REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Rhéal LeBlanc, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons for the Human Rights Council, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization.

Human Rights Council update

Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council, said that, during the day, the Council would be adopting 7 of the 14 reports of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, on Luxembourg, Barbados, Montenegro, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Liechtenstein and Serbia. The States concerned would be given the opportunity to state their position on the recommendations that had been made to them. Later in the afternoon, there would be a general debate on the universal period review process.

On Monday 2 July 2018, the Council would have general debates on agenda item 7, on the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories, item 8 on follow-up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the twenty-fifth anniversary of which was being marked in 2018, and item 9 on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance would present a report on racial discrimination in the context of immigration and migrant rights.

Twenty resolutions had so far been submitted for consideration by the Council on 5 and 6 July, and a further two, on Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were expected. They were all available on the extranet site.

Syria

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), made the following statement:

“UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has called on all sides to the conflict in Syria to end the escalating violence in Daraa Governorate, abide by their obligations under international law and avoid a repetition of the bloodshed and suffering seen earlier this year in Eastern Ghouta.

‘Thousands are already reported to have fled their homes but there is also the grave risk that the intensified fighting will see many civilians trapped, caught between Syrian Government forces and their allies on the one hand and armed opposition groups and ISIL on the other,’ said Zeid.

Government forces and their allies have captured the key city of Busr Al-Harir, as well as many towns in the eastern part of Daraa, including in the Lajat region.

‘My Office has also received reports that in the last few days, civilians at some Government checkpoints in the southern-eastern and western parts of Daraa have only been allowed through to Government-held areas in Daraa City and As Suwayda Governorate for a fee,’ the High Commissioner said.

“To add to the bleak situation facing civilians, there are also reports that ISIL fighters in control of the Yarmouk Basin area in the western part of Daraa Governorate are not allowing civilians to leave areas under their control,” he said.

‘In Syria, civilians continue to be used as pawns by the various parties. I remind all parties to the conflict that international law requires that they do their utmost to protect civilians, and call upon them to provide safe passage to those wishing to flee, while those wishing to stay must be protected at all times,’ the High Commissioner said.

Since 19 June, when shelling and airstrikes escalated, the UN Human Rights Office has documented at least 46 civilian deaths in several towns. Among these is Al-Hirak City, which has seen heavy bombardment. Ground-based strikes reportedly hit opposition-held areas of the city, killing two civilians on 20 June and another four civilians on 21 June. Reported airstrikes killed six civilians in Al-Hirak on 26 June. On the same day, a market in Nawa in western Daraa was reportedly hit with ground-based strikes, killing six civilians. On 27 June, a family of five, two parents and three children, was reportedly killed in the town of Dael in western Daraa when an airstrike hit their car.

Thousands of civilians are reported to have fled their homes towards areas in western Daraa, including Nawa and Jassem, and towards the Jordanian border.

‘I have spoken of the cruel irony of Eastern Ghouta being a de-escalation zone, and how the conduct of this war has been utterly shameful from the outset and a stain on us all. Now another supposed ‘de-escalation’ zone risks becoming the scene of large-scale civilian casualties. This madness must end,” Zeid said.’”

Responding to questions from journalists, Ms. Throssell said that she understood that Syrian government forces were moving into areas that had formerly been occupied by armed opposition groups and that the civilians in those areas had not been able to escape. Other United Nations agencies had reported that the Jordanian border had been closed; the plight of the civilians affected was extremely worrying. The statement made on Thursday 28 June by Jan Egeland, Special Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria, could be consulted for further information.

Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that WFP had halted its cross-border deliveries because of the ongoing hostilities and safety concerns. More than 60,000 people had fled their homes in Daraa, and WFP had delivered emergency food assistance to more than 45,000 people in 64 locations and 34 makeshift shelters in the area. Each ration was sufficient for a family of five for five days and contained ready-to-eat foods that did not require cooking, such as canned tuna and chicken. Families with cooking facilities received rations designed to last one month. 36,000 people had so far received regular food rations.

Sudan

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), made the following statement:

“We welcome the decision on Tuesday by the Court of Appeal in Khartoum to quash Noura Hussein’s death sentence. Hussein had been sentenced to death last month for fatally stabbing the man she had been forced to marry, who had subsequently allegedly raped her. While we do not have full details of the decision at this stage, we understand that the death sentence has been replaced by a five-year prison term.

In our appeal to the authorities last month, we urged them also to take this opportunity to send a clear message that gender-based violence will not be tolerated in the country, and to criminalise marital rape. We stand ready to work with the Government of Sudan on bringing its laws in line with human rights standards. We will continue to follow up with Sudanese authorities on this.”

Briefing on EU summit

Leonard Doyle, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that IOM and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had put a joint proposal to the European Union summit meeting that had convened in Brussels on Thursday 28 June and which had produced a signed agreement on migration early in the morning of Friday 29 June. IOM was pleased that solidarity and consensus had emerged from the summit and, in particular, that the agreement would help the frontline States such at Italy. IOM stood ready to support the development of rights-based lawful disembarkation platforms focused on Europe. Any solution should cover Europe and the Mediterranean, the engagement of the African Union also being indispensable.

Charlie Yaxley, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that, while UNHCR had not yet had time to make a legal analysis of the agreement, it welcomed any approach that was more collaborative and harmonized. Sadly, 2018 had recently become the fifth year in a row during which more than 1,000 lives had been lost at sea, and any action to prevent that trend continuing was welcome.

Sarah Crowe, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that UNICEF remained concerned about how the European Union plans were going to impact on children – children with or without their families should never be detained based on their migration status. UNICEF was opposed to detention for child migrants and refugees anywhere and everywhere. It was deeply harmful, and the long term effects on children were well documented. There were several well documented alternatives to detention, including guardianship, foster families and community facilities. Families must be kept together, but it should be noted that 92 per cent of child migrants crossing the Mediterranean were unaccompanied. UNICEF would need further clarification on a number of points before pronouncing its position on the agreement but, if it proved to be in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and led to fast-track procedures, more predictable solutions and due process for children, then it could work.

In answer to questions from journalists, Mr. Doyle, for IOM, said that IOM believed that most of the proposed disembarkation centres should be in Europe and, furthermore, not be confined to the frontline States in southern Europe, as had been the situation hitherto. Centres could only be located in third countries with the agreement of the States concerned and subject to rigorous international standards and monitoring. Given the security situation in Libya, IOM was asking for the closure of the remaining detention centres there; it would not be in favour of any disembarkation centres be located there.

The most important aspect of the agreement was the rationalization of the existing search and rescue system and the new mechanisms to provide assistance to the people rescued, who would be immediately redistributed among the participating countries. IOM would encourage States to make any centres open, but recognised that they had the right to apply the law as they saw fit. If centres were closed, IOM would endeavour to ensure that international standards were applied and vulnerable migrants were given the protection they needed. It would also advocate strongly for legal pathways to be established for migrants into Europe.

He noted that, while there were approximately 870,000 migrants in Libya, most were seeking work in agriculture or the building trade and were not interested in reaching Europe. As to returning migrants to their countries of origin, IOM participated only in voluntary returns, which allowed for a dignified return and post-arrival support. Since November 2017, around 30,000 persons returned voluntarily to their countries of origin from detention centres in Libya. Building on the Abidjan tripartite agreement between the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations, it should be recognised that assisted voluntary return was the only way to achieve progress towards development and help people contribute to their communities.

Mr. Yaxley, for UNHCR, said that any proposed disembarkation centres would be required to have safeguards and meet minimum standards in full respect of international human rights law, the provision of health care, food, shelter and access to strong and timely asylum procedures. There must also be an absolute guarantee of non-refoulement for all those who claimed protection. In any case, detention should only be used as a last resort, for as short a time as possible and never for children or vulnerable populations such as survivors of torture or sexual violence.

In respect of Libya, while some progress had been made in terms of access and life-saving assistance at centres there, the security situation was still highly volatile and UNHCR remained concerned that persons detained there were exposed to considerable risk at the hands of human traffickers. It did not consider that Libya currently met the criteria for being designated as a place of safety. He noted that centres for migrants in Niger had been set up in response to the need for an immediate solution for extremely vulnerable people who had been evacuated from harsh conditions in Libya.

Both IOM and UNHCR were looking for a regional approach with stronger protection and the need to save lives at its core. The provision for any disembarkation centres must include relocation to other European States, enhanced resettlement possibilities, humanitarian admissions and educational sponsorship. UNHCR would not support any externalization of the asylum process to outside Europe, but was in favour of the creation of more disembarkation sites as part of a regional approach. In 2016, the United Nations General Assembly had held a Summit on Refugees and Migrants, calling for consultations on a Global Compact on Refugees. Europe was now being given the opportunity to adopt a united approach and show the world how it could be implemented.

He noted that, on reception, migrants underwent biometric registration to identify, in particular, those who were eligible for family reunification in European Union member States and others in need of international protection. In other cases, where there was no concern for their safety, persons could be returned to their country of origin, in a manner that ensured their dignity and their rights under international law, as part of a robust asylum procedure.

Election of new Director-General of IOM

Asked about the election of the new Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which was taking place during the day, Leonard Doyle, for IOM, said that the election would be held by secret, paper-based ballot among member States present and eligible to vote, in closed session. A two-thirds majority was required; if a clear winner did not emerge in the first round of voting, further rounds would be held. After three rounds, the candidate with the lowest score would be eliminated and a further round of voting would be held. It was his understanding that, if none of the candidates received two thirds of the votes, a new election campaign would be announced at a time and on a date decided by the Membership Committee of IOM.

WHO announcements

Tarik Jašareviæ, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that an epidemiological study of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, co-authored by staff of the country’s Ministry of Health and WHO, was to be published in the journal The Lancet at 12.30 a.m. on 30 June. It was the most rapid scientific publication of preliminary data and analysis from an ongoing outbreak of Ebola, giving a snapshot of data as of 30 May 2018. The study concluded that transmission could be stopped by conventional approaches including early diagnosis, patient isolation and contact tracing and noted promising evidence on the use of targeted vaccination.

He also said that the United Nations food standards body, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint initiative of WHO and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), would be meeting from 2 to 6 July 2018 in Rome. The subjects of discussion would include the problem of contaminants in foods, such as levels of cadmium in chocolate and of methylmercury in fish, and food product labelling. Decisions would be published as they were taken on the WHO and FAO websites and a media advisory was forthcoming.

Other announcements

Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that the Human Rights Committee would begin next Monday, at the Palais Wilson, its 123rd session, due to last until the 27th of July and during which it would review the reports of Bahrain, Algeria, Gambia, Liberia, Lithuania and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Mr. LeBlanc also said that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women would begin next Monday, in room XVI of the Palais des Nations, its 70th session, due to last until the 20th of July and during which it would review the reports of Australia, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Turkmenistan, the State of Palestine, New Zealand and the Cook Islands.

He said that the Conference on Disarmament (CD) had this week concluded the second part of its 2018 session. The next public plenary meeting of the CD would be on Tuesday, 7 August at 10am, still under the chairmanship of Ambassador Walid Doudech of Tunisia. The third (and last) part of this year’s session would last until 10 September.

He added that the Human Rights Council would continue its 38th session, due to last until next Friday (6 July).


Press Conferences

Friday, 29 June at 3:00 p.m. in Room III
The Permanent Missions of Yemen, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates
The Efforts of the Yemeni government and the support of the coalition forces to restore the province of Hudeidah and relief to its inhabitants.
Speakers: H.E. Mr. Mohammed Askar, Yemen Minister for Human Rights; H.E. Mr. Ali Majawar, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Yemen; H.E. Mr. Abdulaziz Alwasil, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia; and H.E. Mr. Obaid Al Zaabi, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of United Arab Emirates
https://bit.ly/2IrZiWw

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The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog290618