro por espacio de 535 días, sin contacto ni información de mi familia y sin defensa judicial.

Después de mas de 1 año y medio preso en la oscuridad, fui trasladado fuera del Helicoide y permanezco con arresto domiciliario, con un grillete electrónico en el tobillo y un apostamiento policial las 24 horas a las puertas de mi casa.

A las otras 7 personas que al igual que yo, fueron imputadas por el mismo tribunal, se les otorgo la libertad. Solo a mi se me niega la amnistía y se niegan los pedimentos de cambio en la cautela, que me permitirían, atender medicamente mis dolencias y condiciones físicas que ameritan atención especializada. A todos menos a mi se les ha dado libertad.

El juez que me niega la amnistia, manifiesta publicamente, el temor que tiene de otorgarme la libertad pues lo han amenazado que de hacerlo, “no solo lo destituirían, sino que también iría preso”. En Venezuela a esto se le llama el efecto Afiuni.

Hoy soy el único procesado en mi causa, el juicio está suspendido y la corte superior no resuelve mi apelación.

En incongruente que por el mismo hecho que se imputan a 7 personas, se decida, amnistiar a 6 y castigar solo a uno. Se me discrimina por haber defendido la verdad electoral que niega el triunfo de Nicolas Maduro.

The post Speaking from House Arrest: Venezuelan Lawyer Confronts the Maduro Regime at the U.N. appeared first on UN Watch.

On June 26, 2026, Afghan-Iranian Taekwondo champion and women’s rights advocate Marzieh Hamidi spoke at UN Watch’s official side event at the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, “Women’s Rights Under Extremism and Conflict,” calling on the international community to cease diplomatic normalization with the Taliban.

Prepared Remarks:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I did not come to Geneva to ask for sympathy.

I came to ask for accountability.

Europe says it is fighting extremism. So why are the representatives of one of the most extremist regimes in the world being welcomed into diplomatic spaces?

Why are the victims of extremism forced into hiding while extremists are invited to meetings?

Why are Afghan women being told to be patient while the people who erased them from public life are treated as political actors?

Afghan women deserve answers.

Because let us be honest about what the Taliban are.

The Taliban are not misunderstood politicians. They are not reformers. They are not partners for progress. They are a regime that has erased women from public life, banned girls from education, stripped women of the right to work, to travel freely, and to participate in society, and turned discrimination against women into state policy.

I want Europe to hear this clearly.

You cannot claim to defend women’s rights while legitimizing those who destroy women’s rights.

You cannot claim to fight extremism while opening the door to extremists.

You cannot speak about freedom, democracy, and human dignity while sitting across the table from those who deny all three.

I am tired of the hypocrisy.

I am tired of hearing beautiful speeches about women’s rights while Afghan women are abandoned in reality.

I am tired of politicians hiding behind soft diplomatic language while millions of women are living under one of the most brutal systems of gender oppression in the world.

What is happening in Afghanistan is not a cultural difference. It is not a misunderstanding. It is not a complicated political situation.

It is oppression. It is persecution. It is gender apartheid.

And while we are sitting in this room today, women inside Afghanistan continue to pay the price.

Recently, in the city of Herat, women protesting for their rights were reportedly beaten, threatened, and violently suppressed.

Women continue to be detained and harassed simply for appearing in public.

Women have been arrested because they were not wearing the blue burqa demanded by Taliban authorities — even when they were fully covered.

Think about that.

Not because they committed a crime. Not because they harmed anyone. But because extremists decided that even a fully covered woman was still not covered enough.

This is not culture. This is not tradition. This is not religion. This is control.

Every single day, I receive messages from inside Afghanistan.

Messages from girls. Messages from mothers. Messages from students whose dreams have been stolen.

They tell me:

“Please be our voice.”

“Tell the world what is happening.”

“Do not let them forget us.”

And perhaps the most important message of all:

“The Taliban do not represent us.”

“The Taliban are not Afghanistan.”

“We do not want terrorists speaking in our name.”

So when governments invite the Taliban, they should remember something.

They are not inviting the voice of Afghan women. They are not inviting the voice of Afghan girls. They are not inviting the voice of the Afghan people.

They are inviting the people who silenced those voices.

I am not here to ask the world to speak for Afghan women. Afghan women are already speaking.

They are speaking through fear, through resistance, and through extraordinary courage.

The problem is not that Afghan women do not have a voice.

The problem is that too many people in positions of power have chosen not to listen.

And even worse, some have chosen to listen to the oppressors instead.

I am a young woman. I am an athlete. At 23 years old, I should be worrying about my next competition.

Instead, I have to worry about surviving threats from extremists who want to kill me because I believe women deserve freedom.

Extremism is not an abstract concept to me. It affects how I live, how I move, how I work, and how I plan my future.

Terrorists do not become legitimate because they are invited to conferences.

Oppression does not become acceptable because it is discussed politely.

Every invitation matters. Every diplomatic meeting matters. Every photograph matters.

Because every time the Taliban are treated as legitimate political actors without accountability, the message sent to Afghan women is devastating.

Your freedom can be negotiated.

Your dignity can be negotiated.

Your future can be negotiated.

I reject that message.

The women of Afghanistan do not need more empty statements.

They need courage. They need solidarity.

And they need the world to stop legitimizing those who are responsible for their oppression.

History will not ask how carefully we balanced our political interests.

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GENEVA, June 17, 2026 — The Russian government has imposed a permanent entry ban on UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer, placing him on a list of 103 Canadian citizens sanctioned by Moscow for what it described as involvement in “anti-Russian activities.”

The announcement was made yesterday by Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which accused those named of “discrediting the constitutional order and foreign policy” of Russia and of activities “aimed at the unlawful confiscation of sovereign Russian state assets.”

Those blacklisted along with Neuer include Canadian cabinet ministers, senators, MPs, the defence chief and Canada’s former ambassador to Russia, William Westdal.

Neuer, a Canadian citizen and international human rights advocate, led the campaign to expel Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, and works closely with Russian dissidents to fight abuses by the Putin regime.

UN Watch, an independent non-governmental human rights organization based in Switzerland, which leads the 25-NGO coalition that holds the annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, has campaigned for the freedom of imprisoned Russian dissidents, including Vladimir Kara-Murza, hosted democracy leaders such as Garry Kasparov and family members of Alexei Navalny, and amplified the voices of Ukrainian victims of Russian aggression. (Click here to see UN Watch’s action for human rights in Russia.)

Over two decades, Neuer has often taken the floor at the United Nations to challenge Russia’s human rights record.

Neuer was recently honored in Canada with the King Charles III Coronation Medal, for making an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada.

“Badge of Honor”

“Being banned by Vladimir Putin’s regime is not a punishment, but a badge of honor,” said Neuer. “Russia is one of the world’s leading jailers of political opponents, a serial violator of human rights, and the aggressor in a brutal war against Ukraine. If speaking out for freedom, democracy, and human rights earns me a place on the Kremlin’s blacklist, then I accept it proudly.”

“Russia can add my name to whatever list it wants. It won’t change the facts, and it won’t change our work,” said Neuer. “The Kremlin’s blacklist is not a deterrent. It only motivates us to keep fighting the Kremlin’s repression. We will continue standing with Russian dissidents, exposing human rights abuses, speaking for the victims of Russia’s aggression.”

Russia Lashes Out Over Ukraine

Russia’s statement lashed out at Canada’s “political elite” for its “hostile line” and “denying Russia’s rights and interests,“ and condemned Ottawa for “interference in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation.” supporting “the neo-Nazi authorities in Kyiv,” and “encouragement of the Kyiv junta to commit terrorist acts.”

Neuer dismissed the Kremlin’s allegations. “Russia’s rulers fear scrutiny because they cannot defend their record,” said Neuer. “From the murder of political opponents to the imprisonment of dissidents, from the bombardment of Ukrainian cities to systematic repression at home, the Kremlin has built a system sustained by force, censorship, and intimidation.”

Neuer joins a long list of human rights defenders, journalists, lawmakers, democratic leaders and celebrities who have been blacklisted or sanctioned by Moscow for criticizing the regime, including Senator John McCain, Garry Kasparov, Bill Browder, Anthony Blinken, Morgan Freeman, Sean Penn, and Ben Stiller.

“History teaches that authoritarian governments often target their critics abroad when they cannot silence them at home,” he said. “The proper response is not silence, but more truth-telling.”

“Russia can bar me from entering its territory,” said Neuer. “It cannot bar us from exposing injustice. UN Watch will continue to speak out for the victims of tyranny, whether in Moscow, Tehran, Beijing, Caracas, or anywhere else.”

Founded in 1993, UN Watch is a Geneva-based independent human rights organization that monitors the performance of the United Nations according to the principles of its Charter.

Background: Why Russia Sanctioned UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer

Following are a selection of Hillel Neuer’s interventions for human rights and democracy in Russia, as presented at the United Nations and in the media, which preceded his being blacklisted by the Kremlin for “anti-Russian” activities.

Led Successful Campaign To Expel Russia from U.N. Human Rights Council

CNN breaking news with John Berman interviews Hillel Neuer, April 4, 2022:

Hillel Neuer, U.N. Watch: For God’s sake, Russia cannot be a member of the United Nations’ highest human rights body… Countries that commit gross and systematic abuses can be removed. And in 2010, we campaigned to remove Gadhafi’s Libyan regime. And that succeeded after Gadhafi launched a war against his own people. We’ve now launched the same campaign against Russia. We’ve drafted a resolution. But we need a member state to introduce it.

Berman: What has been the reaction so far from the United Nations and officials there?

Neuer: Well, sadly, and I would say strangely, when the spokesperson of the United Nations secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, was asked last week about this, he said that they have a certain level of concern about our campaign. And he said — and there was 12 U.S. senators that wrote a letter to the U.S. ambassador, calling for her to take action — and the U.N. chief said there’s a certain level of concern. And he said it would “set a dangerous precedent.”

Now, this is a very strange thing. The U.N. chief is not supposed to get involved. It’s a member state issue. And for them to say it’s a dangerous precedent, we think it’s dangerous to let a government, a regime that is slaughtering innocent people, as we’ve seen on these terrible images from Bucha, that has launched aggression against the U.N. member state, causing millions of people to leave their homes, we think it’s dangerous to have them sitting on the U.N.’s top human rights body.

UN Debate: Called Out Russian Assassination of Journalists, Persecution of Dissidents, Military Invasions

Speech delivered by Hillel Neuer to the United Nations Human Rights Council, June 27, 2018

Hillel Neuer, U.N. Watch: Mr. President, we reject the attempt by brutal regimes to use the United Nations to corrupt the language and idea of human rights.
Indeed, regular people around the world ask: “Why does a human rights council include so many non-democracies?”

Defenders of the system have a ready reply: “We need a big tent,” they say, “so that countries with poor records can engage, learn and improve.”

Well, perhaps nations with spotty records, but who actually wish to make progress, can be embraced and given technical cooperation, for example, to train their judges or police.

But does the UN have to keep electing the world’s worst abusers, dictatorships whose only intent is to win a false badge of international legitimacy?

I ask all those here who propagate the “big tent” theory: Since Vladimir Putin’s Russia was elected again and again to this Council, over a decade, did he learn and improve? Or on the contrary, did Russia assassinate more journalists, persecute more dissidents and launch more deadly military invasions than ever before?

Since China was elected repeatedly to this Council, did the Communist rulers learn and improve? Or did they crush more dissidents, like Liu Xiaobo, than ever before?

And I want to know: Since Venezuela was elected and reelected to this Council, did Chavez and Maduro learn and improve? Or did they arrest, persecute and jail more opposition leaders, like Mayor Antonio Ledezma of Caracas?

UNHRC President: Point of order from Venezuela.

Venezuela: It is unacceptable in this Human Rights Council for an NGO to use offensive language which is not allowed by the regulations of the United Nations. We launch an appeal for proper language to be used when referring to the honor of our political leaders. My country respects freedom of expression but this cannot be understood as giving permission or carte blanche to demonize any country. The Human Rights Council is a forum for promoting dialogue and not confrontation. Abusive and offensive language towards my country, and towards the political leaders in my country, we do not tolerate. President, we hope that you will call this speaker to order.

UNHRC President: Thank you very much. I would like to call on everyone to adhere to a language that is commensurate with the dignity inherent to the discussion of human rights issues. Tolerance and respect should be the key words of the work of this Council. With this in mind, I give back the floor to the speaker.

Hillel Neuer: What is offensive is that Venezuela kills protesters and uses this Council as carte blanche to cover up their abuses. “Big tent,” Mr. President? No: Big lie.

UN Intervention: Spoke Out For Russian Prisoners of Conscience Alexei Navalny and Vladimir Kara Murza

Speech delivered by Hillel Neuer to the United Nations Human Rights Council, March 23, 2023:

Hillel Neuer, U.N. Watch: Thank you Mr President. We’ve been listening to numerous countries telling us how much they care about human rights, but as we work closely with victims, including families of political prisoners, we wish to pose some questions. We ask Russia: If you really care about human rights, why do you imprison the leaders of your democratic opposition, Alexei Navalny and Vladimir Kara Murza?  Both were targeted in the past by near fatal poisonings. Why are you subjecting them to conditions in which their health is rapidly deteriorating?

 

UN Debate: Called Out Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s Lies Defending Putin’s War on Ukraine

Speech delivered by Hillel Neuer to the United Nations Human Rights Council, March 4, 2022:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: It is precisely the policy of the collective west, led by Washington, that has led to the Kiev regime going to wage war against its own people since 2014, against all those who don’t agree with the neo-Nazi values of the Maidan, with the criminal policies of the Ukrainian authorities.

All these massive and systematic attacks on the rights and freedoms, and the consistent dissemination of neo-nazism, are carried out with the open connivance of the United States, Canada, and the European Union. Russia could not remain indifferent.

The purpose of our action is to save these people and to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine. As President Putin has repeatedly stressed, we have an unwavering respect for the Ukrainian people, their language and traditions. We do not intend in any way to infringe on the interests of the citizens of Ukraine.

The role of the UN Human Rights Council is to promote a mutually respectful debate without any politicization or double standards, and to ensure that human rights issues are not used to interfere in internal affairs

UNHRC President: United Nations Watch has the floor.

Hillel Neuer, U.N. Watch: Mr. President, we welcome this urgent meeting on Russia’s aggression against the people of Ukraine.

On the 24^th of February, the Ukrainian Ambassador requested this council to meet “as urgently as possible.” Now, in other, past situations, the council convened within a day. Why this time, on Russian aggression, did it wait a full week? For the men, women and children under attack, every day of delay by the international community is lethal.

This Council just heard from the Russian Foreign Minister. He said President Putin has “an unwavering respect for the Ukrainian people,” and that “we do not intend in any way to infringe on the interests of the citizens of Ukraine.”

Mr. President, the opposite is true.

The truth is that Russian forces invaded Ukraine, in flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and international law.

The truth is that Russian forces are bombing cities indiscriminately, killing and wounding innocent civilians, a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law.

The truth is that Russia’s assault on Ukraine has turned more than half a million people to flee their homes for neighboring countries, killed an estimated 2,000 people, and injured many more. The truth is that Russia is committing war crimes.

And so question before us today is this: Will the international community defend the rules-based international order?

Dictators around the world are watching. If they see that Russia succeeds in its wanton aggression, they will draw the lesson—that anything goes. We will see more invasions, more tyrannies attacking their neighbors, and more terrorism.

The whole world is watching.

Are the United Nations and this Council prepared to defend international peace and basic human rights, and to oppose aggression on a scale unseen in Europe since World War II? Will they uphold their responsibility to defend the rules-based international order?

Let us consider. Two years ago, despite our urgent appeals not to do it, the United Nations elected Russia as a member of this Human Rights Council.

This violated the Council’s own rules. Members are obliged to uphold the highest standards of human rights. Mr. President, does this Council believe that Russia’s bombing of civilians in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other cities and towns across Ukraine upholds the highest standards of human rights?

Under the Council’s rules, members can be removed on account of gross and systematic violations of human rights.

Therefore, if this council is serious about human rights, here’s what it must do:

1: Remove Russia from the Council immediately.

2: Adopt a resolution on the situation of human rights within Russia itself.

3: Establish an independent monitor to protect courageous Russian dissidents, such as Alexei Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Muzra, both of whom were poisoned.

4: Abolish the mandate of this Council known as the Special Rapporteur on Unilateral Coercive Measures, the purpose of which is to define sanctions against Russia and other dictatorships as illegal.

5: Demand the High Commissioner and independent experts speak out against the crimes in Ukraine.

Mr. President, the people of Ukraine are under assault. The world is watching. The time to act is now. Thank you.

UN Intervention: Introduced a Resolution to Remove Russia from the UN Human Rights Council

Speech delivered by Hillel Neuer to the United Nations Human Rights Council, March 22, 2022:

Hillel Neuer, U.N. Watch: Mr. President, we reject this attempt by the world’s most brutal regimes to use the United Nations to corrupt the language and idea of human rights.

Indeed, regular people around the world ask: why does a Human Rights Council include so many non-democracies? Defenders of the system have a ready reply — “we need a big tent,” they say, so that countries with poor records can engage, learn, and improve.

Well, perhaps nations with spotty records, but who actually wish to make progress, can be embraced and given technical cooperation, for example to train their judges or police.

But does the UN have to keep electing the world’s worst abusers — dictatorships whose only intent is to win a false badge of international legitimacy?

We ask all those who propagate the big tent theory: Since Vladimir Putin’s Russia was elected again and again to this council over a decade and a half, did he learn and improve? Or on the contrary, did Russia only assassinate more journalists, poison more dissidents, and launch more deadly military invasions than ever before?

Mr. President, we hereby request that this council adopt a resolution under paragraph 8 of resolution 60/251, calling on the General Assembly to remove Russia as a member of this council. Our proposed text, which we circulated to delegates, can be found at unwatch.org. Thank you, Mr. President.

UN Intervention: Spoke on Behalf of 25 NGOs Demanding Russia Release Vladimir Kara-Murza

Speech delivered by Hillel Neuer to the United Nations Human Rights Council, May 12, 2022:

Hillel Neuer, U.N. Watch: Mr. President, we deliver this statement on behalf of a cross-regional civil society coalition, as listed at www.unwatch.org/FreeKaraMurza.

Russia’s war on Ukraine will stop when Russians are able to express their opposition.

That is why we hereby call on Secretary-General Guterres and High Commissioner Bachelet to speak out and demand that Russia release all prisoners of conscience whose only crime was opposing this war.

One of these prisoners is my friend Vladimir Kara-Murza, a brilliant author, historian and filmmaker, also one of Russia’s most prominent opposition politicians.

His close associate, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, was assassinated in Moscow in 2015.

Because of his dissent, Vladimir himself was poisoned and went into a coma. Not once, but twice, in 2015 and 2017.

Despite the dangers, Vladimir stays in Russia, refusing to give up his fight for democracy.  “In Russia,” he said, “the biggest gift that opponents of the regime could give the Kremlin would be to leave. This is what they want from us.”

And now he is once again paying the price.

On April 11th, Vladimir was arrested outside his Moscow home after a CNN interview where he criticized the Kremlin’s aggression. He was sentenced to 15 days in prison. Then, on April 22^nd, Vladimir was prosecuted under a draconian new law that criminalizes the spreading of so-called fake information about the military.

Mr. President, Vladimir is being arbitrarily detained for exercising his basic right to freedom of expression.

When will High Commissioner Bachelet speak out? Thank you.

 

Campaign Video: Called Out the UN’s Failure to Act Against Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Statement by Hillel Neuer outside the Palais des Nations, February 24, 2022:

Hillel Neuer, U.N. Watch: We expect the United Nations’ top human rights body, which is right behind me, to be taking urgent and compelling action, to do whatever it can to send the message to Moscow that the international community refuses to be silent in the face of its trampling of universal human rights. Sadly, the UN Human Rights Council, a 47-nation body, has done absolutely nothing so far in response to Russia’s aggression. There have been zero urgent sessions, there have been zero resolutions, and there have been zero commissions of inquiry.

[…] We are calling for action. Here’s what we’re calling for: there is a minority of democracies on the Human Rights Council — the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands — they can convene an emergency session, they can do that today, they only need 16 countries. We’re calling for an urgent session to condemn Russia’s military assault on Ukraine, gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, to create a commission of inquiry to hold Vladimir Putin to account under international law.

And we’re calling for something else. We’re calling finally for the United Nations — and this will be the General Assembly — to take action to expel Vladimir Putin from the Human Rights Council. Russia never should have been elected. We lobbied against it. We were with Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was poisoned twice by the Russian regime, and we lobbied against Russia being elected. Sadly, no one in Europe said a single thing — Russia was elected to the Human Rights Council. They need to be expelled.

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