GENEVA (AP) — United Nations human rights experts say Russia violated international law by imprisoning Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and should release him “immediately.”
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, made up of independent experts convened by the U.N.’s top human rights body, said there was a “striking lack of any factual or legal substantiation” for spying charges leveled against Gershkovich, 32.
The five-member group said Gershkovich’s United States nationality has been a factor in his detention, and as a result the case against him was discriminatory.
Matthew Gillett, the working group’s chair, said its opinion was grounded in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was adopted in 1966 and nearly all U.N. member countries have ratified.
“The covenant is something that Russia has freely signed up to and accepted the obligations under, and therefore as a matter of international law, it is obliged to implement the provisions of the covenant,” he said in an interview.
Gillett said Russia should provide Gershkovich “proper reparations” for holding him for over a year in detention without a legitimate basis.
Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors on Wednesday in the Russian city Yekaterinburg, where he was arrested on March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny.
The U.N. group said in its findings that because the detention of Gershkovich was arbitrary, no trial should take place. The group cannot compel any response from Russia, and is mandated to look into cases in which countries violate international commitments that they make.
"Taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Gershkovich immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law," the United Nations group said.
Almar Latour, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, commended the U.N. panel and said: “Evan’s wrongful detention is a flagrant violation of his fundamental human rights."
“As the U.N. working group recognizes, Russia is violating international law by imprisoning Evan for his journalism, silencing critical reporting, and depriving him of due process and other rights,” Latour said, calling on the U.S. and world leaders "to do everything they can to bring Evan home now.”
Gershkovich, the U.S.-born son of immigrants from the USSR, is the first Western journalist arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia. Russian authorities, without presenting evidence, claimed he was gathering secret information for the United States.
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, which is almost a certainty since Russian courts convict more than 99% of the defendants who come before them.
The State Department has declared Gershkovich “wrongfully detained,” thereby committing the government to assertively seek his release.
Russia has signaled the possibility of a prisoner swap involving Gershkovich, but it says a verdict — which could take months — would have to come first.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Fifteen months after he was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges, Gershkovich returns there for his trial starting Wednesday, June 26, 2024, behind closed doors. Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government deny the charges. (AP Photo)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are sticking near their records Friday following a highly anticipated report on the job market that showed a slowdown in hiring and contained nuggets of data for both optimists and pessimists.
The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in its first trading after the Fourth of July holiday, following two straight days where it set all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 94 points, or 0.2%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was adding 0.4% to its own record.
The action was a bit more decisive in the bond market, where Treasury yields sank following the nuanced U.S. jobs report. Employers hired more workers last month than economists expected, but the number was still a slowdown from May’s hiring. Plus, the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked higher, and the U.S. government said hiring in earlier months was lower than it had previously indicated.
Altogether, the data reinforced belief on Wall Street that the U.S. economy’s growth is slowing under the weight of high interest rates. That’s precisely what investors want to see, because a slowdown would keep a lid on inflation and could push the Federal Reserve to begin cutting its main interest rate.
The question is whether the Federal Reserve can time its next moves precisely, where it lowers rates early and significantly enough to keep the slowdown from sliding into a recession but not so much that it allows inflation to regain strength and take off again.
The clearest takeaway from the jobs report for traders was that it would help push the Fed to cut its main interest rate later this year, likely in September. The two-year Treasury yield, which closely tracks expectations for Fed action, fell to 4.63% from 4.71% late Wednesday.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is the centerpiece of the bond market, fell to 4.31% from 4.36%.
Friday’s jobs report follows a mass of data showing a slowdown across the U.S. economy. Reports earlier this week said business activity in both the U.S. services and manufacturing sectors contracted last month, turning in weaker readings than economists expected. And U.S. shoppers at the lower end of the income spectrum have been showing how difficult it is to keep up with still-rising prices, as balances owed on credit cards swell.
“What matters for long-term investors is whether fears of a recession become a reality,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “We think it’s unlikely we’ll see a recession this year or next, but that doesn’t mean the markets won’t fear one.”
On Wall Street, gold miner Newmont rose 1.4% for one of the bigger gains in the S&P 500. It benefited from a 0.7% tick higher for the price of gold, which usually benefits from falling interest rates. That's because bonds paying high yields can pull investors away from gold, which pays its holders nothing.
Modest gains for some big, influential stocks also helped support the market, even though the majority of stocks within the S&P 500 fell. Apple rose 1.5%, and Microsoft added 1.2%.
Amazon rose 1% after the announcement of a deal where the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue will buy Neiman Marcus Group for $2.65 billion. Amazon will hold a minority stake in the deal.
On the losing end of Wall Street were companies tied closely to cryptocurrency activity, as bitcoin tumbled below $56,000 from nearly $63,000 early this week. The cryptocurrency's value is back to where it was in February.
Coinbase Global fell 4.6%, and Robinhood Markets dropped 2.9%.
In stock markets abroad, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.5% after U.K. voters ushered in a new regime by throwing out Conservatives in this week’s national election.
The United Kingdom experienced a run of turbulent years during Conservative rule that left many voters pessimistic about their country’s future. The U.K.’s exit from the European Union followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine battered the economy. Rising poverty and cuts to state services have led to gripes about “Broken Britain.”
Germany’s DAX rose 0.2% after the government agreed on a budget for 2025 and a stimulus package for Europe’s largest economy, ending a monthslong squabble that threatened to upend Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left coalition.
The disagreements had fueled speculation that the already unpopular government could collapse and prompt a snap parliamentary election in which Germany could follow other European countries by swinging toward the political right.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 topped 41,000 early Friday to rise above its record closing level set on Thursday, but it ended the day marginally lower.
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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is seen on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in New York. Shares advanced Friday, July 5, 2024, in Europe after Britain's Labour Party prevailed over the Conservatives in this week's national election. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
The New York Stock Exchange is seen on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in New York. Wall Street is leaning toward minuscule gains before the bell ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
A passerby walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index, right, at a securities firm Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Tokyo. Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark closed Thursday at a fresh record high of 40,913.65, pushing past its most recent record close set in March. (Kyodo News via AP)
FILE - A person walks past at an electronic stock board showing Japan's stock prices at a securities firm in Tokyo, June 27, 2024. Asian shares were mostly lower on Friday, July 5, after solid gains in Europe overnight, while U.S. markets were closed for the July 4th holiday. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)
FILE - A person walks past at an electronic stock board showing financial indexes including Japan's Nikkei 225 index, green, at a securities firm in Tokyo, June 27, 2024. Asian shares were mostly lower on Friday, July 5, after solid gains in Europe overnight, while U.S. markets were closed for the July 4th holiday. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)
