Today is UN day– 24 October 2016 marks the 71st year anniversary of the establishment of
the UN. Today in the Middle East including Bahrain, Yemen, Saud Arabia there are many 
such reminders of repression:notorious prisons where political detainees languish,censored 
newspapers and exiled writers, thousands of civilian victims. Due process, religious 
toleration,democratic rights,freedom of assembly and expression have taken the back seat, 
and the rights of citizens are honored mainly in the breach. ICSFT calls on the UN organs
in particular the UN human rights mechanisms to reaffirm their founding purpose to achieve
global peace and protect human rights.
Please read UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s message here:

This year’s observance of United Nations Day occurs at a time of transition for the world and for the United Nations. Humanity has entered the era of sustainability – with a global commitment to fulfil the great promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  In this, the Organization’s 71st year, we have 17 goals to propel us towards a better future for all on a healthy planet. The world is also moving at long last beyond the mindset which viewed the burning of fossil fuels as the path to prosperity.  At a time of record heat, Member States have embraced the Paris Agreement on climate change in record time.  This landmark measure will enter into force on 4 November.  Across that historic threshold lies our best chance for greener, cleaner, low-carbon growth. The United Nations is also in transition, from its eighth Secretary-General to the ninth.  I have been honoured to serve “we the peoples” for the past ten years.  Together, we have put in place some solid foundations for shared progress – which we must build on by working even harder to empower women, engage youth and uphold human rights for all.  But we have also suffered enormous heartbreak -- including unresolved conflicts causing immense suffering throughout the troubled Middle East, South Sudan, the Sahel and beyond.  On these and other frontlines of violence and disaster, courageous UN staff continue to rise to the occasion and respond to the plight of the vulnerable. I thank people across the world for their support -- and urge all to give their full backing to Secretary-General-designate Antonio Guterres in continuing our global mission of peace, sustainable development and human rights.

Ban Ki-moon