REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Director, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons and representatives for the World Health Organisation, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration.

Syria

Ms. Vellucci said that, on this last day of the round of talks on Syria which was being held in Geneva this week, the Special Envoy for Syria, Mr Staffan de Mistura, would welcome all the invitees to the talks. Every group of participants would be seeing him today: the first arrivals were expected at door 14 at 11.30 a.m. Ms. Vellucci said that the Special Envoy would brief the Security Council at 9 p.m. Geneva time in a private session. There would be no broadcast of this briefing. After his presentation to the Security Council, the Special Envoy would give a press conference in Room III at the Palais des Nations at a time to be announced, probably not before 10 p.m.

Cholera epidemic

Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organisation (WHO), introduced Dr. Dominique Legros, Cholera focal point at WHO, saying that due to ongoing events globally and of course in specific countries, this appeared a good time to clarify a few points around the situation with cholera.

Dr. Legros said that WHO had recorded 330,000 suspected cholera cases and 1,700 deaths in Yemen. He added that there were other outbreaks in highly endemic countries. Since the beginning of the year, there were more than a thousand suspected cases in Kenya. Acute watery diarrhoea cases were also reported in Ethiopia (almost 40 000 cases and 800 deaths). In the Democratic Republic of Congo, as of 8 July, 15,000 cases and more than 400 deaths were reported.

Each of those outbreaks were evidence of the failure of the prevention activities. Most of those outbreaks were expected to happen. To address that issue, WHO had revitalized a global taskforce and was now inviting key development donors and endemic countries in October at the occasion of a Call for Action meeting. The goal was to prevent such outbreaks to occur repeatedly by adopting a long-term strategy with the countries concerned.

Dr. Legros emphasized that it wasn’t a technical issue: WHO perfectly knew how to prevent cholera. It was a matter of political engagement of the endemic countries and of key development donors. Progress had been made, but needed to be fast-forwarded, to really engage in the elimination of such disease.

Dr. Legros added that today, about 2 billion people didn’t have access to safe water though it was a basic human right, and a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6). It was about investing more in this area: to achieve SDG 6 by 2030, the investment would have to be multiplied by three.

Answering a question on the situation in Ethiopia, Dr. Legros said that some countries did not declare cholera outbreaks because they feared sanctions in terms of food exports and travel. WHO always advised countries to declare cholera, but also advised other countries not to impose travel bans and import bans on those countries, since cholera was not transmitted through food; scanning travellers at airports did not work either, because the vast majority of cholera infections were asymptomatic.

On the situation in the Sudan, where acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) but not specifically cholera was recognized, Dr. Legros said that what counted was that the country put in place the right control measures. He added that the treatment of patients was exactly the same for AWD and cholera patients, whether one tested for cholera or not.

Asked why selective vaccination deployment had not been implemented in Yemen, Dr. Legros said the outbreak was so mature, so developed that it was difficult to find districts with, at the same time, a relatively low attack rate – few cases – and a high risk of the disease. So the impact of vaccination in Yemen would be limited, while resources were needed for all the other classic control measures (prevention, treatment, etc.). He also said that Yemen had not implemented vaccination beforehand. Not all countries were used to do it and there were some delays in decision in all countries. Also, it was very difficult to predict outbreaks.

Answering another question, Dr. Legros said the Yemen situation was the largest outbreak at the present time, but in history, there have been larger outbreaks, Haiti being the most serious: since October 2010, one million cases had been reported in 10,000 days, though the numbers were now declining.

On another question, Dr. Legros commended Saudi Arabia for having avoided any cholera outbreak there for many years, even though they were receiving pilgrims from many endemic countries, essentially by making sure adequate living conditions, sanitation and safe drinking water were in place.

Venezuela

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said the situation in Venezuela continued to be of deep concern and OHCHR urged all countries to use only peaceful means to make themselves heard. A public consultation was due to take place this Sunday, organized by the opposition lead National Assembly and other groups on questions including President Nicolas Maduro’s plans to rewrite the Constitution. OHCHR urged the authorities to respect the wishes of those who wanted to participate in this consultation and to guarantee peoples’ rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

Ms. Throssell said that, since the beginning of April, some 92 people had died and another 1,519 had been injured in connection with the ongoing protests, according to the latest available figures from the Attorney General’s Office. The number of injured individuals was however estimated to be much higher. It was vital that the Government took steps to ensure that the security forces did do not use excessive force against demonstrators and that they operated in line with international human rights standards in managing demonstrations.

OHCHR had received accounts from several sources that some members of the Venezuelan security forces had used repressive tactics, intimidating and instilling fear, to try to deter people from demonstrating. In addition, thousands of demonstrators were reported to have been arbitrarily detained, and more than 450 civilians had reportedly been brought before military tribunals. OHCHR urged the Government to immediately end this practice, which was against international human rights law, particularly due process guarantees. All those who have been arbitrarily detained should be released.

Ms. Throssell said OHCHR appealed to all sides in Venezuela to renounce violence and the harassment of opponents. In this regard, it condemned all acts of violence such as the explosion on 10 July that injured seven National Guard officers in the Altamira area of Caracas.

OHCHR expressed the hope that Sunday’s consultation would proceed peacefully and in the full respect of the human rights of all.

Answering a question from correspondents, Ms. Throssell said OHCHR was concerned that civilians were being brought before military tribunals, adding that some may be released but others processed and kept in prison. Military trials can be quite opaque and civilians should be tried in civilian courts. On OHCHR local contacts, Ms. Throssell said OHCHR staff monitoring Venezuela were talking to as wide a group of people as possible, including from the Attorney General’s Office, NGOs, and different groups, as well as receiving information from official channels.

William Spindler, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said the number of asylum applications by citizens of Venezuela had soared. Last year, there had been some 27,000 Venezuelan asylum seekers worldwide. So far in 2017, over 52,000 had applied for asylum, the main countries of destination being the United States (18,300), Brazil (12,960), Argentina (11,735), Spain (4,300), Uruguay (2,072) and Mexico (1,044). Those figures represented only a fraction of the total number of Venezuelans who could be in need of international protection, because many did not register as asylum seekers, despite the fact that many had indicated that they fled because of violence and insecurity, as well as an inability to meet daily subsistence needs.

UNHCR was working with the authorities of Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Brazil to step up registration and profiling of refugees to reinforce reception capacities and provide basic humanitarian assistance to asylum seekers with specific needs. Faced with large arrivals, all three countries had initiated response plans.

Some of the major challenges posed by the large influx of Venezuelans in neighbouring countries included international protection and physical security considerations, lack of documentation, sexual and gender-based violence, exploitation and abuse, and lack of access to basic rights and services. In certain areas, armed groups and criminal gangs were exploiting the newly-arrived Venezuelans and the local population.

UNHCR was also concerned that indigenous groups living along Venezuela’s borders with Brazil and Colombia were being increasingly affected by the situation and had fled their home territories. Particular attention to the rights of these communities as well as a differentiated and targeted protection and humanitarian response required.

In Colombia, UNHCR had carried out interviews of Venezuelans arrivals to establish protection needs. It was strengthening its presence in border areas and its capacity to provide basic humanitarian assistance, including through multi-purpose cash grants, to Venezuelan asylum seekers with specific needs. In Brazil, UNHCR, through a national partner, was providing funds to cover some activities carried out by civil society organizations. In Trinidad and Tobago, UNHCR was assisting the government to progressively assume responsibility for registration, issuance of documentation and refugee status determination.

UNHCR reiterated its call to States to protect the rights of Venezuelans, particularly the right to seek asylum and to have access to fair and effective asylum procedures. Venezuelans who did not wish to apply for asylum or whose asylum claims had been rejected should be helped to regularize their situation through alternative means. There should be no involuntary returns to Venezuela.

Asked about border crossings, Mr. Spindler said there were no attempts from either Colombian or Venezuelan authorities to limit these movements, the difficulty being to determine how many Venezuelans were crossing to Colombia to stay with respect to how many were crossing for the day or a few days (for example to buy in Colombia products which were not available in Venezuela).

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix had allowed profiling of populations crossing the border to Colombia. This showed that 67% of the people who had crossed the border and were currently staying in the border area were actually Colombians or people with dual nationality, with only 33% being Venezuelans. The vast majority of those Venezuelans said they intended to return to Venezuela on the same day, crossing the border because of the shortages in Venezuela. There were 455,000 registered Venezuelan nationals in Colombia who had expressed that they only intended to enter Colombia temporarily; over 50% of them entered the country only to buy supplies.

Mr. Millman said OIM would soon launch a more comprehensive study spanning the period from July to September 2017 and covering Colombia’s North Eastern border and Caribbean coast.

Answering a question, Mr. Millman said that, out of the Venezuelans crossing the border to Colombia who were surveyed, only 3% indicated that they were headed to a third country.

Bahrain

Ms. Throssell, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said OHCHR was deeply concerned that Nabeel Rajab, a co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, had been sentenced on 10 July to two years in prison simply for exercising his right to freedom of expression and opinion. It seems he faced a further trial on separate charges also related to the exercise of his right to freedom of expression. OHCHR had raised concerns with the Government of Bahrain on several occasions about the arrest and subsequent detention of Mr Rajab.

Human rights defenders in Bahrain had to be able to carry out their work without fear of reprisals, and did not have to face detention or prosecution for exercising their right to freedom of expression. Criticising the Government had not to be a crime. OHCHR noted that Mr Rajab had been in detention since June 2016 and called on the Bahraini authorities to immediately and unconditionally release him.

The continuing restrictions on civil society and political activists and the targeting of human rights defenders and organisations in Bahrain were deeply worrying and OHCHR urged the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure compliance with Bahrain’s obligations under international human rights law, in particular to guarantee the freedoms of expression, opinion and association and the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of liberty.

Iraq

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that some numbers indicated that a benchmark had been reached: yesterday was the day that total displacements originating from the activities in East Mosul had reached over a million displaced – a cumulative figure, since the activity to retake Mosul began last October. This had been an ongoing process, and the OIM team in the area had estimated that 380 000 internally displaced people were newly recorded East of Mosul city, which was in keeping with the last stages of the battle.

The OIM report also indicated that since January 2014, a total of 3.3 million individuals had been displaced in Iraq, but almost 2 million had been able to return. It meant that there was a robust, quick resettlement back to their homes. Mr. Millman said 95% of those who had been recorded as displaced from the Mosul operations tended to remain very close to Mosul. This was a strong indicator that the return to retaken zones would happen very quickly and IOM would be monitoring that carefully.

Democratic Republic of Congo

William Spindler, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that UNHCR was greatly alarmed over the violence and continued displacement of civilians from Kasaï, a region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo affected by conflict since late 2016. The estimated number of displaced people in Kasaï now stood at more than 1.3 million.

Mr. Spindler said that, during recent missions to two provinces bordering the main conflict region, Kwilu and Lualaba, UNHCR’s team had met some extremely vulnerable new arrivals. Many said that they had spent weeks fleeing through the dense forest without food, drinking water, medicine or clothes and saw people dying on the way, including women and children. Other vulnerable cases included civilians wounded or mutilated, with machete and gunshot wounds. Many new arrivals showed signs of deep trauma after having experienced or witnessed atrocities, in a situation where no psycho-social support was available. The risk of sexual abuse and exploitation made the situation particularly worrying.

In view of the ongoing displacement and the growing needs, UNHCR was strengthening its response on the ground through its protection leadership and operational interventions. It was working with national partner organizations in five provinces affected by the displacement (Kasaï, Kasaï Central, Kwango, Kwilu and Lualaba). Delivering assistance and protection to internally displaced people was a huge challenge, given the size of the area impacted.

The conflict in the Kasaï region, which started in late 2016 between a local traditional leader – the Kamuina Nsapu – and state authorities, continued to expand, with other armed groups springing up and committing severe human rights abuses against civilians.

Ms Vellucci reminded correspondents that the Head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Jean-Pierre Lacroix, briefed the Security Council on the situation in the DRC on 11 July. A readout of his remarks was available.

Geneva Activities and Announcements

Mr. Lindmeier, for the World Health Organisation (WHO), announced a press conference on the launch of the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic-2017. The press conference, to take place today, 14 July, at 2:00 p.m. in Press Room 1, as well as related documents were embargoed until 7 p.m. Geneva time on Wednesday,19 July 2017. Scheduled to speak were Dr. Vinayak Prasad, head of the WHO tobacco control programme, and Dr Kerstin Schotte, medical officer with the WHO tobacco control programme.

Mr. Lindmeier also announced a virtual press briefing on the WHO estimate costs of reaching global health targets by 2030 in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. The event would be held in New York on Monday, at 9 a.m. New York time (3 p.m. Geneva time).

Finally, Mr. Lindmeier said the members of the international food setting body, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, would meet in Geneva next week – 17 to 22 July - on the issue of new international food safety standards protecting consumer health and ensuring fair practices in trade. In answer to a question, he specified that issues to be discussed included guidelines on nutritional labelling, a code of hygienic practices for fresh fruits and vegetables, maximum levels of certain additives, code of practice for the prevention and reduction of arsenic contamination in rice.

Olivia Headon, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), announced that on 18 and 19 July, IOM would be hosting its international dialogue on migration which brings together Ministers, diaspora, NGOs, private sector, and various other actors to discuss migrant vulnerabilities. The meeting was being held in preparation for the Global Compact on Migration which IOM was helping bring technical expertise to, and which would take place in September 2018.

Alessandra Vellucci, Director, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, reminded correspondents that 18 July was Nelson Mandela Day. This year, the theme for the day was “Taking Action against Poverty”. There would be a commemoration in the common area outside of room XX at the Palais at 1 p.m. Scheduled to speak were UNOG Director General Michael Møller and others.

Ms. Vellucci said that the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was today examining the report of Nigeria, while the Human Rights Committee was looking at the drafting of general observations on the protection of the right of life.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog140717