REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by Spokespersons for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’ Fund and the World Food Programme.

Ukraine

Anastasia Isyuk of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) briefed on the situation in eastern Ukraine which remained very difficult. Ms. Isyuk said ICRC was concerned about the escalation in fighting around Donetsk which was putting civilians in danger. ICRC hoped that the cease-fire plans supposed to enter into force overnight would come into force and would hold for the sake of the civilian population.

ICRC issued an appeal this morning for all fighting parties to refrain from harming civilians and to follow international humanitarian law. In particular ICRC reminded that all indiscriminate attacks that may target civilians or civilian objects were prohibited.

From December onwards, the ICRC team had increased their activities within Donetsk. Isyuk noted that ICRC lost a colleague in Donetsk in October 2014, and said since December ICRC had increased activities to assist the most vulnerable people on both sides of the frontline.

Given the winter season and suspension of benefit payments in some parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk region, ICRC was making plans for the distribution of food, hygiene items and medical supplies. However, the delivery of those goods would depend upon how the situation progressed.

Between October 2014 and January 2015 ICRC had delivered two tonnes of aid to the areas not controlled by the Ukrainian government, providing assistance to 45,000 people, as well as medical supplies to hospitals in the area.

ICRC had also been able to visit places of detention run by the Ukrainian authorities, one of its key activities, since September. On 15 January ICRC started making visits to prisons in Donetsk. It hoped to continue those activities when the security situation stabilized.

Together with the Russian Red Cross and Ukrainian Red Cross efforts were being made to assist the 60,000 displaced people in those territories. A regular communication with both sides had been established, facilitating these actions, added Ms. Isyuk.

Ms. Momal-Vanian noted that the Secretary General had issued a statement on Sunday night in which he expressed alarm about the severe escalation of fighting for the control of the Donetsk airport. The Secretary-General called on all sides to make good on their commitments under the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum, with the first step being an immediate and full cessation of hostilities.

When asked about the governmental authority over the Donetsk airport and the future numbers of displaced people in the crisis, Ms. Isyuk said ICRC was unable to clarify due to the difficult situation and confusing reports. The situation of displaced people was quite confusing; it was difficult to predict how it would develop. There had been reports that border crossings would become more structured with several procedures being put in place. For now, it was too early to say what was going to happen. Ms. Isyuk responded to another question saying it was not possible to give concrete statistics on the number of causalities.

A journalist asked whether the ICRC was in contact with the two parties, perhaps in a mediator role. Ms. Isyuk said ICRC was in regular contact and dialogue with the authorities on both sides, particularly for distributing humanitarian assistance. The situation was very complex and activities were subject to the security conditions on the ground, she said.

Nigeria

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the United Nations Security Council released a statement last night in which it condemned in the strongest terms the escalation of attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram in Nigeria. Expressing concern about the growing humanitarian crisis and large-scale displacement of Nigerians, the Security Council demanded that the terrorist group “immediately and unequivocally” cease all hostilities, and without condition, release all hostages, including the 276 girls abducted in April. The Security Council also expressed deep concern that Boko Haram’s actions were undermining peace and stability in West and Central Africa.

Joel A. Millman, for the International Organization of Migration (IOM), said Boko Haram may now have displaced more than one million people in Nigeria.

Mr. Millman read out a statement by IOM Director General William Lucy Swing, in which he said: “IOM is working closely with the Nigerian government to accurately assess the impact of Boko Haram on the civilian population. As the number of internally displaced men, women and children now approaches one million, the vast scale of this brutal insurgency is now becoming increasingly clear.”

Director-General Swing had also dispatched the IOM Director of Operations and Emergencies, Mohammed Abdiker, to West Africa to direct an assessment mission of the internally displaced people (IDPs), said Mr. Millman.

IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix counted 389,281 internally displaced people as of December 23, 2014. Obviously, following some of the violence that had taken place in January, IOM believed that figure was now higher. Mr. Millman noted that 58 per cent of those displaced were under the age of 18 years and most of them were under the age of five years.

Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency this morning announced it had counted a further 522,523 internally displaced people from the six states in which Boko Haram was most active, said Mr. Millman. In addition to the 389,281, IOM believed that as many as 120,000 people and possibly more had been displaced in the three neighbouring countries – Cameroon, Niger and Chad, based on information received by IOM missions.

A Displacement Tracking Matrix Report with much more detail was available online and at the back of the room.

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) briefed on UNICEF action in neighbouring countries to Nigeria where he said children were suffering the dire consequences of the conflict in Nigeria, losing their homes, missing out on education and risking their lives.

Nearly one million people had fled their homes in Nigeria because of the violence rocking the northern parts of the country, while more than 135,000 had sought refuge in Cameroon, Chad and Niger, said Mr. Boulierac.

The recent attacks on Baga led to a fresh wave of refugees into neighbouring countries, leading to a larger humanitarian crisis in the region, and vast majority of refugees were women and children. In Nigeria, more than 65,000 children were being treated for severe acute malnutrition. Trained community volunteers had reached over 13,000 children with psychosocial support, and more than three million children had received vitamin A supplements.

In Chad, about 9,000 Nigerian refugees and Chadian returnees had arrived this month bringing the total number of Nigerian refugees there to over 10,000. More than 100 children arrived without a parent or a caretaker. UNICEF was scaling up its presence in the Lake Chad region, with its office in Mao distributing lifesaving supplies, such as hygiene kits and therapeutic food as well as blankets, clothing, tents and water supply, said Mr. Boulierac.

In Cameroon, children represented 60 per cent of the 25,000 Nigerian refugees living in Minawao camp, in the northern region, where a recent assessment revealed alarming rate of malnutrition among children. UNICEF had built 10 clean water facilities and 160 latrines and distributed 1,300 hygiene kits. Nutritional screening and treatment was also provided in collaboration with the Red Cross and four child-friendly spaces had been created where children could receive psycho-social support.

In Niger, there had been a sharp increase in the number of people seeking refuge in the Diffa region, where women and children made up 70 per cent of the 100,000 Nigerian refugees and returnees. Mr. Boulierac briefed that in UNICEF had vaccinated over 96,000 children against measles between 28 December and 3 January. School capacity was being reinforced to provide additional spaces to refugee and local children.

UNICEF is working with partners to provide displaced and refugee children and their families with basic assistance, including safe water, nutrition, health, education and protection services, concluded Mr. Boulierac, adding that there was more information in the briefing note.

Responding to a request for a more detailed profile of the displaced people, Mr. Millman said all the information on gender, age and location of internally displaced people was available in the latest report, available on the IOM website. There were more details in the press release.

A journalist asked Ms Momal-Vanian whether the United Nations may send peacekeepers or instigate an international response to Boko Haram. In response Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the decision to send troops would of course be up to the Security Council, which issued a Presidential Statement last night in New York on the situation. In the statement the Security Council welcomed plans for a regional meeting in Niamey, Niger, to discuss a collective response to threats posed by the terrorists. The Council urged Lake Chad Basin Commission member States and Benin to undertake further planning towards a sustainable, viable and effective Multinational Joint Task Force and to identify means of deployment, especially in the areas of intelligence sharing and operations.

The Security Council had also underlined the need to bring to justice not only those committing the crimes but also those who organized and financed them, said Ms. Momal-Vanian. She also highlighted that both the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights had spoken out against crimes committed by Boko Haram.

ISIL executions in Iraq

Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that ISIL has established unlawful, so-called “shari’a courts” in the territory under its control that have been meting out cruel and inhuman punishments to men, women and children who were accused of violating the group’s extremist interpretations of Islamic shari’a law or for suspected disloyalty.

Last week, ISIL posted photos on the web of two men being “crucified” after they were accused of banditry. The men were hung up by their arms and then shot dead. Photos were also posted of a woman being stoned to death, allegedly for adultery. The ruthless murder of two men, who were thrown off the top of a building after having been accused of homosexual acts by a so-called court in Mosul, was another terrible example of the kind of monstrous disregard for human life that characterised ISIL’s reign of terror over areas of Iraq that were under the group’s control.

OHCHR had received numerous other reports of women who had been executed by ISIL in Mosul and other areas under the group’s control, often immediately following sentences passed by its so-called “shari’a courts”. Educated, professional women, particularly women who had run as candidates in elections for public office seemed to be particularly at risk. In just the first two weeks of the year, reports indicated that three female lawyers were executed.

Other civilians who were suspected of violating ISIL’s rules, or who were suspected of supporting the Government of Iraq, had also been victims. Four doctors were recently killed in central Mosul, allegedly after refusing to treat ISIL fighters. On 1 January, ISIL reportedly executed 15 civilians from the Jumaili Sunni Arab tribe in al-Shihabi area, Garma district, Falluja. They were apparently shot dead in front of a large crowd for their suspected cooperation with Iraqi Security Forces. In another incident, on 9 January, ISIL executed at least 14 men in a public square in Dour, north of Tikrit, for refusing to pledge allegiance to it.

OHCHR continued to document human rights abuses and violations taking place in Iraq and would present a report to the Human Rights Council in March, concluded Ms. Shamdasani.

Responding to a question on the recent release of a large group of Yazidis, Ms. Shamdasani said OHCHR had been following reports of the release, which included accounts that a ransom was paid. OHCHR were also aware of ransom demands for Japanese hostages. The Japanese Government were understood to be verifying whether the video of the hostages was authentic. Hostage-taking was a crime under international humanitarian law and a grave breach of that same law, Ms. Shamdasani emphasized.

Floods in southern Africa

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), briefed on floods in southern Africa. He reported that in the already severely flooded regions of southern Africa, heavy rains would continue in the next four days, according to available forecasts. That meant risk of more flooding and displacement in in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar.

In Madagascar the tropical storm Chedza had now killed 14 people and displaced over 44,000. A total of 101,000 people had been affected by the storm and the flooding. There had been severe damage of infrastructure said Mr. Laerke, as nearly 4,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged. The storm also damaged eight health centres and 200 schools.

Despite the severe impact, aid workers on the ground estimated that the in-country response capacities, including prepositioned stocks, of the Government and its UN and NGO partners could address the current needs. No call for additional international assistance had been issued.

In Malawi, search and rescue operations continued with relief supplies being dispatched to affected areas. That included food and non-food items and chlorine for water treatment in affected communities. The estimated number of people displaced (IDPs) remained at 121,000, with at least 50 people killed and 153 missing. It was possible that the number of IDPs may increase as need assessments were still ongoing, added Mr. Laerke.

In Mozambique, more than 90,000 people had been affected by the floods in the central and southern parts of the country. Rescue activities were still ongoing, mainly by air and at least 2,500 people had been brought to safety by the national Civil Protection Unit.

More than 10,000 houses and 383 classrooms had been destroyed, added Mr. Laerke. The latest update reported that 34 accommodation centres were hosting more than 28,000 people.

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP) said WFP began food distribution to some of the food displaced in Chikwawa district of Malawi on Saturday. It distributed maize, beans, oil and super-cereal – a fortified corn blend – from in-country stocks for lean season assistance. The stocks would need to be replaced once the crisis was over, she noted. Distributions continued in that district and emergencies rations were due to arrive in Malawi this afternoon from Dubai Humanitarian Depot, which was managed by WFP. Distribution of those supplies to the most vulnerable, including young children would begin as soon as possible, confirmed Ms. Byrs.

In Madagascar, the WFP was providing emergency food assistance to some 15,000 people affected by the passage of the tropical storm Chedza in the south-west and south-east of the country and in the city of Antananarivo, said Ms. Byrs.

The WFP assistance includes the distribution of two tonnes of nutritious energy biscuits to pregnant and lactating women, children under five, the elderly and those suffering from diseases related to poor sanitation in the city of Antananarivo, in addition to rations food received from local authorities to improve the nutritional quality of these rations. Those people are accommodated in temporary accommodation sites.

WFP would also assist 5,000 people who were staying in temporary housing in a poor neighbourhood of Antananarivo, through the direct distribution of 23 tonnes of rice, pulses and high energy biscuits. Those families were living in very precarious conditions, she noted. WFP assistance also included a general distribution of 17 tonnes of rice, pulses and enriched oil in the districts of Manakara Vohipeno and south-east of the country. There were more details in the briefing note, added Ms. Byrs.

A journalist asked whether the floods were unexpected, as it was indeed the rainy season and flooding was seen on an annual basis. Mr. Laerke said it was correct that flooding was seen every year in Mozambique and other countries, but the scale of this was clearly unexpected, and hence the reaction from the international community. Malawi had requested assistance because the damage and displacement exceeded the Government’s own capacity to respond, noted Mr. Laerke.

Death penalty in south-east Asia

Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said OHCHR was concerned about the continued use of the death penalty for drug crimes in parts of South East Asia. Last Sunday, six people convicted of drug offences were executed in Indonesia in spite of several national and international appeals. Sixty others remained on death row for drug-related offences.

OHCHR was particularly concerned about the respect for due process in such cases after the President reportedly stated that he would reject all requests for clemency for drug-related crimes.

According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia has ratified, "anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence." OHCHR urged the Indonesian authorities to reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty and to conduct a thorough review of all requests for pardon with a view to commutation of sentence, said Ms. Shamdasani.

Today, a court in Vietnam also reportedly sentenced eight people, including two women, to death for heroin trafficking. OHCHR called on Vietnam not to carry out those executions, to ensure judicial review of the sentences, and to consider elimination of the death penalty for drug-related crimes.

In South East Asia, drug-related crimes were punishable by death in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, said Ms. Shamdasani. While those crimes were also punishable by death in Brunei Darussalam, the Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic and Myanmar, those three countries are abolitionist in practice and had not carried out executions since 1957, 1989 and 1988, respectively.

According to international human rights jurisprudence, capital punishment could only be applied to the crime of murder or intentional killing. Drug-related offences, economic crimes, political crimes, adultery, and offences relating to consensual same-sex relationships did not fall under the threshold of "most serious crimes” required under international law for application of the death penalty, Ms. Shamdasani concluded.

Responding to a question asking whether there was any evidence to show capital punishment was effective, Mr. Shamdasani said no, capital punishment did not work in deterring drug-related offences. In fact, the International Narcotics Control Board had encouraged States that still imposed the death penalty for drug-related offences to abolish that punishment, which was a clear message.

Responding to a question about the Secretary-General’s position on the use of the death penalty, Ms. Momal-Vanian replied that the Secretary-General’s position on the death penalty was known and had been publicly stated several times. Ms. Shamdasani added that public executions in general were obviously dehumanizing, not only for the executed but for the people witnessing the execution. OHCHR had a clear policy against the death penalty in general, but public executions in particular were heinous, cruel and inhuman.

Somalia - Convention of the Rights of the Child

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said as the world entered into the twenty-sixth year of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, Somalia has become the one hundred and ninety-fifth State party to ratify the Convention.

The President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, attended a special ceremony at a school in Mogadishu on Tuesday morning to sign the Convention. The Somalia Parliament voted to ratify it on 13 December last year, and the ratification process would be finalized once the Government of Somalia deposited the instruments of ratification with the United Nations in New York, said Mr. Boulierac.

UNICEF applauded the important step for Somalia and looked forward to supporting the nationwide effort to translate the rights of the Convention into practical action for every child. The ratification of the Convention would mean that Somali children now held legally binding rights with the Convention. The Somali Government would have to bring its legislation, policy and practice into accordance with the standards in the Convention.

A journalist asked Mr. Boulierac whether the United States was now the only country in the world to have not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Mr. Boulierac replied that only two UN member states, South Sudan and the United States, had yet to ratify the Convention. South Sudan took a major step towards ratifying the Convention when the National Legislative Assembly passed the bill on 20 November 2013, but progress had stalled since fighting escalated in December 2013.

In February 1995 the United States signed the Convention but to date, the treaty had not been submitted to the United States Senate for consideration. Mr. Boulierac reminded journalists that the United States had signed the two optional protocols to the Convention: the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, and the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. UNICEF hoped every nation, including the United States, would ratify and fully implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols.

What difference would this news make to children in Somalia, asked another journalist. Mr. Boulierac replied that the rights of children in Somalia were now legally binding, which was an important consideration. The Government had achieved progress by inserting some rights for children in its draft constitution but now it had made a public and international commitment. Somalia faced many difficulties and had many priorities but the ratification would provide both a focus and a public commitment on child rights. It was also an opportunity for the international community to support the Somalian Government, particularly with regards to capacity building.

Schools reopening in Guinea

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) briefed on the reopening of schools in Guinea and efforts by UNICEF and partners to support the Government in order to reduce as much as possible the risk of Ebola transmission. UNICEF and partners were training teachers to sensitize and implement safety protocols. UNICEF and its partners and the Government distributed more than 48000 hygiene kits. The Ministry of education procured 20500 thermometers to all schools.

Because of Ebola, public schools in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone remained closed after the July to August break, depriving five million children of months of school education. Prior to the crisis, school attendance in primary education was 58 per cent in in Guinea, 34 per cent in Liberia and 74 per cent in Sierra Leone.

Public schools in Guinea officially reopened this week, said Mr. Boulierac. In Liberia and Sierra Leone, UNICEF was also working with governments and communities to prepare for eventual schools reopening.

Safety protocols developed by the ministries of education, together with UNICEF and partners, include screening at the school entrance, and not allowing on the premises anyone who had a fever over 38°C, anyone who had contact with a patient or a victim of Ebola in the past 21 days or who had any of the three symptoms of Ebola: fever, diarrhoea and vomiting. The protocols also spelt out how to handle a suspected case through a referral system with the nearest health clinic, said Mr. Boulierac.

UNICEF and partners had also has provided schools with thousands of hygiene kits, which included soap and buckets. Further, because schools in the affected countrýes often did not have access to safe water, UNICEF was helping mobilize parents and other community members to deliver water to schools.

In Liberia and Sierra Leone, UNICEF was supporting authorities in expanding radio education programmes so that children did not miss out entirely on their education as schools remain closed. To address the lack of radios and unreliable electricity, UNICEF had ordered the first 17,000 of 50,000 solar-powered radios to be distributed to the most vulnerable households, and was working with education partners to distribute pre-recorded lessons in the hardest to reach areas. Even after schools reopened, the radio programmes, which included subjects such as mathematics, social studies and science, would continue to play an important educational role, including in efforts to reach out-of-school children, said Mr. Boulierac.

World Economic Forum in Davos

Ms. Momal-Vanian confirmed that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon would travel to Davos, Switzerland this week to attend the World Economic Forum on 22 and 23 January. The Secretary-General would meet leaders, both from the public and private sector, and participate in World Economic Forum sessions on tackling climate change, development and growth, and as well as on global food security. While in Davos, he would also take part in events to address vulnerability and other issues. The Secretary-General would return to New York on Saturday, 24 January.

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP) read out a message from the WFP Executive Director to businesses on the eve of Davos. In her message, entitled "Investments in Zero Hunger are fundamental to business success”, Ertharin Cousin said: “Many companies already recognize and understand the critical link between ending hunger and promoting economic and commercial success, but much more needs to be done. As global business leaders gather in Davos, we will actively push for even greater corporate investment in lifesaving programmes and innovative solutions to meeting the goal of eradicating hunger and poverty around the world.” Ms. Cousin’s statement in full was available in the briefing note, said Ms. Byrs.

Libya Dialogue

Answering questions, Ms. Momal-Vanian said following the positive first round of talks last week, some participants had expressed a preference to hold the second round of talks in Libya. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) was still consulting with Libyan stakeholders before the next round of talks to identify an acceptable venue that also provided maximum security for the participants. The consultations were ongoing.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Conference on Disarmament would hold its first public plenary at 10 a.m. today, during which it would hear a message from the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, delivered by Acting Director-General Michael Møller.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child was this week reviewing the country reports of Jamaica, Uruguay, Colombia, Iraq and Switzerland, in dual chambers. A detailed schedule was available in the background press release.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Universal Periodic Review Working Group of the Human Rights Council opened its twenty-first session yesterday, reviewing Kyrgyzstan and Kiribati. The meeting continued today with reviews for Guinea from 9 a.m. and of Laos from 2.30 p.m. this afternoon. Spain and Lesotho would be reviewed on Wednesday. Journalists were receiving regular updates.

The spokespersons for World Health Organization, International Labour Organization and United Nations Refugee Agency also attended but did not brief.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog200115