REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Human Rights Council, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the Economic Commission on Europe, the Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the World Health Organization and the International Organization for Migration.

Human Rights Council

Rolando Gomez for the Human Rights Council said this morning saw a closed meeting for the complaints procedure, while this afternoon held a panel discussion on human rights and HIV/AIDS, chaired by the Council President and featuring an opening statement from the High Commissioner on Human Rights. This panel would allow participants to share their experience of living with the condition and draw attention to the human rights concerns in the context of this epidemic.

At 15.00 came the presentation of the report of the intergovernmental working group on the effective communication of the Durban Declaration and programme of action, he said, followed by a general debate on racism and racial discrimination. He added that 39 draft resolutions had been received, and would be considered between Wednesday afternoon (21 March) and close of session on Friday. Of these, 16 deal with country-specific issues – half of those covering mandate renewals. Adequate housing, environment, peaceful protest and others are also mentioned. In relation to the Sri Lankan and Syrian texts the first was most likely to be considered Thursday morning and that of Syria later in the day or Friday morning, he said. The president was to brief on Friday (23 March) at 13:30 in Room III, he added.

Answering a question relating to the use of cameras in the Room XX he said there had been ongoing issues with controlling who takes pictures, a right reserved to accredited press only. Signs are placed in the room as a gentle reminder of these rules.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Scott Campbell for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (OHCHR) said a report released today detailed serious human rights violations, including killings, disappearances and arbitrary detention, committed in Kinshasa by Congolese and security forces in the context of the 2011 presidential and legislative elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The elections of 28 November took place in an atmosphere of very high tension, he said. This translated to a high number of acts of political intolerance and violence, in particular following clashes between law enforcement, security forces and supporters of the opposition, as well as between rival political parties themselves.

A report on the human rights pre-electoral context published by the OHCHR in November had noted there were issues that needed to be addressed to stave off further violence. And the aim of the latest report, he explained, was to try to limit occasions of violence in the next round of elections in the DRC, planned for later this year, though much more likely to take place next year. A portion of the Congolese National Police had been equipped by the international community to deal with crowd control, he said, and he encouraged the DRC government to equip the rest.

The report documents the killing of at least 33 people in Kinshasa by security forces (22 by gunshot), between 26 November and 25 December 2011, he highlighted. The investigation had also found that at least 83 were wounded – mostly by bullets – and at least 16 people remain unaccounted for. More than 265 people were arrested and the majority of them were arbitrarily detained in various detention facilities in Kinshasa. There was also consistent, corroborated testimony of torture in detention, he said.

In compiling the report, the UN investigators had gathered around 110 statements from various sources, he explained, including victims, witnesses, Congolese authorities and representatives of political parties. Barriers to these investigations came from a general climate of fear of the country and a decree from the Minister of Health that hospital officials could not share any information with the investigators.

On February 27 the OHCHR shared the report with the Government of the DRC, as is standard practice, and had published their comments alongside their own conclusions. High level meetings had also been held with representatives of the Government and security forces and the OHCHR was encouraged by the responses, he said. In addition an initial investigation at the national level has been launched, and it was important that this was credible and impartial and that perpetrators were brought to justice whatever their position or status. He also called for prisoners detained illegally to be released and illegal detention facilities to be closed. Finally, full access to prisons should be given to both OHCHR staff and public prosecutors to conduct investigations.

Ms. Momal-Vanian added that an Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) press conference was to be held on Thursday (22 March) at 12:00 in Room III on the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The speaker was the OCHA Head of Office, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bahrain

Rupert Colville for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said his office had received worrying reports of the disproportionate use of force by Bahraini security forces, including the excessive use of teargas, the use of birdshot pellets and rubber bullets.

The use of tear gas in particular has reportedly resulted in a number of deaths of protestors and bystanders, and that number has reportedly risen in recent months, he said. Reliable sources indicate that the civilians who died from tear gas suffered complications from gas inhalation, and that security forces have been firing metal tear gas canisters from grenade launchers into crowds.

His office therefore called on the Government of Bahrain to investigate the alleged use of such excessive force, he said, as Bahrain had recently issued a new code of conduct requiring the police force to adhere fully to human rights principles. He welcomed this new code and hoped that its implementation will be carefully monitored.

There was also concern about the health of human rights defenders who are on hunger strike in protest against their imprisonment for participating in last year’s mass demonstrations, he added. In particular, human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja has been on hunger strike for 40 days now in a Bahraini jail in protest over the life sentence he was handed last summer.

Answering questions he said trials of health professionals arrested for treating the wounded during recent violence had been moved before a civilian court, rather than a military court as previously, and his office would be watching the outcomes closely. Meanwhile, a team would be meeting with Bahraini authorities at the end of the month to look at areas of cooperation. The reason for discussing the issue now was an increase in reports of teargas related deaths, he said, though he could not confirm figures as reported by NGOs on the ground.

Somalia

Adrian Edwards for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said UNHCR was concerned at the resumption of mortar attacks in Mogadishu, which have claimed at least four lives in recent days.

Mortars landed in a small settlement for internally displaced people in the Wardhigley district of the capital on Monday morning and it is reported that up to four internally displaced people, including two children, were killed. This latest incident was the first such attack in Mogadishu since August 2011, he said, when anti-government forces withdrew from the majority of districts in the capital.

In late 2011, UNHCR commissioned a report 'Civilian Harm in Somalia: Creating an Appropriate Response' which details what Somalis are seeking in response to violence and focuses on assistance for civilians harmed in warfare, he continued. There is currently no international legal obligation for parties to the conflict in Somalia to make amends to civilians adversely affected by military operations among the recommendations of the report is the establishment of a mechanism to track, analyse, investigate and respond to all incidents of civilian harm - including loss of property, limb or life, he explained.

UNHCR called on all parties to the conflict in Somalia to cease attacks targeting civilians and humanitarian agencies, or where there is a high risk of harm to civilians located near the intended target, he said.

Answering questions he said UNHCR was not in a position to define who may be responsible for the attack.

Mali and Niger

Adrian Edwards for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said UNHCR was boosting assistance to the thousands of Malians who have been uprooted by fighting between Tuareg rebels of the Mouvement National de Liberation de l'Azawad and Malian forces since mid-January. With ongoing instability in northern Mali, there continue to be tens of thousands of people displaced into Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger, as well as internally within Mali, he explained.

In this context, sixty tonnes of aid, including blankets, mats, kitchen sets and plastic sheeting were currently being trucked from the UNHCR warehouse in Accra, Ghana, to Niger as well as 52 tonnes to Burkina Faso. Last week, 35 tonnes of relief assistance items were delivered to Niger and 10 tonnes to Burkina Faso from a UNHCR stockpile in Douala Cameroon. The most pressing needs remained shelter, clean water, healthcare, and basic household items.


He also added that the relocation of 39,390 refugees was completed yesterday in Mauritania, where they were taken from the border to Mbera camp.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that in partnership with the Government of Niger and UNHCR, his organization had relocated more than 500 vulnerable Malian families from insanitary and overcrowded makeshift settlements in and around the south-western border village of Sinegodar to a safe site away from the volatile border region.

The operation, which was launched on 17 March, had so far succeeded in relocating 2,114 individuals from Sinegodar to Abala, some 80 kilometres to the south, he said. IOM is now working with international and local partners to continue the registration of Malians who are scattered across inhospitable desert border areas and to organize their relocation further south. Despite the assistance provided by humanitarian agencies, living conditions in the border area continued to be difficult for Malians and the local population alike.

CITES

Juan Carlos Vasquez for the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) said the 26th meeting of the Animals Committee of the Convention ended today.

Dr. David Morgan added that the trade in wildlife was a multi-billion dollar business which can bring great benefits to local people, but can also threaten species around the world. And in this context, the first of three meetings of the CITES science panel were held this week to look at the state of biodiversity, the state of species in international trade and to prepare recommendations to be considered at the 16th Conference of the Parties next March in Bangkok.

The five-day meeting focused mainly on aquatic species, he said, and had recommended precautionary export quotas for a variety of species and countries, including seahorses, giant clams and dolphins. The meeting had also identified a list of shark species that need priority attention.

Answering questions, Dr. David Morgan also gave details of the numbers of animals left in the species under discussion saying they were on an alarming downward trend, with particular concern over their ability to breed together and the number of adult females.

Paraguay

Jean-Philippe Chauzy for the International Organization for Migration (IMO) said a newly released IOM Migration Profile for Paraguay, available in Spanish on the IOM website, defines the country as a pivotal actor in European and regional immigration and emigration for the last 150 years. The report surveys this history and looks to the present day, he said, offering recommendations for the country’s migrant policies.




Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian announced a press conference by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Wednesday (21 March) at 12:00 noon in Room III for the launch of the global campaign to end the immigration detention of children and the release of new report "Captured Childhood." Speakers included the Coordinator for the Campaign to End Immigration Detention of Children. A second OHCHR press conference was planned for Wednesday (21 March) at 15:00 in Press Room 1 on a report into the situation of human rights in Côte d’Ivoire, she added. The speaker was an independent expert on the situation of human rights in Côte d’Ivoire.

She then explained that to celebrate the International Day of Francophonie today (20 March) the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (0IF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) had joined forces to push the French language's weight behind the fight against hunger through the French version of Freerice, WFP's online trivia game. To mark the occasion, over 220 million French speakers and 1.16 million French language students were invited to test their knowledge in French vocabulary and Francophonie on www.freerice.com/fr.

Jean Rodriguez for the Economic Commission on Europe (UNECE) said that upon request from the Moroccan authorities, UNECE will carry out an Environmental Performance Review (EPR) of Morocco. A review mission is planned for September 2012, with the aim of finalizing the report in the first half of 2013. The review will cover 14 areas of particular importance to Morocco, including policy making, planning and implementation, the financing of environmental policies and projects, and the integration of environmental concerns into economic sectors, in particular agriculture and tourism. Other areas under review included air pollution, water management, waste management, biodiversity and protected areas. Health issues were also covered.

He further gave details of World Water Day (22 March), saying this year’s theme was agriculture and food security and highlighted the UNECE campaign around the Palais des Nations which tried to encourage people to drink tap water.

Tarik Jasarevic for the World Health Organization (WHO) said a press conference would be held tomorrow (Wednesday 21 March) at 11:00 in Room III for the launch of the report, “No more crying, no more dying” which highlighted how tuberculosis (TB) often goes undiagnosed in children because they lack access to health services or because the health workers who care for them are unprepared to recognize the signs and symptoms of TB in this age group. Speakers for both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Stop TB Partnership were to speak on the urgent need of confronting this, he said. These would be the Coordinator of the WHO Stop TB Department and the Team Leader for Communications and Spokesperson of the Stop TB Partnership.

Jonathan Lynn for the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said his organization was to release a comprehensive report on the effects of extreme weather events, what causes them and what can be done about them. This would be launched with a telephone press conference next week (Wednesday) and an embargoed copy of the report would be available from Monday (26 March) for those that register. This was the first of a series of outreach events which would run for the next year.

Joy Backory for the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS said the AFRAVIH (Alliance Francophone des Acteurs de Santé) conference was starting in Geneva this coming Sunday (25 March). The global conference was to look at a wide range of development programmes in relation to HIV and AIDS awareness and treatment, in particular access to health services. The themes to be discussed over the course of the meeting included scientific progress, prevention and treatment, neglected or isolated populations and human resources and health.

Rupert Colville added that (21 March) tomorrow was the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination with the theme of racism and conflict. There would be an event tomorrow in Room XXI from 13:15 to 14:45, featuring a keynote speech from the Reverend Jesse Jackson.