REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

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

Iraq

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said OHCHR had released a report today produced jointly with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), urging the Iraqi government to ensure that the thousands of women and girls who had survived rape and other forms of sexual violence by ISIL fighters would receive care, protection and justice, and that children born as a result of such violence should not face a life of discrimination and abuse.

Elizabeth Throssell explained that women and girls under the control of ISIL, in particular women form the Yazidi and other minority communities, had been especially vulnerable to abuses of human rights and violation of international humanitarian law, including rape, sexual assault, forced displacement, abduction, depravation of liberty, slavery, forced religious conversion, and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatments.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, had said that physical, mental and emotional injuries inflicted by ISIL were almost beyond comprehension, and that if the victims were to rebuild their lives and those of their children, they needed both justice and redress.

OHCHR reminded the Iraqi government that it had the obligation under domestic law and international human rights law to ensure that all victims had access to justice and reparations. This obligation included ensuring accountability of the alleged perpetrators through trials before independent and impartial tribunals, conducted in a gender-sensitive manner, so as not to perpetrate victims’ suffering.

The report stressed the need for women and girls to have access to appropriate medical, psychosocial, financial and livelihood support, as well as to other means of support.

OHCHR recalled that children who were born in ISIL-controlled areas had the same legal rights as any other Iraqi citizen; it urged the government to ensure that they were protected from marginalization and abuse and that they were not exposed to discrimination through references on their birth certificates to being born out of wedlock or having a father linked to ISIL.

Ms. Throssell said the report made a number of recommendations, including regarding access to justice, provision of support and care for victims, information and counselling services to reunite separated families and the importance of birth registration.

Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that, with operations having commenced as of Sunday to retake the city of Tal Afar, UNHCR remained concerned about the protection of Iraqi civilians in Northern Iraq. Tal Afar had fallen under the control of extremist armed groups in 2014. Since April this year, more than 30,000 people had fled Tal Afar district, many living in camps sheltering other displaced families, mainly from Mosul.

Humanitarian agencies had been without access to Tal Afar since 2014, but it was estimated that thousands of people could still be in the city. Conditions were said to be very difficult, with food and water running out, lack of electricity and diminishing health facilities.

Mr. Mahecic said that those families who had managed to flee the area had done so at great personal risk. People leaving Tal Afar were walking long distances to reach safety, without food or water, for hours and in scorching heat.

Many arriving at the mustering points were physically exhausted and dehydrated. Large numbers had sustained wounds or injuries from sniper fire and exploding mines.

UNHCR protection partners have been present at the mustering sites, identifying and referring cases in need of specific assistance, such as unaccompanied children and children separated from their families.

UNHCR was finalizing another 1,000 family plots for 6,000 people in a new sector, Al “Salamiyah 3”, some 25 kilometres south-east of Mosul. The site was expected to open in about 10 days. UNHCR had also taken over the management of Nimrud camp (3,600 family plots) which would be able to receive up to 22,000 displaced people from Tal Afar in the coming days.

UNHCR called on all parties to the conflict to allow civilians to leave the conflict area and have access to safety.

UNHCR was also concerned about reports that, in some instances, displaced Iraqi families from Tal Afar were being denied access to safety in locations that had the capacity to absorb them. They were equally worried about continued reports of harassment, revenge attacks and abuse of the displaced people from Tal Afar.

UNHCHR reiterated the call to the Iraqi authorities to double their efforts to ensure prevention, safe reporting and timely response to such incidents.

Across Iraq, more than three million people remained displaced due to conflict. And further displacement was anticipated in the coming months, concerning as many as 100,000 people.

Humanitarian operations in Iraq remained critically underfunded. US$126 million were urgently needed this year for camp construction, support to returnees and winter assistance. A shortage of funding threatened to undermine the humanitarian response in Iraq.

Olivia Headon, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that they were receiving reports from staff in Iraq of the thousands of people who were fleeing the conflict in Tal Afar. Since 18 August, around 1,500 individuals had been received at IOM’s Haj Ali emergency site and more than 1,700 had been received at Qayara emergency site, which were constructed by IOM. Both sites were about 60 kilometers south of Mosul.

Ms. Headon added that IOM had received reports that people had been walking extreme distances to the clustering points, approximately 40 km. Many people who had arrived in the emergency site required urgent medical care. There had also seen severely malnourished children.

Ms. Headon then read out a testimony from a woman who had fled Tal Afar.

Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organisation, said that, in terms of the medical support for the area of Tal Afar, WHO would be using the same approach as it had done in the support provided for those fleeing from Mosul. The initial emphasis was on providing trauma care, as close as possible to the fighting, in order to reach people in what was called the golden hour, the first hour after the trauma which was highly important to provide care. Field hospitals had been set up to bring care closer to the patients.

WHO had also provided medical supplies, surveillance assistance for the warning of future outbreaks of diseases and had led immunization campaigns.

Asked how many people remained in Tal Afar, Mr. Mahecic said that, because there had been no access to Tal Afar since 2014, no one could provide a precise estimate, but it was believed that thousands of people were still in that city. Since April of this year, more than 30 000 people had left the area. UNHCR and IOM were reporting from the respective sites they were assisting, which was why they had different figures.

To a question about the scale of the sexual abuse reported by OHCHR, Ms. Throssell said that it had been very difficult to obtain any kind of verification in the field, mostly because Tal Afar had been cut off from the world since 2014. It was clear that the conflict, the displacements and the violence could result in thousands if not tens of thousands of victims.

Ms. Throssell said that there was a very large amount of psychological trauma, and the OHCHR report emphasized the importance of helping women rebuild their lives, find work, have money, in order to be able to buy food, but also insisted that women needed counselling and psycho-social support.

Asked about the situation of the Yazidis, Ms. Throssell said that, from August 2014 to 2 July 2017, 3547 women and 2870 men from the Yazidi community had been abducted. Of those, 1636 women and girls and 1733 men and boys had still not been accounted for.

On the Iraqi government response to the situation, Ms.Throssell mentioned the steps taken by the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan regional government, that included signing memorandums of understanding and putting into place procedures to help the justice system and accountability. OHCHR was in constant contact with the government.

To a question about revenge attacks, Mr. Mahecic for UNHCR answered that the issue had been systematically raised throughout the fighting in Northern Iraq, including by the humanitarian coordinator. For many people who were fleeing embattled cities, it was a reality. It was the responsibility of the Iraqi government, first and foremost, to address this issue. UNHCR along with other UN agencies in Iraq were continuing to advocate with the authorities for the safe passage and for the follow up and safe reporting of these situations. UNHCR would be continuing to monitor the situation.

Ms. Throssell, for OHCHR, added that they were concerned by forced evictions, as shown in the report which detailed the eviction of families suspected to be linked to ISIL and reclaiming their properties. The report also drew attention to women who had been married to ISIL fighters, either forced or with their consent, and who faced stigma, discrimination or rejection when returning to their communities. Those acts of vengeance were working against national reconciliation and cohesion.

Alessandra Vellucci reminded correspondents of a statement made on 20 August by Lise Grande, Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq and United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, which stated the less than half of the 980 million dollars requested for 2017’s humanitarian response for Iraq had been received.

Repeal of rape laws

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein today warmly welcomed the repeal of laws that allowed rapists to avoid criminal prosecution by marrying their victims in Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan. Important legislative changes occurred in all three of these countries over a recent three week period.

Tunisia had in addition established two human rights institutions this year dealing with human trafficking and improving the enjoyment of individual liberties and equality.

The High Commissioner also called for two articles of the Lebanese penal code – one allowing those accused of having sex with a minor to go free if they marry their victims, and another allowing for marital rape - to be repealed, and for marital rape to be criminalized.

Uzbekistan

Elizabeth Throssell, for High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the Office welcomed the news that former UN employee Erkin Mussaev had been released by the Uzbek authorities 11 years after his arrest.

She recalled that the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had declared in 2008 that he had not been tried fairly and that his detention was arbitrary. His case was subsequently taken up by various other UN Special Procedures and the Human Rights Committee, as well as by three successive Human Rights High Commissioners.

Zeid Ra’ad Al Husssein raised Mr. Musaev’s case in his meeting with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in May of this year, during the first ever visit to Uzbekistan by a UN High Commissionner for Human Rights.

During that visit, Mr. Zeid also welcomed the release of a number of other political prisoners since Mr. Mirziyoyev became president, and urged the authorities to release all political prisoners.

Nigeria

Marixie Mercado, for the United Nations Children's Fund, said UNICEF was extremely concerned about an appalling increase of the use of children, especially girls, as so- called ‘human bombs’ in Northeast Nigeria.

Children had been repeatedly used this way since 2014. So far, the number of children used this year was already four times higher than what it was for all of 2016.

Ms. Mercado said that, since the beginning of January 2017, 83 children had been used as so-called “human bombs”, 55 being girls, most of them often under 15 years old. The 27 other children were boys and one was an infant strapped to a girl.

Children used as human bombs were, above all, victims, not perpetrators. The armed group known as Boko Haram had sometimes, but not always, claimed responsibility for those attacks, which targeted civilian populations.

The use of children in such attacks had a further impact of creating suspicion and fear of children released, rescued, or escaped from Boko Haram. They faced rejection when they tried to reintegrate their communities which compounded their suffering.

All of this was taking place in the context of a massive displacement and malnutrition crisis, a combination that was also deadly for children. Ms. Mercado said that 56% of the persons displaced by the insurgencies in Northeast Nigeria were children, and the vast majority of them were in Borno state, where most of those attacks were taking place.

Northeast Nigeria was one of the four countries or regions facing the spectre of famine, with up to 450,000 children at risk of severe acute malnutrition this year.

UNICEF was providing psychosocial support for children who had been held by Boko Haram and was also working with families and communities to foster the acceptance of children when they returned. This included providing social and economic reintegration support to the children and their families.

As of July, UNICEF had reached over 3,000 children and 1,200 women with such support. UNICEF also supported reconciliation activities in Northeast Nigeria led by communities, religious leaders and influential women to help promote tolerance, acceptance, and reintegration.

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the situation for civilians in the area was extremely grave. The appeal for Nigeria was the fourth largest country appeal, with a request of 1 billion dollars just to help people survive and be sustained at a bare minimum.

On the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, the Humanitarian Coordinator, Edward Kallon, had been to Borno state in Northeast Nigeria, where he had stressed that women and children faced grave human rights violations and sexual and gender-based violence. He noted that, since the start of the conflict in 2009, more than 20,000 people had been killed, thousands of women and girls had been abducted and otherwise abused.

In total, 8.5 million people in the worst-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, were in need of humanitarian assistance. Now in its eighth year, this crisis showed no sign of abating, said Mr. Laerke. Food insecurity affected 5.2 million people, some of them on the brink of famine.

Humanitarian organizations were reaching about 2 million people every month, with aid in the food security and agricultural livelihood sectors. Health sector partners had reached 1.9 million people this year. On nutrition, nearly 500,000 children and pregnant and lactating mothers had been reached this year. Finally, water and sanitation services had reached 1.1 million people in need.

Mr. Laerke stressed that the 1 billion dollars appeal for Nigeria was only 46% funded as of today.

Geneva Activities and Announcements

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, announced that a press conference would be held on Thursday, 24 August, at 12:30 p.m., in Press Room 1, by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which was concluding its work on Friday. They would present the concluding observations on the reports submitted by Canada, Djibouti, Ecuador, Kuwait, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, Tadjikistan, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was meeting this week to consider the reports of Latvia and Luxemburg. Consideration of the report submitted by the United Kingdom would begin tomorrow afternoon.

Ms. Vellucci also reminded correspondents that the Conference on Disarmament would be meeting today, and until the end of the week.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog220817