Stéphane Dujarric was speaking a day after the Security Council voted to send the non-UN mission to the Caribbean country, where armed groups have taken control of large areas of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and terrorized civilians for more than a year.
Violence by armed groups is just one element of the multifaced crisis in Haiti, which remains gripped by political, humanitarian, and socioeconomic challenges.
The international mission has been approved for an initial period of 12 months, with a review after nine. It will be led by Kenya and several of Haiti’s neighbours have also pledged their support.
“Yesterday’s resolution was not about the approval of a UN mission, but the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) will fully support the Multinational Security Support mission, within the limits of its mandate, the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy and in full respect of the decisions taken by the Haitian State,” said Mr. Dujarric.
“While awaiting the deployment of this mission, the UN will continue to engage closely with Haitian authorities – in particular in support to the police, the corrections and justice system, and the electoral process,” he added.
Positive step
Maria Isabel Salvador, the head of BINUH, the UN’s political mission in Haiti, called the Council decision “a positive and decisive step to bring peace and stability to the country”.
“This decision follows a long plea by the Haitian government, relayed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, based on the observation that the country will not emerge from the current security situation without strong international support for the Haitian National Police,” she said in a statement issued after the vote.
With Haiti confronting many crises, she urged political leaders to “rise to the occasion to address the challenges facing the country and its population.”
Human rights in Haiti: fast facts*
The human rights situation is marked by brutal attacks, including indiscriminate killings and kidnappings targeting the civilian population.
Armed violence and attacks by gangs against the population escalating.
Gangs have used snipers on rooftops to indiscriminately shoot people.
Mass looting and burning of houses have resulted in the displacement of thousands of people.
Sexual violence, including collective rape, is used by gangs to terrorize especially women and girls.
The emergence of vigilante movements presents an additional layer of complexity to an already highly challenging security situation.
National institutions are ill-equipped to re-establish the rule of law.
Stabilizing the security situation in Haiti will require significant support to national police.
* From the Report of the Secretary-General on Haiti, September 2023
Stephen Jackson, the UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, reflects on the 2022 elections, which saw an effective partnership with the Government and private-sector rise to the occasion to take down fake news.
“No one is born with hate. Hate is taught, and then hate spreads.
Over recent years, social media and other digital platforms, amplified by algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), have enabled vitriolic messages with hatred and disinformation to ‘spread like wildfire’, as the Secretary-General has stated.
United Nations
Stephen Jackson of Ireland is the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Kenya.
In many countries around the world – rich and less well off – hate speech and disinformation threaten social cohesion, sowing chaos and confusion, polarizing communities, igniting online and sometimes offline violence, and undermining faith in democracy itself.
Kenya has been no exception.
‘Avalanches of hateful messaging’
Hate speech and disinformation are at their most destabilizing during electoral periods, when avalanches of hateful messaging and divergent, destabilizing narratives confuse voters to distinguish between fact and falsehood, and between ‘truth’ and conspiracy theories.
In Kenya, according to a Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism survey, 75 per cent of respondents said that they found it hard to distinguish between what is real and what is fake when it comes to news on the internet.
Recognizing the scale of this threat ahead of the 2022 presidential elections, the Government of Kenya and our team at the Resident Coordinator’s office jumped into action.
‘Milestone’ anti-hate speech action plan
In June 2022, Kenya launched a national action plan against hate speech, as part of its long-term Roadmap for Peaceful Elections, which was designed to curb and prevent disinformation and inflammation via social media and to inform peaceful counter-messaging.
Having helped Kenya to develop this milestone plan, the United Nations was equally determined to help find innovative ways to support its implementation.
The first step was ensuring that the competent Kenyan institutions gained the ability to track and monitor hate speech in real-time and understand the environment in which they proliferate.
Two women seeking to become part of the political process in Kenya exchange ideas.
Countering hate speech in real-time
Given how complex and fast-moving social media is, this task couldn’t be done alone. It needed pulling together a multistakeholder partnership, with buy-in from different partners: government, civil society, local influencers, and the media platforms themselves.
Thanks to the convening capacities that come with the role of UN Resident Coordinator and the invaluable work of our advisors on peace and development and human rights, we were able to do just that.
We helped the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) and the Media Council of Kenya to create an innovative, high-tech consortium with private sector partners to track and counter hate speech in real-time.
With support from the UN Peacebuilding Fund and the German Embassy in Kenya, our Kenya-wide Mapema (early in Swahili) Consortium partnered with AI startups (Code for Africa), youth media platforms (Shujaaz) and online influencer organizations (Aifluence) to build a state-of-the-art online early warning system.
This system had the capacity to not only detect the sources and spreaders of misinformation, tracking in real time in English, Swahili, and Sheng, the street language of Kenyan youth.
Combined with existing systems to monitor other traditional media channels, we were able to help the competent Kenyan institutions paint a more vivid picture of the networks and influencers which were amplifying the disinformation.
Keeping up the good fight
But, we can’t stop here. Beyond the election, it’s incumbent on all international partners like the UN to help Kenya further deepen her remarkable democracy. A big part of doing that is the ongoing fight to strengthen accountability mechanisms and bolster the Government’s long-term capacity to stop the spread and mitigate the pernicious impact of hate speech on Kenya’s public life.”
UN Resident Coordinator
The UN Resident Coordinator, sometimes called the RC, is the highest-ranking representative of the UN development system at the country level.
In this occasional series, UN News is inviting RCs to blog on issues important to the UN and the country where they serve.
A further 70 people were injured in Friday’s attacks at the Hangu mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and at a religious procession in Mastung, Balochistan.
“It is particularly abhorrent that the attacks occurred at a place of worship and during the celebration of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday,” Mr. Guterres said in a statement.
He reiterated UN’s solidarity with the Government and people of Pakistan in their efforts to address terrorism and violent extremism.
‘Criminal and unjustifiable’
Members of the UN Security Council also condemned the attacks “in the strongest terms”, stressing that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.
“Any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed,” they said in a statement.
Council members urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Government of Pakistan and other relevant authorities to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice.
Miguel Ángel Moratinos, High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), also denounced the attacks, reiterating “houses of worship are sacred places where worshipers should be able to practice their faith safely and freely.”
Over 88,000 refugees from the Karabakh region have fled to Armenia in less than a week and humanitarian needs are surging, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.
The UN agency said on Friday that 264 suspected cholera cases, four confirmed cases and 16 associated deaths werereportedin the eastern state as of 25 September.
Investigations are taking place to determine whether the disease has spread to Khartoum and South Kordofan states, which have seen increased cases of acute watery diarrhoea.
Sampling and surveillance
WHO is deploying rapid response teams to the affected localities and is actively supporting the Ministry of Health to transfer samples of suspected cases to the Public Health Laboratory in Port Sudan.
Surveillance is ongoing in affected and high-risk areas to identify and address risk factors. A request is going out to the international body managing emergency vaccine supplies during major outbreaks, the ICG, for oral cholera vaccines.
Access amid war
The WHO Representative in Sudan, Dr Nima Abid, visited Gederaf state on 17 September and met with health authorities and partners to coordinate response to the outbreak.
He stressed the importance of having unhindered access to the affected areas and nearby locations.
“A cholera outbreak can have a devastating effect in the context of a health system already overstretched because of war, shortages of medical supplies and health workers, malnutrition and access challenges,” he said.
Healthcare under fire
The war in Sudan erupted in mid-April. Fierce fighting between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left thousands dead and uprooted more than five million, with impacts across the region.
Sudan is also grappling with disease outbreaks and malnutrition, which have been compounded by heavy rains and flooding. The health system is overwhelmed by attacks on facilities as well as the scarcity of medical supplies and equipment, health workers and operational funds.
Some 70 per cent of hospitals in conflict-affected states are non-functional, while active hospitals elsewhere are overwhelmed by the influx of internally displaced people.
Support, supplies and training
WHO said that even before the outbreak was declared it had already provided cholera supplies such as antibiotics, oral rehydration solution and intravenous fluids to six states in Sudan.
The agency was also supporting three cholera isolation centres in Gedarefstate, providing medicines and health supplies to two facilities, and equipment and medical supplies to the third.
Earlier this year, more than 2,800 Sudanese health workers took part in an online training course conducted by WHO on the management of acute watery diarrhoea in times of crisis.
Another online course was held this week for 8,000 health workers which covered cholera, dengue and malaria management protocols.
“Every day the lives of Haitian people become even harder, but it is vital that we do not give up. Their situation is not hopeless. With international support and resolve, the Haitian people can tackle this grave insecurity, and find a way out of this chaos,” Mr. Türk said.
The High Commissioner’s latest report on the human rights situation in Haiti stresses that the deployment of a multinational security support mission is essential to assist the HNP in tackling organized crime, armed gangs and international trafficking in arms, drugs and people.
The report details the findings of the High Commissioner’s Designated Expert on the human rights situation in Haiti, William O’Neill, who visited the country in June 2023.
BINUH
Detainees in a Haitian prison
Haitian Prisoners
According to the report, Haiti’s prisons are inhumane and the situation of detainees epitomizes the continued erosion of the rule of law in the Caribbean country.
At the end of June 2023, Haitian prisons held 11,810 inmates, more than three times their maximum capacity. Nearly 85 per cent of those in detention were awaiting trial.
During his visit to the National Penitentiary in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince and the Central Prison in the northern city of Cap-Haïtien, Mr. O’Neill observed detainees crammed into small cells, in stifling heat, with limited access to water and toilets.
“They must endure a suffocating smell and, in the capital, mounds of rubbish, including human excrement, add to the squalor. The detainees must take turns sleeping because there is not enough room for them to lie down at the same time,” the report reads.
“Lives are at stake,” Mr.Türk said. “Time is of the essence – we need to comprehend the sense of urgency this crisis demands.”
Escalating violence
The latest report from the UN Secretary-General on Haiti says that “Haiti faces a multidimensional crisis, with gang violence at its centre, which undermines State institutions.”
Armed gangs control or exercise influence over about 80 per cent of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, with gang violence affecting all neighbourhoods.
According to the report, “violence is also spreading to departments beyond the capital. Over the past few months, a significant increase in serious crimes, such as homicide, kidnapping and rape, has been reported. Indiscriminate, large-scale attacks against entire neighbourhoods and their residents have displaced almost 130,000 people.”
The spread of gang violence has provoked popular protests against the Government and a rise in vigilante groups and related violence, including killings and lynchings, which has further frayed social cohesion.
In April 2023, an anti-gang vigilante movement, commonly known as “Bwa Kale”, emerged in Port-au-Prince.
The Secretary General stressed that “the prevalence of armed violence has a significant impact on socioeconomic activities. Freedom of movement is impaired as gangs extort, hijack or rob commercial and public vehicles transiting through arterial roads.”
“Schools have been forced to close as a result of escalating violence, with children being exposed to the risk of recruitment by gangs.
Gangs have managed to isolate entire neighbourhoods, predominantly for economic gain. They intimidate the local population through violent means, including the targeting of critical infrastructure.”
Humanitarian crisis
Insecurity has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis. The number of people in need of humanitarian aid has nearly doubled over the past three years. Attacks against schools by gang members have increased ninefold in the past year, and many health workers have left the country.
Once the security situation is stabilized, there needs to be investment in the development of socio-economic opportunities to enable the people of Haiti to access better living conditions and ensure lasting stability and prosperity of the country, according to the Un chief.
Strengthening State institutions
In Haiti, impunity and decades of poor governance and corruption have contributed to the current crisis.
“The cycle of violence never ends because rarely is anyone held to account,” said the Secretary-General. “It [the State] must hold accountable both those responsible for crimes and its own officials in the police, courts and prison system to provide security for and deliver justice to the population.”
This week, members of the UN Security Council are expected to continue negotiating a draft resolution authorizing the deployment of a non-UN multinational security support mission to Haiti.
The Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry reiterated his call for an international force in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Friday 22 September.
“In the name of the women and girls raped every day, the thousands of families driven from their homes, the children and young people of Haiti, who have been denied the right to education and instruction, in the name of all a people who are victims of the barbarity of gangs, I urge the international community to act quickly.”
Here’s what you need to know about what happens next:
UN Photo/Cia Pak
Prime Minister Ariel Henry of Haiti addresses the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 78th session.
Why is an international security mission necessary?
Haiti is wracked by violence that has escalated to unprecedented levels. Between 1 January and 9 September this year, 3,000 homicides were reported; there were also over 1,500 victims of kidnapping for ransom. The UN says that some 200,000 people (half of whom are children) have been forced to flee their homes because it’s just too dangerous to remain.
Sexual violence and abuse against women and girls is on the rise, and tens of thousands of children are unable to attend school due to insecurity.
Haiti’s military is small and only modestly equipped. The Haitian National Police (HNP) is unable to fully contain the outbreak of violence and needs international support so that Haitians can return to a situation where they can go about their daily lives without the fear of being murdered, displaced, kidnapped, or raped.
People protest on the streets of Port-au-Prince in crisis-torn Haiti.
Who is supporting the security assistance?
Just about everyone agrees that assistance from the international community is needed to support the HNP in its efforts to stabilize the situation. As far back as October 2022 UN Secretary-General António Guterres responded to a request from Prime Minister Henry, urging nations to step forward.
In July, on a visit to the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, the UN chief repeated that immediate action was necessary.
“The seriousness of the situation demands our urgent and sustained attention. We must put the victims and the civilian population at the centre of our concerns and priorities” adding that “if we do not act now, instability and violence will have a lasting impact on generations of Haitians. I reiterate my call to all partners to increase their support for the national police – in the form of financing, training or equipment.”
The issue was once again high on the agenda of the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 78th session, which concluded on Tuesday.
In his speech, US President Joe Biden said the “people of Haiti cannot wait much longer,” and Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona, the President of the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, called for “a revival of our collective determination to forge a more secure, inclusive and sustainable future for Haiti”.
Communities in Port-au-Prince have erected barricades of abandoned vehicles to limit the risk of kidnappings and gang attacks.
Why has it taken so long to establish the mission?
A major sticking point has always been which country would step forward to lead what could be a very complicated and risky mission. Media reports suggest that gangs exert some control over around 80 per cent of the capital and the Haitian Prime Minister said that there were 162 armed groups with 3,000 “soldiers” across the country.
In late July, Kenya announced it was considering leading the multinational security support effort in Haiti. Kenyan officials have visited Haiti and held talks with Haitian and regional leaders, among others, regarding the mandate and scope of such an operation.
Kenyan President William Ruto told the General Assembly that Haitians were “suffering immensely from the bitter legacy of slavery, colonialism, sabotage and neglect”, adding that dealing with the situation there was the “ultimate test of international solidarity and collective action”.
Fellow Caribbean nations and members of the CARICOM regional group, including Jamaica, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda have expressed their readiness to support the mission.
UNDP/Borja Lopetegui Gonzalez
The Haitian National Police needs to be strengthened to be able to respond to the huge challenges it faces, according to the UN.
What type of operation will it be?
It’s important to note that the security mission will not be a UN operation, unlike MINUSTAH, the UN peacekeeping mission to Haiti, which ended in 2017.
Prime Minister Henry has asked for the “robust support” of police and military personnel to support the HNP. He added that this support was “indispensable to defeat the gangs, re-establish order and create an environment for the proper functioning of the State”.
President Ruto of Kenya said the mission, which could include 1,000 Kenyan personnel, would be “well-resourced and effective”.
WFP/Theresa Piorr
IOM delivers relief items to vulnerable communities in Cité Soleil, Haiti.
What happens next and what is the UN’s involvement?
The UN Security Council is due to meet to develop the framework for and authorize this non-UN mission. The 15-members of the Council will consider approving what is known as a Chapter Seven provision of the UN Charter that authorizes the use of force after all other measures to maintain international peace and security are exhausted.
Meanwhile, the UN continues to support Haiti on multiple fronts. A political mission, known by its French acronym, BINUH, continues to support government efforts to strengthen political stability and good governance, including the rule of law.
UN agencies are also providing immediate humanitarian aid to Haitians affected by violence, insecurity and natural disasters such as the August 2021 earthquake. And they are supporting national authorities and public institutions in restoring long-term sustainable development gains. This includes strengthening an inclusive economy and the administration of justice, ensuring the delivery of and access to basic social services and improving the management of multidimensional risks.
During the last three months, more than 10,000 housing units were advanced, Tor Wennesland told ambassadors at the UN Security Council in New York.
“Settlements further entrench the occupation, fuel violence, impede Palestinian access to their land and resources, and systematically erode the viability of a Palestinian State as part of a two-State solution”, the senior envoy said.
“I call on the Government of Israel to cease all settlement activity and dismantle outposts immediately, in line with its obligations under international law,” he added.
The regular briefings stem from Security Council resolution 2334, adopted in December 2016, which demanded that Israel stop building new settlements on Palestinian land.
Escalating violence
Mr. Wennesland also expressed concern over escalating violence in the occupied West Bank and Israel, at levels not seen in decades. He bemoaned the use of increasingly lethal weaponry, including in densely populated areas.
There have been casualties on both sides. Palestinians, including children, were killed or injured during demonstrations, clashes, security operations, and attacks, while Israelis, including members of the security forces, suffered casualties also.
Mr. Wennesland called for immediate steps to de-escalate tensions.
“I condemn all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror. Such acts can never be justified and must be condemned by all. Perpetrators must be held accountable and swiftly brought to justice,” he said.
Funding crunch
Additionally, Mr. Wennesland noted funding shortage affecting UN humanitarian agencies, including the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and World Food Programme (WFP), calling on Member States to provide more support.
UNRWA urgently needs $75 million to maintain food assistance through December for 1.2 million Palestinians in Gaza, while WFP requires $32 million for aid efforts across the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
Political process
Concluding his briefing, the Special Coordinator said there was no substitute for a legitimate political process to resolve core of the issues driving the conflict.
He reiterated his commitment to supporting both Palestinians and Israelis to resolve the decades of conflict, “in pursuit of the vision of two States – Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, viable, and sovereign Palestinian State – living side by side in peace and security within secure and recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the shared capital of both States.”
Addressing the opening of the IAEA’s General Conference in Vienna on Monday, Mr. Grossi said that 53 missions mobilizing more than 100 agency staff have been deployed as part of a continued presence inside Ukraine’s five nuclear power plants.
These include the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, or ZNPP, on the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, where Mr. Grossi said that the situation remained “very fragile”.
‘Courageous service’ by IAEA staff
The ZNPP is controlled by Russian forces but operated by its Ukrainian staff. It is Europe’s largest nuclear plant and the IAEA has been monitoring the situation there since the early days of the conflict.
In a message read out at the opening of the General Conference, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that he applauded the “courageous service” of IAEA personnel stationed at the plant. He pledged that the UN will continue to do “all it can” to ensure the safe rotation of experts operating across Ukraine’s five nuclear facilities.
Chad: Sudan refugee health crisis escalating warns WHO
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has called for urgent funding support in the face of a growing health crisis in eastern Chad, where over 400,000 people have fled the brutal military civil war in Sudan during the past five months.
The Senior Advisor to WHO’s regional office for Africa, Dr Ramesh Krishnamurthy, stressed the need to “ramp up” interventions in the areas of primary healthcare, mental health, maternal and child health, as well as nutrition.
WHO said on Sunday that in a recent screening in Chad, nearly 13,000 children under five were found to be acutely malnourished.
Hospital admissions of children with malnutrition have increased by more than half across the province of Ouaddaï, which is hosting more than 80 per cent of refugees from neighbouring Sudan.
In Ouaddaï, the UN health agency has continued to deliver critical aid to the town of Adré just a few hundred metres from the Sudanese border, working with partners to support the incoming refugees with health services, vaccination and medicines.
To date, WHO has delivered 80 metric tonnes of supplies to Adré, most recently handing over beds and mattresses to support medical and surgical care.
Reproductive rights must be respected in crises
States must ensure the right to sexual and reproductive health without discrimination, in particular in humanitarian crises, UN-appointed independent rights experts said on Monday.
The experts, who include the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health Tlaleng Mofokeng, warned of an “exacerbated” risk of violations of sexual and reproductive health rights in situations of emergency, humanitarian or conflict settings.
Women and girls are especially vulnerable to serious harm, the experts said, and urged countries to ensure access to modern contraceptive methods including emergency contraception, and access to legal and safe abortion.
They called for training for healthcare providers on safe abortion and aftercare, where resources are limited.
Welcoming decriminalisation
The experts also welcomed the “decriminalisation of abortion in some countries”. Earlier this month, Mexico’s Supreme Court abolished all federal criminal penalties for abortion and ruled that national laws prohibiting it were unconstitutional.
According to WHO, ensuring women and girls have access to safe, respectful and non-discriminatory abortion care is fundamental to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals relating to good health and well-being as well as gender equality.
WHO has also said that while contraceptive services are fundamental to health and human rights, over 200 million women in developing regions have an unmet need for contraception.
The World Health Organization’s representative to the DRC, Dr Boureima Hama Sambo, warned that in six eastern provinces, health facilities have been set alight, health workers killed and others face constant physical and psychological threats, while supplies have been looted. Heavy rain, flooding and landslides have also compromised aid access.
Dr Sambo said that the DRC is facing its worst cholera outbreak since 2017, with the eastern provinces accounting for 80 per cent of the cases. The country is also battling a major measles epidemic and the combination of measles and malnutrition was particularly deadly for children under five.
The UN health agency official said that WHO has deployed experts to the affected areas to support the authorities in investigating and responding to these outbreaks, delivered medical supplies for cholera treatment, supported transportation of samples to labs for testing, and built cholera treatment centres.
Vaccine campaign
The World Health Organization recently completed a vaccination campaign in Ituri province reaching over one million of children under five, with more campaigns to follow in Kasaï and Mai-Ndombe.
WHO was also providing health services, including access to mental health and psychosocial support, to victims of gender-based violence. Some 23,000 cases were reported in the six provinces from January to August 2023 and Dr Sambo said that the real figures were “probably much higher”.
For a “more sustainable and resilient health response” in Eastern DRC, Dr Sambo called for stronger donor support, as the UN health agency’s response in the region was only 14 per cent funded so far.
Iran: new hijab bill must be shelved: Türk
Staying with the High Commissioner for human rights: Volker Türk said on Friday that Iran’s “draconian” Chastity and Hijab Bill “flagrantly flies in the face of international law” and must be shelved.
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, addresses the 54th Session of the Human Rights Council.
The bill vastly increases jail terms for offenders and provides for crushing fines on women and girls who do not obey the compulsory dress code.
According to the UN rights office (OHCHR), under the new, “even stricter” bill, now in its final stage of consideration before Iran’s constitutional court, those who do not comply with country’s strict Islamic dress code on head coverings and modest clothing risk up to 10 years in jail.
Those found in breach could also be flogged, as well as fined up to an equivalent of $8,500, subjected to travel restrictions and deprived of online access.
OHCHR called the decree “repressive and demeaning”, insisting that “women and girls must not be treated as second class citizens”.
Russia expert says mandate provides ‘bridge to the Russian people’
The independent UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, underscored on Friday the importance of her mandate to give a voice to victims of alleged violations in the country.
“Why is my mandate important? Because it’s also the bridge to the Russian people, to the victims, to the civil society, to those who dare speak against the war on Ukraine”, she told reporters in Geneva.
“It’s a voice for the people of the Russian Federation, this mandate.”
The independent Human Rights Council-appointed expert presented her first report to the Council on Thursday, sounding the alarm about what she says is a pattern of suppression of civil and political rights in Russia.
‘Persistent use of torture’
She voiced grave concerns over mass arbitrary arrests and the “persistent use of torture and ill-treatment.”
Citing almost 200 sources from inside and outside the country, the independent expert expressed concern about a lack of judicial independence and right to a fair trial.
The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Russia was created by the Human Rights Council in October last year, for a period of one year.
Ms. Katzarova told reporters that she thought a continuation of the mandate would be important, especially amid what she called “dark times for human rights” in Russia.
This is the first time in its history that the Council has authorised a rights expert to investigate rights violations within the borders of one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, the so-called “P5”.
Ms. Katzarova stressed that the P5 had a special responsibility to set an example for the rest of the world.
India: UN rights chief welcomes new bill to boost women in parliament
Rights chief Volker Türk welcomed on Friday the passage of a landmark bill in India which will reserve one third of seats in national and state parliaments for women.
The UN rights office (OHCHR) said that the Women’s Reservation Bill will constitutionally entrench women’s representation in parliament and be a “transformative move” for gender equality in India.
Citing India’s example, Mr. Türk called on parliamentarians around the world to adopt legislative measures – including, where necessary, gender quotas – to ensure women’s equal participation in the political discourse.
The new Bill requires ratification by at least 50 per cent of India’s states to enter into force and the UN rights office called for their “swift support” and rapid implementation of the new system.
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