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 International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the World Health Organization.
Migrant rescues
Leonard Doyle, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said almost 8,360 migrants had been rescued over the past long weekend by individual NGOs and by the international flotilla. The rescued migrants were mostly Africans, but there was also a large number of Bangladeshis. There had been 900 migrant deaths at sea so far in 2017, 90 per cent of them on the Libya-Italy stretch, according to numbers from IOM’s Missing Migrants Project. Better spring weather had encouraged smugglers to take people from detention centres. As many as 20,000 migrants were estimated to be in detention in numerous unofficial detention centres, and smugglers were pushing them out in the hope they would be rescued, sending them to sea in extremely unseaworthy vessels.
On 13 April there had been a dramatic rescue in which 101 migrants had been rescued by fishermen, among them 84 men, 14 women and 3 children, all African nationals. They had been floating around for at least eight hours. Five had died, and one had died on arrival. The conditions in which smugglers were leaving migrants were appalling. There had been about 36,000 people rescued at sea so far in 2017, compared to 24,000 over the same period in 2016.
In response to questions, Mr. Doyle said the Libyan Government’s remit was limited. A certain number of detention centres were under the control of the Department for the Control of Illegal Migration (DCIM), which the IOM worked closely with in trying to improve the humanitarian situation, but outside that, there were believed to be as many as 20,000 migrants in irregular detention centres, held by criminal elements, where they were being extorted and exploited. Those groups were making money by sending them to Europe, in completely unseaworthy vessels. The Libyan Government in Tripoli was making an effort to regularize the situation, making sure that those who were in detention under its control were looked after. Many were brought home to their countries of origin by IOM if they volunteered for that. Mr. Doyle also said there was a full economy of trading in migrants, who thought they were going to a better life in Europe and ended up in a gulag of exploitation.
Asked about the number of 20,000 migrants in irregular detention centres, Mr. Doyle said the number was reported to IOM in Tripoli and that he would try to find out more precisely whether that number applied just to Tripoli or to the whole of Libya.
Mr. Doyle also said he would send more details regarding the number of rescues which had occurred over the long weekend, as well as the full breakdown by nationality. Some 21 Bangladeshis were among those rescued. He said the vast number of migrants crossing these days were crossing on the route from Libya to southern Italy, described by a diplomat as a “gaping hole on Europe’s southern flank”.
In response to another question, Mr. Doyle added that a rescue on 13 April had been of a floundering boat, which had been eight hours at sea in Libyan waters. Smugglers were trying to get migrants out to international waters to be rescued, but those who did not make it that far were being rescued by the Libyan coast guard and by the fishermen, as had been the case here. He also said migrants rescued by the Libyan coast guard were brought back to detention centres in Libya where they were looked after, and IOM staff were there to help them. Some of them then volunteered to return home. At a rate of about 200 a week, IOM was flying them to their countries of origin.
Babar Baloch, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), provided the breakdown of the search and rescue operations, which was as followed:
- 14 April: 17 search and rescue operations, 2,076 people saved
- 15 April: 27 search and rescue operations, 4,200 people saved
- 16 April: 21 search and rescue operations, 2,000 people saved.
On all those days, over 35 vessels had been used, including eight from NGOs, 11 from the Italian coast guard, four from Frontex, 12 merchant vessels and 11 marine military vessels. Those details had been provided by UNHCR staff in Italy.
In response to questions, Mr. Baloch said this had been an overwhelming search and rescue activity by all sides involved. UNHCR repeated its calls on the EU and Governments to help save lives. NGOs had been a great help in terms of filling the vacuum. Saving lives was a must and was the strength of humanity, not its weakness. He also said that according to his understanding of the situation, many of the migrants rescued appeared to be in distress, and many of the vessels they were on were not seaworthy at all. One of the reports indicated that among the dead there was a pregnant woman.
Syria
Mr. LeBlanc said the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General had issued a statement regarding the attack in Rashideen, west Aleppo, condemning the attack, expressing the UN’s condolences to the families of the victims of the incident and wishing those injured a speedy recovery. The UN called on the parties to ensure the safety and security of those waiting to be evacuated. Those responsible for the attack must be brought to justice.
Mr. LeBlanc also said on behalf of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) that Under-Secretary-General Stephen O’Brien was horrified by the attack and had expressed his deepest sympathies to the victims. The UN recognized the tremendous work of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent as well as international and Syrian NGOs who had undertaken rescue operations and had ensured referrals to various hospitals where people continued to be treated for their injuries. Humanitarian partners had received evacuees in both Aleppo and Idleb Governorates on 15 April and continued to provide food, health, temporary shelter and other humanitarian support. The UN was closely supporting SARC and NGO partners and stood ready to provide additional support.
In response to questions, Mr. LeBlanc said OCHA had indicated that they did not have the full information on the number of people who had been killed and injured, but that the latest reports indicated that well over 100 people had been killed and 250 injured.
Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that OHCHR added its voice to the condemnation of the attack near Rashideen in western rural Aleppo Governorate that had hit a convoy carrying people from the besieged Syrian towns of Fuha and Kefraya to Government-controlled areas, killing dozens of people. It was an attack which likely amounted to a war crime.
While at this stage unable to confirm how the attack had been carried out or those responsible, footage seen by the UN Human Rights Office had shown children gathering around a person giving out sweets just before the explosion.
OHCHR had just spoken to the head of the Aleppo Forensic Medical Department who said that hospitals in Aleppo city had received the bodies of 96 civilians, including 13 women, 16 men, and 67 children – among them 16 girls and 51 boys. There were also reportedly at least 120 civilians in the Aleppo University Hospital.
The people had been among those being evacuated from Fuha and Kerfraya as part of the Four Towns evacuation plan negotiated by Qatar and Iran.
Those people had been living under incessant shelling for more than two years, with little food or medical supplies, and under the constant fear of attack by armed groups.
OHCHR had been able to confirm that some of the injured civilians remained missing - some were believed to have been taken by armed opposition groups to opposition controlled hospitals in Idleb Governorate. Due to their perceived sympathies for the Government of Syria, their families were concerned for their safety.
OHCHR was also highly concerned for the well-being of any remaining civilians in Fuha and Kefraya, as well as the well-being of civilians in the other two towns, Madaya and Zabadani, that were party to the “Four Towns Agreement”.
This attack, so soon after the Khan Sheikhoun attack where over 88 civilians had been killed including at least 28 children, was another example of civilians paying the highest cost in this war. The high number of civilian casualties was a clear indication of the violation of the laws of armed conflict which required parties to spare the civilian population at all times. The number of children reportedly killed was particularly abhorrent.
OHCHR called on all parties to ensure the safety and protection of all people being evacuated.
OHCHR reiterated the High Commissioner’s call for accountability and the need to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
In response to a question regarding the video footage, Mr. Colville said he would try to find out more about it and would get back to the press. He also said he would check regarding which armed opposition groups had allegedly taken injured people to hospitals.
Asked about whether the evacuations were still ongoing, Mr. Colville recalled that it was not a UN-organized evacuation, but that there clearly needed to be better protection of the people as they were being evacuated.
Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said UNICEF was outraged by the reported killing of over 60 children and the wounding of many more in the attack on 15 April outside Aleppo on a bus convoy carrying evacuees from besieged towns in Syria. As expressed in a statement by UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake on 16 April, this had been a “convoy of families who for so long had already known so much suffering.”
UNICEF and partners had provided immediate support to those injured. The support had included providing ambulances to transfer the injured to four hospitals regularly supported by UNICEF with equipment and medical supplies.
UNICEF was also working with partners to provide assistance to survivors and other evacuees. This included disseminating messages to prevent family separation in hospitals and reception centres; delivering Psychosocial First Aid to children and adults; reunification of children temporarily separated from their families; and provision of protection services. In one shelter in the Almahalej area in Aleppo, where some evacuees had arrived, UNICEF through the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the local Directorate of Health, was supporting with primary health care and routine and polio vaccination. Other assistance included nutritional services, such as screening children and pregnant and lactating women for malnutrition, the provision of nutritional supplements and medications including antibiotics, antipyretics and deworming treatment.
UNICEF stood ready to deliver assistance to all evacuees and civilians in need throughout Syria, wherever they were.
This was the latest painful reminder that throughout the country children continued to come under attack on a daily basis – and in the most gruesome of ways.
Children in all besieged towns had for months on end been deprived of basic humanitarian assistance needed to save and sustain their lives.
Upwards of some 2.8 million children lived in hard to reach areas, with around 280,000 children living under siege.
UNICEF again called for the end of attacks on civilians, the lifting of all sieges, and the unconditional and sustained access to assistance for all children in need, wherever they were.
In response to questions, Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said WHO was working through partners to make sure that medical supplies were available in all the hospitals receiving injured people. WHO was also working on both sides to make sure there was enough equipment and enough health workers for those who were injured.
Burundi
Mr. Colville said the High Commissioner for Human Rights would be issuing a press release shortly expressing deep alarm at an apparent widespread pattern of rallies in several provinces across Burundi where young men from the Imbonerakure militia repeatedly chanted a call to impregnate or kill opponents. High Commissioner Zeid believed the organized nature of the marches, coupled with reports of ongoing serious human rights violations, laid bare the “campaign of terror” being waged in Burundi.
A chilling video circulating on social media showed more than 100 members of the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the ruling CNDD-FDD party, repeating dozens of times their call to “make opponents pregnant so that they can give birth to Imbonerakure”. Another group then repeated a chant in which the phrase “he or she should die” was audible some 19 times. The rally took place in Ntega commune, Kirundo province, in the northeast of the country.
Following the release of the video, on 5 April the CNDD-FDD had issued a statement condemning the chanting and stating that a preliminary enquiry had found that there had been “influences outside the party.” However, recent reports indicated that similar, larger rallies had been organized across the country by officials from the Government and the President’s party.
On 1 April 2017, in the northern province of Kayanza, around 2,500 Imbonerakure had reportedly marched from Kayanza football stadium along the main road chanting similar slogans, inciting rape and violence against opponents. Reports suggested that senior officials had been present at this rally.
Reports also suggested that similar chanting occurred regularly at weekly Imbonerakure meetings in the southern province of Makamba.
On 3 April, during a meeting on security, the Governor of Makamba had reportedly urged the local population to maintain security, to arrest any suspicious person, to check every bag and suitcase and to “eliminate immediately” every person presumed to be a rebel.
On 7 April, the President of the Senate was alleged to have incited people to violence in Makamba, reportedly calling for all suspected rebels to be “silently collected”. This was the latest of many such speeches where the President of the Senate had reportedly used coded language, with its roots in the mass violence from Burundi’s past, to incite followers to violence.
On 8 April, following the inauguration of a CNDD-FDD party office in the eastern province of Ruyigi, about 200 people, including Imbonerakure, had also begun chanting for the rape of opponents so that more Imbonerakure would be born. They had been reportedly instructed by party officials to stop.
Also on 8 April, in Gaharo commune in the southern province of Rutana, dozens of Imbonerakure had reportedly marched in the city centre chanting hostile slogans.
Those grotesque rape chants by the young men of the Imbonerakure across several provinces in various parts of Burundi were deeply alarming – particularly because they confirmed what OHCHR had been hearing from those who had fled Burundi about a campaign of fear and terror by this organized militia. While the High Commissioner Zeid welcomed the statement by the CNDD-FDD condemning the chants in Ntega, reports that senior officials had been present at other rallies were very disturbing. There also needed to be an acknowledgement that the Ntega rally had not been an isolated incident, but rather the tip of the iceberg, brought to light only because it had been captured on camera.
The Government needed to stop pretending that the Imbonerakure were nothing but a community development group. Such blatant and brazen hate speech and incitement to violence must not be tolerated, nor encouraged. In a region which had suffered so many massive outbreaks of violence and atrocities, this type of organized incitement rung very loud alarm bells.
In response to questions, Mr. Colville said OHCHR had been receiving reports of rapes and of horrendous torture, but that he did not have exact figures. Rapes tended to be underreported. Regarding displacement, he said that according to UN figures over 400,000 people had fled Burundi, which was a high number for such a small country. Those who had fled recently to neighbouring countries had described a rather consistent picture of those types of abuses. They had also talked about the Imbonerakure making visits to rural homes, forcing residents to pay regular financial contributions, imposing “taxes” on goods sold in markets and on traders passing through roadblocks, and suffocating the local economy in this poor country. That economic pressure on top of violations such as torture and rape was pushing people to leave.
Mr. Colville also cited an anecdote about a person at OHCHR who had been involved in the Rwanda tribunal and had been struck by similarities between the Imbonerakure chants and the Interahamwe militia, who had been involved in the Rwanda genocide.
In response to further questions, Mr. Colville said that so far violence had tended to be rather insidious, sporadic and scattered, but that there was a worry about what the behaviour observed was building up towards. The warning signs were there, loud and clear.
Mr. Colville confirmed that there would be a meeting later today of the Security Council on peace, security and the human rights dimension. The High Commissioner had not been invited. The Secretary-General would be there to represent the UN. The United States, as the President of the Council for the month of April, had initiated the meeting.
Venezuela
In response to questions, Mr. Colville said the situation in Venezuela was very worrying. The Government needed to remember that freedom of assembly was a universal human right, and for protesters to protest peacefully. Regarding killings, of which four were known so far, OHCHR urged the Government to conduct prompt and impartial investigations. Jairo Ortiz and Daniel Queliz had allegedly been killed by security forces on 7 and 10 April respectively. Miguel Angel Colmenares had apparently been shot on 11 April, along with a minor whose name had not been disclosed. That was an indication of the situation becoming volatile.
Asked about President Maduro’s stated intention to arm civilians to help protect the country, Mr. Colville said it was important for tensions to be defused and not raised, and that arming civilians was fraught with risks. No-one should be detained for participating in peaceful protests, let alone shot or treated violently. OHCHR urged the Government to refrain from practices involving indiscriminate or mass arrests, and to do all it could to defuse the tension, but it was also very important that the people of Venezuela tried to maintain peaceful protests.
United States
Asked about whether the High Commissioner had met with the US Ambassador to the UN, Mr. Colville said he had not yet met with her.
Nepal
Mr. Colville also said OHCHR welcomed the conviction on 16 April by a District Court in Nepal of three army officers accused of the murder of a 15-year-old girl, Maina Sumuwar, 13 years ago in February 2004. The Court had sentenced the three soldiers - Babi Khatri, Amit Pun and Sunil Prasad Adhikari - to 20 years’ imprisonment for murder. A fourth officer who had been charged - a major who had been repatriated by a UN peacekeeping mission in Chad in 2009 because of the arrest warrant against him – had been acquitted by the court.
It was the first time that Nepal Army personnel had been convicted by a civilian court for crimes committed during the 1996-2006 conflict.
Maina Sumuwar had been picked up on 17 February 2004 at her home in Kharelthok village in central Nepal and then interrogated for suspected links to Maoist rebels by soldiers who had been looking for her mother. She had been subjected to torture and later that month had died in the custody of the Nepalese Army (NA) at the Birendra Peace Operations Training Centre in Panchkal. The NA and the Government had initially denied any knowledge of Maina’s fate or whereabouts and her body had been buried secretly.
The UN Human Rights Office and other human rights organizations had persistently advocated for those responsible to be held fully accountable, and the 16 April convictions came after a long succession of unsuccessful attempts to seek justice for the murder of Maina Sunuwar.
None of the officers had been present in the District Court of Kavre, and it still remained to be seen whether they would actually be arrested and serve their sentences. OHCHR urged the authorities to implement the court’s decision on this extremely important emblematic case.
Turkey
In response to a question about the 16 April referendum in Turkey, and concerns raised by the opposition regarding the counting of votes, Mr. Colville said OHCHR was not competent to speak to the political process. Of course, a ballot should be fully fair. OHCHR had had some concern that the credibility of the referendum depended on open debate free of intimidation, so it would be interesting to look at what some of the monitors were saying.
Geneva Events and Announcements
Mr. LeBlanc announced that a High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen would be convened on 25 April at the ministerial level at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, hosted by the UN and the Governments of Switzerland and Sweden. The event was convened in response to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation and the urgent need for resources for humanitarian action in Yemen.
With nearly 19 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, including 10 million requiring immediate assistance to sustain or save their lives, Yemen was the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. Women and children were among the most vulnerable in this acute, complex emergency. In what was the largest food security emergency in the world, more than 17 million people were food insecure, of whom 6.8 million required immediate food assistance to avert famine conditions.
Through the UN-coordinated Humanitarian Response Plan, requiring USD 2.8 billion in funding for 2017, over 106 humanitarian partners continued to provide crucial food, nutrition, health and other life-saving assistance to millions of people across Yemen.
The event would be live-streamed from 10 a.m. CET, and there would be a media opportunity. More details would be forthcoming, and a media advisory would be sent. UNOG-accredited media would not require any additional accreditation. The Foreign Ministers of Switzerland and Sweden were expected to be present at the event, UNOG Director-General Michael Møller was expected to give opening remarks, and confirmation of the participation of the UN Secretary-General was still being awaited.
Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that on 19 April WHO would be hosting in Geneva a global partners’ meeting on neglected tropical diseases. This full-day event would be livestreamed all day, starting at 9.30 a.m. The agenda and list of participants were available online. During the meeting, the 4th WHO Report on Neglected Tropical Diseases would be launched, and would recognize the achievements of the past decade and sustain the support towards achieving WHO’s target in terms of eliminating those diseases. Journalists were encouraged to watch on webcast as there was very limited room. A press conference had been held on 12 April on the launch of the report, and the embargo would be lifted on 19 April at 00.01 GMT / 02.01 CET.
Mr. Jasarevic also said that on 19 April at 1.30 p.m., there would be a virtual press conference on the launch of the WHO’s Global Hepatitis Report 2017. The report aimed to provide a starting point for hepatitis elimination by indicating baseline statistics on hepatitis B and C. Hepatitis B and C, the two main types of the five different hepatitis infections, were responsible for 96 per cent of overall hepatitis mortality. The speakers would be Drs. Gottfried Hirnschall, Mark Butlers and Yvan Hutin from the WHO.
The launch of the report, organized by the European Organization for Liver Diseases, would take place on 21 April in Amsterdam and the virtual press conference would be embargoed until that day at 11.30 a.m. Geneva time. The audio recording would be sent to the press immediately after the press conference. A press release and a long summary would be available alongside the full report.
In response to questions, Mr. Jasarevic said there would be a press conference organized by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at the Intercontinental Hotel, at 5.25 p.m. today. Dr Chan was invited as a guest speaker. Mr. Jasarevic would share contact details of those organizing the press conference.
Mr. LeBlanc said a stakeout after the meeting of the humanitarian access task force on Syria on 20 April was to be expected, and details would be confirmed shortly.
On 20 April in Room III at 4 p.m., the Permanent Delegation of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf would be sponsoring a press conference for an event taking place at the Palais des Nations that evening, the award ceremony for the AGFUND International Prize for pioneering human development projects, established in 1999 by the Arab Gulf Programme for Development, to incite and encourage innovation and creativity in the areas of human development.
Mr. LeBlanc said the Committee against Torture (CAT) had opened today, 18 April its 60th session, which would run at the Palais Wilson until 12 May, and during which it would successively review the reports of Pakistan, Lebanon, Bahrein, Afghanistan, Argentina and the Republic of Korea. This afternoon, the Committee would start the review of the report of Pakistan.
The second part of the 2017 session of the Conference on Disarmament would open on 15 May and run until 30 June 2017. The Conference was currently chaired until 28 May by Senegal. In 2017, the Presidency of the CD would also successively be held by Slovakia, South Africa and Spain.
The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/UNOG18417