May 2019 — Page 3 of 15 — Human Rights & Charity

Eight years in, Syria still embroiled in conflict ‘that no longer sparks outrage’, Security Council hears

“You all know the statistics of this conflict”, Ursula Mueller told the chamber. “You know that more than half the Syrian population has either fled the country or faced repeated internal displacement…and you know that currently, an estimated three million people in Idlib are caught up in the crossfire, with some living under trees or plastic sheeting on bare patches of land”.

There are no safe schools or clinics, she said, and no way to earn a living, while families live in “the constant fear” of sending their children to a school that may be bombed “later that day”.

Despite a temporary ceasefire announcement on 17 May, fighting in the last rebel stronghold of Idlib in Syria’s north-west, has continued over recent days, with heavy shelling and aerial bombardment this month leaving more than 160 civilians dead and some 270,000 others displaced.

The deputy relief chief quoted the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in saying that “both pro-Government forces and non-State armed groups fighting in northern Syria appear to have failed to respect the principles of distinction and proportionality under international humanitarian law”.

She told the Council that since 28 April, the World Health Organization (WHO) had reported a total of 25 attacks targeting medical infrastructure in northwestern Syria, including 22 health facilities, with some having been hit more than once. Moreover, some 25 schools are reported to have also been impacted by the violence, as well as marketplaces and at least three sites for displaced people.

While the humanitarian community is responding in accordance with its contingency and readiness plans, “despite our best efforts, the response is stretched”, she explained.

“Many of our humanitarian partners are part of the affected population and have themselves been displaced”, she said, adding that as a result, “in many areas of active hostilities, humanitarian operations have been suspended”, including health, nutrition and protection services that previously supported some 600,000 people.

Pointing out that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions and the 20th anniversary of the Council’s adoption of protection of civilians as an agenda item, she recalled the Secretary-General’s word’s last week, saying that “respect today for international humanitarian law is, at best, questionable.

“You are all, as Member States, aware that all parties to armed conflict are legally bound to comply with international humanitarian law…Sparing hospitals and schools is not optional. It is a fundamental legal obligation”.

Other crisis areas

While calling the fighting in Idlib “the most distressing front in the conflict at present”, she painted a picture of “deteriorating conditions inside Rukban” camp for internally displaced, on the southern border with Jordan, that during the past two months, have caused more than 13,100 to flee.

For those who remain, food, basic medicines and other life-saving supplies delivered in February have run out. Fuel is scarce; prices are skyrocketing; and “people are exhausted”, she spelled out.

Ms. Mueller said a third humanitarian convoy to Rukban was urgently needed “to avoid further suffering” for the 29,000 people who remain, strongly urging the Syrian authorities “to reverse their refusal and facilitate access…as first requested in March and again on 9 May…to provide support to this vulnerable population”.

Turning to the continuing plight of some 74,000 civilians – 92 per cent of whom are women and children – at the Al Hol refugee camp in the country’s north east, near the Iraqi border, she said that “most have been exposed to extreme violence and trauma under ISIL”.

“They are now living in extremely difficult conditions where they face a range of protection challenges, and an uncertain and disconcerting fate”, she said, including being denied repatriation, rehabilitation, re-integration, a fair trial, or even of becoming Stateless.

“All children, including those suspected of being associated with armed groups and/or designated terrorist organizations, are entitled to special care and protection under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child” Ms. Mueller stated, adding “these children must be treated first and foremost as victims”.

North Koreans trapped in ‘vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption, repression’ and endemic bribery: UN human rights office

Based on more than 200 first-hand accounts of escapees from the country, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the report asserts that the State-run public distribution system collapsed in the mid-1990s, forcing people to work in informal markets, where they have no choice but to bribe officials to avoid arrest.

It also highlights “appalling” levels of hunger that affects around 10.9 million people – more than 43 per cent of the population – with north-eastern and rural provinces worst-affected.

The report also details how huge resources have been diverted to increasing DPRK’s military capacity and maintaining a huge standing army, which has kept one million young men and women from the workplace.

Among the report’s suggested reforms are a review of the criminal code to end prosecutions for engaging in legitimate market activities, and respect for freedom of movement across the country’s borders – and even inside DPRK.

“The rights to food, health, shelter, work, freedom of movement and liberty are universal and inalienable, but in North Korea they depend primarily on the ability of individuals to bribe State officials”, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, in reaction to the report.

The constant threat of arrest and prosecution provides State officials with a powerful means to extort money and other favours from people desperate to avoid detention in inhumane conditions, the report says. In addition, the living conditions and treatment of detainees can also depend on the payment of bribes.

“I felt it unfair that one could bribe one’s way out of [detention], when another suffers much more as a result of being unable to bribe”, said one interviewee who spoke to UN investigators. “Bribery is effective in North Korea. One cannot lead a life in North Korea if he or she does not bribe his or her way.”

Another interviewee said bluntly, that everyone has to resort to the informal sector, just to survive: “If you just follow instructions coming from the State, you starve to death.”

The report also details how women seeking ways to make ends meet, are particularly vulnerable to further abuse at the hands of third parties, including brokers and traffickers.

The UN rights chief called for far-reaching changes: “Our report is a stark illustration of how important it is that the Government tackles the country’s profound human rights problems. Only then can the endemic system of corruption which pervades all aspects of life be effectively dismantled,” she said.

The report details how the State has simply not fulfilled its obligations under international human rights law to realize the right of its citizens to an adequate standard of living. It has neither sought to modify a failed public system, nor helped to establish a functional and legal private sector.

“People must not be arrested, detained, prosecuted or subjected to extortion simply for trying to acquire an adequate standard of living,” concluded Ms. Bachelet. “Addressing these issues could open a path to tackling the wider range of human rights concerns that exist in the DPRK today. A significant set of reforms would be in everybody’s interests, including those of the Government and of the international community.”

Tuesday’s Daily Brief: violence surges in Nigeria, anti-Semitism on the march, taxing pollution to tackle climate crisis, and more

Violent attacks in Nigeria drive thousands of refugees into Niger

An upsurge in violence in areas of north-west Nigeria beyond the reach of humanitarians, has forced thousands of people to flee to neighbouring Niger, UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday.

Warning that some 20,000 people have been uprooted from their homes since April in Nigeria’s Sokoto and Zamfara states, the agency’s Babar Baloch told journalists in Geneva that UNHCR is working with authorities in Niger to help the new arrivals.

Today, Niger hosts more than 380,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Mali and Nigeria, in addition to its own internally displaced population.

Anti-Semitism spread is not isolated, warns UN human rights office

The UN human rights office has condemned the rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Europe and the United States, and called on governments to “redouble their efforts” to protect people from incitement to hatred and violence.

The statement from OHCHR follows “a significant increase” of anti-Semitism in Germany, where Jews in some areas have been advised not to wear traditional dress, to avoid drawing attention to their race and religion.

In Austria, pictures of Holocaust survivors displayed in a street exhibition have also been vandalised “not once, but three times”, the human rights office said.

Initially, swastikas were daubed on the survivors’ faces, before large sections of the prints were then cut out at the weekend.

Most disturbing of all are acts of physical violence against Jews which have also increased in a number of countries in recent years, OHCHR said, noting a “particularly sharp” rise in Germany and France.

But it warns that the worst incidents have been in the United States, where 11 people were killed during an attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh last October, and where in April, a woman was killed and three others injured in another attack on a synagogue in California.

Here’s our report from earlier this year on the steps being taken by the UN to address xenophobia.

‘Tax pollution, not people’, UN chief tells World Summit

“We need to tax pollution, not people” and “end subsidies for fossil fuels”, Secretary-General António Guterres told the World Summit of the R20 Coalition on Tuesday, a UN-supported environmental organization, founded by former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The idea that subsidizing fossil fuels is a way to improve people’s lives could not be more wrong, said the UN chief in the Austrian capital, Vienna, because it means spending taxpayers’ money to “boost hurricanes, to spread droughts, to melt glaciers, to bleach corals: to destroy the world.”

Mr. Guterres went on to call for the decarbonization of urban infrastructure, a halt to coal plants, and the promotion of sustainable consumption and production: “in short, we need a green economy, not a grey economy.”

Our full story is here.

Audio of the UN Secretary-General at the R20 Austrian World Summit, below:

North Korea traps people in deprivation, corruption, repression and bribery – UN rights office

Bribery is the main way people in North Korea get food, healthcare, shelter and work, a UN human rights office report said on Tuesday.

Based on more than 200 first-hand accounts of escapees from the country, which is officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the report says that the State-run public distribution system collapsed in the mid-1990s, forcing people to work in informal markets, where they have to bribe officials to avoid arrest.

It also highlights “appalling” levels of hunger that affects around 10.9 million people – that’s more than 43 per cent of the population – with north-eastern and rural provinces worst-affected. Our full story is here.

DR Congo: Strengthened effort against Ebola is paying off, but insecurity still major constraint

Although the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to make headway thanks to the determination of health workers on the ground, insecurity is still hampering the response, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. This has led the UN to establish a new coordination structure in the hopes that access to at-risk areas can be improved.

Currently, the DRC’s worst ever outbreak of the deadly virus has seen 1,920 Ebola cases overall, including 1,281 deaths. Despite the risks, the more than 700 workers deployed by WHO remain in the area working alongside other health teams providing care.

Our full report is here and you can listen to an interview with the new emergency Ebola response chief in DRC here.

Listen to, or download our audio News In Brief for 28 May, on SoundCloud:

Artificial intelligence summit focuses on fighting hunger, climate crisis and transition to ‘smart sustainable cities’

“This summit is the leading United Nations platform for dialogue on artificial intelligence”, explained the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on Tuesday, adding that it “also raises complex questions about privacy and trust and poses other challenges, from job displacement and potential bias in algorithms, to autonomous weapons and social manipulation”.

More than 2,000 participants from over 120 countries joined AI leaders and humanitarian actors to highlight its potential for advancing education, healthcare and wellbeing, social and economic equality and space research.

Unable to attend in person, Secretary-General António Guterres sent a message lauding “the promise” of AI while also warning against its potential dangers.

“If we are to harness the benefits of artificial intelligence and address the risks, we must all work together – Governments, industry, academia and civil society – to develop the frameworks and systems that enable responsible innovation”, he said. “These systems must be nimble and adaptable, capable of developing norms and self-regulation standards alongside legally binding laws and instruments when needed, as in the case of lethal autonomous weapons”.

Noting that the UN is “well placed” as a forum on “how best to guide progress to better serve humanity,” Mr. Guterres underscored that “we must seize the moment, in partnership, to deliver on the promise of technological advances and harness them for the common good”.

In his opening address, Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) spelled out that climate change is accentuating the need for tailored information to improve resilience to extreme weather events.

“WMO deals with big data every day, running a 24/7 operational prediction system based on a huge amount of data gathered around the world,” he said, identifying AI as a potentially valuable tool to help meet this challenge.

Deliver on the promise of technological advances and harness them for the common good –UN chief Guterres

Guided by its inter-disciplinary audience, this year’s summit aims to generate ‘AI for Good’ projects and ensure that associated technologies will be developed safely, allowing equal access for all.

Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said that 340,000 AI patent applications have been filed since the 1950s: “Artificial intelligence is one of the most important of the technologies that are currently transforming our economy and society.”

He acknowledged there were pressing economic, social and ethical questions surrounding AI, saying that “we are at an extremely early stage, but the common characteristic is that the underlying technological activity…is occurring at a much more rapid speed than our capacity to formulate” responses.

Organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – in partnership with the XPRIZE Foundation, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and 37 UN entities – the summit, which will run from 28-31 May, aims to identify practical applications of AI to accelerate the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“We need to ignite a bigger conversation centered around how to use AI and data to help find scalable solutions to the biggest challenges facing humanity,” XPRIZE CEO Anousheh Ansari said.

It will also debate unintended consequences of the AI revolution, and propose actions for high-potential solutions in achieving global scale, along with a so-called “learning day” to offer an audience with leading AI experts and educators.

“By bringing together AI technologists with leaders in government, industry, and humanitarian initiatives, new ways to apply AI to pressing world challenges are imagined and realized,” stressed Vicki L. Hanson, ACM CEO.

What is clear to ITU chief Zhao is that “no one nation, no one organization, no one company and no one community can meet these challenges alone”.

“The path to a transformative but also a safe, trusted and inclusive AI will require unprecedented collaboration between government, industry, academia and civil society”, he concluded.

End fossil fuel subsidies, and stop using taxpayers’ money to destroy the world: Guterres

Financing a ‘post-carbon’ society

In the lead up to the UN Climate Summit this September, the Secretary-General has enlisted the President of France, the Prime Minister of Jamaica and the Emir of Qatar to mobilize international support to secure the $100 billion goal agreed by UN Member States at the Paris climate conference in 2015, necessary for advancing climate mitigation and adaptation in the developing world.

Investors need to stop “financing pollution”, scale up green ventures and increase lending for low-carbon solutions”, he insisted, adding that the private sector and investment communities must support a “bold and ambitions climate agenda”, because climate action is not only good for people and the planet, it can also be good for business.

‘Silver lining to the looming cloud’

Recounting his recent trip to Tuvalu, a low-lying island state in the South Pacific that risks being inundated by rising sea levels, Mr. Guterres highlighted the fact that “rarely a day goes by,” without news of yet another disaster, such as floods, droughts, wildfires and extreme storms.

However, there is a “silver lining to the looming cloud”, because, although the current situation is extremely serious, the shift to a green economy would see profound benefits for societies around the world, with cleaner water and air, less pollution, more chemical-free agriculture and reduced biodiversity loss.

Regional action is ‘key to addressing the climate crisis’

The R20 Austrian World Summit is a long-term initiative to help regions, states and cities to implement the Sustainable Development Goals, and meet the global climate protection targets outlined in the Paris Agreement to limit climate change. R20 aims to develop the summit to become the most important European meeting place for climate action solutions.

One of the other high-profile speakers at the opening session of the event was outspoken Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who initiated the school strike for climate movement in November 2018, at the age of 15.

Ms. Thunberg said that millions of children have been gaining lots of attention for the climate emergency, but they, like scientists, are not leaders, unlike many of the politicians, CEOs and celebrities attending the Summit: “people listen to you, and are influenced by you. You have an enormous responsibility, a responsibility that most of you have failed to take.”

Climate change is an emergency, the biggest crisis that humanity has ever faced Greta Thunberg, youth climate activist

Such influencers, she added, cannot rely on people to read between the lines or search for scientific information. They must explain repeatedly, no matter how uncomfortable or unprofitable that may be. Ms. Thunberg reminded the audience that, although climate change may be a chance for green growth, it is primarily “an emergency, the biggest crisis that humanity has ever faced.”

The work of Governor Schwarzenegger and the R20 coalition, in highlighting the importance of climate action at a “sub-national” city and regional level, was praised by the UN chief, who described sub-national action as being “key to addressing the climate crisis”, not only because regional and city governments are closer to the people, but because “regions and cities are the main engines of the world economy.”

Yemen update: UNICEF chief condemns attack in Taiz that claims lives of seven children

In a statement condemning reported airstrikes on a petrol station in the south-western city on Friday, Henrietta Fore said that the children who died were aged between four and 14.

The attack in the east of Taiz pushed up confirmed child casualty numbers in the war-torn country to 27 in just over 10 days, according to Ms. Fore, who warned that the actual numbers “are likely to be even higher”.

Since March 2015, UNICEF confirmed that at least 7,300 children were killed or seriously injured in Yemen amid clashes between supporters of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Houthi opposition groups.

Earlier this month, airstrikes on several neighbourhoods in Yemen’s capital Sana’a reportedly killed five children and injured dozens more, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), prompting widespread condemnation from OCHA and other UN agencies.

The development comes as UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for “caution and restraint” from belligerents, “both in terms of actions and in terms of rhetoric”.

Guterres: ‘Full confdence’ in Yemen Special Envoy

In response to questions last Friday about President Hadi’s reported criticism of UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, linked to the withdrawal of Houthi fighters from Hudaydah, Mr. Guterres’s Spokesperson reiterated the Secretary-General’s “full confidence in Mr. Griffiths and his work”.

The spokesperson added that a letter to the Yemen President from Mr. Guterres also underlined the UN’s commitment to the ceasefire deal agreed in Sweden last December.

That accord – sealed by representatives of President Hadi and the Houthi opposition – stems from a “deep desire to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and assist in addressing the humanitarian crises, which continues to beset Yemen and its people, who have suffered for long”, the Spokesperson explained to journalists in New York.

The terms of the Stockholm Agreement, as it is known, include a ceasefire in the port city of Hudaydah and troop withdrawals, allowing the Red Sea supply hub to be managed and monitored with UN support and enabling the distribution of vital provisions to millions of desperate civilians.

The deal also includes a prisoner exchange and steps towards a ceasefire in the city of Taiz.

Mr Griffiths “will redouble efforts to support the parties on delivering on the commitments made in Stockholm”, the UN chief’s spokesperson added, “and do so in a manner which is balanced and fully supportive of achieving a peaceful and lasting political solution to this conflict”.

Migrants lives at risk – UN migration agency

In a related development, UN migration agency IOM has said that thousands of Ethiopian migrants’ lives are at risk in the country, after the Government halted a planned returns programme.

IOM is calling for help from the international community to get more than 2,300 Ethiopian migrants home from Yemen – including 150 women and 470 children.

Until now the migrants – who travel through Yemen to reach the Gulf States where they hope to find work – had been detained in two sports stadiums and a military camp without basic services, IOM reported.

Under a deal with the authorities, flights were due to begin at the weekend, but they have been delayed “until at least Wednesday”, IOM said.

“This delay threatens the safety of more than 2,300 migrants who continue to be held in conditions inconsistent with internationally-agreed standards, exposed to severe health and protection risks,” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Director of Operations and Emergencies in Geneva.

Earlier this month, IOM reported that at least 14 migrants detained in Lahj died following complications linked to acute watery diarrhea.

“Lives have been lost due to disease brought on by the appalling detention conditions and one young man, shot while detained, will likely never walk again,” Mr. Abdiker insisted, adding that the flight delays “are putting thousands of migrants’ lives at further risk.

“We are urging the leaders of the Coalition and the Government of Yemen to urgently approve these flights, ensuring that all who need to go home do so with safety and dignity.”

Amid ‘unprecedented combination’ of epidemics, UN and partners begin cholera vaccination campaign in DR Congo

The campaign began in North Kivu in the restive east of the country, where armed groups hold sway over large areas, and the DRC’s worst-ever Ebola epidemic is still raging, having claimed well over 1,000 lives so far.

The cholera campaign will be implemented by the DRC’s Ministry of Health with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, and funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. A total of 835,183 people in Binza, Goma, Kayina, Karisimbi, Kibirizi, Kirotshe and Rutshuru areas will be vaccinated by a deadline of next Saturday.

A first dose will be given, and if all goes well, the second dose will be rolled out at a later stage to provide full protection. More than 10,000 cases of cholera have been reported in the country since January 2019, leading to more than 240 deaths. In addition, over 80,000 suspected cases of measles have led to over 1,400 deaths so far this year while a case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 was reported in Kasai province, earlier this month.

“The DRC is confronted with an unprecedented combination of deadly epidemics,” said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “While the Ebola outbreak continues to cause untold misery in the East, measles and cholera epidemics are claiming the lives of thousands of people throughout the country.

That’s why we are stepping up our response,” he added, “through ongoing measles vaccinations in health zones affected by measles outbreaks, as well as through our continued support for Ebola vaccinations in both the DRC and neighbouring countries. We cannot allow this needless suffering to continue.”

Campaign is ‘massive contribution’ – WHO

“Cholera is a preventable disease. Vaccinating people at risk in the most exposed health zones in North Kivu against cholera is a massive contribution and will protect hundreds of thousands of people against the disease and raise population immunity levels in these areas,” said Dr. Deo Nshimirimana, acting WHO Representative in the DRC.

The cholera vaccine doses were taken from the global cholera vaccine stockpile, which is fully funded by Gavi. Gavi is also supporting operational costs for the campaign.

Since the stockpile was launched in 2013, millions of doses have helped tackle outbreaks across the globe. In the fifteen years between 1997 and 2012, just 1.5 million doses of oral cholera vaccine were used worldwide. In 2018 alone, the stockpile provided 17 million doses to 22 different countries.

Social, cultural diversity ‘an enormous richness, not a threat’ Guterres declares calling on investment for a harmonious future

He was speaking against the backdrop of European Parliamentary elections in recent days, which showed a surge in support away from political parties in the centre ground, towards those espousing more nationalist and anti-immigrant policy platforms.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told those gathered for the Day of Action that it was particularly important “in the present debate in Europe” to adopt “a universal perspective for peace, for human dignity, for human rights” and the values enshrined in the UN Charter.

“Societies today are multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural. And that is a richness, not a threat”. Like an orchestra featuring musicians from around the world, they need to practice to play harmoniously: “It is the with society” he added.

“Diversity requires investment. Social, cultural, political, religious; sometimes investment in social cohesion – to make sure that in a diverse society, every community feels that their identity is being respected – like the identity of the violinist needs to be respected, together with each instrumentalist.

Hailing music as a fundamental tool to promote UN values, he said the Day of Action was fundamental to the future of the Organization “especially when we are also discussing the dramatic situation of human mobility”.

Migration too, needs investment, instead of letting people smugglers and traffickers profit from it, and letting fear of migrants fester, “we need to invest in international cooperation, we need to invest in adequate forms of migration”, he said.

Guterres lauds 40 years of UN in Vienna, Austrian World Summit

Speaking after meeting Austrian President Alexander Van Der Bellen, Mr. Guterres praised the nation for its support for the UN Office at Vienna over the past 40 years, home to many key agencies and bodies.

As one of the main headquarters, he said he was convinced the work done in Vienna would help preserve peace and security for the world, during trying times.

He looked ahead to Tuesday’s Austrian World Summit on climate, saying that taking part was essential to him, having convened the Climate Action Summit this coming September.

Fresh from a major fact-finding visit to the South Pacific, Mr. Guterres said that to rescue an island State such as Tuvalu – parts of which are already sinking below the waves due to rising sea levels – was “to rescue the planet”.

“The climate crisis is something that will have an impact on the lives of everybody everywhere”, said the UN chief. “And to reverse the present trend in which climate change is running faster than we are is an absolute must. And for that, we need in 2020, countries to assume engagements much stronger than the ones that were assumed in Paris.

He said nations had to commit “to a much more ambitious set of measures in mitigation in adaptation, mitigation and in finance. And I must tell you that I consider absurd that we are taxing salaries, we are taxing income, and not taxing carbon”.

From violence to dialogue: as land conflicts intensify, UN boosts efforts to resolve disputes through mediation

Oumar Sylla is the Unit Leader at UN Habitat for the Global Land Tool Network, (GLTN) a UN-backed alliance of more than 80 organizations looking at the best way of improving land management and land governance overall in the world. In an interview with UN News, he explained how the work of the GLTN has encouraged communities to settle their differences by talking:

“In areas that have seen conflict, particularly where you have a broken state, or weak institutions, our approach has been to really think about ways to build trust, confidence and reconciliation among communities. We set up a mediation system, in an informal setting, bringing community members around the table to discuss issues, such as historical injustices in terms of land allocation and land occupation, and find a consensus.”

“We found that people had more confidence in informal mechanisms than the courts, because the judicial system is too expensive: if communities can’t pay the lawyer’s fees, they won’t be guaranteed a fair process.”

What do land rights actually mean?

One of the difficulties for UN workers dealing with land conflicts, is that the very concept of land rights is not the same in every country. In many African countries, for example, the custom is for rights to be entrusted to a custodian, who is responsible for distributing land amongst members of the community:

“Traditionally land has been more about common ownership for the whole clan or community, and there was not really a notion of land rights.” Says Mr. Sylla. “The head of the clan or the community is the custodian of the land. In principle he consults with others but, at the end of the day, he is the one who’s taking the decision.”

However, a weakness in the traditional system is that decisions were delivered orally, with no document to verify them, or protect the community in the event of disputes. This is what the GLTN and UN Habitat have been attempting to address:

“Our approach is to help communities to develop a system of mapping their lands, or develop registration systems to establish who is entitled to land rights, so that they can get an official document. In Uganda, for example, we are supporting the government, so that it can deliver so-called ‘customer certificates’ to people living in areas which have traditionally had a custodian system of land rights.”

Pressure on land intensifying worldwide

Globally, the competition for land is growing, and it is a leading cause of conflict. With the pressures on land use – which include climate change, urbanization and the rising population – only likely to become more intense, the UN has taken important measures to improve its response to the problem.

Many of the key United Nations agencies and bodies have accepted that they need to be more effective in dealing with conflict rooted in land disputes, and, following a request by UN Habitat, the UN’s settlement programme, UN Secretary-General António Guterres endorsed, and released in March 2019, a document entitled “The United Nations and Land and Conflict.”

The guidelines contained in the document are expected to help all parts of the UN to improve their ability to reduce conflicts, protect human rights, and convince affected communities to settle their differences by talking, rather than through violence. UN Habitat described the release of the guidelines as a “milestone in the journey towards a sustained and coherent engagement of the UN system to prevent conflict and sustain peace.”

However, establishing land rights for vulnerable people can be extremely complicated. Oumar Sylla, is the Unit Leader at UN Habitat for the Global Land Tool Network, (GLTN) a UN-backed alliance of more than 80 organizations looking at the best way of improving land management and land governance overall in the world. In an interview with UN News, he started by explaining that most of the world’s population is living in huge insecurity when it comes to land:

“The Global Land Tool Network was set up because, although land is very important when it comes to human rights and economic opportunity, some 70 percent of the world population don’t have access to formal land title system. This means they don’t have any document saying that they have any rights to land, so they are exposed to the risk of evictions and land grabs. In addition, they can’t sell or rent the land.”

People who have been forcibly displaced from their homes due to conflict, says Mr. Sylla, are particularly vulnerable: “most of the time when people have been displaced for years, they lose their land rights. Decision makers and UN Member States need to take this issue of access to land into account when it comes to rehabilitation, housing and shelter for displaced communities.”

Combatting discrimination against women

Another positive impact of mediation in DRC has been the protection of land rights for women. Traditionally, women face discrimination when it comes to land rights but, thanks to the UN initiatives, some progress is being made, and the process has also empowered them:

“Most of the time, we were able to restore a bit of equality, helping women to get access to land in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. More importantly, women are now more and more involved in disputes negotiations, and are promoting dialogue between communities. Our mediation process, then, has changed the perception of women’s roles in society, and has allowed them to become actors of peacebuilding.

UN Mission in Afghanistan gravely concerned about ill-treatment of prisoners by Taliban, following first-hand testimony

The mission based its preliminary findings on face-to-face interviews with 13 detainees who were freed from a Taliban detention facility by Special Forces troops from the Afghan Army, on 25 April.

The 53 prisoners released include 45 members of the Afghan defence forces and eight civilians, including three Government officials. Most had been held since last year.

UNAMA said the freed prisoners had provided “consistent accounts” of being held underground in five overcrowded rooms and being forced to work for at least seven hours a day, “including making improvised explosive devices”.

“Detainees said they were held in sub-zero temperatures during winter and were fed beans and bread twice a day, with no medical aid apart from some painkillers and antiseptic for wounds”, said the Mission in a press release.

The fundamentalist Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan for five years up until the allied invasion of the country in 2001, is engaged in peace talks facilitated by the United States but refuses to negotiate directly with the internationally-recognized Afghan Government. Last month the UN Security Council condemned the announcement of its annual “spring offensive” saying it would simply result in more unnecessary suffering and destruction for the Afghan people”.

The head of UNAMA, Tadamichi Yamamoto, who is also UN Special Representative in the country, said: “I am gravely concerned about these serious allegations of ill-treatment, torture and unlawful killing of civilians and security personnel, as well as the deplorable conditions of detention”.

UNAMA’s Chief of Human Rights, Richard Bennett, reminded Taliban leaders that “international humanitarian law applicable to international and non-international armed conflicts provides that all persons who do not take direct part in hostilities, or who have ceased to do so, must always be treated humanely”.

The mission is mandated by the Security Council to monitor detention facilities throughout the country to promote accountability and assist the implementation of freedoms and rights under the Afghan Constitution.

Month: May 2019