UN News Today 09 December 2024 |

Syria must have a peaceful and inclusive transfer of power, says Türk

After opposition armed factions seized power in Syria, the UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk on Monday, offered a cautious welcome to the pledge that they would oversee a peaceful transfer of power.

But Mr. Türk stressed that there must be “very inclusive dialogue” with “each and every segment” of Syrian society – including the country’s women and youth – and that the international community should remain “vigilant” to ensure that this happens.

“What we have seen initially is indeed cooperation, including by the authorities that are still there, the institutions of the state, you saw that with the prime minister and the various factions that are currently, that have taken over control. But it’s very important for all of us to be very vigilant, to make sure that this is indeed an inclusive, participatory and meaningful process to forge a vision for the future of the country and to ensure the transition respects each and every Syrian in this country.”

In addition to the political upheaval in Syria, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that since 28 November, approximately one million people have been displaced from Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Idleb governorates.

Gaza: 945,000 at risk of exposure to winter rain, cold and Israeli airstrikes

To Gaza, where the enclave’s many displaced people still need protection from the rain and cold, as temperatures drop amid ongoing fighting, UN aid teams have warned.

According to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, only around 23 per cent of protection needs have been met; meaning that a total of 945,000 people remain at risk from exposure this winter.

In the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah “and across Gaza, people search through the rubble of their destroyed homes, trying to salvage what little remains after an Israeli airstrike”, UNWRA said in an online post on Sunday.

Latest data from the Gazan authorities indicates that well over 43,000 people have been killed there since war erupted, sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel 14 months ago, that left 1,200 dead and around 250 taken hostage.

To date, more than 102,000 people have been injured in Gaza, 70,000 homes have been destroyed and 1.9 million people have been displaced in total, the enclave’s authorities report.

UN rights chief condemns Haiti mass killing

To Haiti, and the grim news that more than 180 people were massacred on the orders of one of the criminal gangs that operate freely there.

According to reports, the gang’s leader ordered that elderly people in the Cité Soleil area should be killed, because he suspected them of having used witchcraft to make his son sick, who subsequently died.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk condemned the killings, saying that 5,000 people have now been killed in the Caribbean island State this year alone.

He urged Governments “to stem the flow of arms into Haiti”, as well as to Sudan and Myanmar.

He also insisted that those providing weapons to countries at war – including Israel and non-State armed groups in Lebanon, Syria and the Occupied Palestinian Territory – should be “put on notice…that international law requires states to exercise care that weapons they provide are not used to commit violations” of human rights.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.

Music composed and produced by Joachim Harris. All rights reserved