Family of six among 44 killed as Israel airstrikes pound Gaza

GENEVA: The United Nations human rights chief on Thursday condemned the conviction of around 40 Tunisian opposition figures, saying their right to a fair trial was violated.
“The process was marred by violations of fair trial and due process rights, raising serious concerns about political motivations,” the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement.
A Tunisian court on Saturday handed down sentences of between 13 and 66 years to defendants accused of “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group.”
Among those sentenced were vocal critics of President Kais Saied, well-known opposition figures, lawyers and businesspeople, some of them already behind bars, while others have been living in exile.
Lawyers representing the accused and their relatives have denounced the trial as “fabricated” and “unfounded,” and pledged to appeal the rulings.
Turk on Thursday urged “Tunisia to refrain from using broad national security and counterterrorism legislation to silence dissent and curb civic space.”
The arrest of Ahmed Souab, 70, a defense lawyer in the trial charged with terrorism-related offenses over criticism he made of the court, raises concerns for lawyers’ ability to safely represent clients, Turk said.
“Charges must be dropped where there is no sufficient evidence of illegal acts committed,” he said.
Turk demanded all defendants be guaranteed their full rights to due process and a fair trial during the appeal process, while calling for an end to wider political persecution.
Since Saied launched a power grab in the summer of 2021 and assumed total control, rights advocates and opposition figures have decried a rollback of freedoms in the North African country where the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings began.

MUSCAT: UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg met Houthi militant officials in Oman on Thursday to discuss “the necessity to stabilize the situation” in the Arabian Peninsula country.
The Houthis form part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and the United States, and since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, they have repeatedly launched missiles and drones at Israel in what they say is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians.
They have also targeted ships they accuse of having ties to Israel in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, sparking a US-led bombing campaign aimed at securing the key shipping lanes.
In a statement posted on X, Grundberg’s office said he “met today in #Muscat with senior Omani officials, members of Ansar Allah (Houthi) leadership and representatives of the diplomatic community.”
The talks “centered on the necessity to stabilize the situation in #Yemen to allow all Yemenis to live in dignity and prosperity and to address the legitimate concerns of all stakeholders including the region and the international community,” it added.
Grundberg “reiterated his commitment to continue to work toward that goal, as part of his efforts toward sustainable peace in Yemen.”
Since March 15, Israel’s key ally the United States has stepped up its attacks on the Houthis, targeting their positions in Yemen with near-daily air strikes.
The UN envoy’s meetings in Muscat come two days before a third round of indirect talks, mediated by Oman, between top officials from Iran and the United States on the Islamic republic’s nuclear program.
Grundberg’s office said he also raised UN demands for “the immediate and unconditional release of detained UN, NGO, civil society and diplomatic personnel” in Yemen.
In June last year, the Houthis detained 13 UN personnel, including six employees of the Human Rights Office, and more than 50 NGO staff, plus an embassy staff member.
They claimed they had arrested “an American-Israeli spy network” operating under the cover of humanitarian organizations — allegations emphatically rejected by the UN Human Rights Office.