In a statement António Guterres, issued by his spokesman on Monday, expressed his condolences to the relatives, the people and the government of Russia, and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Gunmen using automatic weapons reportedly opened fire at a Christian Orthodox church and synagogue in the city of Derbent on Sunday evening, killing an Orthodox priest.
In what appeared to be coordinated attacks, terrorists also shot at traffic police stationed in the town of Makhachkala, north of the Caspian Sea, and attacked another church nearby.
Gunfights
Gun battles were reported around the city’s Cathedral of the Assumption lasting several hours. The dead included at least fifteen police officers and four civilians.
Authorities in Dagestan said at least six militants were also killed after the attacks, although no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The attack came just three months after an ISIS terrorist group known as ISIS-K carried out one of the deadliest terror attacks on Russian soil in recent years, on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, killing more than 140 people .
Russian authorities said they were investigating whether so-called sleeper cells were involved in coordinating the attacks, and Dagestan has reportedly declared three days of mourning.
Time to end the war on drugs, the Human Rights Council hears
An independent human rights expert wrote this in a report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday has called ending the so-called war on drugs – after describing it instead as a war on people.
Tlaleng MofokengSpecial Rapporteur on Health, stressed that punitive approaches to drug use and drug control affect the most vulnerable people in society.
Ms Mofokeng said the lack of a human rights-based approach to tackling drug use has particularly affected those experiencing homelessness, poverty and mental health issues, as well as other marginalized individuals, including sex workers, women, children, LGBT persons, black and indigenous people. peoples.
The human rights expert emphasized that criminalizing drug use was the most extreme option among the many other regulatory options available to governments.
Meanwhile, the lack of access to harm reduction services for drug users in prisons “leads to high prevalence of HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis,” she said.
Call for complete decriminalization
In support of the “full decriminalization” of drug use, the rights expert emphasized that evidence from authorities taking this approach “shows that adopting less punitive policies does not result in an increase in drug use, drug-related harm or other crimes.”
Special Rapporteurs and other UN Council for Human Rights-appointed rights experts are independent of any government, receive no salary for their work and serve in their individual capacities.
The vast majority of countries do not yet have a female head of state
In what is the biggest election year on record, 113 countries have never had a female head of state and only 26 are led by a woman today, new figures from the gender equality agency show. UN womenunveiled on Monday.
The new data comes as the world celebrated the International Day for Women in Diplomacyrecognizing the diverse ways in which women are breaking barriers and making a difference in the field of diplomacy.
“With many countries going to the polls this year, we all need to put women first, at the pinnacle of power, where and when it matters most,” said Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women.
As of January 1, 2024, women will make up less than a third of ministers in 141 countries. In seven countries there are no women represented in cabinets at all. Meanwhile, only 23 percent of ministerial positions are held by women.
Male bastion
Women are also underrepresented as permanent representatives to the UN. As of May 2024, women held 25 percent of senior ambassadorial posts in New York, 35 percent in Geneva and 33.5 percent in Vienna.
“Our work is guided by the belief that when women lead, the world is better for all people and the planet,” said Ms. Bahous.
“Women’s equal participation in governance and leadership is key to improving lives for all,” she added.