News

Every session of the United Nations Human Rights Council offers a critical opportunity to bring urgent human rights concerns directly to the world's most powerful diplomatic forums-and recently, our delegation of expert staff, global partners, and seasoned volunteers traveled to Geneva to take part. Across nearly three weeks of meetings, events, and panels, we advocated for LGBTIQ+ rights, global abolition of the death penalty, and an end to gender-based violence against women. In addition, our delegation brought invaluable testimony to the U.N. on the Trump administration's immigration enforcement actions here in Minnesota and throughout the United States.

We lobbied delegates from around the world as we helped countries prepare for the 52nd Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in May, submitting stakeholder reports for Latvia, Estonia, Niger, Palau, Sierra Leone, the Solomon Islands, Singapore, and Somalia. These reports are an essential part of the UPR process, providing an accurate portrayal of the human rights situation on the ground in the countries under review. UN Member states can then use these reports, along with their own research, to keep each other accountable and make recommendations to address human rights violations worldwide.

Alongside our global partners, we called on governments to abolish the death penalty, ensure fair trial rights, improve detention conditions, and align national laws and practices with international human rights standards. Furthermore, during our side event "Champions of Death Penalty Abolition 2025," we recognized the countries that took the lead worldwide and in their regions in making UPR recommendations related to death penalty abolition.

We also advocated for improved access to women's healthcare, stronger anti-discrimination protections for women with disabilities and marginalized identities experiencing gender-based violence, and stronger oversight and effective enforcement of laws addressing violence against women. In particular, we teamed up with civil society organizations in Estonia, Latvia, and Moldova to respond to patterns of political backlash against the Istanbul Convention-a landmark treaty spearheaded by the Council of Europe that established comprehensive standards for the prevention of violence, the protection of victim-survivors, and the prosecution of perpetrators. To learn more about our work advocating for women's rights domestically and internationally, check out our dedicated website at stopvaw.org.

The Universal Periodic Review also provides a platform for raising concerns about discrimination, violence, and legal barriers affecting LGBTIQ+ communities around the globe. We focused on LGBTIQ+ rights in Somalia, calling on its government to enact anti-discrimination legislation explicitly prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression; end impunity for attacks against journalists, civil society, and human rights defenders; and ensure transparent and effective investigations in cases where human rights defenders have been harassed or harmed.

We were also privileged to present our perspective on Operations Metro Surge and PARRIS as a human rights advocacy NGO based in Minneapolis. Board Member Dan Supalla delivered a powerful oral statement in Geneva during a dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Torture, exposing abuses in immigration detention and calling on the U.S. to meet international standards for the treatment of detainees. Meanwhile, our Executive Director, Michele Garnett McKenzie, and volunteer Jan Conlin, of Ciresi Conlin LLP, took part in a Human Rights Council briefing to share on-the-ground impacts of ICE and CBP action in Minnesota.

Collaborative advocacy is essential to advancing sustainable human rights reforms. We're proud of the work we've done alongside our global partners, and we remain committed to playing our part as members of the global human rights community.