REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Rhéal LeBlanc, Chief, Press and External Relations, United Nations Information Service, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Health Organization, and the World Trade Organization.

Syria

Yara Sharif, for the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria (OSE), said the Special Envoy for Syria was consulting parties and relevant international and regional actors. In that context, he was looking forward to the next meeting in Astana to bring about real change on the ground. He would be making further determinations based on the outcome of Astana. As of now, the date of the next intra-Syrian talks was not determined.

In response to questions, Ms. Sharif said consultations regarding who would be attending the Astana meeting were still ongoing. She also said the schedule of the Special Envoy for the upcoming period was not yet determined, and any travel to the region would be announced.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said more than one million people had been forced from their homes and into displacement by the eight months of increasing and expanding violence in the DRC’s Southern Kasai, Lomami and Sankuru provinces. The UN and its humanitarian partners had just launched a flash appeal for USD 64.5 million to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of some 731,000 affected people over the coming six months.

The one million people displaced across the five southern provinces, which had a combined population of some 25 million, was an extremely high number, and agencies were rushing to build up the response in the area, which was previously considered as relatively stable.

Some 40 national and international humanitarian organizations were already responding to people’s needs for water, food, medicine and health services. They were providing basic household items and protection services to minors and women who had suffered from sexual violence. OCHA had increased its presence on the ground, as had other international response agencies. However, it was facing a new challenge which urgently required additional resources, hence the flash appeal, in order to be able to help the displaced persons and the host communities where they had found refuge.

The violence behind the displacement had already led to civilian deaths in the hundreds, and human rights violations, including the discovery of mass graves, and had severely disrupted people’s livelihoods and the education of thousands of children. It had also exacerbated the risk of malnutrition and epidemics in a region already known for high malnutrition rates and a weak health system.

The current emergency in the Kasai province had begun in the Central Kasai province in August 2016, with the violent uprising of a local militia known as Kamuina Nsapu. Since then, the crisis had spread to the neighbouring provinces, with militia clashing with the national security forces, and indiscriminate and violent acts against civilians by all parties to the conflict. The crisis had exacerbated pre-existing tensions between the various communities and ethnic groups, as some groups were perceived as supporting the militias and others supporting the Government. That had driven very high levels of internal displacement and had also led to the displacement of tens of thousands into Angola.

Asked about the extent of the sexual violence, Mr. Laerke said it was not a new phenomenon in the Congo and its various conflict areas. Those areas had had very bad humanitarian indicators. Now on top of that, there was a violent conflict once again translating into horrific sexual violence against women. Agencies were responding with psychosocial and medical support for those women. There was not a full overview of the response as this was a phase of building up, where funding was required in addition to the already very large humanitarian operation that was ongoing. It was necessary to build the capacity to respond to sexual violence and other kinds of humanitarian needs as funds were raised. Mr. Laerke did not have exact numbers regarding victims of sexual violence and said numbers were always under-reported. He also said there were bad malnutrition rates in the area and he would try to find the numbers and get back to the press. Displacement in the area was on an astronomical scale, affecting every aspect of life including the possibility for families to access food.

United States

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said OHCHR was deeply troubled that, after a 12-year de facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty, the US State of Arkansas had executed four men in the space of eight days.

The latest prisoner to be executed by lethal injection had been Kenneth Williams, who had been pronounced dead at just after 11 p.m. local time on 27 April. Ledell Lee had been executed on 20 April, and Marcel Williams and Jack Jones on 24 April.

OHCHR welcomed the fact that the executions of four other men in Arkansas had been stayed but was deeply concerned that the death penalty had been carried out in those four cases. The reason stated by the Governor of Arkansas for proceeding with the executions had been that the State’s supply of one of the drugs used in lethal injections – midazolam - was due to expire on 30 April and it was unclear whether further supplies could be obtained.

Such an argument had led to the scheduling of the executions of those men being accelerated in an arbitrary manner, with the expiration date of a drug being a determining factor. Rushing executions could deny prisoners the opportunity to fully exercise their rights to appeal against their conviction and/or sentence, and could also lead to States’ shortening their clemency processes, thereby affecting prisoners’ rights.

The use of the sedative drug midazolam in the lethal injection protocol had been criticised for failing to prevent people from suffering pain. In the last three years, botched executions had been reported related to the use of this drug in several cases, including in Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio.

The executions in Arkansas had taken place amid the steady, and welcome, decline of the death penalty in the US, from 52 in 2009 to 20 in 2016. There had now been 10 executions so far in 2017.

The UN opposed the death penalty in all circumstances and OHCHR called on all Governments that retained it to establish an official moratorium on all executions with the aim of abolishing the death penalty.

In response to questions, Ms. Throssell said the men concerned had been on death row for a long time, around 20 years. OHCHR’s concern was the fact that those executions had been scheduled because of the expiration date of the drug, adding to the arbitrariness and the cruelty of the whole process, a process which the UN opposed since it opposed the death penalty in all cases.

She also said midazolam was used as part of a three-drug protocol in Arkansas. The use of midazolam, which was a sedative, was to prevent someone from experiencing pain during the execution. The concern which had been noted with previous botched executions was that that had not been the case. For example, in April 2014, a man had been injected with midazolam and had been declared unconscious, but had then started mumbling and writhing, finally dying of a heart attack.

In response to further questions, Ms. Throssell said the men concerned had different reasons to want to appeal their sentences. In the case of Ledell Lee, his lawyers had been arguing for a DNA test to be carried out to prove his innocence. For another man, his execution had been stayed for a DNA test to be carried out. Different procedures applying to those people underlines the arbitrariness of the process. In the case of the last man to be executed, Kenneth Williams, his lawyers had argued that an intellectual disability had not been taken into account.

Ms. Throssell also said OHCHR was calling for the moratorium on the use of the death penalty. She said that in the US, California had the most people on death row, about 741.

In response to a final question, Ms. Throssell said media reports quoting eye-witnesses had said that in the case of the execution of Kenneth Williams, his body had convulsed as he was being injected. It fit a pattern of what had happened in the case of the use of this drug.

Ukraine

Asked about a case of a demonstration of racist behaviour of Dynamo Kiev football supporters during a match between Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk on 24 April in Kiev, Ms. Throssell said OHCHR had run campaigns tackling the issue of racial discrimination in football and it was a very important topic for OHCHR. She would get back to the press with more details on this case after looking into it.

Inter-American Commission for Human Rights

Asked about a blacklist of countries compiled by the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights blacklist, which had long featured Venezuela and Cuba, and to which the Dominican Republic had been recently added, Ms. Throssell said she was not aware of the blacklist and would get back to the press.

Venezuela

Asked about the mounting death toll in the demonstrations in Venezuela, Ms. Throssell said OHCHR had spoken in the last few briefings about this and did have concerns about the excessive use of force. OHCHR was repeating its call to all sides to find peaceful means of tackling their differences. OHCHR was following the situation there with deep concern. The circumstances of all deaths had to be investigated fully.

Mr. LeBlanc quoted a recent statement from the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on the topic, in which he had expressed concern about the most recent developments in Venezuela, and urged all efforts to be made to lower tensions and prevent further clashes.

Cambodia

Ms. Throssell said OHCHR called on the Cambodian authorities to release without delay five human rights defenders who had been in pre-trial detention for one year, and whose detention had been extended for an additional six months on 27 April by the investigating judge. OHCHR regretted that despite an opinion by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in November 2016, that had ruled the detention of these five individuals to be arbitrary, their detention had been extended.

The five human rights defenders included four staff of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) - Lim Mony, Ny Vanda, Ny Sokha and Yi Soksan - as well as the Deputy Secretary General of the National Election Committee and former ADHOC staff member, Ny Chakrya. They faced corruption charges relating to assistance they had provided to a woman who had been allegedly facing pressure from the authorities to give false testimony. The woman had later conceded. She had given the sought testimony and had claimed that the "Adhoc 5" had bribed her to lie to investigators.

The UN Working Group had concluded in November “that the five individuals were detained as a result of the exercise of their rights and freedoms”, and had called for their release. A number of UN Independent Experts had also urged their release, expressing their dismay about the use of criminal proceedings “as a pretext to suppress and prevent the legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression and to silence human rights defenders.”

While OHCHR recognized the obligation of the investigative judge to thoroughly investigate the case, the use of pretrial detention should be the exception, rather than the rule, and be allowed only for the shortest possible time necessary, on the basis of clear evidence and valid legal reasoning. OHCHR regretted that those safeguards appeared not to have been followed at any of the bail hearings.

In response to a question, Ms. Throssell said the Cambodian legislation did allow for a year and a half of pre-trial detention, but that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stressed that the right of all persons detained on criminal charges to have a trial within a reasonable period or be released. So, in OHCHR’s view, pre-trial detention of 18 months was excessive. OHCHR’s office in Cambodia carried out regular prison visits and had spoken to the detainees as part of the regular programme of visits. They did have access to their families and to a lawyer. Apparently in the build-up to the Khmer New Year in the middle of April, other NGOs were visiting them, and the prison authorities had decided to block all visits to those five people except by their families and their lawyers. The group was known as the “AdHoc5”, which was an acronym for their organization, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC).

El Niño

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said there was a 50-60 per cent chance of an El Niño event forming in middle to late 2017, according to a new Update from the WMO issued this morning. Since January, there had been neutral conditions although there had also been quite a strong localized coastal El Niño, which had affected Peru and Ecuador, and had caused very heavy rain and flooding. It should be borne in mind that predictions for El Niño and La Niña made before May and June had less certainty than outlooks made later on in the year. For instance, the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia, which was one of the partners that contributed to WMO’s updates, had actually downgraded the likelihood earlier in the week of 24 April. WMO would keep monitoring the situation. At this stage it was not possible to say how strong it was likely to be if it did form, but there was no indication that it would be as strong as the 2015 to 2016 one.

El Niño forecasts were taken by WMO’s regional climate centres, and downscaled and factored into the more regional outlooks. This week in Bhutan, the South Asia Climate Outlook Forum had met to issue the forecast for the forthcoming South-West monsoon, taking predictions of El Niño into account. On the basis of the assessment of the likelihood of El Niño and other factors as well, the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum had said most of South Asia was likely to have a normal monsoon in 2017. Some parts were likely to get below normal, some parts above normal but on the whole for the South Asian region, it was going to be a normal rainfall.

Liberia

Asked about a new disease discovered in Liberia, Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that on 25 April, WHO had received a report from Liberia health authorities about a cluster of unexplained illness and deaths from Francis Grant Hospital in Greenville, Sinoe County. Sinoe Country is about 4.5 hours’ drive south-east of Monrovia. Since April 24, 17 people had fallen sick. Among them, nine people had died, and eight were still ill and hospitalized. Observed symptoms included fever, vomiting, headache, diarrhoea. The response team from the country and the support team from WHO were investigating reports linking the cluster to attendance at the funeral of a religious leader. Specimens had been collected from seven dead bodies and had been sent to the national laboratory for testing. All had come back negative for Ebola. Other investigations were underway, including environment testing, and samples had been taken from water sources, trying to understand what was happening. As a precaution, doctors in the hospital were isolating those who were sick from others. The doctors were required to wear protection uniforms, or PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment) at the hospital. An epidemiological investigation was ongoing well as active case searching (search of sick people in the communities) and contact tracing. There was much social mobilization, encouraging people to go to the hospital when sick, and not to touch the sick or the dead but to leave that to professionals. Samples from water sources were being collected to test for chemicals and other bacteria.

In response to further questions, Ms. Chaib said she would check with the relevant department at WHO regarding the age group of those who had fallen sick or died. In notes sent out subsequently, it was specified that most of them were aged below the age of 21. Ms. Chaib would also check exactly on when the nine persons had died and would get back to the press. For the time being, the precautions described above were being taken as the causes of the sickness and death of the people were not known. Rapid response teams had been reactivated at District and County level with technical and logistical support from WHO, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and other partners.

Ms. Chaib also said Ebola had been a real wake-up call for the international community to put in place mechanisms to be able to detect rapidly and respond rapidly to any events that were not explained. Liberia had been affected by Ebola, hence the particular vigilance. The WHO had learned the lessons of the Ebola crisis and the country, with the support of WHO and CDC, had been able to put in place the rapid response teams. She also clarified that Liberia had activated the networks already on the ground, and for the time being no additional emergency team had been deployed. So far there was no question of quarantine in Sinoe; doctors were just taking precautions when handling bodily fluids and sick people.

Asked about why the topic had not been raised proactively by WHO during the briefing, Ms. Chaib said that the issue had been in the media over the whole week and several journalists had already contacted WHO on the topic. WHO had been transparent in replying to those inquiries and had provided the available information. As soon as there would be more information regarding the results of this broad investigation, WHO would be sending a comprehensive “Outbreak News” update.

Ms. Chaib also reiterated that the samples had been sent to the national laboratory in Monrovia for testing. She did not know if there was a plan to double check the results in another testing centre.

Geneva Events and Announcements

On behalf of Rolando Gomez for the Human Rights Council, Mr. LeBlanc said the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review Working Group would begin its next session on 1 May at 9 a.m. in Room XX of the Palais des Nations. On 1 May, the Working Group will review the human rights' records of Bahrain and Ecuador. Those were the first of 14 States to be reviewed over the course of the coming two weeks. The press had already received a background press release this week, along with the first batch of media advisories. Mr. Gomez would send an update later today and could be contacted for any questions.

Mr. LeBlanc also said on World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, there would be a discussion on “The media’s role in advancing peaceful, just and inclusive societies”, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Room XXV of the Palais des Nations.

Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), announced that on 8 May, the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) would open in Geneva. The Commission analysed the stakes for developing countries of the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.

On 1 May, the UNESCAP annual report would be launched. Facing a globalization backlash, rising inequality and environmental degradation, what policies options did the developing countries of Asia and the Pacific have to sustain to increase their economic dynamism while improving the quality of growth? The UNESCAP examined the changes facing the region from a governance and fiscal policy perspective, and offered policy recommendations in this publication.

Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), announced a virtual press conference today, 28 April at 2 p.m. following the meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), who had met in Geneva over the past two days. The group had discussed diphtheria, polio and the Ebola vaccine. The experts were currently compiling a summary of the meeting, which would be sent to the press before the virtual press briefing. The press contact was Tarik Jasarevic. The speakers would be Dr Alejandro Cravioto, the new President of SAGE, and Dr Philippe Duclos, from WHO’s Department of Vaccines. Dr Cravioto was a world-renowned expert on vaccines and a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Mexico.

In response to questions, Ms. Chaib said that during the session the experts had gone through an overview of Ebola epidemiology, given by Dr David Heyman over a videoconference from the UK. They had also received an update from those working on Ebola candidate vaccines. They had received an overall briefing on the status of the Ebola research and development plans. They had also looked at the impact of different Ebola candidate vaccines’ immunization strategies, and what were the target populations. At the virtual press briefing the experts would share the latest status on that topic.

Ms. Chaib also said there would be a WHO/ Bloomberg Philanthropies virtual press briefing on preventing drownings at 4.30 p.m. today Geneva time. Drowning was one of the world’ top ten causes of death for children and young people, with more than 360,000 deaths per year. It would focus on implementing a new guide to present a range of effective strategies for countries to prevent drownings, and highlighting concrete measures for national and local governments. The speaker from WHO would be Dr Etienne Krug, the Director of the WHO’s Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention (NVI), and from Bloomberg Philanthropies, it would be Dr Kelly Henning, the lead of the Public Health Programme.

Mr. LeBlanc announced a press conference on 28 April at 12 p.m. in Room III, by the Permanent Mission of the United States of America, which would be an on-the-record briefing on U.S. objectives for the NPT PrepCom. The speaker would be the US Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, Robert Wood.

On 28 April at 3 p.m. in Press Room 1, there would be a press conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices, the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures and the Committee on Safeguards. The speaker would be Dan Pruzin, Information Officer, WTO.

He also announced a press conference on 1 May at 10 a.m. in Press Room 1, by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein.

Mr. LeBlanc said the Committee against Torture (CAT), which had opened on 18 April its 60^th session (running at the Palais Wilson until 12 May), was holding this morning since 10 a.m. a public meeting dedicated to the revision of its General Comment on article 3 of the Convention (relative to the principle of non-refoulement of a person towards a State where there was serious reason to believe that they may risk being subjected to torture).

On 1 May, the Committee would meet in private. On 2 May it would start the review of the report of the Republic of Korea, the last report on the agenda of this session.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which had opened on 24 April its 92^nd session (running until 12 May at the Palais Wilson), would complete this morning its review of the report of Armenia, started on 27 April in the afternoon. This afternoon, starting at 3 p.m., it would hold in Room XVII of the Palais des Nations a meeting with the State parties to the Convention.

On 1 May, the Committee would hold hearings of the representatives of civil society on the implementation measures of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in three of the countries whose reports would be reviewed next week: Kenya, Cyprus and Bulgaria.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/UNOG28417