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UN Rights Council to Work Against Violent Extremism


FILE - A session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
FILE - A session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

The United Nations' Human Rights council has concluded its latest session with a commitment to counter violent extremism.

The United States says 77 nations signed the U.S.-sponsored statement to counter extremism, while also protecting human rights and freedoms.

The U.N. rights council, which meets several times a year, issued a series of resolutions Friday relating to countries around the world.

For the fifth year in a row, the council passed a resolution highlighting the human rights situation in Iran and renewed the mandate for the Special Rapporteur on Iran.

It also renewed the Special Rapporteur posts for North Korea and Myanmar.

On Syria, the rights council condemned widespread systematic violence by Syrian authorities, government-affiliated militias and terrorist groups such as Islamic State. It addition, it extended the mandate of the Syria Commission of Inquiry to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in the country.

On Libya, the council created a fact finding mission to investigate violations of international human rights law since last year.

It passed four resolutions on Israel and the Palestinians, all of which were opposed by the United States for being "biased." Those resolutions included concerns about the human rights situation in occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel's settlement activities.

The council also adopted texts on a range of topics, including freedom of religious beliefs, the use of drones, the prevention of genocide, and the rights of people with albinism.

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