UN News Today 11 December 2024 |

UN ‘totally committed’ to a smooth transfer of power in Syria

The United Nations is totally committed to supporting a smooth transfer of power in Syria through an “inclusive political process” that guarantees minority rights, the UN chief said on Wednesday.

António Guterres was speaking in South Africa where he’s attending a meeting ahead of next year’s G20 Summit there.

“As we speak, we are witnessing the reshaping of the Middle East,” he told reporters, stressing that the right of Palestinians to their own State needs to be “constantly reaffirmed”.

The end of the Assad regime is a sign of hope, he added, stressing there needs to be a united Syria “with its territorial integrity fully reestablished.”

Israel has occupied more territory – it says temporarily – in the Golan region and conducted what it has called a defensive bombing campaign of Syrian military targets, including naval vessels.

Mr. Guterres said his Special Envoy, Geir Pedersen, is talking to all the “key actors” in Syria about the way forward, adding that he fully trusts “the Syrian people, to be able to choose their own destiny.”

Poverty, conflict and climate fuel spike in trafficking victims

The number of victims of human trafficking being detected worldwide is rising again after falling off during the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in a hard-hitting new report released on Wednesday

The 2024 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons reveals a 25 per cent increase between 2019 and 2022, as more children are exploited and forced labour cases spike due to vulnerabilities brought on by poverty, conflict and the climate crisis.

“Criminals are increasingly trafficking people into forced labour, including to coerce them into running sophisticated online scams and cyberfraud, while women and girls face the risk of sexual exploitation and gender-based violence,” said UNODC chief Ghada Waly.

The number of victims consigned to forced labour worldwide surged by 47 per cent between 2019 and 2022, while the number of child victims increased 31 per cent overall with a 38 per cent rise recorded for girls.

Child trafficking is also on the rise in high-income countries, often involving girls trafficked for sexual exploitation.

Women and girls continue to account for the majority of those trafficked – some 61 per cent – while most girls continue to be trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

DR Congo: Torture prevention mechanism urgently needed to end ‘inhuman prison conditions’

The UN Human Rights Council-appointed subcommittee dedicated to preventing torture, called on Wednesday for urgent action to create a fully operational mechanism to end “inhuman prison conditions” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC.

The call came following a fact-finding mission to the central African nation earlier this month.

The independent rights experts on the committee said progress made by the DRC in setting up its own national preventive mechanism was “very encouraging, but swift implementation is critical.”

Getting the mechanism up and running is essential for addressing the “deplorable detention conditions” they observed during the visit, and “also critical for preventing torture and ill-treatment.”

The DRC committed to creating an independent national mechanism in 2010 to monitor detention centres and prevent torture, but it is not yet established.

The independent experts – who are not UN staff and receive no salary for their work – observed that prison overcrowding – which extends to police stations and court cells – is “primarily caused by the systematic use of pre-trial detention for excessive prolonged periods.”

Following the visit, the experts will submit a confidential report to the DRC.

Matt Wells, UN News

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