REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Economic Commission for Europe, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Children's Fund and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Côte d’Ivoire

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the human rights teams investigating reports of killings and other human rights violations in western Côte d’Ivoire had found more than a hundred bodies over the past 24 hours in three different towns. In Douekoue, on 7 April, they had seen 15 new bodies in addition to the 229 already found and buried, bringing the total number to 244 known for sure to have been killed during the 28-29 March incident. The victims were believed to have been mostly or all of Guerre ethnicity. The Guerre had traditionally been supporters of Gbagbo, and the killings took place when fighters who supported President Ouattara had taken control of Douekoue. Some of the victims seem to have been burnt alive, and some corpses had been thrown down a well. This incident followed an earlier one in mid-March when another 100 people of the Dioula ethnicity, including some women, had reportedly been killed by pro-Gbagbo forces who were in control of Douekoue at that time.

Mr. Colville said that the human rights team on Thursday flew by helicopter to a small town called Blolequin, to the west of Douekoue, where they had found around 40 corpses. The perpetrators were said to have been Liberian militias, who had spared the Guerre from other groups after separating them out. Blolequin was described by the human rights team as “a dead town.” The population had all fled, and there had clearly been a lot of looting. The team also went to a nearby town, Guiglo, where they had seen more than 60 corpses, including a number of West Africans.

Mr. Colville said that the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonovic, had met yesterday with President Ouattara and two of his ministers. The issue of the killing of civilians had been discussed at length. More details of the meeting would be released later in a press release but it was a very good meeting. Mr. Simonovic also spoke by phone with a senior aide of Laurent Gbagbo. OHCHR also had been receiving reports of smaller scale killings in other towns and villages which were still to be investigated.

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the situation in Côte d’Ivoire was drastic; a humanitarian tragedy was taking place. UN agencies had stepped up their efforts in the western part of the country to help an estimated 82,000 displaced people – including 20,000 in Doukoue alone – who lacked just about everything and were in dire need of assistance. OCHA was also concerned about the many people who continued to seek refuge in the bush. The situation in Abidjan was also drastic, said Ms. Byrs. There were power cuts and water shortages and the city may run out of drinking water by Sunday if it continues to be cut off from supplies. Almost 70,000 people were now living with host families and 20,000 in churches or mosques as looting continued and insecurity remained high. This situation was very difficult both for the population and for humanitarian workers, who suffered from limited access. A note was at the back of the room.

Adrian Edwards from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that the horrific situation in Côte d’Ivoire was one the reasons why thousands of refugees were fleeing into neighbouring countries. Close to 150,000 Ivorian refugees were now spread across West Africa. Most of the refugees were hosted in Liberia. On Wednesday alone, over 4,500 Ivorians were estimated to have entered Maryland county in the country’s south-east. Two refugees with gunshot wounds had been transferred to hospital. Some of the new arrivals told UNHCR staff they had fled after fighting erupted the same day in the Ivorian coastal town of Tabou, across the Cavally river. Another group said they had fled after hearing about the massacre in Douékoué, 150 km to the north. Refugees UNHCR had spoken to were visibly tired, hungry and exhausted after arriving in Maryland county through different means - on foot through the bushes, by canoe across the Cavally river, and by sea. Some said they had seen dead bodies on their way to Liberia. UNHCR staff in Maryland county report hearing heavy bombardment in Côte d’Ivoire across the Cavally river. Fighting also continued to rage in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial capital, driving more civilians into exile in Ghana. Some 2,000 Ivorians had crossed into Ghana in the last week, bringing the total there to 7,200. Ghana had opened a second camp to host the refugees.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said the registration of more than 27,500 internally displaced persons who have sought refuge in and around the Salesian Roman Catholic mission in the western Ivorian town of Douekoue had been completed. Conditions in Douekoue were slightly improving, but the humanitarian challenges remained enormous. Access to drinkable water remained the major challenge, as many wells were contaminated and represented a health hazard, and access to sanitation facilities was very limited, with only 12 latrines in the Roman Catholic mission for about 27,000 displaced people. Medical assistance was being provided, as well as cooking sets and sleeping mats. The operation was cranking up in terms of providing humanitarian assistance in Douekoue, but the needs were simply enormous. Efforts to identify new safe sites where the displaced could be relocated were on-going, with a view to decongesting the Roman Catholic Mission and making sure that people had adequate assistance. IOM was also following population displacement on the Duekoué, Guiglo, Toulepleu road, where thousands of people were said to be still hiding in the forest. About 800 people had been relocated earlier this week from Péhé to the border town of Zouan Hounien, where they were now receiving humanitarian aid.

Mr. Chauzy said that in the economic capital, Abidjan, there was no news of some 3,000 Malian migrants who had been hiding in the Malian Embassy. Reports earlier this week suggested that many of the stranded migrants had sustained bullet and machete wounds from attacks carried out by armed youth militias loyal to the incumbent president, Gbagbo. IOM was also concerned about a group of some 450 Mauritanians who have sought refuge in their embassy in Abidjan. IOM called on the warring parties to give humanitarians full access to the population and to not target civilians and migrant workers.

Marixie Mercado of the United Nations Children's Fund said that in the West, UNICEF teams were providing displaced populations with water and sanitation, as well as nutritional supplements, medicine and mats, buckets and hygiene products. In Abidjan, UNICEF staff were locked in its compound and received calls for help but were unable to respond. Prior to this escalation in violence, there had already been outbreaks of measles, cholera and yellow fever across the country. Now, with safe water supplies at risk, a paralysed health system and mass movements of people, the threat of fatal disease outbreaks was very real, not just in Côte d'Ivoire but also in Liberia, where there were now over 125,000 refugees. With the rest of the humanitarian community, UNICEF was calling for an end to the violence and secure and unimpeded access to civilians, particularly children. With just one-third of its $32 million appeal met thus far, UNICEF was calling for immediate funding now.

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said that food distribution was continuing today in Doukoue for the 27,500 people there. The food distribution began yesterday and should cover their needs for about six days, so there was still as much of a continuing supply of food as possible. A WFP airlift would arrive in Accra today and food would be transported by road, and in the coming days there would be food distributions in other locations for about 50,000 people. WFP was particularly concerned about getting food commodities to the many people throughout the area who needed assistance, and was appealing for the opening of humanitarian corridors into and within Côte d’Ivoire for free and unimpeded access to the sites where people were sheltering. Next week, WFP would begin a series of strategic airlifts of food into Man from Niger and Burkina Faso.

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization said WHO remained very concerned about the humanitarian and sanitary situations in Côte d’Ivoire. Many major hospitals in Abidjan had been closed and the city lacked medication, materials and health personnel. Water and electricity shortages in several neighborhoods also increased the risk of a cholera epidemic, as well as causing insecurity. Living without shelter or in displacement further increased the risk of measles, already observed in several parts of Abidjan. WHO remained present in the city, coordinating the work of its partners by telephone, and was also present in eastern Côte d’Ivoire. As soon as the security situation permitted, WHO would assist people by distributing basic health kits, malaria kits and trauma kits.

Responding to a question, Corinne Momal-Vanian said the UN Mission in Côte d’Ivoire protected all civilians regardless of their nationality.

Libya

Ms. Byrs drew attention to the situation in Misrata, where fighting had taken place for over 40 days and where people were wounded, without food and obstructed in their liberty of movement. It was for that reason that the Secretary-General had called for a temporary ceasefire so that those wanting to leave the city could do so and for people to receive medical assistance. In addition to the many wounded people in need of health services and the lack of medication, OCHA was concerned about the mines, ammunition and explosives in and around Misrata, which represented a danger to the people, notably children. A campaign was needed to warn about these mines, and medical assistance and supplies were also needed, Ms. Byrs underscored. She added that the UN's $ 310 million appeal for Libya was currently 39 per cent funded, with $ 120 million received.

Ms. Casella said that a ship had finally arrived in Misrata yesterday and a joint press release had also been sent out yesterday. The ship, which would need three to four days to unload, was carrying supplies for a number of agencies, including 600 metric tons of mixed food commodities, as well as 100 metric tons of bottled water. In the coming days, WFP would also attempt to deliver almost 2,000 metric tons of wheat flour, as well as some vegetable oil from Egypt to Benghazi, as part of the WFP's role as the lead in bringing in supplies for the humanitarian community and the telecommunication leads. Responding to a question, Ms. Casella said the ship had come from Izmir, Turkey, from where it left on 29 March. A briefing note was at the back of the room.

Ms. Chaib said that the ship also carried medical equipment and medicine from WHO. This included 14 tons of medical supplies such as 5 emergency health kits serving 50,000 people for three months, as well as 10 trauma kits for 5,000 people needing chirurgical treatment. An Arab Medical Union surgeon and anesthetist were also on the boat to assist Misrata health staff, who were certainly confronted with many wounded people.

Mr. Chauzy said people continued to flee Libya mostly through the Tunisian and Egyptian borders, but more and more people were also arriving in Chad. These people mostly fled southern Libya and arrived at Faya Largeau, situated at 300 kilometers from the Libyan border, as well as Kaliyit. 1,200 people, including women and children, had arrived in Faya Largeau in the last 48 hours alone, prompting IOM to set up a new transit centre and offer assistance in Kaliyit. This emergency response came at a time when IOM had no funds left to continue its assistance and evacuation programme. Much pressure was also on northern Niger and particularly Dirkou, where a 200-people transit centre now hosted 600 displaced people. Another challenge was transporting people from Faya Largeau to N'Djamena. To evacuate about 102 vulnerable people, including women and children, IOM had chartered a plane yesterday, although it had little funding left for such operations.

Ms. Mercado said that the humanitarian cargo ship that had docked at Misrata yesterday also carried UNICEF supplies, including emergency health kits and surgical material to cover the needs of 30,000 people for a month. UNICEF had also sent in obstetric surgical kits, midwifery kits and hygiene kits. In addition, UNICEF had sent play kits for children so as to enable them to stay in the relative safety of indoors. There had been consistent reports of sniper fire hitting children in Misrata. Children’s long enforced confinement indoors -- and hence out of school -- necessitated psychological relief from the conflict. UNICEF was also responding to needs in Eastern Libya through the delivery of health kits and hygiene kits for tens of thousands of affected and displaced people, through partnerships with NGOs in Benghazi. UNICEF was deeply concerned about the number of landmines and explosive remnants of war that posed a great threat to children and their families. There had been reliable reports that eastern Libya was littered with massive amounts of unexploded ordnance, abandoned and unsecured weapons and munitions, and recently-laid landmines. UNICEF would collaborate with Handicap International in an emergency mine risk education project to provide information and safety messages to at-risk populations through mass media, outreach and printed materials.

Latest fighting forces more Somalis into displacement

Mr. Edwards said that UNHCR was monitoring a deteriorating situation in south and central Somalia where sporadic fighting had continued to be reported in the towns of Doolow, Bulo Hawo, Luuq, Elwaaq, Dhoobley, Diif and Taabdo. UNHCR was again urging all armed groups and forces in Somalia to avoid targeting civilian areas and to ensure that civilians were not being placed in harm's way.

UNHCR estimated that clashes between the forces of the Transitional Federal Government and Al-Shabaab militia had displaced about 33,000 people over the past six weeks. More than half of these were people who had been displaced in Mogadishu. Many were in desperate situations with
no access to humanitarian help. Mogadishu already sheltered some 372,000 displaced people.

Mr. Edwards said that in all, more than 1.4 million people were displaced inside Somalia. Some of the most recently displaced were those who had fled shelling in Dhoobley, a town just across the border from Liboi in northern Kenya. Dhoobley acted as a final stop-off point for people fleeing Somalia for the Dadaab refugee complex in neighbouring Kenya. According to local sources, the town and its surrounding areas remained tense. Pro-government forces had been consolidating their control of the town, which they had taken earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the number of Somali arrivals in Kenya had been steadily growing over the past three months. More than 31,000 Somalis had arrived in Kenya this year alone. Kenya hosted more than half of the 680,000 Somalis who lived as refugees in neighboring countries, said Mr. Edwards.

Iraq

Mr. Colville said that since the early hours of this morning OHCHR had been receiving reports of an Iraqi security forces operation in Camp Ashraf. OHCHR understood that there had been some fatalities. OHCHR urged the Iraqi Government and military and security forces to exercise extreme restraint and ensure there were no further casualties.

Other

Corinne Momal-Vanian said the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families was scheduled to conclude its session today and present its concluding observations on the report of Mexico. The closing session would take place this afternoon.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which had taken up its work in February 2009, would open its fifth session on Monday in the Palais Wilson. This would be the Committee’s first session which was dedicated to examining a report of a State party, in this case the review of the report of Tunisia, next Tuesday and Wednesday. The concluding observations were expected to be published at the end of the session next Friday. A background release had been published yesterday.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said UNISDR would organize a press conference for Monday 11 April, at 2 p.m. in Press Room I, when Margareta Wahlstrom, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Reduction, would speak about the initial disaster risk reduction lessons learned from the Tohoku earthquake, 30 days before the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (10-13 May).

The General Assembly had yesterday adopted a resolution declaring 12 April International Day of Human Space Flight to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first space flight of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. In Geneva, the Permanent Mission of Russia would hold a ceremony at 12 p.m. in the park of the Palais des Nations, at the monument of the conquest of outer space, a gift from the former Soviet Union. UNOG Director-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze would address the ceremony.

Jean Rodriguez of the Economic Commission for Europe announced a UNECE workshop on Water and Climate Change in Transboundary Basins, to take place on 12 and 13 April in Room V. The meeting would be presided over by the Dutch Environment Minister, and the principal author of the IPPC report on water management would participate in the opening panel at 10 a.m. on Tuesday 12 April. Also interesting would be the discussion of several examples of transboundary water management in ECE countries and other regions on Wednesday, 13 April. The detailed programme would be sent to journalists shortly.

Mr. Rodriguez said UNECE would also give a press conference at 12.00 p.m. on Friday, 15 April in Press Room 1 on jointly addressing air pollution and climate change by reducing black carbon and ozone emissions.

Ms. Chaib said that, ahead of The Lancet’s publication of statistics on stillborn babies on 14 April, WHO would give a press conference on the subject on Tuesday 12 April at noon in Press Room I. The content would be embargoed until Thursday, one minute after midnight. More information could be received at 079/475 55 45 and journalists would shortly receive a more detailed invitation.