REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Director, United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Health Organization, and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

Libya

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said OHCHR was deeply concerned that, after recent fighting in Benghazi, people taken prisoner by members of the Libyan National Army (LNA), which effectively controlled eastern Libya, may be at imminent risk of torture and even summary execution.

OHCHR’s concern was based on reports suggesting the involvement of the Special Forces, a unit aligned with the LNA, and in particular their field commander, Mahmoud al-Werfalli, in torturing detainees and summarily executing at least ten captured men.

In March, amid fierce fighting for control of the Benghazi neighbourhood of Ganfouda, a video circulating on social media had allegedly showed al-Werfalli shooting dead three men who were kneeling and facing a wall with their hands tied behind their backs.

In June, as battles continued between the LNA and fighters from the umbrella group of the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council, two videos on social media appeared to show summary executions carried out by LNA combatants on al-Werfalli’s orders. One of those videos, which had emerged on 9 June, showed four men kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs who were shot dead as al-Werfalli watched.

The latest video, which had been posted on social media in July, seemed to show LNA fighters kicking and taunting prisoners, while al-Werfalli was apparently heard accusing two men who had their hands tied behind their backs of belonging to terrorist groups.

The LNA had announced in March 2017 that it would conduct investigations into alleged war crimes but it had not shared any information regarding the progress of these inquiries.

OHCHR urged the LNA to ensure there was a full, impartial investigation into those allegations and also called on the group to suspend Mahmoud al-Werfalli from his duties as a Special Forces field commander pending the conclusion of such an investigation.

OHCHR had documented unlawful killings by armed groups on all sides of the conflict in Libya, and despite ample information regarding such crimes, widespread impunity continued.

All those responsible for committing, ordering or failing to prevent summary executions, when in a position to do so, were criminally liable, including under international law. All evidence of unlawful killings and torture should be fully investigated and those found to be responsible should be held to account in accordance with all judicial guarantees.

The fight against terrorism could not be used to justify summary executions or other grave violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

Central African Republic

Ms. Vellucci said, on behalf of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), that Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien, had arrived in the Central African Republic (CAR) on 16 July for a three-day visit, as the country faced a worrying upsurge of violence resulting in forced displacement, and a 40 per cent increase in the number of internally displaced people, since September 2016, which was about 150,000 newly displaced, as well as a staggering rise in humanitarian needs.

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said UNICEF was worried about the rising number of violations of children’s rights during the recent wave of violence, over the past three months. Children were being increasingly targeted by violence, with an uptick in fighting over the past months, especially in the south and south-east of the country. Killings, kidnapping and rape of children as well as their recruitment by armed groups were among the types of violence taking place. In Bria, 14 girls aged from 9 to 16 had been raped by members of armed groups during fighting in May and June. The rapes had taken place when the girls had left their displaced persons site in order to collect some personal belongings from their homes. Many cases of sexual violence went unreported in the Central African Republic.

In another incident, in Bangassou, in the south-east of the country, five children between two and 16 years of age had been killed in May while trying to cross a river to find refuge in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That same month, in a village close to Berberati, eight boys aged between 13 and 17 had been kidnapped. One of them had been killed, while the kidnappers requested ransom for the others.

The true number of atrocities suffered by children over the past three months was almost certain to be much higher than officially reported figures because humanitarian access was seriously restricted because of insecurity. It was difficult to find drivers to transport humanitarian aid as people were afraid of attacks. Armed groups were frequently targeting children during attacks on villages and towns. Armed groups and parties to the conflict must cease these flagrant violations of children’s rights and make every effort to keep children safe.

In addition to those brutal crimes, the intensification of violent conflict and related operations by armed groups had resulted in thousands of children being denied their most basic rights to education and health. It was estimated that a total of 94,000 schoolchildren could not take their end of year examinations because of school closures due to insecurity. Meanwhile, stopping essential care and routine immunization for children. The Central African Republic had very alarming indicators for children. Some 41 per cent of children under five suffered from chronic malnutrition and 6.6 per cent suffered from severe malnutrition. Thousands of children were enrolled in armed groups, an estimated 24 per cent of girls were married before the age of 15, and less than half of all births were registered. As a result of several decades of instability and poor governance, followed by an acute crisis, the Central African Republic was now the last country in the world on the Human Development Index list, at number 188.

In response to questions, Mr. Boulierac said UNICEF did not know exactly why children were increasingly being targeted these last months. The country’s history was one of violence against civilians, and increased violence meant increased human rights violations. Those were very alarming signals. Regarding enrollment of children in armed groups, Mr. Boulierac mentioned the Bangui Forum in 2015, during which armed groups had committed to refrain from enrolling children and to release children they had recruited. The groups had not met those commitments. After the signature of the agreement UNICEF had helped with the release of 7,000 children, but there were reports of new enrollments. Insecurity and the rainy season were hampering access and it was difficult to obtain information. Data was lacking but it was estimated that a few thousand children were still enrolled in armed groups.

William Spindler, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said recent violence in southern border areas of the Central African Republic was driving more people to flee, including into remote areas of northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, putting immense pressure on difficult-to-reach local communities close to the border.

The main areas from which people had been fleeing were the towns of Bangassou, Bema and Mobaye – all several hundred kilometres east of the capital Bangui. Local authorities estimated that over 60,000 people had fled from those areas and into Democratic Republic of the Congo since May. UNHCR continued to work to verify the numbers.

One of the areas into which people had fled was Ndu, across the Mbomou River from CAR’s Bangassou, and barely more than a village. UNHCR staff who had been in Ndu a few days ago, had said the situation was chaotic and its proximity to the border made it dangerous, with armed bandits feared to be nearby. Refugees were staying everywhere they could – in churches, in buildings used as schools, in the only health centre, or sleeping in the open. People desperately needed more healthcare, food and shelter.

Ndu was in DRC’s Bas-Uélé province, which as of 30 June was estimated to be hosting some 37,000 new arrivals from CAR. Others fleeing CAR had headed further to the south and west into areas of DRC’s Nord-Ubangi province, where it was estimated there had been over 23,000 new arrivals as of the end of June.

UNHCR was organizing to bring in relief aid for 20,000 people in Ndu and other areas of both provinces, from Kampala. However moving help there quickly was difficult. Roads were mud-filled and in places virtually impassable for normal transport, hence tractors and other specialized vehicles were needed. UNHCR expected the convoys to arrive in days.

As of end June, 102,802 Central African Republic refugees had been registered in Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition, more than 60,000 new arrivals had been registered by DRC authorities in North Ubangui and Bas-Uélé since May. Of the 55.3 million dollars needed in funding for the DRC-CAR situation in 2017, 2.8 million dollars had so far been received.

In response to questions regarding CAR refugees fleeing into the DRC, Mr. Spindler said that the majority were women and children, arriving in very difficult conditions into communities, which were poor and stretched to the limit, having to cope with the influx. Assistance was long to arrive due to the situation.

Brazil

In response to a question regarding school closures in Rio de Janeiro because of violence, Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said he would check and would get back to the press.

Migrants – Family Assistance Programme with Germany

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said Germany’s Family Assistance Programme had been established in three countries in the Middle East, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey, to handle potential asylum seekers, mostly Syrians, but also some Iraqis. Since July 2016, IOM had completed assistance to its 50,000th case of vulnerable migrants seeking family reunification in Germany. The number of 50,000 had to be measured against figures of over half a million of Syrians and Iraqis combined that had registered for asylum in Germany since 2015, and approximately 355,000 who had been granted refugee status. This meant that one-seventh of those granted the refugee status were in the pipeline for family reunification by virtue of the programme.

There had been cases where waiting lists had dropped from ten months to as little as three weeks for some families. It was an extremely important programme as it showed the will of one EU country, Germany, to manage migration with a consistent plan and resources. It also took away the need for the perilous boat journey that had taken 370 lives at this time in 2016 on the Eastern route in the Mediterranean. Only 37 people had died on that route in 2017. It did not mean that there was a direct correlation, but those were certainly both aspects of a very positive trend.

A report was available with more information on the Family Assistance Programme and videos were accessible on the IOM website.

Mediterranean update

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said new statistics from the Mediterranean had come in today. One statistic worth repeating was that in the past week, the number of arrivals to Greece had passed 10,000 (it was at 10,044 for 2017). In 2016, the figure of 10,000 had been reached very early in January. In January 2016, over 67,000 migrants had arrived on the route from Turkey to Greece, mostly Syrians. The fact that in 2017 this figure was being reached more than 6 months into the year was a good sign. Programmes such as the Family Assistance Programme were part of the solution.

Cholera in Yemen

On behalf of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Alessandra Vellucci, Director, United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, said that as of 15 July there were nearly 345,000 suspected cholera cases and over 1,780 associated deaths since 27 April. The cholera outbreak had seen an increase in Amran and Al Mahwit governorates. The UN and partners were supporting 834 oral rehydration posts and had provided 3,000 beds to cholera treatment centres across the country. Through water and sanitation efforts, 6 million people now had access to safe drinking water, while another 2.5 million people had benefitted from disinfection of water tanks.

Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), added that on 23 June, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre in Saudi Arabia had announced a donation of USD 66.7 million to UNICEF, WHO and their partners to contain the outbreak of cholera in Yemen. As of 17 July, the donation had not yet reached the WHO and UNICEF. This being said, it would take some time for WHO and UNICEF to receive such an amount of money. The Foundation, WHO and UNICEF were in contact and WHO would let the press know when the money arrived.

In response to a question, Ms. Chaib said the OCHA and WHO numbers on cholera in Yemen matched. The numbers she had were: more than 1,700 deaths and more than 300,000 suspected cholera cases in over two months.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said, for those, who had missed the WHO press conference presenting the latest report on tobacco on 14 July, that they could contact Tarik Jasarevic or Paul Garwood in order to receive the press release under embargo until 19 July, 7 p.m. Geneva time. That report would be officially launched on 19 July in New York in the presence of WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Founder of the Bloomberg Philanthropies, Michael Bloomberg, Dr Jorge Basso, Minister of Public Health of Uruguay, and Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of the Department for the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases.

Ms. Chaib also announced the launch on 20 July at 11:30 a.m. in Press Room 1, of WHO’s HIV drug resistance report 2017. The speakers would be Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, Director, Department of HIV and Global Hepatitis Programme, WHO, Dr Meg Doherty, Coordinator, HIV treatment and care, WHO, and Dr Silvia Bertagnolio, Medical officer, HIV treatment and care, WHO. This was the second such report from WHO, the first one having been launched in 2012. A virtual press conference would also take place on 20 July, at 2.30 p.m. The report would be under embargo until 4 p.m. Geneva time, 20 July.

In response to a question about whether the report was linked to the one being presented by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Ms. Chaib said the report WHO was launching had been written by the WHO, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Global Fund, and UNAIDS was not a co-sponsor, so those were two different reports.

Later in the briefing, Sophie Barton-Knott, for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), clarified that the following week there would be a conference on HIV science taking place in Paris, and ahead of that conference UNAIDS would be releasing a report with the latest data on HIV, including the number of people on treatment, the number of new infections and of AIDS-related deaths, as well as the total number of people living with HIV. The report would also include progress by region, by country and against some specific targets. The title of the report was “Ending AIDS: Progress towards the 90 – 90 - 90 target”, and it would be launched on 20 July at 10 a.m. in Paris with the Mayor of Paris, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, the French AIDS Ambassador and a community health worker from West Africa. Ms. Barton-Knott would send the materials to the press right after the press briefing, and would bring hard copies to the press room later today. She would also try to have an expert speak to the press in Geneva under embargo, perhaps on 19 July in the morning.

(After the briefing, an embargoed briefing on the report on 19 July at 11 a.m. in Press Room 1 with Peter Ghys, Director, Strategic information and Evaluation Department, UNAIDS, was confirmed).

Alessandra Vellucci, Director, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, introduced Jonathan Fowler, the new Chief of Communication, Information and Outreach for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Mr. Fowler expressed his wish to be present at the press briefing as often as possible. He announced that the UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi was going to be in Africa this week, in Kenya and Rwanda. He was accompanied by Jack Ma, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Alibaba Group, which was one of the world largest Internet companies. Mr. Ma was UNCTAD’s Special Advisor for youth entrepreneurship and small businesses, and was also serving as a UN Sustainable Development Goals advocate. Together, they would be meeting with young entrepreneurs in Kenya on 20 July and in Rwanda on 21 July.

Ms. Vellucci also said that today, 18 July was International Nelson Mandela Day. Every year on this occasion, the Nelson Mandela Foundation asked the public to devote 67 minutes of their time to helping others, in honour of the 67 years Nelson Mandela had dedicated to the service of humanity. At 1 p.m. today in front of Room XX at the Palais des Nations, there would be a commemoration of the International Nelson Mandela Day, in the presence of UN Geneva Director-General Michael Møller, and representatives of South Africa and of the African Union.

Ms. Vellucci announced a press conference by the World Food Programme (WFP) on 20 July at 10.30 a.m. in Press Room 1, presenting the World Food Assistance Report 2017. The WFP would share the report with a summary under embargo on 19 July. The speaker would be Steven Were Omamo, WFP Deputy Director for Policy and Programme and co-author of the report.

Ms. Vellucci also said that today, SASG Espen Barth Eide and SRSG Elizabeth Spehar would brief the Security Council on the current situation in Cyprus. The consultations were closed.

The Human Rights Committee would continue to study its draft of a general comment on the protection of the right to life (article 6 of the Covenant) on 19 and 20 July.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/UNOG180717