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Resources updated between Monday, December 14, 2015 and Sunday, December 20, 2015

December 18, 2015

Former Canada Supreme Court Justice Marie Deschamps headed a three-member panel that found a U.N. probe of allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers in CAR was “seriously flawed." (File photo)

Panel Blasts U.N. Over Handling of Central Africa Peacekeeper Abuse Article

December 17, 2015

Abdullah ah-Zaher

Abdullah ah-Zaher became the youngest person given the death sentence, according to campaigners Reprieve.

Campaigners claim Abdullah ah-Zaher, who attended the protest four years ago was put on death row as part of a crackdown on political dissent.

The 19-year-old has been moved to solitary confinement and could be beheaded at any moment.

Despite possible repercussions, his family have gone public with his story, in a final bid to save his life.

His father Hassan al-Zaher said: "Please help me save my son from the imminent threat of death. He doesn't deserve to die just because he participated in a protest rally."

According to the campaign group, Reprieve, Abdullah was arrested for being in the area of a protest in March 2012, beaten by police and tortured.

He was then allegedly forced to sign papers police fabricated.

Saudi media reports suggest 52 prisoners will be executed at any time.

Abdullah was held alongside Ali al-Nimr, who has been sentenced to a death penalty for allegedly instigating a revolution using his Blackberry.

A Reprieve spokeswoman said: "What we know from the families of the three is that they are in solitary confinement and being prepared for execution.

"They have been moved and undergone medical examinations, which seem to suggest their beheading is imminent.

The whole business of executions in Saudi Arabia is shrouded in secrecy, and prisoners are often beheaded without any notice to family or lawyers."

His father has said his health is deteriorating and when he attended this protest at the age of 15, he wasn't even fully aware what they were protesting for.

Saudi Arabia Orders Execution Of Teenager For Attending A PROTEST Document

Palestinian representative to the UN Riyad Mansour (File photo)

At UN Gathering Invited Speakers Praise Palestinian Child Terrorists and Push a Legal Pogrom Against the Jewish State Development

IAEA Director Yukiya Amano (File photo)

"Not Impossible" Iran Sanctions Will End in Jan., IAEA Chief Says Article

An Iranian Emad rocket is launched as it is tested at an undisclosed location October 11, 2015. (Reuters/farsnews.com)

Iran Says It Will Not Accept Any Restrictions on Missile Programme Article

December 16, 2015

(United Nations Information Centre Jakarta)

At UN Conference "On Jerusalem," Invited Speaker Analogizes Religious Jews to Jihadists Development

UNESCO Headquarters (File photo)

Don't Fold on UNESCO Article

December 15, 2015

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein (File photo)

UN High Commissioner for "Human Rights" Condemns Israel for Exercising Right to Self-Defense Development

Makarim Wibisono, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories (File Photo)

At UN Conference, Israel Accused of Being Like ISIS Development

Riyad al-Maliki, Foreign Affairs Minister of the Palestinian Authority (File photo)

A two-day conference "On the Question of Jerusalem" held in Jakarta on December 14 and 15, 2015, was a platform to spread hate speech against Israel. Speakers at the opening session of the conference, which was convened by the UN's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), accused Israel of committing terrorism and multiple war crimes, while ignoring the actual terrorism and war crimes perpetrated by Palestinians and Hamas. In the words of the UN Press release:

"Riad Al-Malki, Foreign Minister of the State of Palestine, spoke on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas: ... The city was also a symbol, he continued, but today it stood as a testimony to double standards, injustice, racism and apartheid...illegal acts, war crimes and crimes against humanity... He stressed that settler terrorism must be outlawed...

RETNO LESTARI PRIANSARI MARSUDI, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, said ... Israel had continued to impose a reign of terror throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory...

SAMIR BAKR, Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said ... the grave practices perpetrated by Israel continued to be a concern as they represented an act of ethnic cleansing that amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity..."

UN-Sponsored Conference "On Jerusalem" is an Israel Hate-Fest Development

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

UN Secretary General Justifies Palestinian Terror Development

An Iranian Emad rocket is launched as it is tested at an undisclosed location October 11, 2015. (Reuters/farsnews.com/Handout)

Iran's October Missile Test Violated U.N. Ban: Expert Panel Article

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano addressing the December meeting of the Board of Governors. (Photo: D. Calma/IAEA)

U.N. Watchdog Decides to Close Nuclear Weapons Probe of Iran Article

December 14, 2015

A supporter of Pu Zhiqiang reacts after he was pushed to the ground by Chinese policemen in Beijing, China

The trial of one of China's most high profile human rights lawyers, on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and provoking trouble, lasted just three hours on Monday, with police blocking diplomats, foreign reporters and protesters from the Beijing court.

Pu Zhiqiang, who has spent nearly 19 months in detention, faces up to eight years in prison if convicted, according to one of his lawyers, Shang Baojun.

As many as 11 diplomats from countries including the United States, Germany and France congregated near the courthouse seeking to observe the trial. They were refused admittance by the police.

Dan Biers, deputy political counselor of the U.S. embassy in Beijing, called for Pu's release and criticized the "vague charges" that have been handed down against Pu.

Police tried to prevent Biers from reading out a statement near the courthouse, pushing him and foreign reporters out of the way. Dozens of police and plain clothes security surrounded the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, where they blocked foreign journalists attempting to report on the trial.

Neither the court nor public security authorities could immediately be reached for comment. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said "law enforcement authorities carried out order management at the scene in accordance with the law".

"The relevant people should cooperate," Hong said at a daily news briefing, urging all foreign countries to "respect China's judicial sovereignty".

China has charged many rights activists with "picking quarrels and provoking trouble", saying it is a country with rule of law and dismissing any international criticism on its rights record.

The main accusations against Pu revolve around seven microblog posts on his online accounts, his lawyers say. The posts had criticized China's ethnic policy in the troubled western region of Xinjiang and denounced several officials.

Pu's trial lasted a little over three hours, Mo Shaoping, another one of his lawyers, told Reuters.

"He admitted the seven microblogs were written by him, there was no issue with it, this is a fact," Mo said, recounting what Pu said in court. "Secondly, he said that if these microblog posts had caused injury to other people, he apologizes for it. Thirdly, he had no intention to incite ethnic hatred or pick quarrels and provoke trouble."

Mo said the court did not ask Pu specifically whether he was pleading guilty.

CLAMPDOWN

Pu's case will be seen by rights groups and the West as a measure of what they say is the most severe clampdown on human rights in two decades in China.

"Pu's trial is extremely important - he's the ultimate canary in the coalmine," said Maya Wang, a China researcher for Human Rights Watch. "If they decide to be harsh against him, I'd say it'll signify a further escalation of hostility towards human rights activism."

Pu has represented many well-known dissidents, including artist Ai Weiwei and activists of the "New Citizens' Movement", a group that has called on Chinese leaders to make their wealth public.

Despite being pushed back by the police, about 40 supporters gathered outside the courthouse and chanted slogans to show their solidarity with Pu.

"Pu Zhiqiang is not a criminal. He will be judged by history," said Qu Biao, 53, a teacher from northern Shaanxi province who had traveled to Beijing to show his support for Pu.

"The Chinese constitution protects freedom of speech, so putting him on trial is unjust and shameless. If Pu Zhiqiang is guilty, then we are all guilty."

Pu, 50, was detained in May 2014 after he attended a meeting in a private home to commemorate the suppression of pro-democracy protests in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989. Pu, who had participated in the protests, had vowed to commemorate the anniversary every year.

Authorities had rejected his lawyers' request for medical parole earlier in September, his lawyer, Shang, said.

In the past two years, the government has launched a crackdown on online rumors, detained hundreds of human rights lawyers in a nationwide sweep, and jailed a journalist on a charge of leaking state secrets.

Trial Of China Rights Lawyer Lasts Three Hours, Police Block Court Access Document

A car that plowed into pedestrians at the entrance to Jerusalem on December 14, 2015. (Israel Police)

Baby Among 14 Injured in Terror Attack at Entrance to Jerusalem Document

Danny Danon addressing the UN Security Council, October 22, 2015. (UN PHOTO/KIM HAUGHTON)

Danon to 'Post': UN Quietly Admires Israel, but Publicly Bashes It Article

The International Criminal Court (file photo)

The International Criminal Court: A Scandal Worse than FIFA Article