REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Michele Zaccheo, Chief, Radio and Television Section, United Nations Information Service, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons for the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the International Organization for Migration and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

UN Secretary-General

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had met on 28 July with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and the readout of the meeting was available. There would be a press briefing today in New York by the Ambassador of Japan, at the end of Japan’s Presidency of the Security Council.

Yemen

Mr. Zaccheo read a media statement issued by the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, dating from 28 July, saying that Ansar Allah, the General Popular Congress (GPC), and their allies had signed, on 28 July 2016, an Agreement establishing a Political Council with broad political, military, security, economic, administrative and social executive and legislative powers. This development contravened the commitments provided by Ansar Allah and the GPC to support the UN-led peace process. The announcement of unilateral governing arrangements was not in line with the peace process and endangers the substantial progress made during the Kuwait talks. This was a clear violation of the Yemeni Constitution and the provisions of the GCC Initiative and its implementation Mechanism. The Agreement represented a grave violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216 (2015) which explicitly demanded that all Yemeni parties, in particular the Houthis must “refrain from further unilateral actions that could undermine the political transition in Yemen’’ and which called on them to “cease all actions that are exclusively within the authority of the legitimate Government of Yemen.” The statement would be sent out to the press.

Syria

Mr. Zaccheo said that a statement from Under-Secretary-General Stephen O’Brien had been issued on the night of 28 July and circulated to the press. In it, Mr. O’Brien had said that he was aware of proposals of the Russian Federation to set up humanitarian corridors, and had gone on to say that it was critical that the security of any such corridors was guaranteed by all parties, and that the people were able to use them voluntarily. No-one could be forced to flee by any specific route or to any particular location, and protection must be guaranteed for all according to the principles of neutrality and impartiality.

Mr. Zaccheo also mentioned a joint FAO-WFP update on food security in countries with conflict situations. It contained some key figures and highlights for Syria.

In response to a question, Jessy Chahine, for the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria (OSE), said that on 28 July during his stakeout, Mr. de Mistura had said that several experts form the military establishment, both from Russia and the United States, were on their way to Geneva. The reason for the meeting was most probably to discuss the details which Mr. de Mistura had referred to in his phrase “the devil is in the details”. He had been asking for those details to be sorted out as soon as possible. Ms. Chahine would let the press know during the day on whether Mr. de Mistura would participate in the meeting.

In response to another question, Mr. Zaccheo said that in his statement, Stephen O’Brien had been very clear in saying that the 48-hour access issue proposed by the UN had not yet been addressed by the new proposal. The statement was available and nothing further was expected from OCHA on this at the moment.

Mr. Zaccheo also announced a stakeout by Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura today at 12.45 p.m. The stakeout would be webcast. Ms. Chahine said that Mr. de Mistura had decided to address the press today to answer questions from the press, notably about the latest developments regarding the humanitarian corridor. In response to questions, Ms. Chahine said that Deputy Special Envoy Ramzy would be going to Damascus in the next few days.

In response to a question, Robert Mardini, for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said that given the extreme hardship Syrians had been under over the past weeks in Aleppo, the humanitarian situation was catastrophic, and today more dramatic than ever. He described Aleppo as the hardest-hit city in Syria since the beginning of the war, with an unprecedented level of escalation of indiscriminate violence in the city and in rural areas. In that light, ICRC welcomed any initiatives that would bring respite to the people. However, ICRC was concerned about humanitarian corridors because of the risk that areas beyond the so-called safe areas could become areas of non-respect of international humanitarian law. The prerequisite for the situation to be handled properly was first and foremost consent by all concerned sides - otherwise civilians would run great risks. People should not be forced to flee and any departures should be voluntary. Parties should take all precautions to spare those remaining in Aleppo. Unfortunately, so far nothing had been spared in Aleppo. Women, children, hospitals and schools had been attacked and the humanitarian cost of the conflict was reaching unprecedented levels.

In response to another question, Mr. Mardini said that there were many parties and groups involved, which is why ICRC was saying proactively that a prerequisite to any evacuation of civilians was to ensure decent, safe and dignified conditions.

The Gambia

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that OHCHR was concerned at the three-year prison sentences handed down in the past week to 30 members of the main opposition party in the Gambia, including its leader Ousainou Darboe, following their participation in peaceful protests in mid-April. OHCHR also remained deeply concerned that there had yet to be an impartial, independent and thorough investigation into allegations of excessive use of force in the context of the demonstrations, and into the arrest and death in State custody of the former secretary of the party.

On 20 July, the Banjul High Court had convicted 19 members of the United Democratic Party (UDP) for unlawful assembly, rioting, incitement to violence, “riotously interfering with vehicles”, holding a procession without a permit, disobeying an order to disperse from an unlawful procession and conspiracy. On 21 July, the Mansakonko High Court had convicted another 11 UDP members for the same offences. All those convicted had been arrested either on 14 April 2016 during a protest for electoral reforms or on 16 April 2016 during a demonstration held after the arrest and alleged death in State custody of UDP Secretary Solo Sandeng two days earlier.

OHCHR had serious concerns about reported violations of the right to a fair trial. Defence lawyers have said that access to their clients had been repeatedly hampered, that the arrests had been politically motivated and that due process guarantees had not been respected. On 8 June, defence lawyers had walked out of the courtroom and had decided not to take part in further proceedings as the court had rejected their applications, including one requesting the Supreme Court to decide on the constitutionality of the proceedings. The trial had continued with the accused unrepresented in court.
OHCHR urged the authorities to investigate all allegations of excessive use of force in the context of the April demonstrations, as well as allegations that some of those arrested had been tortured and denied access to medical care.

Australia

Mr. Colville said that OHCHR was shocked by the video footage that had emerged from Don Dale youth detention centre in the Northern Territory in Australia, showing children as young as ten, many of whom are Aboriginal children, being held in inhumane conditions and treated cruelly. Some children had been held in isolation for extended periods, sometimes for several weeks, in hot and dark cells with no access to fresh air or running water. In one incident, six children had been tear-gassed by prison guards. The videos, from 2014, showed another child hooded and strapped to a chair for several hours. Others were shown being repeatedly assaulted and stripped naked. According to the children’s testimony, those abuses had taken place over several years. Most of the children who had been held at the detention facility were deeply traumatized. The treatment those children had been subjected to could amount to a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment, to which Australia was a party.

Article 37 of the CRC stipulated that “every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age.”

The announcement by the Government of an investigation into youth detention in the Northern Territory was an important step. OHCHR encouraged the Government to extend the scope of the investigation beyond the Northern Territory in order to establish that such appalling treatment was not taking place in any other place of detention in Australia. OHCHR called on the authorities to identify those who had committed abuses against the children and to hold them responsible for such acts. The children who had been abused at Don Dale should receive psychosocial rehabilitation to overcome the trauma they had suffered. Compensation should also be provided.

OHCHR also called on Australia to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. This important instrument focused on the prevention of torture. Under the Protocol, Australia would establish a National Preventive Mechanism which would conduct regular visits to all places of detention in the country. Events at Don Dale clearly showed the immediate need to establish such a system of regular visits to ensure that what happened at Don Dale would never happen again in Australia.

In response to questions, Mr. Colville said that he believed that the facility was still open, and that it shouldn’t be too difficult to identify the perpetrators, thanks to the videos, but the investigations could take some time and it was important to wait for the findings of the Commission established by the Government. The Government’s response was important and essential, but should be extended more broadly just in case there were other, similar situations.

He also said that it was not known if anything else had happened in that particular centre or elsewhere, beyond what had been captured on video and exposed. There had been concerns expressed over a number of years by NGOs and by UN bodies, such as the Committee Against Torture in relation to Australian detention centres.

Brazil

In response to a question regarding a petition reportedly filed by lawyers of former Brazilian President Lula de Silva arguing that he had been subject to judicial persecution, Mr. Colville said that OHCHR was checking to see whether the petition had been received. It would rather be directed to the Human Rights Committee, which oversaw the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The petition was not in OHCHR’s registry yet. The lawyers had announced that they had filed it but it was not clear with whom. The petition was confidential and the process of dealing with it could take a long time, possibly a few years.

In response to other questions on the topic, Mr. Colville said that if and when the petition was registered, the Committee members would decide whether to take it on board or not, according to some prima facie criteria including whether the person filing had exhausted all domestic remedies. There were currently 500 cases pending in the system at the moment.

Nigeria

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that he wished to highlight a UNICEF statement sent to the press on 28 July regarding an attack on a humanitarian convoy in north-eastern Nigeria with staff from UNICEF; UNFPA and IOM, travelling from Bama to Maiduguri in Borno State. It had been returning from delivering desperately needed humanitarian assistance. A UNICEF employee and an IOM contractor had been injured in the attack and were being treated at a local hospital. The UN had temporarily suspended humanitarian assistance missions in Borno State pending review of the security situation.

It was particularly important for UNICEF and other partners to conduct missions in this area. Earlier in July UNICEF had shared with the press some very alarming information according to which 244,000 children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Borno State in 2016. Out of those, an estimated 1 in 5 (49,000 children) would die if not reached with treatment. There were 2 million people who could still not be reached in Borno State and there was a need to scale up. UNICEF and partners were working to screen and treat children for malnutrition and improve access to water and sanitation. UNICEF was also providing medical care, immunization, education and psychological support to the children of Nigeria, and especially of Borno State.

In response to a question, Mr. Boulierac confirmed that there had been a military escort accompanying the convoy, which was quite unusual for humanitarian assistance missions. The military had been able to take UNICEF staff to safety following the attack. He also said that UNICEF’s top priority was to reach the children and that UNICEF was not in a position to say who was responsible for the attack. A security assessment would be underway. In response to another question, Mr. Boulierac said that he had no information on any arrests following the attack.

Mr. Boulierac also confirmed that the convoy had been delivering nutrition, water, sanitation and health support for the more than 25,000 people in Bama who had been displaced by the conflict. Bama was one of the areas which had recently become accessible to humanitarian assistance. The situation was extremely serious and UNICEF wanted and needed to do more, but that depended on a range of factors, such as access, security, funding. UNICEF wished to raise awareness among all donors of the gravity of the situation in Borno and to urgently provide resources.

In response to a final question, Mr. Boulierac repeated the words of UNICEF Regional Director Manuel Fontaine, who had visited the area in July 2016, regarding the need to scale up and the fact that two million people could still not be reached in Borno State, which means that the true scope of this crisis has yet to be revealed to the world.

Mr. Zaccheo added that there had been a UN press release on 27 July, following a briefing to the Security Council by Stephen O’Brien and Jeffrey Feltman on the massive insecurity and violence in the Lake Chad region, and particularly the influence of Boko Haram in the area, including Nigeria.

Breastfeeding

Mr. Boulierac said that it was World Breastfeeding Week from 1 to 7 August and he shared some information on early breastfeeding initiation. Some 77 million newborns around the world – or one in two – were not put to the breast within an hour of birth, depriving them of the essential nutrients, antibodies and skin-to-skin contact with their mother that protected them from disease and death. The longer breastfeeding was delayed, the higher the risk of death in the first month of life. Delaying breastfeeding by two to 23 hours after birth increased the risk of dying in the first 28 days of life by 40 per cent. Delaying it by 24 hours or more increased that risk to 80 per cent. Newborn deaths represented close to half of all deaths of children under five years of age. If all babies were fed nothing but breastmilk from the moment they were born until they were six months old, over 800,000 lives would be saved every year.

Progress in getting more newborns breastfed within the first hour of life had been slow over the past 15 years, UNICEF data showed. Early breastfeeding rates had remained unchanged in West and Central Africa. UNICEF analyses showed that women were not getting the help they needed to start breastfeeding immediately after birth even when a doctor, nurse of midwife was assisting their delivery. Feeding babies other liquids or foods was another reason early breastfeeding was delayed. In many countries, it was customary to feed a baby infant formula, cow’s milk or sugar water in the first three days of life, which was dangerous. There was also the influence of the breastmilk substitutes industry.

It was necessary to improve health care coverage for mothers at home and in the hospital, so that mothers can be adequately supported by their families, communities and health workers. Better-trained midwives were also needed. UNICEF and WHO had a joint initiative called “Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative” which needed to be broadened. At the national level, it was also important to help decision-makers identify factors with a positive or negative influence on early breastfeeding. States also needed to have legislation in place prohibiting non-ethical promotion of breastmilk supplements, such as false statements by manufacturers that those products were just as good or even better than breastmilk. To achieve this, countries needed to adopt the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.

Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that WHO Member States were very engaged in promoting breastfeeding and had committed to increasing the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life to at least 50 per cent by 2025 in the world. Breastmilk was the ideal food for infants, as it was safe, clean and contained antibodies which helped protect against many common childhood illnesses. The benefits of breastfeeding were well known. Breastfed children were less likely to be malnourished or overweight or obese, and were less prone to diabetes later in life. Women who breastfed also had a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancers.

Inappropriate marketing of breast-milk substitutes continued to undermine efforts to improve breastfeeding rates and duration worldwide. WHO and UNICEF had developed courses for training health workers to provide skilled support to breastfeeding mothers, help them overcome problems, and monitor the growth of children, so they could identify early the risk of undernutrition or overweight/obesity. The courses helped promote practices such as skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby immediately after birth, breastfeeding on demand – when and as often as a child wanted, and not giving babies additional food or drink, even water, unless medically necessary.

In response to questions, Ms. Chaib said that every year, WHO and partners were trying to promote breastfeeding during World Breastfeeding Week in more than 100 countries. She stressed that breastfeeding was not just a decision of mothers. The slogan for World Breastfeeding Week in 2016 was “Breastfeed anywhere, anytime” because society had a role to play to make breastfeeding possible for mothers. Mothers in a hospital setting needed to have by their side skilled health workers able to provide support for breastfeeding, which is why since 1991, WHO and UNICEF have led the “Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative”.

In response to another question, Ms. Chaib said that posting breastfeeding selfies on social media was to be encouraged. WHO was also promoting on social media an infographic in six languages to provide advice to mothers and families including the partners, and to health care workers.

Mr. Boulierac said that using social media to raise awareness was very important as long as the intimacy and dignity of mothers and children were protected. Breastfeeding was important not just in developing but also in developed countries, given the health benefits. Breastfeeding was also critical in emergencies.

In response to a final question, Ms. Chaib said regarding home births in developing countries, that in those circumstances the new mothers were usually surrounded by older women able to share their experience with them. There were also many community-based health care workers, working in villages, who knew how to help new mothers. Regarding the promotion of breastmilk substitutes, it was a global problem of many manufacturers and while WHO was not against the production of those supplements, it opposed efforts to promote them as if they had the same value as breastmilk.

Yellow fever in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ms. Chaib said that in Angola, as of 21 July a total of 3,748 suspected cases had been reported, of which 879 were confirmed. The total number of reported deaths was 364, of which 119 had been reported among confirmed cases. Suspected cases had been reported in all 18 provinces. Mass reactive vaccination campaigns had first begun in Luanda and had now expanded to cover most of the other affected parts of Angola. Recently, the campaigns had focused on border areas. All districts had continued with house to house immunization campaigns and routine vaccination.

According to the latest confirmed information as of 20 July, DRC had reported 1,907 suspected cases and 68 confirmed cases as of 24 June, including 95 reported deaths. Cases had been reported in 22 health zones in five of 26 provinces.

In DRC, the recent technical difficulties at the national laboratory (Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale), where they had run out of reagent and equipment, had been resolved, and there was equipment and enough reagent to run tests for the three to four months to come.

In order to strengthen and fast track diagnosis, WHO had supported the deployment of a mobile laboratory from the European Union to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The mobile lab brought much-needed equipment and supplies for testing blood samples for yellow fever. Packaged into several boxes, the lab was portable and easy to set up within any existing health facility or building.
The mobile lab would support the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale by providing testing capacity in Kahembe in Kwango province for a period of three months. Between 50 to 100 patients could receive their results within a day.

In addition to the mobile lab, two laboratory experts from Institut Pasteur, Paris, had arrived in Democratic Republic of the Congo on 17 July to provide additional technical capacity. Further information was available in the situation report.

Africa-to-Europe migration

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that there was a map with new statistics on the more than 3,000 deaths of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. On 29 July as many as 39 bodies had been reported off of Libya. They were believed to be part of a series of accidents close to the Libyan coast and not missing migrants from an earlier shipwreck. He underlined that it was a blurry reporting situation because IOM was just beginning to have a relationship with the Libyan coast guard, to be able to verify the information quickly. He warned that the numbers had been growing quite drastically this summer.

Mr. Millman also announced that on 28 July, IOM and the Ministry of the Interior of Italy had launched the “Aware Migrants Programme”, using videotaped testimony from migrants from West Africa and sharing it on social media with the target demographic of young men who were considering making the journey to Europe through North Africa.

IOM was also running a resettlement programme out of Sudan to Italy for refugee families from Eritrea. As many as 20,000 people had already participated in the programme, which showed quite an effort to find a way for vulnerable migrants to get to Europe legally and safely rather than having to risk their lives just to be able to ask for asylum.

Lastly, IOM had released new numbers on arrivals in Italy that came from Flavio Di Giacomo from IOM Italy. The data was related to the number of Nigerian women who had arrived in Italy in 2016. There had been 3,500 through the end of June, which had been considerably more, prorated, than the 5,600 that had come in 2015 and the 1,400 in 2014. He warned that this fast-growing trend was quite alarming, given IOM’s estimation that 80 per cent of Nigerian girls and women were victims of trafficking, en route to sex commerce jobs and exploitation in Europe.

Family reunification in Germany

Mr. Millman also said that on 28 July, IOM had started a programme with the German consulate in Turkey designed to help reunite 35,000 families in the Middle East or in the region who had a close Syrian relative who had already been granted asylum in Germany. It aimed at arranging for safe passage for people who would qualify for asylum based on relatives.

Iraq

Robert Mardini, for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said that he had just returned from a three-day visit to Iraq where he had met with Iraqi authorities. He had also been in Khaldiya camp, where people fleeing Fallujah had been hosted for a month so far. There was a sense of urgency in the light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis, and given the serious further deterioration of the situation expected in the coming weeks and months, ICRC had asked the international community today for an additional CHF 17 million. That would help step up the response throughout the country and preposition sufficient emergency provisions, to reach those most in need of help when they needed it.

There were many scenarios regarding the looming battle of Mosul and ICRC did not want to enter speculation. The objective was to get ready whatever the scenario, be it a massive influx of IDPs out of Mosul towards the south, or the civilian population getting caught up in the fighting inside Mosul. A meaningful humanitarian response needed to be developed to address needs wherever they were. More than 1 million people would be expected to flee their homes by the end of 2016. Already today, one tenth of the Iraqi population was displaced and required shelter, protection and assistance. A major military operation in Mosul presented huge challenges for the humanitarian community As long as the fighting continued ICRC would spare no efforts in urging all sides to better respect civilians and ensure they were protected.
Over the past months and years, essential goods had dwindled and become expensive in many areas. Key infrastructures had been destroyed. Children had been out of school for prolonged periods of time. New camps were being set up to provide basic shelter.

Military operations in Ramadi and Fallujah were “yesterday’s news”, but while many might return to their cities, the resources were depleted and many would require support to rebuild their lives. Those returning to cities like Ramadi whose infrastructure had been severely damaged, with the clearing of remaining explosives potentially taking up at least a year, faced additional constraints.

Beyond essential assistance, the protection needs of civilians should be an absolute priority. That was particularly important for the most vulnerable such as the sick, disabled, elderly, and those with particular needs such as women and children.

The respect of international humanitarian law, including in regards to those susceptible of being detained and suspected of links with ISIS, would also be key for any future reconciliation initiatives.

With a high number of terror attacks, the management of the dead was pushing the country’s limited forensic capacity to the brink of collapse. The Medical Legal Institute in Baghdad had a capacity to store 150 dead bodies, whereas today they had 1,000 dead bodies on their premises. More training, technical and material support were needed to ensure that human remains could be recovered and identified, and that more families could ensure dignified burials for their loved ones.

ICRC anticipated high needs in 2016, but the intensification of the conflict and continuous operations meant more resources were needed to respond efficiently to the humanitarian needs of millions of Iraqis.

In response to questions, Mr. Mardini said that it was hard to speculate when the battle of Mosul would take place. The Mosul offensive had already started with military operations taking place in Mahmur and the Nineveh plain. In the coming months it was expected that other areas such as Kirkuk, Salahuddin and Nineveh would witness military operations. The population of Mosul was of 1.2 to 1.4 million, the people living under Islamic State group control in the Nineveh plain, Kirkuk and Salahuddin were 825,000, and there were the remaining 250,000 in Anbar – adding those numbers together would bring the figure up much higher than 1 million. The “over 1 million” was an educated guess of what might happen, although no-one knew how the Mosul battle would unfold. The battle for Fallujah, for example, had not taken place at all in the same way as the one for Ramadi.

In response to another question, Mr. Mardini said that for now ICRC did not have projections for the number of people crossing the borders as what had been seen in Iraq was massive internal displacement. Given the challenges faced by Iraqi asylum-seekers today between the Syrian and Jordanian border it was hard to believe that there would be massive cross-border displacement, but it could not be excluded and ICRC would stand ready to help people wherever they went. He also said that ICRC had been able to visit 33,000 detainees in Iraq in 2016 so far, across different authorities, and had an ongoing dialogue with the Iraqi authorities about humane conditions for people being detained. ICRC had also developed a meaningful dialogue on IDPs who were being screened and possibly detained. ICRC’s recommendations were being taken into account and some improvement had been seen.

Mr. Mardini also said that ICRC had no dialogue with the Islamic State group but would continue to strive for dialogue with all sides. The current estimate of the number of people living under Islamic State group control was of 3 million people today in Iraq (and a similar figure, perhaps less, in Syria).

The additional request for CHF 17 million was a realistic preliminary appeal to just get ICRC ready to kickstart the humanitarian response. The budget extension appeal would be finalized as soon as there would be better visibility on how the conflict developed and how the humanitarian needs would unfold. Mr. Mardini also said that the families he had spoken to and who had left Fallujah had said that the sheer number of people fleeing had made it a challenge for the authorities to manage influx. Many of the men whom he had interviewed had been screened and detained for some time but had not mentioned any wrongdoing. ICRC had a regular dialogue with the Iraqi authorities on how best to screen and manage camps. ICRC delegates were tackling those issues on a weekly if not daily basis with Iraqi authorities.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Passing of Gordon Martin
Mr. Zaccheo quoted a statement from UNOG Director-General Michael Møller regarding the passing of veteran journalist Gordon Martin on 26 July. Mr. Martin had served for many years as President of the ACANU. In his statement, Mr. Møller had said that he wished “to acknowledge Mr. Martin’s considerable contributions to public knowledge of the crucial work carried out in International Geneva” and to “express his deep condolences to all those who were close to him.”
There would be a memorial service for Gordon Martin after the upcoming long weekend, and the Geneva press corps would be kept informed.

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), also expressed his sorrow at the passing of Gordon Martin.

International Day of Friendship

Mr. Zaccheo quoted a statement from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the International Day of Friendship on 30 July, saying that “Friendship is a joy in itself, conferring happiness and a sense of wellbeing. And the accumulation of bonds of camaraderie around the world can contribute to fundamental shifts that are urgently needed to achieve lasting stability.”

Mr. Zaccheo informed that the Committee Against Torture, which had opened its fifty-eighth session on 25 July at Palais Wilson, would complete in the afternoon of 29 July its review of the report of Burundi. [Note: the meeting was later suspended as the Government of Burundi did not participate in the session. This, according to OHCHR, is unprecedented, a first in the history of the Committee Against Torture.]

During the session, which would run until 12 August, the Committee would also review the report of Mongolia in regards to its implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The Conference on Disarmament would hold the third and last part of its annual session from 2 August to 16 September 2016. Its next public plenary would take place on 2 August at 10 a.m.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog290716