REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Ahmad Fawzi, Director a.i. 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, United Nations Refugee Agency, United Nations Children Fund, International Organization for Migration and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

The Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General

Mr. Fawzi said that the Secretary-General was back in New York and would be travelling to Malta soon.

The Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, had arrived in Switzerland this morning and was on his way to Bern to participate in the Annual Democracy Forum, co-hosted by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and the Government of Switzerland. Mr. Eliasson would also meet with the Swiss Refugee Council and hold bilateral meetings with Government officials, including with the Foreign Minister Burkhalter on Thursday, 26 November.

Also on Thursday, Mr. Eliasson would travel to Vaduz, Liechtenstein, for an official visit to attend the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Principality of Liechtenstein’s UN membership. He would be back to New York on Monday, 30 November, said Mr. Fawzi.

Yemen consultations

Commenting on rumours concerning the start on consultations on Yemen in Geneva,
Mr. Fawzi said that there was no fixed date for a meeting in Geneva on Yemen, and that he had spoken to the Special Envoy for Yemen yesterday.

The Special Envoy said that the consultations with both parties had been ongoing. He was traveling in the region and had just met with the Houthis delegation in Muscat to discuss a proposed agenda and composition of their delegation among others; following his discussions with the Government of Yemen delegation last week. All parties continued to be committed to a political settlement of the conflict, said the Special Envoy and said that the outcome so far was encouraging. However, further consultations were still required to ensure smooth and constructive discussions at the table. The Special Envoy would be traveling to Riyadh today, 24 November, to continue his consultations with the delegation of the Yemeni Government and he hoped to announce a date for the talks soon.

Syria consultations

Asked about the status report on the Working Groups on Syria, Mr. Fawzi said that the Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura was very busy in talking with all the parties, including the opposition coalition with whom he had met recently. He was working very hard towards the conference, as asked by the Member States including the United States and Russia. The Working Groups were building the groundwork for the international conference; the four facilitators were working hard, however at the moment no updates were available on the activities of the Working Groups themselves, and whether the four Groups had been put together and completely formed.

Asked about the Security Council’s carte blanche to the Coalition to fight terrorism in Syria, and the guarantees in place to respect the peace by countries involved in this fight, Mr. Fawzi said:
"That’s a very heavy question.
Yes I’m aware of the fact that the Russian plane, has been, well in the news, that Turkey announced that it had downed the Russian plane, and that this might complicate matters.
As you quite rightly said, the Security Council has adopted a resolution to combat terrorism. And I think, we, all of us, want to see an end to terror in that region and in our lives.
And for that, nations have decided that they would deploy all necessaries measures to do so.
But what the Secretary-General has said time and time again is that while we are doing so, we must observe international humanitarian law and not violate any norms of human rights. And our actions should be based on the rule of law and protection of human rights.
That’s as far as I’ll go, and if you want to have a discussion later, I’d be happy to do so.”

Geneva Activities

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination started its new session on Monday, 23 November, and was now hearing non-governmental organizations on the situation in the two countries to be considered this week, the Holy See and Lithuania.

A special event would take place on Thursday, 26 November, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Committee would consider reports by Egypt, Slovenia, Mongolia and Turkey next week.

Yesterday, 23 November, the Committee against Torture had concluded the consideration of a report submitted by Jordan, which was the last country scheduled for this session. Until the closing meeting, in the morning of Wednesday, 9 December, the remaining part of the session would mostly be in private, in order for the Committee to adopt concluding observations on the six countries considered: Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan, Austria, Denmark, China, and Jordan

Turning to press conferences to take place in Geneva this week, Mr. Fawzi said that on Wednesday 25 November at 11 a.m. in Room III, the World Meteorological Organization would deliver its provisional statement on the status of the global climate in 2015, and would also release its five-year report on the climate from 2011 to 2015, in the presence of the WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud.

On Thursday, 26 November at 10 a.m. in Room III, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) would launch the Landmine Monitor 2015 Report Launch. Speakers would include Jarmo Sareva, Director of UNIDIR and the researchers who worked on the report, including Human Rights Watch, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, and Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor.

Michael Hollingdale, for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said that at 11.30 a.m. today, 24 November, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé would launch The World AIDS Day Report.

Fifty killed so far in protests against new Constitution in Nepal

Ravina Shamdasani, for Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), briefed on the violent clashes over the weekend during protests in the Terai area of southern Nepal, in which at least four people had been killed. The latest killings brought to at least 50 the death toll since protests against the new Constitution had begun in August this year. There was a clear need for an independent investigation to establish the facts and to bring all perpetrators of violence to justice, said Ms. Shamdasani, urging the Nepalese authorities to ensure that existing national and international standards on the appropriate use of force were fully respected by its security forces.

The protesters, from ethnic Madeshi groups, were demanding that their concerns be addressed in the Constitution and were conducting a campaign of strikes and obstructions along the border between India and Nepal. On 8 November, the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal had issued a report on this crisis and noted that the shortage of fuel, cooking gas, medicine, food and essential goods deeply affected life in the country, said Ms. Shamdasani, stressing that any obstruction of essential supplies and services was a serious violation of international human rights law. All parties on both sides of the Nepal-India border should immediately ensure effective, safe and rapid passage of supplies, and work together towards a fair and sustainable resolution of this situation.

Further information in this briefing note.

Answering questions, Ms. Shamdasani said that the blockage of the border had led to the lack of life-saving supplies in the country, which had human rights implications and was unacceptable. Obstruction and the use of violence were not acceptable means to resolve the situation.

OHCHR questions fairness of the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal, urges the government to abolish the death penalty

Ms. Shamdasani also spoke about the executions in Bangladesh on Sunday of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, sentenced to death on charges of war crimes and genocide. This had brought to four the number of people hanged following convictions by the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal, which since its inception in 2010, had delivered 17 verdicts, of which 15 have resulted in the imposition of the death penalty against members of the Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh National Party. All those convicted had been accused of committing crimes against humanity, genocide and other international crimes in 1971.

OHCHR had long warned that, given the doubts raised about the fairness of trials conducted before the Tribunal, the Government of Bangladesh should not implement death penalty sentences. The UN opposed the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, even for the most serious international crimes, stressed Ms. Shamdasani and renewed the call on the Government of Bangladesh to immediately institute a moratorium on the death penalty and abolish this inhuman practice altogether.

Further information in this briefing note.

Asked about the issues with the trials, Ms. Shamdasani said that due process and fair trials were issues since the Tribunal had been set up: trials were selective and politicized and defenders had not been given an opportunity to present their evidence. She reiterated that the UN opposed the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and in all parts of the world, recalling that the OHCHR had spoken about the use of the death penalty in all countries including in the United States.

UNICEF warns about disproportionate impact of climate change on children

Christophe Boulierac for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), introduced a UNICEF report which highlighted the impact of climate change on children, especially those living in poverty. More than half a billion children lived in areas with extremely high flood occurrence and 160 million lived high drought severity areas. The report linked the exposure to the impacts of climate change and poverty: of the 530 million children living in flood-prone zones, some 300 million lived in countries where more than half the population lived in poverty. Of those living in high drought severity areas, 50 million were in countries where more than half the population lives in poverty.

Droughts, flood, heatwaves and other severe weather conditions could contribute to the increased spread of major killers of children, such as malnutrition, malaria and diarrhoea. The vast majority of the children living in areas at extremely risk of floods were in Asia, and the majority of those in areas at risk of drought were in Africa. World leaders gathering at the climate conference in Paris – COP-21, would seek to reach agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which was critical to limiting potentially catastrophic rise in temperature. As children are already feeling the effect of climate change, the report also proposed the main steps to help make the world of children as resilient as possible right now, concluded Mr. Boulierac.

Please see UNICEF briefing note for further information.

The report “Unless we act now: The impact of climate change on children” available here.

New humanitarian situation developing in Europe, crossings from Greece into the Balkans need urgent attention

Andrew Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), informed the press about new humanitarian problems building at crossings from Greece into the Balkans and reiterated concerns at the risks associated with a series of new and uncoordinated restrictions imposed on several borders in the Balkans used by refugees and migrants. The negative consequences of those actions were already becoming clear as people became backed up in countries along the route and without proper solution to their situations. A new humanitarian situation was developing in Europe that urgently needed attention, said Mr. Edwards.

New restrictions chiefly involved people being profiled on the basis of their alleged nationalities, with those from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq being allowed to cross, while nationals of other countries were being stopped. About 1,000 people were stuck at the main entry point into The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia from Greece, where protests erupted among some of them, while other were on hunger strike. All people had the right to seek asylum, irrespective of their nationality and to have their individual cases heard, stressed Mr. Edwards.

Additional information in the UNHCR briefing note.

Asked about the situation with Serbian and Slovenian borders, Mr. Edwards said that the principal problem was with the Greece – The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border, and similar situation existed further north, but not on the same scale. About 1,000 persons were backed up on the Macedonian border.

Asked about arrivals to Lesvos, Mr. Edwards said that there had been few arrivals to Lesvos and other Greek islands, but it was not yet known why. As of this morning, more boats were arriving however. Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) added that 109 persons had arrived this morning and that decline in number of arrivals over the past few days might be due to the Turkey patrols in the waters.

A journalist said that a while ago, the Institute for Migration from London had issued a report on the need for the European Union member states to establish consular facilities in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon and asked for an update on actual processing of migrants and refugees. Mr. Millman said that hotspots were being discussed and that the only place where it was active was in Niger.

On reasons behind profiling of refugees in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece and Serbia, Mr. Edwards said that the question should be addressed to the governments of those countries, and that it was not entirely clear why those three nationalities had been chosen. Syrians indeed were the majority among the refugees, but there were nationals of countries who were not let through even though they had refugee situations. Each individual case must be examined, he stressed.

A journalist asked how UNHCR vetted companies that it worked with in providing support for refugees, and Mr. Edwards said that due diligence was applied, together with relevant humanitarian and human rights standards applicable in the sector.

Asked about relocation programme, Mr. Edwards confirmed that 160,000 refugees would be included in the programme; so far, 158 persons had been relocated so far, to Finland, Luxembourg and Sweden. Commenting on countries backtracking on their relocation commitments, Mr. Edwards said that the border protection and asylum were compatible objectives. This must be borne in mind in this situation of record global displacement in which 60 million persons were forced to flee for their lives, and now was not the time to make decision that could significantly harm people forced to flee. At the end of 2014, 59.5 million persons were forcibly displaced worldwide, and this was the record number recorded; the trend lines were still going upwards and were expected to still rise in 2016. Mr. Edwards warned of the twin problem of increasing number of forcibly displaced persons in the world, inadequate humanitarian funding for solutions and answers to forcible displacement, and a failure to address underlying causes of the situations that were causing people to flee.

The United Nations Secretary-General had addressed the General Assembly on Friday, 20 November on the alarming trends in forced migration, said Mr. Fawzi, and his statement could be found here.

Latest developments in Mediterranean arrivals

Joel Millman, for the International Organization of Migration (IOM), called the attention of the press to the registration in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia of nationals that had been held back, which included Bangladesh, Morocco, Pakistan, Iran, Algeria. No landings had been made in Italy since 19November – it had been two years that this many days had gone by without any arrivals and this was significant. No deaths had been reported since 17 November in Greek or Italian waters, which might mean that the things were winding downs for the winter.

Detailed information on Mediterranean migrants available in the IOM briefing note.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog241115