9th April 2018 Following a period of relative calm in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday expressed deep concern over renewed violence in Douma, particularly the alarming allegations that chemical weapons may have been used against civilians. A statement from UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said the Secretary-General called on all parties to cease fighting and […]
Category: Mass Atrocity Crimes
Both ISIL and Syrian Government responsible for use of chemical weapons, UN Security Council told
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) was responsible for using sulfur mustard in a September 2016 attack in Umm Hawsh and the Syrian Government was accountable for the release of sarin in an April 2017 attack in Khan Shaykhun, the head of a Security Council-mandated investigation said Tuesday. “There has been sufficient […]
UN delivering coordinated humanitarian response in wake of Mogadishu bombings
The United Nations family of agencies and programmes is continuing to roll out its response in support of the recovery and clean-up effort in Mogadishu following Saturday’s massive car bomb blast, which killed some 300 people, injured hundreds more, and is being called Somalia’s worst-ever such attack. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office of […]
UNICEF scales-up relief for Rohingya facing critical ‘shortages of everything’
Amid an acute shortage of humanitarian supplies for the thousands of Rohingya arriving every day in Bangladesh, having fled violence in Myanmar, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is undertaking a “massive” scale-up of its emergency operations to ensure that those most vulnerable are not endangered further. Up to 400,000 Rohingyas have been sheltering in […]
UN human rights chief points to ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’ in Myanmar
The United Nations human rights chief today lashed out at the treatment of the Rohingya in Myanmar which has led to more than 300,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh in the past three weeks, as security forces and local militia reportedly burn villages and shoot civilians. “The situation seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” Zeid Ra‘ad […]
ISIL’s ‘genocide’ against Yazidis is ongoing, UN rights panel says, calling for international action
Marking three years since the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) attacked the Yazidis in Syria, a United Nations-mandated inquiry has called for justice and rescue plans. “The Commission of Inquiry calls on the international community to recognize the crime of genocide being committed by ISIL against the Yazidis and to undertake steps to refer […]