12 August 2014 – The Gambia postponed a visit at the last minute by two United Nations independent experts, a move they find “extremely worrying” and which casts doubt on the West African country’s commitment to human rights. The UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Méndez, and Christof Heyns, the UN expert on summary, extrajudicial and arbitrary executions, expressed their deep disappointment regarding the sudden decision by the Gambian Government to postpone their visit until further notice. “We find it extremely worrying that a major undertaking dealing with issues such as unlawful killings and torture can be cancelled without…
Author: UN News
10 August 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed today’s announcement by Egypt that the Israelis and the Palestinians have accepted another 72 hours’ unconditional humanitarian ceasefire and urged all concerned to avoid steps that would lead to a resumption of violence. Mr. Ban expressed “his strong hope that this will give the two sides, under Egyptian auspices, another chance to agree on a durable ceasefire for the benefit of all civilian populations and as a starting point to address the underlying grievances on both sides,” according to a statement from his spokesperson. He added that the United Nations stands ready…
8 August 2014 – As violence escalates in Lebanon, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and its partners are distributing humanitarian supplies in the north-eastern Bekaa Valley to both Lebanese and Syrian refugees who had fled the town of Arsal, close to the Syrian border. The agency’s spokesperson, Arianne Rummery said today that UNHCR has been working together with Lebanese Government and other partners to provide humanitarian aid, including hygiene and baby kits, mattresses, blankets, bread and canned food, to the refugees. According to the Lebanese municipal authorities, the clashes that began on Saturday have displaced over 2,000 Lebanese and…
8 August 2014 – Expressing “grave alarm and concern” about the deteriorating security situation and looming humanitarian catastrophe and South Sudan, the United Nations Security Council today urged President Salva Kiir and political rival Riek Machar to engage fully and inclusively in ongoing peace talks, and uphold their commitment to establish a transitional government. Based on an a tentative deal reached between the two sides, whose political dispute has sparked eight months of bloodshed in the world’s youngest country, the deadline for setting up an transitional authority of national unity was August 10, and the Council today underscored that the…
8 August 2014 – Fighting from 30 to 31 July in Batangafo, Central African Republic (CAR) has caused renewed displacement, according to Jens Laerke of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). With skirmishes between ex-Séléka and anti-Balaka elements leaving some 20,000 people displaced in town and thousands more on major roads in the region, he told reporters in Geneva today that an inter-agency assessment mission has been deployed to visit Batangafo early next week. “Additionally, clashes on 4 August again affected the humanitarian situation and hindered humanitarian access to those people,” reported Mr. Laerke. Anti-balaka and…
8 August 2014 – The United Nations human rights office today expressed deep concern over the situation in Libya, where a conflict between multiple armed groups has been raging primarily in Benghazi and Tripoli. “Living conditions for civilians in both cities had steadily deteriorated, with food, fuel and electricity in diminishing supply,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told journalists in Geneva today. She said frequent indiscriminate shelling of heavily populated areas in both cities by the rival sides has been reported, leading to the death or injury of civilians, including children. Meanwhile,…
8 August 2014 – Gravely concerned for the physical safety of civilians in northern Iraq and the humanitarian situation in areas now controlled by the group, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the United Nations human rights office today called on the international community and the Governments of Iraq and the Kurdistan region to protect people affected by the fighting. “We are deeply alarmed by the situation in northern Iraq, and in particular the situation of vulnerable minority groups, including the Yezidi, Christian and Turkomen communities,” Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) told reporters…
8 August 2014 – Amid renewed hostilities in Gaza, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called firmly on the parties to the conflict not to resort to further military action but “swiftly find a way back to respect of the humanitarian ceasefire and continue negotiations in Cairo.” “The Secretary-General expresses his deep disappointment that the parties were unable to agree to an extension of the ceasefire in their talks in Cairo,” said a statement issued by a UN spokesperson in New York. Media reports suggest that Palestinian militants in Gaza refused to extend a ceasefire that has held for the past…
8 August 2014 – A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today voiced grave concern over the escalating trend of arresting and sentencing people exercising their rights of freedom of expression and opinion, peaceful assembly and association. “Convicting individuals for expressing their opinion is absolutely unacceptable,” the experts stressed in a news release from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “Freedom of expression and opinion is necessary for the realization of all human rights, and it is a right reserved for all individuals, even if that individual expresses an opinion with which the Government disagrees,”…
8 August 2014 – A senior United Nations human rights official today declared the situation in Eastern Ukraine “extremely alarming” with intensifying fighting, mounting casualties and serious damage to infrastructure. Briefing the Security Council by videoconfernce, Ivan Šimonović, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, expressed concern over the “rapid professionalization of armed groups, which are increasingly well-organized and equipped with heavy weaponry.” “Fighting in and around population centres has resulted in heavy loss of life and very significant damage to property and civilian infrastructure. Both sides must be reminded of the imperative that they act proportionately and take precautions to avoid…