REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Director, United Nations Information Service, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Syria

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that water was slowly returning to Aleppo. For almost a month, 1.8 million people in and around the city had been deliberately cut off from the public water network. The most recent water cuts in Aleppo had taken place on 14 January when the Al-Khafse pumping station in eastern Aleppo had stopped working.

Thanks to recent repairs to the municipal system, water provision was resuming slowly. It would take at least ten days before water could be pumped regularly to all neighbourhoods.

Children had been hit hardest by the cuts. They were the most vulnerable to water-borne diseases and bore the burden of collecting water. Currently in Aleppo, children were forced to queue at wells and distribution points for hours while the city continued to endure random shelling. This negatively impacted their health, put their lives at risk and took away from time they could spend studying or playing.

Unexploded remnants of war also continued to be a threat to children’s lives in entire neighbourhoods, especially in the eastern part of Aleppo.

In nearly six years, all parties to the conflict in Syria had used water as a weapon of war, at times contaminating water sources, damaging equipment and pipes or withholding fuel to power water pumps. UNICEF and partners – including the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent – would continue to provide safe drinking water for 1 million people every day, through water trucking and through ground water wells, until the public water service to Aleppo was fully restored.

UNICEF support included repairing ground water wells and daily emergency trucking of 10 million litres of water to the most vulnerable families and children. They included those living in collective shelters, the families hosting the displaced, as well as 144 schools, so that children could continue to learn.

UNICEF was also providing water purification supplies and fuel to operate wells and pumping stations. Water was a fundamental human right and all children should have access to safe drinking water.

With support from UNICEF, 34 schools had reopened in east Aleppo with around 15,500 children accessing formal education, compared to 23 schools and 6,500 children earlier in February. That was a doubling of children in school in less than weeks.

In response to questions, Mr. Boulierac said that the security situation in Aleppo was still considered as a major issue. However, it was now regarded to be relatively safe compared to the situation in 2016. Many children were collecting water, while they should be at home or at school. As for the unexploded ordnance, in December six children in east Aleppo had died while mistakenly playing with unexploded ordnance, and many others had been injured. In those neighbourhoods, many buildings had been destroyed and unexploded ordnance and war remnants under the destroyed buildings still constituted a major risk to children’s lives as people continued to go back to their homes (mainly unexploded mortars and landmines). Since November, UNICEF had reached 80,000 children with mine risk education in Aleppo.

Regarding water-borne diseases, Mr. Boulierac said that no epidemic cases had been recorded either in the western or eastern parts of the city, but the risks were there. In the western part, UNICEF had supported 120 ground water wells, and water was tested in all of them. In the eastern part, the only secure source of safe drinking water in the newly accessible neighbourhoods was water trucking. UNICEF was trucking 10 million litres of water per day to the most vulnerable locations. UNICEF was also distributing household-level water disinfectants to the eastern neighbourhoods. In this eastern part, ground water wells were not a safe, reliable source of water as they were all private and not tested.

He also reiterated that 1.8 million people had been affected by the water crisis – 1.3 million in the city and half a million in eastern rural Aleppo. More than 517,000 children had been affected in Aleppo city, and approximately 217,000 in eastern rural Aleppo.

In response to further questions, Mr. Boulierac said that he would follow up with the press regarding an update on Damascus and would put the press in touch with a UNICEF specialist on the water situation in Aleppo, who could speak more about the technical details of the water crisis. He also said that the children who had died in December had manipulated unexploded ordnance.

Ms. Vellucci added that an inter-agency humanitarian convoy had delivered food, health, nutrition and water to northern rural Homs for 107,500 people in need on 13 February.

Asked about who had been invited to the intra-Syrian talks staring in Geneva next week, Ms. Vellucci said that she did not have the information yet. The scenario at the moment was a start of the talks on 23 February. Consultations were taking place at the moment, including on the level or representation. The Office of the Special Envoy for Syria would share information as soon as possible. There would be more clarity in a few days, including in terms of media opportunities. Asked whether Mr. de Mistura would participate in the next round of talks in Astana on 15 and 16 February, Ms. Vellucci said that her understanding was that those talks would be technical but that she would confirm with Mr. de Mistura’s spokesperson.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that there were troubling reports that soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had killed at least 101 people during clashes with members of a local militia between 9 and 13 February.

The clashes were reported to have taken place in the territory of Dibaya in Kasai Central Province between the armed forces - the FARDC - and members of the Kamuina Nsapu militia, who were loyal to a local chief killed by the army on 12 August 2016.

Much of the latest violence was said to have happened in and around the town of Tshimbulu. According to information from several sources, FARDC soldiers had opened fire indiscriminately with machine guns when they had seen the militia fighters, who had been armed mainly with machetes and spears. Some 39 women were reported to have been caught in the fire and were among the dead.

OHCHR was deeply concerned at the reported high number of deaths which, if confirmed, would suggest excessive and disproportionate use of force by the soldiers.

OHCHR condemned any excessive use of force and called on the FARDC soldiers to abide by acceptable standards of national law and international human rights law in their responses, in particular to exercise restraint and to use force only when necessary and proportionate to the threat, to minimize damage and injury and to respect and preserve human lives. OHCHR urged the military commanders to reinforce this message with their troops.

The Kamuina Nsapu militia was named after a customary chief, who had been killed by the FARDC in August 2016. OHCHR condemned the militia’s practice of recruiting children into its ranks and also its targeting of state symbols and institutions, such as Government buildings, police stations and churches.

The UN Joint Human Rights Office was seeking to verify the exact number of victims. OHCHR called for a full and independent investigation into this latest violence. Since August, OHCHR had been documenting atrocities by both sides and offered its support to the authorities to investigate serious human rights violations and abuses committed in the context of the ongoing conflict in Kasai Central both by the FARDC and the militia.

Given the ongoing violence, OHCHR also reiterated its call for increased efforts to find durable solutions to conflicts with customary chiefs in Kasai Central Province.

In response to questions, Ms. Throssell said that the events had taken place in the southern-central part of the DRC, in Kasai Central province. The town of Tshimbulu was about 160 kilometres south of Kananga, the provincial capital. In April 2016, there had been an emerging conflict between the customary chief in the area and the authorities. He had been killed by the Congolese armed forces in August 2016 and since then, the militia had become radicalized, attacking all symbols of the State. There were customary chiefs in the country and some were recognized by the Government, but in this chief’s case, his authority had not been recognized. A lot of the people fighting with the militia were children, recruited by the militia leaders. A majority of the people who had been killed in the recent clashes were militia members. An incident had taken place on 9 February in a market, which may account for the fact that 39 women had been killed by being caught in the fire. The area in question was very remote. OHCHR colleagues in Kananga, the provincial capital, had been receiving information about the incidents. The conflict, going on since April 2016, was not widely known. In November 2016, colleagues from the OHCHR office in DRC had conducted a mission to the area and had produced a report. The context, causes and consequences of the conflict outlined in the report were as valid now as they had been then, as were the recommendations made in the report: for the Congolese armed forces to exercise restraint; for the authorities to strengthen the State’s presence there; and a wider call for durable solutions to the conflicts with customary chiefs in the DRC.

Ms. Throssell also said that she would follow up with the press on the size of the militia. Asked about OHCHR’s sources, Ms. Throssell said that OHCHR colleagues in Kananga had people to whom they were speaking on the ground, including some who had moved from the conflict area to Kananga.

Ms. Vellucci added that the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in DRC (MONUSCO) had expressed its own concern about the persistent conflict in Kasai. Violent acts committed by the Kamuina Nsapu militia included the recruitment and use of child soldiers and targeting symbols and institutions of State authority as mentioned by OHCHR. The Mission was also concerned by the disproportionate use of force by the Congolese army. The Mission had reinforced its civilian and uniformed personnel presence in the area and had also deployed one of its mobile monitoring and response teams to help prevent, investigate and document human rights violations.

Guatemala

Ms. Throssell said that OHCHR was deeply concerned at the ongoing misinformation and smear campaigns directed against the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala and its head, Iván Velásquez, which had intensified over the past week, especially on social media.

With the support of the Commission, known by its Spanish initials as CICIG, Guatemala had made remarkable progress in the fight against impunity and corruption in recent years. Working with the Office of the Attorney General, CICIG had investigated and prosecuted criminal organizations that had infiltrated State institutions within all three branches of Government, thereby undermining the progress made to strengthen democracy in Guatemala since the end of the internal armed conflict in 1996.

Last week Mr. Velásquez had described the constant misinformation campaigns against CICIG “as a kind of psychological war to which criminal structures turn in order to resist being eliminated”.

CICIG was a crucial ally of the OHCHR Office in Guatemala in the promotion of human rights and OHCHR echoed the firm support for the Commission and Mr. Velásquez expressed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

The UN Human Rights Office in Guatemala had worked closely over several years with CICIG to help to create and strengthen an independent and impartial justice system. Recently that had included support during the development of proposed constitutional reforms that were currently being debated by Congress and which sought to address long-standing structural problems in the justice system.

In response to questions, Ms. Throssell said that OHCHR colleagues in Guatemala had identified several accounts, mostly anonymous, that had been posting on Twitter a variety of messages aiming to undermine the work of CICIG, making much of the fact the Mr. Velásquez was a Colombian and thus a “foreigner” . The pressure on CICIG seemed to have intensified recently in the context of the work on the judicial reform and some recent high-profile arrests.

OHCHR echoed what the Special Rapporteurs had said regarding the importance of the judicial reform, and given that its Office in Guatemala had a longstanding working relationship with the Government and with deputies, OHCHR would continue to be in dialogue with them. It would continue to stress the importance of the reforms, one of which related to the recognition of indigenous justice, hugely important in a country like Guatemala. OHCHR would encourage the thrust of the legislation to be maintained.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Ms. Vellucci reminded the press of a press conference by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on 14 February at 2 p.m. in Press Room 1. Neal Walker, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, would provide an update on the situation in Ukraine.

Ms. Vellucci said that the Conference on Disarmament was holding a public plenary today, starting at 10 a.m.

Ms. Vellucci also announced that the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) opened on 13 February its sixty-sixth session, by electing to its Presidency Dalia Leinarte of Lithuania, who had succeeded Yoko Hayashi of Japan. The Committee would start this morning its review of the report of Ukraine.

Ms. Vellucci added that on 15 February at 11.30 a.m. in Room III, a briefing on the priorities of the various Geneva-based agencies for 2017 would take place, following a request from ACANU. The briefing was open to all accredited journalists.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog140217