Tag: Law and crime prevention

UN investigative team outlines findings around ISIL chemical weapons use — Global Issues

Senior officials with the UN Investigative Team promoting accountability for ISIL crimes, UNITAD, presented some of their findings to Member States meeting at UN Headquarters in New York.

For the past five years, UNITAD has been gathering evidence of crimes committed during ISIL’s self-proclaimed caliphate from June 2014 to December 2017, which could be used to prosecute the extremists in national or foreign courts.

Prosecution is rare

Christian Ritscher, Special Adviser and Head of UNITAD, recalled that chemical weapons use is outlawed internationally and could constitute a crime against humanity, war crime or even contribute to genocide, if a specific group is targeted.

“To the best of my knowledge, the use of chemical weapons by non-State actors has rarely been adjudicated, if at all, in any court – whether national or international – around the world. As UNITAD, we would like to play our part and aim to change this,” he said.

The investigations into ISIL’s development and use of chemical and biological weapons began two years ago, looking into the March 2016 attack on the town of Taza Khurmatu and whether other incidents had taken place elsewhere.

‘Sophisticated’ programme

Team Leader Paula Silfverstolpe said ISIL’s operations represent the culmination of nearly two decades of experimentation by Sunni jihadi groups, marking “the most sophisticated programme developed by non-State actors so far”.

The overall manufacturing of weapons and ammunition fell under ISIL’s self-styled Department of Defence, specifically the Committee of Military Development and Manufacturing (CMDM), which had a monthly budget of over a $1 million as well as extrabudgetary funds to purchase raw materials.

More than 1,000 combatants were involved in production, according to ISIL payroll records.

Hundreds were deployed to the chemical weapons programme, and specific job advertisements were placed to recruit scientists and technical experts, including from abroad, drawing people from countries such as the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Belgium.

A terrible ‘first’

Specialist research and development teams were located at the then extremist-run University of Mosul in northern Iraq, rural parts of Anbar province, and the city of Hawija, home to ISIL headquarters.

Ms. Silfverstolpe said the militants developed at least eight chemical agents – aluminium phosphide, botulinum toxin, chlorine, cyanide ion, nicotine, ricin, thallium sulfate and sulfur mustard, which is also known as mustard gas.

ISIL was also the first non-State group to develop a banned chemical warfare agent and combine it with a projectile delivery system.

The toxins sulfur mustard, chlorine and aluminium phosphide are banned under the Biological Weapons Convention, and evidence demonstrates that ISIL weaponized their use in mortars, rockets and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The terror group also explored the possibility of acquiring anthrax but there has been no evidence so far that combatants used it, or other biological agents, in any attacks, although investigations continue.

Human testing and bonus payments

UNITAD has also collected evidence which indicates that ISIL tested chemical agents on humans – including ricin, nicotine and thallium sulfate – as well as animals such as rabbits.

ISIL records demonstrate that top leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died in 2019, authorized the use of chemical weapons by troops and even approved bonus payments for those soldiers deploying them. “Martyrdom payments” were made if they died.

Al-Baghdadi also personally ordered the attack against Taza Khurmatu “with the purpose of causing as many casualties as possible”. Of the 42 projectiles launched against the town, at least 27 contained sulfur mustard, which causes blisters and painful burns. Two children died and thousands of people, including first responders, were injured.

‘Widespread and systematic’ attacks

Judge Ali Noaman Jabbar of the Taza Investigation Court said the re-opening of the case and UNITAD’s interest has motivated numerous victims and their families to provide their testimonies.

“The impact caused by the chemical attack includes various diseases such as cancer, skin diseases, miscarriages, deformities in embryos, chronic diseases, and psychological impact and trauma,” he said in a video message.

The attack on on Taza Khurmatu “was definitely not an isolated case”, according to Ms. Silfverstolpe. Information shows at least 12 other attacks were carried out in other locations, with unconfirmed reports of 35 more.

“It was quite a widespread and systematic phenomena, as far as the information that we have collected so far,” she said.

Honour the victims

UNITAD will continue to work with Iraq and other countries towards building cases in connection with 21 “persons of interest” suspected of involvement in the ISIL chemical weapons programme, who include foreign nationals.

While some are believed to be dead, others have been detained or are living in third countries.

Although the caliphate has been destroyed, Mr. Ritscher warned that the terrorism threat has not disappeared.

“We need to advance criminal accountability in relation to the use of chemical weapons in the name of victims and survivors of ISIL to promote peace and reconciliation in Iraq, but also because it is a responsibility of the entire international community, given that such threats and crimes may present themselves in other countries,” he said.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Admissible evidence, competent courts, critical to ensuring justice for ISIL victims in Iraq — Global Issues

Ambassadors were briefed by Christian Ritscher, Special Adviser and Head of the UN Investigative Team to promote accountability for these crimes, UNITAD, established five years ago.

The Islamist group declared a self-styled caliphate across parts of Iraq and northern Syria in 2014, before being militarily defeated and driven from Iraq in December 2017.

Commitment stronger than ever

Presenting UNITAD’s 10th report, he informed of progress to date, including supporting the digitization of millions of documents which are now in the possession of the Iraqi judiciary.

Investigators have also produced a case-assessment on ISIL’s development and use of chemical weapons. Further details will be outlined during an event at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday, co-hosted alongside Iraq and India.

“Today, the commitment of the Iraqi Government, in partnership with UNITAD, to advance the fight against impunity, seek justice in the name of victims and survivors – most of whom are Iraqis – and to address the remaining threat posed by ISIL, is stronger than ever,” he said.

Mission not over

However, the mission is far from over. Mr. Ritscher stressed that “UNITAD’s work is to not simply establish a record for ISIL crimes, but to hold ISIL members who committed such heinous international crimes accountable, through evidence-based trials and before competent courts.”

“International crimes” refers to the serious violations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The UN team is already working closely with competent Iraqi investigative judges who support their investigations, he said.

“In turn, UNITAD is enhancing their capacities and ensuring that Iraqi courts are ready to hold ISIL perpetrators accountable for their international crimes, when the moment comes,” he added.

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Christian Ritscher, Special Adviser and Head of the Investigative Team established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2379 (2017) (UNITAD), briefs the Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and security.

Mountains of evidence

Mr. Ritscher assured the Council that there is no shortage of evidence of ISIL crimes, describing the terrorist group as “a large-scale bureaucracy that documented and maintained a State-like administrative system.”

“What we aim to do is to ensure that this evidence is admissible before any competent court, whether in Iraq or in other States where prosecutions of ISIL members for international crimes are taking place,” he said.

Archiving digitized documents

In this regard, UNITAD has been leading a largescale project to digitize “considerable volumes” of ISIL records and battlefield evidence. So far, eight million pages from the holdings of the Iraqi and Kurdish authorities have been digitized.

“Senior Iraqi Judges have informed me that their response times in relation to case files and requests for information have significantly improved, signalling lasting change because of these innovative efforts,” he said.

As a next step, UNITAD is establishing a central archive that will be the unified repository of all digitized evidence against ISIL. The archive will be located at the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq and launched in the coming days.

“This central repository will play a key role to support prosecutions of ISIL perpetrators for their international crimes in Iraq. Moreover, it could be a milestone to founding a comprehensive e-justice system in Iraq, which can be upheld as a leading example, not only in the region, but also globally,” he said.

Legal framework key

Meanwhile, adopting an appropriate domestic legal framework remains the main challenge, Mr. Ritscher told the Council.

He underlined UNITAD’s committed to supporting the Iraqi-led process towards a legal framework that enables national courts to prosecute ISIL criminal acts as international crimes.

He pointed to the recent establishment of a joint working group bringing together Government, legal and judicial representatives, as well as key parliamentarians, as an important step forward.

“Once an appropriate domestic legislation on international criminal law has been adopted, the way forward will be clearer. I remain hopeful that this will happensooner rather than later,” he said.

Preparing for future trials

In parallel, UNITAD has already begun to contribute to the preparation of future trials.

The Team has intensified cooperation with counterparts in the Iraqi judiciary, to jointly build cases against specific persons of interest and alleged perpetrators, prioritizing those living outside Iraq.

Investigators are currently supporting some 17 countries, by conducting witness interviews, as well as providing expert testimonies and technical analysis in criminal proceedings against alleged ISIL members and supporters.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

From serving time to serving lattes — Global Issues

“I want to make the most of my time, even in prison, and this training should help me find a job later,” said Denny, 31, who has just over two years left of a five-year prison sentence. “Of course, I knew how to make a coffee before, but here I am learning about different flavours, smells and aromas, and about the artistic side of coffee making.”

Denny is one of 200 inmates in the Tangerang Class IIA Correctional Facility and among more than 35,000 inmates across Indonesia who are involved in vocational training, from eco-printing on textiles to farming. While learning how to be a barista behind bars, he said he hopes to get a job in a café following his release.

Salis Farida Fitriani, who heads the correctional facility, said the programme aims at building a better future, but skills training alone is not enough for inmates to succeed in the outside world.

To deal with a society that often stigmatizes them for life, she said, the prison offers training in personality development, counselling, and religious teaching.

“Our goal is to provide positive activities and training for the inmates,” she said. “The programme includes personality development as well as vocational training to help with their future livelihoods.”

UNIC Jakarta

Starting a business is hard after serving time in prison, said Haswin, a 32-year-old former drug offender who opened a coffee shop after leaving Tangerang Class IIA Correctional Facility in Indonesia in January 2022.

Breaking the ‘ex-con’ stigma

Starting a business is hard after serving time in prison, said Haswin, a 32-year-old former drug offender. Leaving Tangerang correctional facility in January 2022, he now operates his own coffee shop, mixing modern and traditional coffee styles alongside mocktails and snacks.

“Life is so much better now,” said Haswin, adding that his former bartending job was a prime factor in his involvement with drug-related offences that led to his arrest in 2018.

“I am more content with life and proud of my creativity,” he explained. “I had never thought I could find a career outside nightlife.”

Now, his work is not just a “means to make ends meet”, but a new opportunity.

“I want to break the stigma around ‘ex-cons’ by showing that former offenders can also be independent and creative,” he said.

UNIC Jakarta

Studying for a university degree is part of a UN-supported pilot programme at the Tangerang Class IIA Correctional Facility in Indonesia.

From sports to university programmes

Tangerang Class IIA gives prisoners a chance to do that. They can also compete in professional sports at Tangerang, a prison unique in Indonesia for offering a full university education programme. Open to prisoners across Indonesia, a pilot programme currently serving 200 inmates is poised to roll out countrywide, subject to funding, Ms. Fitriani said.

Asep, a third-year Islamic studies student with Syekh Yusuf Islamic University, said he, like many in the programme, could not afford to go to university in his life before prison.

“I was always keen to learn, but my economic situation did not make it possible for me to study,” he said.

Following the same curriculum the university offers to its regular students, Asep and his schoolmates attend classes thrice weekly for six hours each day. After graduation and before the end of his prison sentence, Asep said he hopes to help his fellow prisoners by offering religious counselling.

“I get to learn a lot about the world and about life outside,” he said. “It helps me cope better with my long sentence. It will help the others, too.”

UNIC Jakarta

Inmates at the Tangerang Class IIA Correctional Facility in Indonesia can compete in professional sports through a pilot programme.

Tailored to inmates’ needs

Supported by the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), the training programmes are designed with help from a set of assessment tools that provide evidence-based approaches tailored to inmates’ individual needs.

Corrections officers use these tools to evaluate and better understand inmates, including the level of security risk they may pose, their compatibility with the programme, and their likely response to education.

Within UNODC’s prisoner rehabilitation initiative, which focuses on education, vocational training, and employment during incarceration, the goal is to contribute to the prisoners’ employability after release, thus reducing chances of recidivism.

United Nations

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

With this in mind, the agency partnered with Indonesia’s Directorate-General of Corrections to create an assessment matrix that helps corrections officers to build psychological and security profiles of prisoners and enables staff to keep track of their progress, said Rabby Pramudatama, a programme manager at UNODC’s Jakarta office.

“We need to make sure, for instance, that we get inmates who are unlikely to disturb the classes and will cooperate with teachers and their fellow students,” he said.

Second chances

UNODC also collaborates and supports such non-governmental organizations as Second Chance, which help inmates to reintegrate into society once they are out of the facility.

On a quiet morning, some inmates were reviewing verses from the Quran, while others gathered around to watch a pair of sparring kickboxers. As rain set in, they spoke of the sunshine that was bound to break through, sooner or later.

For Denny, he said the sunshine will come on the day when he, too, can get out and find a job.

“My main drive right now is to be a better person than I was before,” he said, adding that until that day, he will focus on religious activities and brewing perfect cappuccinos in barista classes.

Learn more about how UNODC is helping to reform prisons across the world here.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Huge increase in transnational crime and synthetic drugs in SE Asia requires cross-border cooperation — Global Issues

A Thai Navy launch travels at high speed down the muddy brown waters of the Mekong River close to the border town of Chiang Saen in the north of Thailand. To the right is Laos, where huge construction projects funded by foreign investment are rising out of the lush undergrowth along the riverbank and ahead to the left are the dense jungles of Myanmar.

This is the storied Golden Triangle where historically opium was grown to produce heroin for export but where, in recent years, the trade of even deadlier and more profitable synthetic drugs has taken over.

Thailand, Laos and Myanmar are at the frontlines of illicit trade in Asia dominated by transnational organized crime syndicates.

River seizure

The crew on the Thai boat is buoyant following the recent seizure of 6.4 million pills of the banned and highly addictive synthetic drug methamphetamine, known locally as yaba.

“I was astonished but also really pleased that we seized this amount of yaba,” Captain Phakorn Maniam Head of Operations and Intelligence Section of the, Mekong Riverine Unit, Royal Thai Navy told UN News. “Normally, this amount of drugs is seized on land; it’s a difficult operation apprehending offenders in the middle of the river,” he said, “and so I’m especially proud of our crew, who are so dedicated to protecting our country and our people.”

A few miles downstream at the small town of Houay Xai on the Laos side of the Mekong, border authorities are celebrating their own significant seizure of drugs; the previous night following a tip-off, a military land patrol caught drug mules carrying 500 kilograms of crystal meth. The previous month 7.1 million methamphetamine pills had also been seized in the same area.

The drugs tracked down in Laos and Thailand had originated in illegal industrial-scale laboratories operated by militias and criminal gangs in the remote mountainous jungles of northern Shan State in Myanmar and were being transited through both countries to the Thai capital, Bangkok, but also across Southeast Asia and to distant lucrative markets including Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia.

It’s difficult to calculate with any certainty what quantity of synthetic drugs is being manufactured in Myanmar, but some estimates suggest many hundreds of tons are being trafficked out of the country.

Despite the seemingly relentless flow of drugs, the Thai and Lao authorities are experiencing some success thanks, in part, to the support of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) which is promoting a regional intelligence gathering network.

UN News/Daniel Dickinson

Captain Phakorn Maniam is deployed to the Thai Navy Mekong Riverine Unit

Officer C, who is based in Houay Xai with Lao authorities and who did not want to be named for security reasons, said that cooperating with law enforcement agencies across the border in Thailand through regular calls, face-to-face meetings and other communications has improved the response to illegal trafficking. “With this cross-border collaboration and sharing of information, we have been able to counter narcotics trafficking and also other types of transnational organized crime.”

The crime-fighting authorities in Thailand and Laos are collaborating more closely as a result of UNODC’s Regional Border Management Programme under which a network of border liaisons offices or BLOs were set up to strengthen cross-border cooperation and information sharing.

The network of over 120 BLOs stretches across Southeast Asia from Myanmar in the west to China in the east and Indonesia to the south and also includes Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam.

The BLOs are being strengthened with the support of UNODC to counter what the drugs and crime fighting agency’s Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Jeremy Douglas, calls “one of the biggest drug trafficking corridors in the world.”

UN News/Daniel Dickinson

Three countries, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos, come together at the Golden Triangle.

The challenges in disrupting this transnational trade are immense according to Mr. Douglas: “There are complex governance issues at play in the Golden Triangle and inside Myanmar, with fragmented armed groups and militias involved in the drug trade and other illicit businesses that control territory,” he said. “At the same time, these groups are operating in very remote places, and in some cases along very porous, open borders. It is easy to traffic drugs and illicit goods in and out of Myanmar, and the situation is very difficult for its neighbours to address.”

The increase in the production of synthetic drugs in recent has been “unprecedented” according to the UNODC Regional Representative who believes that collaboration between countries is “fundamental” to preventing trafficking: “This is a shared responsibility; addressing transnational criminality requires states to collaborate to react quickly to what’s happening, especially along border areas.”

It is not just drugs which are being trafficked across the region. Chemical precursors to manufacture synthetic drugs are being illegally transported into Myanmar in quantities far larger than the drugs that are trafficked out. Trafficking in people, wildlife, timber and weapons is also taking place.

In such a complex and problematic environment, new skills are needed to deal with fresh challenges. As part of its BLO support, UNODC has developed training partnerships with agencies across Southeast Asia.

UN News/Daniel Dickinson

A border liaison officer in Laos.

On Highway 1, some 40 kilometres south of the Thai-Myanmar border Police lieutenant Colonel Amonrat Wathanakhosit is taking her students through a practical exercise focused on searching vehicles for contraband.

“Our students are using UNODC knowledge products and training and learning how to question drivers, and they are getting use to how they are behaving. Our students are becoming more confident about identifying which drivers may be hiding synthetic drugs.”

Unlike heroin, the production of which is restrained by the natural growing cycle of the opium poppy, methamphetamine can be manufactured almost at will as long as precursor and other chemicals are available.

The collaboration of governments with the support of UNODC is helping to stem the flow of drugs, even if it is widely accepted that seizures represent only a small percentage of the drugs which are trafficked across the region.

Officers like Lt Col Amonrat Wathanakhosit recognize the challenges but she no doubt speaks for many across the region saying that “my job trying to stop drugs is crucial to the security of my country.”

UN News/Daniel Dickinson

A Thai police officer stops a vehicle at a checkpoint 40 kilometres south of the Thai-Myanmar border.

Quick facts on border liaison offices (BLOs)

  • Some 120 BLOs have been established across Southeast Asia.
  • BLOs are established in pairs – on either side of an international border crossing.
  • BLOs address myriad cross-border issues, including drug and precursor chemical trafficking, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, wildlife and forestry crime, and, in some locations, the movement of terrorist fighters alongside public health and pandemic-related matters.
  • The BLO network works to enhance relationships between the law enforcement and border communities, community policing efforts, and the role and leadership of women in law enforcement agencies.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

US state abortion bans ‘putting millions of women and girls at risk’ — Global Issues

Since the start of the year, abortion has been banned in 14 states across the country, and the consequences of the Supreme Court decision has reverberated throughout the entire legal and policy system, the Human Rights Council-appointed experts said.

“The regressive position taken by the US Supreme Court…by essentially dismantling 50 years of precedent protecting the right to abortion in the country, puts millions of women and girls at serious risk,” they said. They added that violations of International Human Rights Law had resulted from the landmark decision, which overturned the 1973 Roe vs Wade decision – in effect, returning abortion law to state legislatures.

Largely inaccessible

The bans have made abortion services largely inaccessible and denied women and girls their fundamental human rights to comprehensive healthcare including sexual and reproductive health, the experts maintained, adding they could lead to violations of women’s rights to privacy, bodily integrity and autonomy, freedom of expression, freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, equality and non-discrimination, and freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and gender-based violence.

Disproportionate impact

“Women and girls in disadvantaged situations are disproportionately affected by these bans,” the experts said. They referred to women and girls from marginalised communities, racial and ethnic minorities, migrants, women and girls with disabilities, or living on low incomes, in abusive relationships or in rural areas.

The experts said that existing exceptions in some cases – in order to save a mother’s life, or conceptions resulting from rape or incest – although narrow, have proved unworkable in practice.

Unworkable exceptions

“The conditions of the exceptions often do not reflect medical diagnosis and sometimes exclude health-threatening conditions,” they said: “Even in cases where physicians determine that the abortion can go ahead, they may still find it difficult to assemble a full team given the reluctance of other health professionals.”

They warned that the Supreme Court decision also had a chilling effect on doctors and healthcare workers who may face legal consequences for their care decisions, including those regarding medically necessary or life-saving abortions or the removal of foetal tissue from women with incomplete miscarriages.

Unsplash/Gayatri Malhotra

Death threats

“We are particularly alarmed by the increasing reports of threats to the lives of abortion service providers across the country,” the experts said.

The threat of criminalisation in many States has discouraged women and girls from engaging with the health system and seeking prenatal care the experts said. “It is particularly alarming that some clinics are now refraining from providing abortion-related services, even in States where it remains legal,” they said.

According to the experts, state bans have been accompanied by a steady and rapid erosion of the right to privacy, as police and other criminal investigators increasingly rely on data to track those seeking abortions or those who aid and abet them.

Much of this data can be accessed without a warrant, they said.

“We urge both the federal and state Governments to take action to reverse the regressive rhetoric seeping through the legislative system and enact positive measures to ensure access to safe and legal abortion,” the independent experts concluded.

Special Rapporteurs and other rights experts are all appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, are mandated to monitor and report on specific thematic issues or country situations, are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Economic woes dash job prospects in low income countries: ILO — Global Issues

In its new Monitor on the World of Work report, ILO shows that while in high-income countries, only 8.2 per cent of people willing to work are jobless, that number rises to over 21 per cent in low-income countries – or one in every five people.

Low-income countries in debt distress are worst affected, with more than one in four people who want to work unable to secure employment.

Widening jobs gap

ILO’s Assistant Director-General for Jobs and Social Protection, Mia Seppo, said that global unemployment was expected to fall below pre-pandemic levels, with a projected rate of 5.3 per cent in 2023, equivalent to 191 million people.

However, low-income countries, especially those in Africa and the Arab region, were unlikely to see such declines in unemployment this year.

The 2023 global jobs gap, which refers to those who want to work but do not have a job, is projected to rise to 453 million people, she said, with women 1.5 times more affected than men.

Africa hit hardest

The UN agency further indicated that Africa’s labour market had been hit the hardest during the pandemic, which explained the slow pace of recovery on the continent.

Unlike wealthy nations, debt distress across the continent and a very limited fiscal and policy space, meant that few countries in Africa could put in place the kind of comprehensive stimulus packages they needed to spur economic recovery, ILO explained.

Inadequate social protection

Ms. Seppo stressed that without improvement in people’s employment prospects, there would be no sound economic and social recovery. Equally important is investment in welfare safety nets for those who lose their jobs, the ILO senior official insisted, which is often inadequate in low-income countries.

According to the agency’s research, boosting social protection and expanding old age pensions would increase gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in low and middle-income countries by almost 15 per cent over a decade.

Social investment benefit

The annual cost of such measures would be around 1.6 per cent of GDP – a “large but not insurmountable” investment. Ms. Seppo suggested that the amount could be financed by a mix of social contributions, taxes and international support.

“There is an economic gain to investing in social protection”, she said.

Ms. Seppo also insisted that the need to create fiscal space for social investment in low-income countries should be considered “with urgency as part of the ongoing global discussion on the reform of the international financial architecture.”

Prepare for the future of work

While the unemployed divide projected by the report was worrisome, it was “not inevitable”, Ms. Seppo said, and the right concerted action on jobs and social protection funding could support a recovery and reconstruction which leaves no one behind.

In calling for improved capacity to develop “coherent, data-informed labour market policies” that protect the most vulnerable, the ILO senior official insisted that these should have an emphasis on upskilling and reskilling the labour force to prepare it for a “greener, more digital world of work”.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

UN chief strongly condemns DPRK spy satellite launch — Global Issues

The country, commonly known as North Korea, attempted to fire off its first military reconnaissance satellite earlier that day but it crashed into the sea, according to media reports.

The DPRK has reportedly pledged to conduct another launch after it learns what went wrong.

The UN chief noted that any launch using ballistic missile technology is contrary to relevant Security Council resolutions.

“The Secretary-General reiterates his call on the DPRK to cease such acts and to swiftly resume dialogue to achieve the goal of sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” the statement said.

Chaos and confusion

The launch sparked confusion in neighbouring South Korea and in Japan.

Authorities in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, sent text messages urging residents to move to safety but later said they were sent in error.

The Japanese Government also issued a warning to people in Okinawa prefecture, located in the south of the country.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Guterres voices deep concern as Anti-Homosexuality Act signed into law — Global Issues

The draconian law foresees the application of the death penalty and long prison sentences for consensual sex between adults.

Non-discrimination principle

Mr. Guterres called on Uganda to fully respect its international human rights obligations, “in particular the principle of non-discrimination and the respect for personal privacy”, irrespective of sexual orientation and gender identity.

He also called on all Member States to end the criminalization of consensual same-sex relations.

According to the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, such criminalization continues in 67 countries around the world, with 10 still imposing the death penalty.

Undermining development

Just last week, the UN rights chief Volker Türk said that anti-LGBTQI laws like Uganda’s “drive people against one another, leave people behind and undermine development”.

In a statement released at the end of March, when the Ugandan parliament first adopted the legislation, he described the discriminatory bill as a “deeply troubling development” that was “probably among the worst of its kind in the world”.

“If signed into law by the President, it will render lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Uganda criminals simply for existing, for being who they are. It could provide a carte blanche for the systematic violation of nearly all of their human rights and serve to incite people against each other.”

‘Massive distraction’

The bill, which was formally adopted on 21 March, proposes the death penalty for the offence of aggravated homosexuality, life imprisonment for the “offence of homosexuality”, up to 14 years in jail for attempted homosexuality, and up to 20 years merely for promoting homosexuality.

Mr. Türk said that the law would be a “massive distraction from taking the necessary action to end sexual violence”.

He warned that it would also expose journalists, medical workers, and human rights defenders to lengthy prison terms, simply for doing their jobs.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

UN commends Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, as final judgement is delivered — Global Issues

Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović were convicted by the court – part of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) which took over from the ICTY – in 2021, for their roles training death squads accused of ethnic cleansing during the conflict that saw the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

The two were originally sentenced to 12 years by the court in 2021, but Wednesday’s appeal judgement against them, increased that to 15 years, on the grounds that they were “liable as members of a joint criminal enterprise for crimes committed by various Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992”, as well as responsible for murder, in the same year.

Justice for the victims

In a statement, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that Secretary-General António Guterres “takes note of this appeal and extends his thoughts to the victims, and survivors and their families who have suffered from the crimes for which both defendants have been found guilty.”

The judgement marks the end of the final case relating to “core crimes” that the Mechanism inherited from the ICTY, which was established in 1993 to prosecute suspected war criminals.

The IRMCT Chief Prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, said that the decision demonstrated that the international community, “when united, can deliver justice to the victims and hold the most senior perpetrators responsible for their crimes.

Remembering the victims and survivors, and sheer courage of witnesses who have come forward, he added that there were still thousands of war crimes suspects throughout the former Yugoslavia, “who remain to be prosecuted.”

“We will continue our intensive efforts to provide assistance to national counterparts, to ensure that more justice is achieved for more victims.”

Truth triumphs

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, also welcomed Wednesday’s final judgement, describing the outcome as a major step to establishing the truth and addressing impunity.

“The extraordinary work and legacy of the Mechanism and of the International Criminal Tribunal before it, have not only contributed to establishing truth, justice and accountability over the years but have also powerfully advanced international criminal justice standards globally,” Mr. Türk said.

Like the Secretary-General, the UN rights chief highlighted the courage, resilience and perseverance of survivors and families who, despite appalling trauma, never stopped seeking truth and justice.

“I want to praise, strongly, the survivors and their families, whose suffering is unimaginable but who persisted in demanding their rights,” he said.

He also stressed that many survivors and their families are still awaiting truth, justice and reparations.

Threats continue

Many victims continue to face threats, intimidation, hate speech and revisionist rhetoric, including rejection of the tribunals’ decisions; denials that crimes were committed; justification of atrocities; and the glorification of war criminals.

“Verdicts like today’s, remind us of an awful past to which we must never return.

He urged the authorities, “media outlets and people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo, to step up efforts to advance truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence.

“Revisionist narratives, genocide denial, divisive rhetoric and hate speech, from any quarter, are unacceptable.”

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

UN humanitarians complete first food distribution in Khartoum as hunger, threats to children, intensify — Global Issues

WFP’s Country Director in Sudan, Eddie Rowe, told reporters in Geneva that in a major breakthrough, the agency distributed food assistance to 15,000 people in both Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) controlled areas of Omdurman, part of the Khartoum metropolitan area, beginning on Saturday.

Speaking from Port Sudan, Mr. Rowe highlighted other recent food distributions, in Wadi Halfa in Northern State to reach 8,000 people fleeing Khartoum and on their way to Egypt, as well as to 4,000 newly displaced people in Port Sudan.

Rapidly scaling up support

In total, WFP has been able to reach 725,000 people across 13 states in the country since it resumed its operations on 3 May, following a pause brought on by the killing of three aid workers at the start of the conflict.

Mr. Rowe said that WFP was rapidly scaling up its support, which they expected to expand depending on progress in negotiations for humanitarian access for all regions, including the Darfurs and Kordofans, strongly impacted by violence and displacement.

Hunger on the rise

In addition to the 16 million Sudanese who were already finding it “very difficult to afford a meal a day” before the fighting started, Mr. Rowe warned that the conflict compounded by the upcoming hunger season, could increase the food insecure population by about 2.5 million people in the coming months.

With the lean season fast approaching, WFP’s plan was to reach 5.9 million people across Sudan over the next six months, he said.

He stressed that WFP needed a total of $730 million to provide required assistance as well as telecommunications and logistics services to the humanitarian community, including all of the UN agencies operating in Sudan.

17,000 tonnes of food lost to looting

He also reiterated the humanitarian community’s call on all parties to the conflict to enable the safe delivery of urgently needed food aid, and deplored that so far, WFP had lost about 17,000 metric tonnes of food to widespread looting across the country, particularly in the Darfurs.

Just two days ago, he said, the agency’s main hub in El Obeid, North Kordofan, came under threat and looting of assets and vehicles was already confirmed.

Over 13 million children in need

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that “more children in Sudan today require lifesaving support than ever before”, with 13.6 million children in need of urgent assistance. “That’s more than the entire population of Sweden, of Portugal, of Rwanda,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.

According to reports received by UNICEF, hundreds of girls and boys have been killed in the fighting. “While we are unable to confirm these due to the intensity of the violence, we also have reports that thousands of children have been maimed,” Mr. Elder said.

‘Death sentence’

He also pointed out that reports of children killed or injured are only those who had contact with a medical facility, meaning that the reality is “no doubt much worse” and compounded by a lack of access to life-saving services including nutrition, safe water, and healthcare.

Mr. Elder alerted that “all these factors combined, risk becoming a death sentence, especially for the most vulnerable”.

UNICEF called for funding to the tune of $838 million to address the crisis, an increase of $253 million since the current conflict began in April, to reach 10 million children. Mr. Elder stressed that only 5 per cent of the required amount had been received so far, and that without the therapeutic food and vaccines which this money would allow to secure, children would be dying.

Healthcare under attack

The dire situation of healthcare in the country has been aggravated by continuing attacks on medical facilities. From the start of the conflict on 15 till 25 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) verified 45 attacks on healthcare, which led to eight deaths and 18 injuries, the agency’s spokesperson Tarik Jašarević said.

He also cited reports of military occupation of hospitals and medical supplies warehouses, which made it impossible for people in need to access chronic disease medicines or malaria treatment. Mr. Jašarević recalled that attacks on healthcare are a violation of international humanitarian law and must stop.

Keep borders open: Grandi

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, concluded a three-day visit to Egypt on Tuesday, with an urgent call for support for people fleeing Sudan – and the countries hosting them – insisting that the borders must remain open.

More than 170,000 people have entered Egypt since the conflict started – many through Qoustul, a border crossing that Grandi visited close to the end of his trip. The country hosts around half of the more than 345,000 people who have recently fled Sudan.

Mr. Grandi met newly arrived refugees and Egyptian border officials, to get a sense of the hardships being endured.

Loss ‘on a huge scale’

“I heard harrowing experiences: loss of life and property on a huge scale,” Grandi said. “People spoke of risky and expensive journeys to arrive here to safety. Many families have been torn apart. They are traumatized and urgently need our protection and support.“

The UNHCR chief also held talks with the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, and discussed how best to support refugees and mobilize resources for host countries, not least Egypt.

“I commend Egypt for its long-standing commitment to providing a safe haven to those fleeing violence,” Mr. Grandi said. “The Government, the Egyptian Red Cresent and the people, have been very generous in supporting arrivals. We urgently need to mobilize more resources to help them to maintain this generosity.”

Prior to this conflict, Egypt was already host to a large refugee population of 300,000 people from 55 different nationalities.

After registering with UNHCR, refugees and asylum-seekers have access to a wide range of services including health and education. UNHCR’s emergency cash assistance programme started during the last week.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version