31 December 2013 – The United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) today voiced grave concern over mounting evidence of gross human rights abuses in the strife-torn country, including extra-judicial killings of civilians and captured soldiers, massive displacements and arbitrary detentions, often on ethnic grounds. “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the atrocities committed against innocent civilians of different communities by elements from both sides during the crisis,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative and head of UNMISS, Hilde Johnson, said. “There is no excuse for these terrible acts of violence. All perpetrators must be held accountable.” UNMISS cited…
Author: UN News
31 December 2013 – United Nations agencies today warned of possible famine and severe malnutrition in the Central African Republic (CAR), calling on donors to provide urgent funding to mitigate the crisis in the impoverished country where a year of conflict has already killed thousands of people and driven 750,000 others from their homes. “We urgently need support from donors so we won’t start running out of food in January,” the UN World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Director for West Africa, Denise Brown, said in Bangui, the capital of CAR. “We are providing food for hungry people wherever we can…
31 December 2013 – The top United Nations envoy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has deplored the attacks carried out on Monday on the headquarters of the Congolese Armed Forces and of the National Radio and Television Company, as well as the international airport in the capital, Kinshasa. Other clashes were reported in Kindu, Maniema province, and Lubumbashi, Katanga province, resulting in several deaths, including three military personnel of the Congolese armed forces, according to the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC (MONUSCO). Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of MONUSCO, strongly condemned the “concomitant, indiscriminate…
30 December 2013 – Members of the United Nations Security Council said they are “outraged” by today’s terrorist attack targeting a bus in Volgograd, Russia, that caused numerous deaths and injuries – the second suicide bombing in the city within a 24-hour period. The 15 members of the Council, in a statement issued to the press, condemned the bus attack “in the strongest terms” and extended their condolences to the families of the victims. Media reports say at least 14 people were killed in today’s bombing, which comes on the heels of yesterday’s attack at the central train station in…
30 December 2013 – The Security Council has condemned “in the strongest terms” the attack on a United Nations-African Union convoy in Sudan’s Darfur region that resulted in the deaths of two peacekeepers, one from Jordan and the other from Senegal. The attack by unidentified armed assailants on the African Union-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) occurred early Sunday in Greida, South Darfur. “The members of the Security Council expressed their condolences to the families of the peacekeepers killed in the attack, as well as to the Governments of Senegal, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and to UNAMID,” the 15-member…
30 December 2013 – United Nations moved on the diplomatic and military fronts today to douse the flames of conflict in South Sudan, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging the Government to free political prisoners to facilitate talks with rebels and the Security Council holding a crisis meeting on latest efforts to reinforce UN peacekeepers in the world’s newest country. “[It] is very, very dire situation,” Council President, Gérard Araud of France, told reporters after the meeting, in which Mr. Ban’s Special Representative, Hilde Johnson, briefed the 15-member body by video link from Juba, South Sudan’s capital, on the latest developments…
30 December 2013 – United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are on alert today amid ongoing clashes between Government forces and unidentified armed men, according to a spokesperson. The UN Mission in the country, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, reported that its troops engaged the fighters and were able to restore calm in Lubumbashi, a major city in the southeast, and Kindu, in the east, UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told journalists in New York. “The identity and motivation of the assailants remains unclear at this stage,” Mr. Nesirky stressed. He added that a national…
30 December 2013 – Attacks against children in the Central African Republic (CAR) have sunk to a “vicious new low,” the United Nations children’s agency warned today, saying that at least two children have been beheaded, and one of them mutilated, in the violence that has gripped the capital since early December. “We are witnessing unprecedented levels of violence against children. More and more children are being recruited into armed groups, and they are also being directly targeted in atrocious revenge attacks,” said Souleymane Diabate, Country Representative for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “Targeted attacks against children are a violation…
30 December 2013 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Philippe Lazzarini as his Deputy Special Representative, as well as Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, in Somalia. Mr. Lazzarini, a citizen of Switzerland, will serve as Deputy to Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Nicholas Kay, who heads the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). The Security Council established the Mission in May to more effectively coordinate international support for Somalia’s Federal Government. Somalia has been torn asunder by factional fighting since 1991 but has recently made progress towards stability. In 2011, Islamist Al-Shabaab insurgents retreated from Mogadishu and…
29 December 2013 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged maximum restraint by all sides after Sunday’s rocket attack on Israel from southern Lebanon, which was then followed by artillery fire from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). According to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), two rockets fired from the general area of El Khiam in southern Lebanon around 7 a.m. local time and impacted in the vicinity of Kiryat Shimona in northern Israel. The IDF returned 32 rounds of artillery fire directed at the area from where the rockets had originated. No casualties or damage have been reported from either…
29 December 2013 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council strongly condemned the terrorist attack that occurred at the central train station of the Russian city of Volgograd today causing numerous deaths and injuries. Media reports say 16 people were killed and some 40 injured in the suicide attack, which occurred around 12:45 p.m. local time at the train station. “The Secretary-General calls for the perpetrators of this heinous act to be brought to justice. He stands in solidarity with the Russian Federation in the face of terrorism,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement. The 15 members of…
29 December 2013 – The United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan today voiced concern about reports of large numbers of armed youths moving towards the Jonglei state capital of Bor and called on all those with influence to convince them to immediately halt their advance and avoid a further escalation of the current crisis. The mission (UNMISS) said in a news release that the youths have been reportedly moving across the state for some time, with a possible intention of attacking communities. It is conducting aerial reconnaissance over Jonglei to get a clearer idea of the numbers of armed…
29 December 2013 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today strongly condemned a “cowardly” attack on a convoy of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) that left two peacekeepers dead, and called on the Sudanese authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. A statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said the UN chief was “appalled” to learn of today’s armed attack by unidentified assailants on the convoy near Greida, South Darfur. One assailant was killed and another injured by UNAMID peacekeepers in return fire. “The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms this cowardly attack on UNAMID peacekeepers and expects…
28 December 2013 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday welcomed the appointment of a mediation team to work with Government of South Sudan and the opposition towards reaching a ceasefire to end the current conflict, which has taken a heavy toll on the world’s youngest nation. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban commended the East African regional bloc known as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) for its efforts and the outcome reached at its summit on 27 December. At yesterday’s meeting of heads of State and government, held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, IGAD issued…
28 December 2013 – The deadline set for the removal of the most critical chemical weapons material from Syria for destruction will not be met owing to technical difficulties, the Joint Mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations said on Saturday. Preparations continue “in readiness” for the transport of these materials, the Joint Mission said in a statement issued in the Syrian port city of Latakia. “However, at this stage, transportation of the most critical chemical material before 31 December is unlikely.” At the end of October, the Syrian Government destroyed critical…
27 December 2013 – An independent United Nations human rights expert today urged Cambodian authorities to continue to exercise restraint amid daily demonstrations in the capital of Phnom Penh, while also praising the increasing democratic space allowing people to comfortably express themselves in the streets without fear of retaliation and warning them against resorting to violence. Surya P. Subedi, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, appealed to all sides to exercise “the utmost restraint and calm,” adding that tolerance and racial harmony are crucial for the future of democracy in the country. Members of the…
27 December 2013 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Security Council and the top United Nations envoy in Lebanon have strongly condemned the car bombing in Beirut today that killed former minister Mohammad Chattah and at least five others, underlining the need to protect the country’s stability in the face of such terrorism and the crisis in neighbouring Syria. “The Secretary-General is deeply troubled by the recurring acts of terrorism in Lebanon which pose a severe threat to the country’s stability and national cohesion,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement that urged all parties to act with restraint and to…
27 December 2013 – The United Nations today called on the Iraqi Government to ensure maximum security for some 3,200 Iranian exiles in a camp near Baghdad airport after a rocket attack on the airport last night reportedly killed a number of residents and seriously wounded others. “This is another stark reminder of the increasing violence in Iraq,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative Nickolay Mladenov said, voicing deep concern at the attack, in which rockets fell on Camp Hurriya, which houses the exiles, many of them members of a group known as the People’s Mojahedeen of Iran who have been…
27 December 2013 – Some 63,000 civilians have now sought refuge in United Nations bases in South Sudan as the UN peacekeeping mission there moves to reinforce its strength with troops and helicopters in the face of a conflict that has killed thousands and driven at least 122,000 others from their homes in the past 12 days. “Priorities for the response to the displaced are food, healthcare, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene services, protection and camp management,” the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reported today, noting that aid agencies will need $166 million to respond to immediate needs until…
27 December 2013 – The United Nations human rights office today called on the President of Uganda to refrain from signing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law, and urged the country to ensure the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people from violence and discrimination. “LGBT individuals in Uganda are a vulnerable and marginalised minority, already facing violence and discrimination. If signed by the President, this new law would reinforce stigma and prejudice, and institutionalise discrimination,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). If it becomes law, the bill – passed…