May 18, 2024 No comments
‘Brand new words’ needed to describe Gaza devastation, UN humanitarian says
INTERNATIONAL, 18 May 2024, Humanitarian Aid - The situation in Gaza is so devastating that no words can adequately describe it, a humanitarian officer working in the besieged enclave has said. “No matter where you look, no matter where you go, there’s destruction, there’s devastation, there’s loss,” said Yasmina Guerda, who recently returned to Gaza for a second deployment with the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA. She spoke to UN News from Rafah, previously a refuge for more than a million Palestinians fleeing hostilities in other parts of Gaza. The start of Israeli military operations there has uprooted more than 600,000 people in just over a week. Ms. Guerda frankly discussed the immense suffering and insecurity in Gaza, the critical lack of aid and basic services, and the difficulties...
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May 17, 2024 No comments
UN rights office urges Sri Lanka to reveal fate of the disappeared
INTERNATIONAL, 17 May 2024, Human Rights - The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday urged the Sri Lankan Government to take decisive action to uncover the fates and locations of tens of thousands of individuals subjected to enforced disappearances over the years and to hold those responsible accountable. The call accompanies the launch of a key report by OHCHR, highlighting also the need for the Government to acknowledge the involvement of State security forces and to issue a public apology. From the 1970s to 2009, Sri Lanka witnessed widespread enforced disappearances, predominantly carried out by the national army and associated paramilitary groups. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also participated in abductions, which, according to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, tantamount to...
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May 17, 2024 No comments
Israel refutes South Africa’s accusations at UN world court
INTERNATIONAL, 17 May 2024, Law and Crime Prevention - The UN International Court of Justice (ICJ), on Friday, heard the response from Israel on the case brought forward by South Africa requesting emergency provisional measures to immediately halt Israeli military operations under way in Rafah, in southern Gaza, where over one million Palestinians were sheltering after having been displaced from elsewhere in the enclave. Linked to South Africa’s ongoing case accusing Israel of violating its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention), the new request, filed on 10 May, asked the ICJ to order Israel to “immediately withdraw and cease its military operations in the Rafah governate”. An ‘obscene exploitation’ Appearing before the Court, Gilad Noam, co-agent of Israel, refuted South Africa’s claims,...
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May 17, 2024 No comments
Gaza: Aid delivery via floating dock welcomed, but land routes ‘more important’
INTERNATIONAL, 17 May 2024, Humanitarian Aid - Trucks carrying desperately needed aid into Gaza have started moving ashore on the temporary floating dock built by the United States military, but this is not enough to meet the needs of civilians, UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Friday. OCHA warned that the maritime corridor cannot replace critical land routes, which are the quickest and most effective way of delivering humanitarian aid in the besieged enclave, where more than two million Palestinians desperately need food, shelter and other assistance. “Any and all aid into Gaza is welcome by any route,” Spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva. “But, it is an addition, and it doesn’t take away the fact that land crossings will be more important.” Additional...
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May 17, 2024 No comments
UN’s rights chief says horrified by Sudan escalation as famine draws nearer
INTERNATIONAL, 17 May 2024, Peace and Security - The UN’s top human rights official has personally intervened to try to stop spiralling violence in Sudan that’s having a terrifying impact on millions of civilians, who humanitarians say are “staring famine in the face”. According to the UN human rights office, OHCHR, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, held separate phone calls on Tuesday with Lt-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the rival Rapid Support Forces. Diplomatic approach Mr. Türk urged them both to act immediately – and publicly – to de-escalate the situation, said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani, who noted that the UN rights chief had previously approached the rival generals in November 2022. “He warned both commanders that...
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