REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Organization for Migration, the UN Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environmental Programme, the Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the United Nation’s Children’s Fund.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Conference on Disarmament would hold a public plenary meeting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 28 June under the Presidency of the Democratic Republic of Korea. This would be the last plenary of the second part of the 2011 session of the Conference. The third part of the session would be held from 1 August to 16 September.

The Economic and Social Council would hold its annual session from 4 to 29 July in Geneva. The high-level segment would take up the first week, with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon coming to Geneva on 7 July. Next week, journalists would receive the background press release as well as a summary of the different events of the high-level segment, which usually included the launching of a number of reports. The theme of this year’s ECOSOC session was “education”.

Director-General’s Activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian said Director-General Kassym-Jomart Tokayev this week met with the five regional groups of Member States to present his strategic priorities. These priorities included enhancing the role of Geneva as a centre for multilateral diplomacy, renewing the management of resources for greater efficiency, promoting sustainability and greening, strengthening partnerships with stakeholders, advancing the Strategic Heritage Plan for a renovation of the Palais des Nations and reinforcing outreach to the public. The meetings were an opportunity to discuss with Member States current concerns with a view to improving the work of the United Nations in Geneva. The Director-General would continue this ongoing dialogue with Member States as part of his efforts to facilitate the work of the diplomatic community in Geneva.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Ravina Shamdasani said Sunday was the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture and High Commissioner Navi Pillay had put out a media statement, which was available at the back of the room.

OHCHR would be deploying an assessment mission to Yemen starting Monday 27 June. It would be made up of three persons who would be visiting Yemen for 10 days. A media advisory would be issued later in the day. In response to a question asking for more details on this mission, Ms. Shamdasani said the information coming out from Yemen had been very difficult to independently verify. So the main goals of the mission were to go in and assess the situation. The mission would meet with government officials, human rights defenders, victims of violations, members of the political opposition, and internally displaced persons. The mission would also visit medical facilities and detention centres to understand more about the situation. The mission would return with recommendations for the Government.

Ms. Shamdasani said concerning Bahrain, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was deeply concerned about the harsh sentences, including life imprisonment, that were handed down this week (Wednesday) to 21 political activists in Bahrain on very broad charges. There were serious concerns that the due process rights of the defendants, many of whom were well-known human rights defenders, were not respected and the trials appeared to bear the marks of political persecution. OHCHR was also concerned about the continuing work of the Lower National Safety Court, noting that H.M. King Hamad Ibn Issa Al Khalifa lifted the State of National Safety on 1 June. According to reliable sources, the Lower National Safety Court had convicted more than 100 individuals since March this year, mostly for crimes allegedly committed during the protests. OHCHR understood that in total, up to 1,000 people reportedly remained in detention. OHCHR urged the authorities to act in strict accordance with their international human rights obligations, particularly regarding the right to due process and a fair trial. OHCHR called for an immediate cessation of trials of civilians in the Court of National Safety, and an immediate release of all peaceful demonstrators who were arrested in the context of the protest movement in February. OHCHR had received worrying reports of the treatment in detention of some of these protestors, including severe beating of some of those just sentenced. It noted particularly that four individuals previously arrested reportedly died in detention due to injuries resulting from severe torture. The Government must urgently conduct an independent investigation into these allegations.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, was sending a letter to the King of Bahrain to convey her concerns in this regard.

Ms. Shamdasani said the Deputy High Commissioner’s mission to Sudan was underway. She was today in Darfur and would be giving a press conference in Khartoum on Monday, 27 June. They hoped that she would be available to give a press conference in Geneva upon her return.

Libya

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said over the last week, fighting had intensified in north-western parts of Libya. No unmet humanitarian needs had been identified as a result of this fighting yet. A UN inter-agency security and humanitarian access mission into the Nafusa Mountains remained the priority. This mission would allow inter-agency assessments to be undertaken. At present there were more than 20 non-governmental organizations operating inside Libya, at least seven UN and affiliated organizations as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Libyan Red Crescent. Assistance provided in the Nafusa Mountains to date had been predominantly been in the health sector, especially the treatment of the injured. Some 530,000 persons had received food assistance. The Port of Khums received its first humanitarian assistance vessel on 19 June with 546 metric tonnes of food delivered to 106,000 beneficiaries in the area. There reportedly remained a shortage of medicines and vaccines across Libya. The Appeal of $ 407 million was 55 per cent funded. There were more details in the briefing notes.

Tunisia/Libya

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said in Tunisia, IOM partners were increasingly concerned that there were unaccompanied minors and children who had been separated from their parents as they sought safety in the displacement camps on the Tunisian-Libyan border. UNICEF and IOM staff at the border said that more than 150 children had been identified since the early days of the crisis, but this was only the tip of the iceberg as there was no systematic screening at the border for many weeks when large numbers of migrants were arriving. Many of these children were boys aged 15 to 17 from countries like Chad, Niger, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia and Sudan. There were also Somali and Eritrean children who had been referred to UNHCR for international protection. All the children came from extremely poor families, depending on subsistence farming or petty business to survive. They had been sent to Libya by their families to provide additional essential income for their families. There were also a small number of children that had been trafficked from west African countries to Libya, supposedly to work and study, but who had ended up in prostitution.

United Nations Refugee Agency

Melissa Fleming of the UN Refugee Agency said whenever there were cases of forced return or refoulement, UNHCR came to the press and alerted the journalists about it. UNHCR was very disturbed when it learned that 93 asylum seekers were deported from Mozambique to Tanzania in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The group, comprising 59 Somalis and 34 Ethiopians, had recently arrived by boat near Mocimboa da Praia in northern Mozambique. Most were young men but among them were a woman, four children, and three elderly men. Many were suffering medically as a result of their journey. There were more details in the briefing notes. This was not the first incident of its kind in Mozambique as they had received information about a similar deportation on 6 June. UNHCR was also very concerned about the abuse by police of people inside the country who had not been deported and were seeking asylum. The High Commissioner was writing to the Government of Mozambique to respect its obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Ms. Fleming of UNHCR said UNHCR was alarmed by a dramatic rise in the number of new refugee arrivals from Somalia into Kenya. Over the past two weeks the Dadaab refugee complex in northern Kenya had received more than 20,000 Somali refugees. In addition to the fighting, there was a terrible drought in Somalia and this was causing a horrible situation of mal nutrition. The new Somali arrivals were mostly farmers and animal herders from Lower Juba and the city of Dhobley. Overcrowding at the Dadaab complex was an additional challenge. This month the camp population passed the 360,000 mark. Dadaab was the largest refugee settlement in the world, similar in size to European cities such as Nice, Florence or Bilbao. Since 2008, UNHCR had not been able to provide plots for newly arriving refugees to live on. This was due to a lack of space. As a result, growing numbers of refugees were settling outside the camp boundaries. UNHCR welcomed a recent statement by the Kenyan authorities instructing government agencies to move quickly to decongest the crowded Dadaab camps. UNHCR was working with the Kenyan authorities and other aid agencies to respond to the latest crisis and to the increased malnutrition among the new arrivals.

In response to a question about Syrian refugees in Turkey, Ms. Fleming said UNHCR had been offering its assistance to the Turkish Government. The Turkish Government had now responded, asking for assistance in the form of tents, blankets and non-food items. UNHCR did not currently have any presence in these camps. UNHCR had visited the camp twice and it was convinced that the conditions in the camp were very good. UNCHR would continue to offer support and assistance to the Turkish Government.

Cholera in Haiti and the Dominican Republic

Tarik Jasarevic of the World Health Organization said since May 2011, there had been an increase in cholera cases in some areas in Haiti especially around Port-au-Prince and the Southern Peninsula. From 2 May to 12 June 2011 there were 18,182 new cases in Port-au-Prince. The occupancy rate of the 2,300 beds in Cholera Treatment Centers and Cholera Treatment Units in the Metropolitan area was about 90 per cent. This increase may be partly due to the beginning of the rainy season and the flooding that hit the capital. Data from the Ministry of Public Health of Haiti showed that since the beginning of the outbreak till 12 June 2011, there had been 344,623 cases of cholera and 5,397 deaths. Since early June, the departments of Arbonite, Grand Anse, Nippes, Sud, Nord, and Sud-Est also experienced increases in the number of new cholera cases and new hospitalizations as well. However, in the last two weeks, they had begun to see a decrease in new cases in the Metropolitan area. As of Tuesday 21 June, the occupancy rate in Port-au-Prince hospitals had declined to 72 per cent from the 90 per cent rate mentioned above. Based on data gathered from Health Cluster partners, as of 21 June, there were 33 cholera treatment centers and 219 cholera treatment units. Access to clean water, sanitation and information were key to protecting people from cholera and other waterborne diarrhoeal diseases. In Haiti, access to clean water and proper sanitation remained the principal challenge in fighting the epidemic. According to reports from the Water and Sanitation Cluster, in camps in Port-au-Prince, about a third of the active non-governmental organizations would be closing down their water-trucking and sewage removal activities over the next few months because funds were running out. WHO worked with cholera treatment facilities to ensure that there was clean water for patients, and that proper sanitation measures were adopted. In addition, the Ministry was facing difficulty funding the personnel working in government-run centres. This had resulted in some shortages of personnel. Transportation of patients was another serious problem. The Dominican Republic had also experienced an increase in cholera cases over the past month. These coincided with the rainy season and rising temperatures. The Ministry of Public Health reported that since the beginning of the outbreak end-2010, there have been 1,727 confirmed cases (191 in 2010 and 1,536 in 2011), including 46 deaths. The Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Health was continuing epidemiological research and response which included improving water quality and sanitation services, and educating the public about prevention. In particular, they had focused energies on areas near rivers. There were more details in the briefing notes.

Ms. Pandya of IOM said that according to IOM’s latest Displacement Tracking Matrix, the departure of Haitians from displacements camps had slowed down considerably. The number of people living in the displacement camps had dropped by only 46,000 during May and April from an overall figure of 680,000 to 634,000. Pressure on internally displaced persons to leave the camps had grown inexorably. The onset of the hurricane season, frequent inundations posing increased danger for camp dwellers and a reduced presence of non-governmental organizations resulting in a continuing reduction of services within the camps had increased the health risks among a population exposed to contaminated water. There were more details in the briefing notes.

Ms. Mercado of UNICEF said UNICEF was the leader of the water, sanitation and hygiene cluster but she wanted to underline what WHO had said about the significant underfunding in that sector. By the end of June, six out of 20 organizations doing this water and sanitation work would have no more funding. As OCHA pointed out last week that the Haiti appeal was only 22 per cent funded.

Ms. Byrs of OCHA said that on 20 July, there would be the launch of the mid-year review, with the presence of the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and she was sure that the issue of underfunding would be raised.

Other

Michael Stanley Jones of the United Nations Environmental Programme said the week-long fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention was closing today. The meeting had so far adopted seven decisions, including two decisions to list two new pesticides to the Convention’s annex three.

Jean Rodriguez of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe said UNECE Executive Secretary Jan Kubis would be in Kazakhstan from 27 to 30 Jun to attend the thirty-eighth session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. On Friday, 1 July, Mr. Kubis would be in the Republic of Moldova where he would participate in the fourth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention). Mr. Kubis would deliver to the meeting a statement on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General. A press release with more information about the meeting was available at the back of the room. The theme of the high-level segment was the role of the Convention in promoting sustainable development.

Ankai Xu of the World Trade Organization said the trade facilitation negotiation group was going to meet informally all of next week. The trade environmental negotiation group would have an informal meeting at 3 p.m. on Monday, 27 June. On 28 June, the trade party review body would have Nigeria’s review in the morning, and also after 2:30 p.m. On 1 July, there would be a trade party review body symposium on the global crisis and the role of WTO. As for Director-General Pascal Lamy, he would be going to be in Paris on 27 June to attend the G20 Financial and Trade Event. On 28 June he would be in New York to attend the UN General Assembly thematic debate on global governance. On 1 July, he would be in Geneva to attend the trade policy review body symposium.

Marixie Mercado of the United Nations Children’s Fund said on Monday, 27 June in Athens, UNCIEF and the Special Olympics would sign a special memorandum of understanding to expand their joint work around the world to protect and promote the rights of children with disabilities. The memorandum of understanding would be signed by UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake and the Special Olympics Chairman and CEO Timothy Shriver against the backdrop of the Special Olympics World Summer Games, which runs through 4 July. A top priority for this partnership was to advocate with governments to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with the overarching goal for broader inclusion and participation of children with disabilities into mainstream society. An embargoed press release would be sent to journalists later today.

A journalist said he had heard a UN internal report about an incident in Kadugli, Sudan claiming that Sudanese intelligence personnel on Monday 27 June went to the UNMIS compound where thousands of internally displaced persons lived. They posed as Red Crescent workers and asked the internally displaced persons to move to another location. In response, Ms. Momal-Vanian said she had seen the report but had no further information about it. Ms. Byrs said she hoped to have more information during the day. It would be transmitted to journalists when it arrived. Further, Ms. Momal-Vanian said the UNMIS mission was working in very difficult conditions, access was very limited, roads were blocked, the airport was closed regularly, and people were having a lot of difficulty getting in and out.