Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland was reacting on Twitter to the news of a shooting attack reportedly by two Palestinian gunmen, who opened fire at a petrol station on a road outside an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.
News reports quoting the Israeli military said both of the gunmen had been shot dead, one at the scene by an armed civilian and the other by Israeli security forces.
The UN envoy urged “all sides to refrain from steps that could further enflame an already volatile situation.”
Jenin camp raid
Tuesday’s violence followed a day of bloodshed on Monday, when at least five Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces during an operation inside the Jenin refugee camp prompting Mr. Wennesland to voice his deep concern over the escalating violence.
He tweeted that the Israeli operation and ensuing exchange of fire with Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank city resulted in five dead including a child.
Scores of Palestinians and seven Israeli security personnel were reportedly wounded.
Return to ‘political path’
“Such escalations threaten to plunge Palestine and Israel deeper into a deadly crisis”, he said. “All sides must refrain from actions that would further escalate the situation and take steps to reengage on a political path.”
According to news reports, the confrontation involved Israeli forces entering the camp before dawn on Monday. An Israeli helicopter fired missiles in response to militants targeting troop carriers with explosives.
The helicopter reportedly opened fire as forces were attempting to extract soldiers and stranded vehicles.
Israel has been intensifying raids in the West Bank for months now carrying out searches, arrests and home demolitions, amid a reported rise in attacks from Palestinian militants targeting Israelis. More than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the start of the year, with 21 Israeli deaths.
Guterres ‘deeply troubled’ over settlements plan
On Monday night, the UN Secretary-General António Guterresissued a statement saying he was “deeply troubled” by the Israeli Government’s decision to amend its settlement planning procedures in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Reiterating concerns expressed earlier in the day by Mr. Wennesland over the plans which are expected to expedite illegal Israeli settlement expansion – overhauling policies in place since 1996 – the UN chief said he was also “deeply alarmed” over the likely Government announcement next week of 4,000 new settlement housing units.
“The Secretary-General reiterates that settlements are a flagrant violation of international law”, said the statement issued by his Spokesperson.
“They are a major obstacle to the realization of a viable two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. The expansion of these illegal settlements is a significant driver of tensions and violence and deepens humanitarian needs.”
He said the move would further entrench the occupation, while encroaching on Palestinian land and natural resources.
It will also further hamper the free movement of the population and undermine Palestinians’ right to self-determination and sovereignty.
“The Secretary-General urges the Government of Israel to halt and reverse such decisions and to immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to fully respect its legal obligations in that regard.”
He also called for “further concrete steps” to put in place de-escalation measures to stem the rising violence, agreed between Israeli and Palestinians in recent months in the form of Joint Communiqués in Aqaba, Jordan and Sharm al-Sheik.
Opinion by Tanja Sejersen – Nicola Richards – Victoria Fan (bangkok, thailand)
Inter Press Service
BANGKOK, Thailand, Jun 20 (IPS) – Each year, the births of 64 million children under the age of five and deaths of 8.4 million people are invisible to governments in Asia and the Pacific. Most countries in the region are yet to achieve universal civil registration, leaving many people without a legal identity and, as a result, invisible to the State.
These people often face challenges in accessing basic services, such as education and healthcare, in securing employment and social benefits, and in protecting their human rights. In addition, deficient civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems lead to significant gaps and lags in up-to-date population and health data, crucial for designing and monitoring effective public policies and allocating resources.
Recognizing its importance, countries reached agreement on the Asia Pacific CRVS Decade in 2014 and set out a vision to achieve universal civil registration in the region by 2024. An applied CRVS research agenda was launched to help meet this this challenge.
Applied research on CRVS helps to generate and disseminate evidence on what strategies work, and what doesn’t, as well as how governments and partners can improve systems to better deliver on commitments to get everyone in the picture.
By documenting experiences in communities, countries and regions, the potential benefits of successful interventions and innovations can be replicated and possible shortcomings addressed.
Given the importance of applied research for improving CRVS, ESCAP organised the first ever Asia-Pacific CRVS Research Forum on 3-4 April 2023. With more than 30 speakers representing 15 countries, 24 research papers and almost 400 registered participants, the forum revealed many interesting facets of CRVS while opening eyes to the multitude of initiatives to ensure better and more inclusive systems across the region.
On-the-ground innovations were on display: a first-of-its-kind CRVS survey in Nepal that worked with both service providers and communities to understand barriers and enablers to registration; evidence from Fiji on the clear effectiveness of incentives on birth registration completeness; and the development of customized mortality audit and inquest systems in Thailand and Sri Lanka to improve the quality of cause of death data.
Much more work is needed to drive CRVS systems forward in the face of increasing challenges, with research playing a key role. In particular, the forum identified a stronger focus on building inclusive and resilient CRVS systems, including in conflict and humanitarian settings where there is both an acute need for civil registration along with increased difficulties in providing services.
As countries around the world adjust to competing government priorities during times of economic and social challenges, there is a critical need to maintain momentum on strengthening CRVS systems as the basis for realising human rights and ensuring access to basic social services including health and education.
Further, CRVS systems are essential for generating timely mortality data whose importance for pandemic preparedness and response has been recently emphasized. As demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, research is central to ensure continued innovation and improvement, and to provide opportunities to reflect and learn.
We hope in the future to develop this work further to embed and develop critical applied research capacity within countries and at the implementation level – to ensure we can really get everyone in the picture.
Tanja Sejersen is a Statistician; Nicola Richards is Consultant, ESCAP; Victoria Fan is Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development.
These human tragedies are playing out at Europe’s land and sea borders on a daily basis. The first quarter of this year marked the deadliest in the central Mediterranean in six years, say humanitarian organisations in a joint statement. Credit: UN News Centre
by Baher Kamal (madrid)
Inter Press Service
MADRID, Jun 19 (IPS) – Make no mistake: European States are complicit in the death of thousands and thousands of human beings on their shores, land borders and at home. The massive drowning of hundreds of migrants close to Greece shores on 14 June is just a new chapter in Europe’s long series of continued violations of all international human rights laws.
So far, 10 worldwide known humanitarian organisations have strongly reacted, in a joint denunciation statement, asking the European Union (EU) to ‘end rights violations at Europe’s borders.’
In their Joint NGO statement: The EU must not be complicit, launched on 16 June, organisations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, OXFAM and Save the Children, among others, warned that once again, dozens of lives have been lost at Europe’s borders “due to the EU’s failure to allow people seeking protection to reach Europe safely.”
Hundreds are missing and presumed dead after the latest tragedy close to the Greek coast, with reports that amongst the dead are many women and children who were held below the deck of this overcrowded fishing vessel.
Europe urged to end rights abuse, senseless deaths
Hundreds of reports and evidence submissions have been published, including those based directly on witness and survivor testimonies.
Organisations have advocated relentlessly with the European Commission, Member States and European policy makers to adopt measures to end human rights abuses and senseless deaths at EU borders, it adds.
Furthermore, on 8 June European Union’s Member States agreed on a reform of the European asylum and migration system, which is built on deterrence and systematic detention at EU borders, that will most probably incentivise more pushbacks, and deaths at sea, while the border monitoring mechanisms established so far are neither independent nor effective.
“This will only push people fleeing war and violence into even more dangerous routes and cause more unnecessary deaths. Meanwhile, EU Member States continue to rely on untransparent deals worth billions with third countries, in an attempt to rid themselves of their asylum responsibilities.”
In their joint statement, the human rights watchdogs urge a full investigation into these deaths, specifically into the role of EU Member States as well as the involvement of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, which supports the management of the EU’s external borders and the fight against cross-border crime.
An ‘open graveyard’ at Europe’s borders
“We urge the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, to finally take a clear stand on the open graveyard at Europe’s land and sea borders, and to hold Member States accountable.”
“We call for a European asylum system that guarantees people the right to seek protection in full respect of their rights. The EU should abandon the narrative of blaming shipwrecks on smugglers and stop seeing solutions solely in the dismantling of criminal networks.”
“A recipe for more abuse at EU borders”
Analysing the new reform of the European asylum and migration system, Human Rights Watch‘s Judith Sunderland on 9 June warned that EU migration reforms deal will increase suffering at borders.
“European governments pave the way for further abuse,” reported Sunderland, Human Rights Watch’s Associate Director, Europe and Central Asia Division.
A June 8 agreement among European Union countries on asylum procedures and migration management is “a recipe for more abuse at EU borders,” she warned.
Interior ministers meeting in Luxembourg endorsed policies that “will entrench rights violations, including expedited procedures without sufficient safeguards, increased use of detention, and unsafe returns.”
The deal creates an expedited “border procedure” for anyone applying for asylum following an irregular entry or disembarkation after a rescue at sea, she adds.
The procedure would be mandatory for asylum seekers coming from countries whose nationals have a less than 20 percent rate of being granted some form of protection and anyone authorities say withheld or used false information, Sunderland further reports.
People are also likely to be “locked up” during the procedure, which could take up to six months, with few exemptions for people with vulnerabilities, families, or children.
According to the human rights defender, imposing this procedure in conjunction with detention or detention-like conditions is directly linked to the twin interests of many EU countries in preventing people travelling further into Europe from countries of first entry and in deporting people as swiftly as possible.
The agreement would allow each country to determine what constitutes a “safe third country” where people can be returned, based on a vague concept of “connection” to that country. This could lead to people being sent to countries they have merely transited or where they have a family member but have themselves never been, and where their basic rights cannot be guaranteed.”
Want to further abuse human rights, just pay a fine!
“EU countries have rejected a mandatory relocation scheme, instead aiming to allow countries who won’t take asylum seekers to pay into a common fund that would be used to finance unspecified projects in non-EU countries, presumably focused on preventing migration.”
When the European Commission presented its proposal for a Migration Pact in September 2020, more than 70 organisations warned the proposal risked “exacerbating the focus on externalisation, deterrence, containment, and return.”
The remains of a shipwreck on a beach in western Libya. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza/IPS
by Karlos Zurutuza (rome)
Inter Press Service
ROME, Jun 19 (IPS) – A new catastrophe in the Mediterranean, this time off the coast of Greece. The number of drowned still to be determined — barely 100 survivors speak of more than 700 passengers on board— will be added to almost 30,000 lost at sea since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migrations.
Those are just the people that someone, family or friends, ever claimed. The actual figures are almost certainly much higher.
We read that the traffickers’ boat had left the coast of Libya bound for Italy. We rarely look deeper. Does anyone remember Libya other than as the port of departure after a new misfortune at sea?
Libya has always been a transit country from Africa to Europe. Today, however, we are talking about a scale of unfathomable magnitude, for a very simple reason. Libya has been in chaos for more than a decade, and by now the line dividing trafficking mafias, armed militias, and politicians has become almost invisible.
It might not have turned out this way. We all remember 2011, when a wave of protests against regimes entrenched for decades rocked the Middle East and North Africa. Once that unrest descended into conflict, Libya’s revolt became doubtless the most visible. The eight-month civil war monopolized TV channels and newspapers throughout the world.
The war seemed to end with the lynching of the country’s leader, Moammar Gaddafi, in October of that same year. Literally overnight, Libya disappeared from global attention, as focus shifted elsewhere. There was neither time nor international will to reflect on what had happened, and would come next.
It would prove a missed opportunity. Libya’s immediate future did not look bleak at the time. In 2012, after presidential elections in Tunisia and Egypt, Libya too elected a post-Ghaddafi democratic body, the first General Congress of the Nation, designed to replace the “umbrella” body opposition forces had created during the war, the National Transitional Council.
Elections brought hope to a society that had never been asked its opinion on anything. And at first, unlike what happened in neighboring countries, a self-dubbed “democratic” coalition of new political parties took hold, with political moderates prevailing over an emerging religious extremist wing.
But the euphoria only lasted until that summer. Sectarian attacks against Sufi Muslims took place, followed closely by the assassination of the US ambassador in Benghazi. Images of the burning American consulate anticipated the unraveling to come.
Migrants spotted aboard a sinking dinghy boat somewhere off the Libyan coast. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS
A new war broke out in 2014, but remained almost unreported and poorly understood outside Libya. The country split between two governments: one in Tripoli that had the backing of the UN, and another in Tobruk, in the east of the country, that had the backing of allies such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates. Both sides claimed to be the legitimate government of Libya.
In the fall of 2015, emails leaked to the UK Guardian revealed that Bernardino León, the United Nations envoy for Libya charged with mediating the conflict, had maintained close links with the UAE, which backed Tobruk’s side in the war. Neutrality was assumed from the UN negotiatorbut this was seemingly not the case.
After “Leongate” forced the UN envoy’s resignation in November 2015, León would move to Dubai, where he was appointed director of the UAE’s Diplomatic Academy. International press remained largely silent on the scandal, and a promised UN investigation never saw the light of the day. Far from contributing to a rapprochement between Libya’s two warring sides, the UN process had led to the war dragging on, and the two sides to entrench.
In 2019, after five years of neither side gaining the upper hand, the Tobruk side, led by strongman Khalifa Haftar — a general who had helped bring Gaddafi to power, and was then later recruited by the CIA— launched a brutal offensive at Tripoli, receiving air and logistics cover from the United Arab Emirates.
The attack on Tripoli was fast and indiscriminate. Civilian targets were bombarded, provoking officials in London and Berlin to initially protest Hafter’s move as “an attack by someone who had not been attacked”. European governments debated calling for Haftar to reign in the onslaught.
Once again, European politics would come into play in Libya. EU parliamentary elections—held in May 2019— filled the Brussels parliament with politicians who were less concerned with the lost to average Libyans, and shared French President Emmanuel Macron’s more hawkish vision.
The French leader’s US counterpart, Donald Trump, also called France and Russia directly and told them he wanted neither Egypt nor the UAE, Haftar’s backers, as enemies. Washington would go on to support Haftar in Tobruk, though the rival Tripoli government had the backing of the UN.
All this would occur in a nation with enormous potential for prosperity. Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa, as well as reserves of underground water and promising mineral resources. It is very close to Europe geographically, boasting an enormous tourist potential and a network of ports that many governments would dream of.
With a population of barely six million, it would be easy for Libya to turn into a model of progress and well-being for the entire region. But the world’s decision-makers have other plans, it appears. In addition to the calls between Washington, Brussels and Moscow, governments in Ankara, Doha, Dubai, Cairo and Riyadh, among others, also know Libya’s strategic and financial value, and want their share. If they don’t get what they want there, each of them will make sure their rivals don’t either.
While global forces take the country’s fate out of Libyans’ own hands, thousands of Sudanese, Malians, Somalis, Nigeriens and others fleeing war and misery continue to pass through a mirage of a country. Those who survive the brutal desert journey fall in the hands of the deeply-rooted human trafficking networks, which operate unmolested amid Libya’s chaos.
The long-awaited stability in Libya is key for the region and its people, including those in the northern Mediterranean. But the world continues to look the other way. After this new catastrophe at sea, we will only remember that an entire country, and its people, from a single line, so familiar now: “The boat had departed from Libya.”
Woman and child walk through flood waters in east Jakarta, Indonesia. Climate change impacts are becoming more severe, and there is concern that vulnerable developing countries will not receive the assistance required to mitigate risks. Credit: Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan / World Meteorological Organization
by Busani Bafana (bulawayo)
Inter Press Service
BULAWAYO, Jun 19 (IPS) – Vulnerable countries, banking on robust climate negotiations, want an inclusive funding package to help them with the devastating impacts of climate change.
The poor progress at the 2023 Bonn Climate Change Conference, known as the 58th session of the Subsidiary Bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), has dampened hopes for successful climate negotiations at COP 28.
SB58, which closed in Bonn, Germany, last week, was marked by wide disagreements, including the adoption of the agenda. The session ended without concrete outcomes on an array of key issues, such as the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund, the mitigation work programme, the global stock take (GST), and the global goal on adaptation (GGA).
Yamide Dagnet, Director for Climate Justice at Open Society Foundations. Credit: TJ Kirkpatrick, Open Society Foundations
“Even when we do not like the pace that the negotiations have gone, we have to find a way to a solution sooner than later; human existence is at stake,” Yamide Dagnet, Climate Justice Director at Open Society Foundations (OSF), told IPS.
The foundation has been supporting the climate change community in pushing for solutions.
“We need to see more efforts to make the whole society more resilient.”
She said having a financial package for investment and development aligned with the Paris Agreement was crucial.
Dagnet said there was an urgent need to support building resilient communities because climate change impacts are becoming more frequent and severe, destroying lives and livelihoods, particularly in vulnerable countries. Furthermore, the extreme weather events have also destroyed communities and cultures and damaged property.
“We need to work hard, sweat, and speed the pace of negotiations on our ability to find common ground and avoid a zero-sum game,” said Dagnet, a former climate change negotiator. She underscored that the Bonn meetings matter because they are laying the ground for discussions at COP28 and highlighting areas of cooperation and division.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its recent report, has called for accelerated action to adapt to climate change while cutting greenhouse gas emissions, warning of a huge gap in actions currently underway and what is needed to deal with the increasing risks.
Developed countries have called for the inclusion of adaptation in the GST.
Ephraim Mwepya Shitima, Chair of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) developing countries’ commitment to mitigating climate change, should be recognized. He called for an additional message in the GST to acknowledge this “strong demonstration of commitment by vulnerable countries in the face of inadequate international support.”
Vulnerable countries want mitigation and adaptation to be included in a negotiated package at COP28, Dagnet said, noting that the G7 should fulfill their promise to provide adaptation finance.
“The financing of the Loss and Damage is part of the financing package that is needed. But we need to focus on everything, including mitigation and adaptation for vulnerable countries; otherwise, COP 28 will not achieve anything,” she said, highlighting that countries must develop more ambitious climate plans.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, agreed to keep the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2° C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
However, scientists have warned that the world is off target in emission reduction, and the influential UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has indicated that going beyond the 1.5°C threshold risks unleashing severe climate change impacts, including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves and rainfall.
The agreement also recognized that developed countries should take the lead in providing financial assistance to poor and vulnerable countries while encouraging voluntary contributions by other Parties.
“Climate justice is to be fought for. This is a process, and if we are to make progress in the operationalization of a fund created at COP 27, we need to get clarity on how we can bring in money to that fund, and such money should not be increasing debt for vulnerable countries,” she noted.
Climate finance is a nagging issue for vulnerable countries already suffering the impacts of climate change. They need to adapt and mitigate against climate change by shifting to cleaner energy and making food systems resilient to the impacts of droughts, high temperatures, and floods.
Developed countries, wary of liability, have not delivered the finance they pledged to help vulnerable countries reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. The $100 billion a year financing pledged 20 years ago has not been delivered, and prospects are dim that it will. The envisaged Loss and Damage Fund—if COP28 operationalizes it—will help vulnerable countries cope with climate-induced disasters.
Dagnet says there is a need for innovative financing for loss and damage, such as tapping blended finance, philanthropy, taxes, and levies on some economic sectors, such as fossil fuels and aviation.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently proposed that rich governments tax fossil fuel companies’ windfall profits. The Marshall Islands have also proposed levies on shipping through the International Maritime Organization. At the same time, other ideas for funding adaptation have included levying a small fee on international flights—which contribute to climate-heating emissions—and a global tax on financial market transactions, which the new fund could distribute.
While COP 27 prioritized the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund, COP 28 is not about cherry-picking an issue to progress on, Dagnet argues, suggesting that the state of the Paris Agreement is key in climate negotiations.
“We need to deliver on all pillars of the Paris Agreement and demonstrate progress,” she said. “We are far from the Paris Agreement goals. The push for energy efficiency targets is really good, but at the same time, we cannot have the message that we will continue business as usual with fossil fuels.”
In his message marking the day, the Secretary-General condemned the use of sexual violence as a tactic of ‘war, torture, and repression’ in the conflicts that affect hundreds of millions of people around the world.
“Harrowing reports from across the globe are a terrible reminder that this despicable crime persists despite international commitments to stamp it out. And many of those responsible never face justice. While stigma too often causes survivors to walk in shame, perpetrators walk free”, said Mr. Guterres.
Mr. Guterres also emphasised that the United Nations stands “in solidarity with survivors” and everyone supporting them and is committed to “redoubling efforts” to prevent atrocities and hold those responsible to account.
Listen to survivors
António Guterres also called on governments to adhere to international humanitarian law, building it into military codes of conduct and training – and most importantly, commit to listening to survivors.
“And it means holding perpetrators to account, so that they face justice – we must confront the belief that fighters can inflict horror with impunity,” said Mr. Guterres.
Technology and preventing harm
This year’s International Day focuses on technology and the digital divide.
“Accessible technology can alert people to danger, help them to reach sanctuary and support, and enable abuses to be documented and verified, as a first step towards accountability”, said Mr. Guterres.
“But it can also perpetuate violence, harm survivors, and inflame hate. We must ensure technology supports our efforts to prevent and end these crimes, including by increasing access and holding people to account for their actions online.”
Gender norms and sexual violence
European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, also issued a statement, focusing on the impact conflict-related sexual violence on gender norms.
They said they had joined forces to call for “more decisive action to prevent and eliminate sexual violence, and to advance gender equality as a political priority. We are alarmed by the growing use of sexual violence as a cruel tactic of war, torture, terror and political repression, and threat to collective security.”
Double edged sword
The risk of becoming a target of sexual violence today is heightened by the fact that these crimes can also be facilitated and promoted online, utilizing digital channels.
“At the same time, digital platforms can play an important role and be a powerful tool to improve gender equality and empower women and girls, contributing to building their resilience in times of crisis.
“They can also aid in the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence, and the needed response, through early warning and linking survivors with referral pathways for services, and facilitating reporting,” they said.
The means to prevent sexual violence online are either “insufficient or non-existent”, which weakens the ability to respond and equality, they added.
“Therefore, we call for safe digital platforms compliant with international law, so that survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and those supporting them may use these platforms to fight impunity and demand improved accountability. It is critical to foster a protective environment, both online and offline, that deters and prevents sexual violence as well as enabling safe reporting and adequate response,” they said.
International call
The international community must be as one “to confront the ever-increasing threat posed by digital technology and bridge the gender digital divide to allow survivors to access more resources and fight impunity”.
“By addressing the gender digital divide, we can create a world where women and children can live free from fear and violence,” Ms. Patten and Mr. Borrell said.
Yohei Sasakawa chronicles his campaign to rid the world of leprosy in his biography Making the Impossible Possible. Credit: Hurst Publishers
by Joyce Chimbi (nairobi)
Inter Press Service
NAIROBI, Jun 19 (IPS) – In 1974, Yohei Sasakawa accompanied his father to a leprosy hospital he had funded. He saw leprosy patients inside the hospital still and expressionless. The smell of leprosy filled the air, the smell of pus from open sores.
His father sat with the patients, touched their hands and faces, and encouraged them to be hopeful. Treatment was within reach, and they would live. At that moment, Sasakawa wondered about the life that awaited these patients outside the hospital – a difficult life of discrimination and alienation, with many ostracized from society. He silently vowed to dedicate his life to ending leprosy.
Yohei Sasakawa chronicles his campaign to rid the world of leprosy in his biography Making the Impossible Possible. Credit: Hurst Publishers
In his newly published book, Making the Impossible Possible, he chronicles face-to-face encounters with an ancient disease shrouded in many myths and misconceptions. His travels to leprosy-endemic countries as WHO’s Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination started in 2001 and has involved over 200 trips to nearly seventy countries.
“Nearly all of my destinations have been remote locations where people live in quite desperate conditions. It has always been my belief that the place where the problems are happening is also precisely where the solutions will be found,” he says.
“I am also a firm proponent of the Neo-Confucian idea that knowledge is inseparable from practice. I want to be a man of deeds. I became involved in my international humanitarian work out of a passionate desire to be involved on the front lines until my last breath, and I am the first to admit that my work is done, in that sense, for my own personal satisfaction.”
The conference is a nod to February 28, 1873, when Norwegian doctor Gerhard Armauer Hansen discovered Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy. To commemorate the historic anniversary, the conference seeks to highlight that 150 years later, leprosy is not a disease of the past.
Leprosy still exists as a neglected tropical disease in more than 120 countries worldwide, with at least 200,000 new cases reported annually. Nevertheless, progress over the last half-century has brought the world closer to the goal of a world without leprosy.
The Bergen conference is an opportunity to draw on the knowledge, experience, and wisdom of many people at the place where Mycobacterium leprae was first observed, and to build momentum to complete the last mile in leprosy, the hardest part of the journey.
Sasakawa’s book is a treasure trove of challenges, triumphs, best practices, lessons learned, and insights into what it will take to finish the last mile in the decades-long marathon to eliminate the ancient disease.
The book is the most detailed account of Sasakawa’s quest to work for a world without leprosy and the discrimination it causes.
It is an account of his travels to remote communities around the world to hear directly from those affected by the disease, as well as his meetings with policy-makers, government leaders, and heads of state to advocate for a renewed commitment to the fight against leprosy, including measures to protect the human rights of those it affects.
“For as long as I can remember, I have made a point of repeating three messages in every meeting, conference, or press conference that I attend. The first message is that leprosy is curable. The second is that free treatment is available everywhere around the world. And the third message is that discrimination against people affected by leprosy has no place,” Sasakawa affirms.
“These messages are very easy to understand. But the third one, the message that discrimination has no place, is extremely difficult to put into practice. The habits of a lifetime and ingrained unconscious attitudes are not easily dispelled.”
Similarly, these messages will reverberate throughout the two-day conference to spread the message that today, leprosy is treatable with multidrug therapy (MDT), but if treatment is delayed, leprosy can cause progressive impairment and result in lifelong disability.
Delayed treatment and consequent disability have largely contributed to the persistent stigma surrounding the disease and the discrimination that persons affected by leprosy and their families continue to face. Discrimination is also a barrier to new case detection, discouraging people from seeking treatment.
Through sustained concerted efforts, many countries and international organizations, led by the WHO, are now aiming for zero leprosy—zero disease, zero disability, and zero discrimination.
Achieving this goal will require stakeholders to cooperate closely. To this end, the conference will bring together key leprosy stakeholders from around the world for two days of discussions focused on three pillars: medical, social, and historical.
Notable dignitaries scheduled to deliver messages at the event include Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Ingvild Kjerkol, Minister of Health and Care Services, Norway.
Keynote speakers include Professor Paul Fine of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Dr Alice Cruz, the UN Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members.
The conference is part of the “Don’t Forget Leprosy/Don’t Forget Hansen’s Disease” campaign launched by the Sasakawa Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease) Initiative in 2021. It follows the 2022 Global Forum of People’s Organizations on Hansen’s Disease held in Hyderabad, India, the 2023 International Symposium at the Vatican on Hansen’s Disease incorporating the Global Appeal 2023 to End Stigma and Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy, and 150-anniversary events.
Hate speech reinforces discrimination and stigma and is most often aimed at women, refugees and migrants, and minorities. If left unchecked, it can even harm peace and development, as it lays the ground for conflicts and tensions, wide scale human rights violations.
To turn back the rising tide of hate, the United Nations is marking the International Day for Countering Hate Speech by calling on everyone to work together to build a more respectful and civil world, and for effective action to end this toxic and destructive phenomenon.
Responses must protect free speech
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also warns that misguided and ambiguous responses to hate speech – including blanket bans and internet shutdowns – may also violate human rights by restricting freedom of speech and expression.
Similarly, the top UN human rights official, Volker Türk, says that the spread of hate speech-related laws being misused against journalists and human rights defenders is almost as viral as the spread of hate speech itself.
In his message on the Day, he stresses that broad laws – that license States to censor speech they find uncomfortable and to threaten or detain those who question Government policy or criticize officials – violate rights and endanger essential public debate.
“Rather than criminalizing protected speech, we need States and companies to take urgent steps to address incitement to hatred and violence,” Mr. Türk says.
‘Amplify voices that cut through the hate’
But we are far from powerless in the face of hate speech, says Mr. Guterres, stressing that “we can and must raise awareness about its dangers, and work to prevent and end it in all its forms.”
He cites the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech as the Organization’s comprehensive framework for tackling the causes and impacts of hate speech, and notes that the world body’s offices and teams around the world are confronting hate speech by implementing local action plans, based on this strategy.
“The United Nations is consulting governments, technology companies and others on a voluntary Code of Conduct for information integrity on digital platforms, aimed at reducing the spread of mis- and disinformation and hate speech, while protecting freedom of expression,” he adds.
Mr. Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calls for a range of actions – from education initiatives and investing in digital literacy programmes to listening to those most effective by hate speech and holding companies to their human rights obligations.
“More also needs to be done to address mega-spreaders – those officials and influencers whose voices have profound impact and whose examples inspire thousands of others,” Mr. Türk said. “We must build networks and amplify voices that can cut through the hate.”
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Jun 16 (IPS) – If you’ve never heard of the Cybercrime Convention, you’re not alone. And if you’re wondering whether an international treaty to tackle cybercrime is a good idea, you’re in good company too.
Negotiations have been underway for more than three years: the latest negotiating session was held in April, and a multi-stakeholder consultation has just concluded. A sixth session is scheduled to take place in August, with a draft text expected to be approved by February 2024, to be put to a vote at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) later next year. But civil society sees some big pitfalls ahead.
Controversial beginnings
In December 2019, the UNGA voted to start negotiating a cybercrime treaty. The resolution was sponsored by Russia and co-sponsored by several of the world’s most repressive regimes, which already had national cybercrime laws they use to stifle legitimate dissent under the pretence of combatting a variety of vaguely defined online crimes such as insulting the authorities, spreading ‘fake news’ and extremism.
Tackling cybercrime certainly requires some kind of international cooperation. But this doesn’t necessarily need a new treaty. Experts have pointed out that the real problem may be the lack of enforcement of current international agreements, particularly the 2001 Council of Europe’s Budapest Convention.
When Russia’s resolution was put to a vote, the European Union, many states and human rights organisations urged the UNGA to reject it. But once the resolution passed, they engaged with the process, trying to prevent the worst possible outcome – a treaty lacking human rights safeguards that could be used as a repressive tool.
The December 2019 resolution set up an ad hoc committee (AHC), open to the participation of all UN member states plus observers, including civil society. At its first meeting to set procedural rules in mid-2021, Brazil’s proposal that a two-thirds majority vote be needed for decision-making – when consensus can’t be achieved – was accepted, instead of the simple majority favoured by Russia. A list of stakeholders was approved, including civil society organisations (CSOs), academic institutions and private sector representatives.
Another key procedural decision was made in February 2022: intersessional consultations were to be held between negotiating sessions to solicit input from stakeholders, including human rights CSOs. These consultations have given CSOs the chance to make presentations and participate in discussions with states.
Human rights concerns
Several CSOs are trying to use the space to influence the treaty process, including as part of broader coalitions. Given what’s at stake, in advance of the first negotiating session, around 130 CSOs and experts urged the AHC to embed human rights safeguards in the treaty.
One of the challenges it that, as early as the first negotiating session, it became apparent there wasn’t a clear definition of what constitutes a cybercrime and which cybercrimes should be regulated by the treaty. There’s still no clarity.
The UN identifies two main types of cybercrimes: cyber-dependent crimes such as network intrusion and malware distribution, which can only be committed through the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs), and cyber-enabled crimes, which can be facilitated by ICTs but can be committed without them, such as drug trafficking and the illegal distribution of counterfeit goods.
Throughout the negotiation process there’s been disagreement about whether the treaty should focus on a limited set of cyber-dependent crimes, or address a variety of cyber-enabled crimes. These, human rights groups warn, include various content-related offences that could be invoked to repress freedom of expression.
These concerns have been highlighted by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which has emphasised that the treaty shouldn’t include offences related to the content of online expression and should clearly and explicitly reference binding international human rights agreements to ensure it’s applied in line with universal human rights principles.
A second major disagreement concerns the scope and conditions for international cooperation. If not clearly defined, cooperation arrangements could result in violations of privacy and data protection provisions. In the absence of the principle of dual criminality – where extradition can only apply to an action that constitutes a crime in both the country making an extradition request and the one receiving it – state authorities could be made to investigate activities that aren’t crimes in their own countries. They could effectively become enforcers of repression.
Civil society has pushed for recognition of a set of principles on the application of human rights to communications surveillance. According to these, dual criminality should prevail, and where laws differ, the one with the higher level of rights protections should be applied. It must be ensured that states don’t use mutual assistance agreements and foreign cooperation requests to circumvent domestic legal restrictions.
An uncertain future
Following the third multistakeholder consultation held in November 2022, the AHC released a negotiating draft. In the fourth negotiating session in January 2023, civil society’s major concerns focused on the long and growing number of criminal offences listed in the draft, many of them content-related.
It’s unclear how the AHC intends to bridge current deep divides to produce the ‘zero draft’ it’s expected to share in the next few weeks. If it complies with the deadline by leaving contentious issues undecided, the next session, scheduled for August, may bring a shift from consensus-building to voting – unless states decide to give themselves some extra time.
As of today, the process could still conclude on time, or with a limited extension, following a forced vote on a harmful treaty that lacks consensus and therefore fails to enter into effect, or does so for a limited number of states. Or it could be repeatedly postponed and fade away. Civil society engaged in the process may well think such a development wouldn’t be so bad: better no agreement than one that gives repressive states stronger tools to stifle dissent.
In a joint statement, refugee agency UNHCR and migration agency IOM, said that the duty to rescue people in distress at sea without delay was a “fundamental” rule of the international maritime law.
They underscored that the current approach to Mediterranean Sea crossings – one of the world’s most dangerous and deadly migration routes – was “unworkable”.
According to figures released by the IOM on Tuesday, last year 3,800 people died on migration routes within and from the Middle East and North Africa – the highest number since 2017.
The recent tragedy adds to the gruesome statistics. While the number of people aboard the boat is still not clear, it is believed to have been somewhere between 400 and 750.
The boat was reportedly in distress as of Tuesday morning. A large-scale search and rescue operation was announced by the Hellenic Coast Guard on the morning of 14 June, after the vessel capsized.
UN support continues
UNHCR and IOM representatives have been on the ground in Kalamata in southern Greece working with the authorities to provide support and assistance to survivors.
These include non-food items, hygiene kits, interpretation services and counselling for survivors.
The agencies said they welcome investigations underway by Greek authorities into the circumstances leading up to the disaster.
‘Unworkable’
“It is clear that the current approach to the Mediterranean is unworkable. Year after year, it continues to be the most dangerous migration route in the world, with the highest fatality rate.
“States need to come together and address the gaps in proactive search and rescue, quick disembarkation, and safe regular pathways,” said Federico Soda, IOM Director for the Department of Emergencies.
UNHCR called on the European Union to put “safety and solidarity at the heart of its action in the Mediterranean”.
Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Gillian Triggs said in view of increased migrant numbers, “collective efforts, including greater coordination between all Mediterranean States, solidarity, and responsibility-sharing, as reflected in the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum, are essential to save lives.”
The agency continues to advocate for the establishment of an agreed regional disembarkation and redistribution mechanism.
Make traffickers accountable
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk added his voice, reiterating that the incident highlighted the need to fully investigate people smugglers and human traffickers and ensure that they are brought to justice.
He voiced solidarity with the survivors and the families of the victims, many of whom are women and children.
Mr. Türk called on States to open more regular migration channels, enhance responsibility-sharing, and ensure the safe and timely disembarkation of all people rescued at sea.
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