António Guterres believes that a viable political solution must be based on an immediate end to the brutal civil conflict in Myanmar and a genuine commitment to inclusive dialogue.
Working for peace
Sustained engagement by the military junta and rebel leaders with the UN special envoy for Myanmar is crucial to supporting efforts towards a peaceful resolution.
This includes coordination with regional partners such as the ASEAN group of nations, in line with calls from the Security Council and the General Assembly.
Cambodia: Courts uphold conviction of former opposition leader Kem Sokha
And while he remains in Southeast Asia, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has expressed deep concern over Cambodia’s top court’s decision to uphold the conviction of former opposition leader Kem Sokha, along with guilty verdicts against 33 other opposition figures, human rights defenders and social media users.
On Thursday, the Court of Appeal reaffirmed the 27-year prison sentence imposed on Sokha on charges of treason, espionage and conspiracy, linked to a speech he made in Australia in 2013, four years before his arrest in 2017.
On Wednesday, in a separate case, the Court of First Instance imposed sentences ranging from 18 months to two years of suspended imprisonment for 33 people.
They faced charges of “inciting social chaos” for public comments they made in 2024 about the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area project.
Human rights concerns
These recent convictions and sentences are incompatible with international human rights law and risk deepening the chilling effects of broad and vaguely worded criminal laws and their arbitrary application on Cambodian civil society, journalists and the general population.
Kem Sokha and the other 33 people were exercising their right to freedom of expression. Their trials raise concerns about violations of due process and the right to a fair trial.
The High Commissioner urges Cambodia to ensure that legitimate criticism and expression are protected rather than criminalized, to safeguard civic space, to ensure the independence of the judiciary and to uphold fair trial guarantees.
The authorities should quash these convictions and unconditionally release Kem Sokha and all others arbitrarily detained for exercising their rights. They should stop any such prosecutions and review Cambodia’s criminal law to ensure it is consistent with international human rights standards.
New Israeli death penalty law ‘perpetuates racial discrimination’: independent human rights experts
Israel’s newly adopted “Death Penalty for Terrorists Law” perpetuates racial discrimination against Palestinians, a panel of independent human rights experts said Thursday.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – which is supported by the UN human rights office, OHCHR – said the new law amounts to a serious erosion of human rights, and urged Israeli authorities to repeal the legislation immediately.
The Committee expressed alarm that the law requires death by hanging as the default sentence for cases involving an “act of terrorism” before Israeli military courts, which have exclusive jurisdiction over Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, while Israeli citizens and residents are excluded from them.
The Committee said the new law is a serious blow to human rights, rolling back the long-standing de facto moratorium on executions since 1962 and expanding the use of the death penalty in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
‘Applicable only to Palestinians’
The Committee highlighted its concern that in Israel “the law applies only to those convicted of deliberate murder with the intention of ‘denying the existence of the State of Israel’”, so in practice it is “applicable only to Palestinians”.
He also noted that the law prohibits the mitigation, commutation or pardon of the death penalty and establishes a period of 90 days for executions once the final sentence is handed down.
Meanwhile, the Committee said the law was adopted amid an escalation of settler violence and unlawful killings with impunity throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as ongoing and systematic violations of Palestinian due process and fair trial rights.
As of January 2026, 9,243 Palestinians were in Israeli custody, including 3,385 administrative detainees without trial, according to UN figures.
A PAHO health worker prepares a rabies vaccine.
Critical inequalities among qualified health workers in South America
South American countries continue to experience significant healthcare inequalities in terms of available workers in the sector reported in urban areas compared to rural and underserved communities, according to a new regional report from the UN-backed Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
The report on Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay identified gaps that directly impact the availability of specialists and the capacity of health systems to respond to the needs of the population.
These gaps included the migration of health personnel, concentration in urban areas, the mismatch between educational offer and the needs of health systems, and marked differences in working conditions between sectors and territories.
Necessary investment
Among the findings, Brazil shows great inequalities, with lower availability in the north and northeast, and a high proportion of multiple contracts.
While Peru concentrates 85 percent of personnel in urban areas and has an estimated deficit of more than 54,000 health workers.
“Countries need stronger information systems and comprehensive policies that simultaneously address the training, recruitment, deployment and retention of health personnel,” said James Fitzgerald, Director of Health Systems and Services at PAHO.
PAHO urges governments in the region to invest in training and policies that help retain workers, with special attention to primary care and areas with the greatest needs.