Apr 02, 2015

Newsletter March 2015


Dear UNPO Members and friends,

During the month of March, UNPO continued its efforts to raise awareness of and advocate for the rights of its Members all over the world. Two UNPO delegates conducted a fact-finding mission to Mauritania where they met with a wide range of Government officials, politicians, civil society organizations and activists and had the opportunity to assess efforts at the national level to combat slavery and better determine the political will to address the challenges ahead. Importantly, the UNPO delegation visited anti-slavery activists Biram Dah Abeid and Brahim Bilal Ramdhane in the prison of Aleg. 

Moreover, UNPO conducted a series of advocacy meetings and briefings with, among others, the US State Department, US Congress and US Commission on International Religious Freedom in Washington DC to discuss recent developments in Balochistan, Ethiopia and Mauritania, and to present its latest report on Iraq’s minorities. 

In Geneva, UNPO co-organised two side-events on Balochistan to the 28th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council, and submitted three UPR reports focussing on the human rights violations of the Haratin in Mauritania, the Chin in Myanmar, and the Batwa in Rwanda. Furthermore, UNPO General Secretary Marino Busdachin wrote a letter to imprisoned Savosian activist Fabrice Dugerdil expressing his admiration for the persistence of Mr Dugerdil’s struggle for Savoy.

For more details and information on our past and upcoming events, please download the newsletter here.