SECRETARY-GENERAL VOICES CONCERN AT CIVILIAN IMPACT OF FIGHTING IN NORTHERN YEMEN

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expressing concern about escalating hostilities in the mountains of northern Yemen, where civilians are reported to be trapped in the middle of deadly fighting between Government forces and rebels.

Mr. Ban appeals to all sides in the clashes to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected areas, his spokesperson Marie Okabe said today following questions from journalists.

He voiced hope that the situation in northern Yemen would soon be resolved by peaceful means and that the fighting will stop.

The violence has been concentrated in Saada province, which borders Saudi Arabia and is a relatively remote and inaccessible region of Yemen.

The United Nations World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/countries/yem/en/">WHO) has dispatched enough medicines and supplies to treat 200 people who have sustained injuries in the fighting, and plans to send more supplies next week.

WHO reported that it has also sent additional medical staff from its regional office in Cairo to support the emergency health operations in Yemen, while it is teaming up with the UN Children's Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF) to coordinate a combined health and nutrition response to the situation.

SRI LANKA: BAN STRONGLY REJECTS UN AS SOURCE OF CASUALTY REPORTS

SRI LANKA: BAN STRONGLY REJECTS UN AS SOURCE OF CASUALTY REPORTS
New York, Jun 1 2009 3:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated his strong concerns over "unacceptably high" civilian casualties in the conflict between the Sri Lankan Government and Tamil rebels, while rejecting in the strongest terms any figure attributed to the United Nations.

Briefing the General Assembly today on his recent visit to Sri Lanka and other travels, Mr. Ban said media reports alleging that some 20,000 civilians may have been killed during the last phase of the conflict "do not emanate from the UN and most are not consistent with the information at our disposal."

Last month, Sri Lanka's Government declared that its military operation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was over, ending more than two decades of fighting.

"I categorically reject – repeat, categorically – any suggestion that the United Nations has deliberately under-estimated any figures," the Secretary-General underscored.

"Let me also say, whatever the total, the casualties in the conflict were unacceptably high – as I have also said repeatedly," he added.

Mr. Ban told the Assembly that during his 22-23 May visit to the South Asian island nation, he pressed the Government to heed international calls for an inquiry into alleged abuses and underscored the need for full accountability and transparency.

"Any inquiry conducted by the international community would require, first, the full cooperation of the host government, or, second, the support of the UN Member States, expressed through the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly or the Security Council," he said.

At the Human Rights Council's special session on Sri Lanka last week, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that investigating abuses allegedly committed against civilians by both the Government and LTTE will help the country transition into a new future.

"There are strong reasons to believe that both sides have grossly disregarded the fundamental principle of the inviolability of civilians," Ms. Pillay had stated, with the LTTE being accused of using civilians as human shields and the Government reportedly using heavy weapons on the small and densely-populated area of conflict in northern Sri Lanka.

An "independent and credible international investigation into recent events should be dispatched to ascertain the occurrence, nature and scale of violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as specific responsibilities," she said.

The Secretary-General today voiced hope that the authorities will follow through with a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/sg2151.doc.htm">statement issued jointly with President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the end of his trip, in which they stressed that addressing the aspirations and grievances of all communities, as well as finding a lasting political solution, is essential for long-term development following the long-running conflict's end.

Both leaders also agreed that with the conclusion of military operations, Sri Lanka has entered a new post-conflict phase and faces many obstacles relating to relief, rehabilitation, resettlement and reconciliation.

"I stand ready to do whatever we can in the interests of justice, human rights and Sri Lanka's political future," the Secretary-General said in his address to the Assembly today.

His recent travels have also taken him to Bahrain and Geneva, where he addressed the Conference on Disarmament which adopted a programme of work last Friday, breaking an impasse that had last more than a decade.

Mr. Ban today also expressed his deep concern over the crisis in Pakistan, where 2 million people having been driven from their homes by clashes between the Government and militants in the past month. Some 400,000 people were uprooted in fighting last year, bringing the total number of displaced in the area to 2.4 million.

"The human suffering is immense," he said, emphasizing the need for international support to scale up the response of the international community and the Pakistani Government to the situation.

The UN and its partners launched an appeal for $543 million on 22 May, of which just over one-fifth has been funded to date. "If we do not get the rest of the funds, we will have to start cutting services," the Secretary-General warned, adding that there is a risk of a destabilizing secondary crisis.
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SRI LANKA: UN EXPERT VOICES CONCERN OVER CIVILIANS’ SAFETY

SRI LANKA: UN EXPERT VOICES CONCERN OVER CIVILIANS' SAFETY
New York, May 15 2009 12:00PM
The United Nations advocate for displaced persons today expressed his concern over civilians caught up in clashes between Government forces and rebels in northern Sri Lanka, as well as for the ongoing confinement of uprooted people in camps.

At least 50,000 people are still trapped in the conflict zone – a tiny space of just several square kilometres on the northern coastline – and they are "exposed to great danger and without access to sufficient humanitarian access," said Walter Kälin, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Representative for the Human Rights of Displaced Persons.

The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is preventing civilians from leaving the area and placing military installations close to them, while, for its part, the Government has been using heavy weapons such as mortars in the conflict zone in recent days, he added.

"This combination of factors must have resulted in unacceptably high numbers of civilian casualties," Mr. Kälin underscored.

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement that heavy fighting earlier this week precluded it from evacuating the wounded and sick from the conflict zone and from delivering food to civilians.

"I call on the LTTE to let the remaining civilians go and both sides to agree to humanitarian pauses for that purpose as well as to allow humanitarian access to bring in much-needed food and medicines and evacuate the wounded," the Representative said.

Further, both sides are obligated to follow international humanitarian law, he emphasized. "Even if one party to the conflict is deliberately using civilians as human shields, the other party is still prohibited from carrying out attacks that are indiscriminate in their consequences or result in a disproportional loss of civilian life."

Mr. Kälin also expressed his concern over the dire living conditions in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) who escaped the conflict, with the influx of an additional 110,000 people during the last 10 days of April posing further challenges for the Government and its humanitarian partners.

"Ensuring adequate humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons is first and foremost a Government responsibility, especially since the Government decided to intern them in camps, citing security concerns," he said, adding that authorities continue to hold nearly 200,000 IDPs in temporary camps.

He further called attention to the need to screen and register the displaced without delay and to restore the freedom of movement for the large number of them who are not security risks.

"Prolonged internment of such persons would not only amount to arbitrary detention but it also aggravates the humanitarian situation needlessly," the Representative said.

Although he welcomes reports that, as of the end of last month, over 1,200 people – mostly elderly, mentally disabled and other vulnerable people – had been released from the camps, he voiced concern that some elderly people had died from starvation or malnutrition in the sites, calling on the Government to immediately release all vulnerable people still in the camps.

In a related development, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) <"http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/wfp-providing-meal-thousands-sri-lankans-fleeing-civil-conflict">announced today that it has started providing cooked meals at a Government screening point for thousands of people fleeing the fighting.

"For many, this will be the first hot meal they have had in days or perhaps much longer," said Adnan Khan, WFP Representative in Sri Lanka, adding that overnight, 3,000 people arrived in Omanthai.

IDPs must pass through screening points before they can move onto temporary transit centres in Vavuniya and Jaffna.

WFP, which is feeding nearly 200,000 people in northern Sri Lanka, is sending food supplies to Omanthai, where the agency, along with a local partner, are responsible for cooking and distributing food.

Since Tuesday, three attempts to deliver food by ship to the conflict zone have been unsuccessful due to the security situation, and the agency is appealing for an additional $42 million to meet the rapidly-increasing needs of IDPs.

In a telephone conversation with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his concerns about the protection of civilians caught up in the conflict.

"As you will recall, the Secretary-General urged the Government of Sri Lanka to explore all possible options to bring the conflict to an end without further bloodshed and to make public the terms under which that can be achieved without further loss of civilian life," UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters yesterday.

"He urged the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to give sober and positive consideration of those terms."

Mr. Ban has also dispatched one of his top advisers, his Chef de Cabinet, Vijay Nambiar, to Sri Lanka "to underscore his message and help to resolve the humanitarian situation there," Ms. Okabe said.

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BAN DISCUSSES PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS WITH SRI LANKAN LEADER, DISPATCHES TOP AIDE

BAN DISCUSSES PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS WITH SRI LANKAN LEADER, DISPATCHES TOP AIDE
New York, May 14 2009 4:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has once again expressed his concerns about the protection of civilians caught up in the conflict in Sri Lanka to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and has dispatched one of his top advisers to the South Asian nation.

During his telephone conversation yesterday with the Sri Lankan leader, Mr. Ban reiterated his concerns about the protection of civilians as fighting continues between Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters in New York.

"As you will recall, the Secretary-General urged the Government of Sri Lanka to explore all possible options to bring the conflict to an end without further bloodshed and to make public the terms under which that can be achieved without further loss of civilian life," she said.

"He urged the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to give sober and positive consideration of those terms."

Ms. Okabe also announced that Mr. Ban is sending his Chef de Cabinet, Vijay Nambiar, to Sri Lanka "to underscore his message and help to resolve the humanitarian situation there."

Members of the Security Council yesterday expressed grave concern over the worsening crisis in northern Sri Lanka, in particular the reports of hundreds of civilian casualties in recent days, in a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sc9659.doc.htm">statement read out to the press by Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the 15-member body's rotating presidency for May.

They reiterated their support for the personal involvement of the Secretary-General, and urged the Government to extend full cooperation to the UN to resolve the humanitarian crisis.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that over 50,000 people remain in the conflict zone, while more than 198,000 people have managed to leave and crossed to Government-controlled areas. Of those, nearly 196,000 people are accommodated in temporary, overcrowded camps.

The UN spokesman in Sri Lanka, Gordon Weiss, says conditions inside the camps are still "miserable," owing to overcrowding and poor hygiene conditions. In addition, "they are dealing with an extremely fragile population who have been through a terrible time – certainly an intensely terrible time for the past three months," he told UN Radio.

Aid agencies, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have constructed 8,000 shelters and erected more than 9,000 tents to accommodate the new arrivals in the districts of Vavuniya, Jaffna and Trincomalee. They are also carrying out regular distribution of non-food items and monitoring at the sites.

According to OCHA, the last food shipment to the conflict zone – a shrinking pocket of land on the northern coastline – was on 8 May, and civilians trapped in the area are in desperate need of food and supplies.

Earlier today, two ships of the International Committee of the Red Cross carrying 25 tons and 500 tons respectively of mixed food commodities were unable to discharge cargo in the conflict zone due to continuous heavy fighting.
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Sri Lanka: Satellite Images, Witnesses Show Shelling Continues

UN Security Council Fails to Act While Civilians Suffer

May 12, 2009

(New York) - New satellite imagery and eyewitness accounts contradict Sri Lankan government claims that its armed forces are no longer using heavy weapons in the densely populated conflict area in northern Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch said today.

Local sources have reported that more than 400 civilians have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded since May 9, 2009, as a result of artillery attacks on the thin coastal strip where fighting continues between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"Recent satellite photos and witness accounts show the brutal shelling of civilians in the conflict area goes on," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Neither the Sri Lankan army nor the Tamil Tigers appear to have any reluctance in using civilians as cannon fodder."

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) today issued a preliminary analysis of commercial high-resolution satellite imagery of the conflict zone that shows craters from the use of heavy weapons and the removal of thousands of likely structures used by internally displaced persons (IDPs) between May 6 and May 10. The AAAS found that it was "certainly unlikely that the IDPs would have moved en masse, and so completely without a compelling reason." Tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in the conflict area.

Witnesses described to Human Rights Watch harrowing days spent in shallow bunkers sheltering from artillery attacks and being prevented by the LTTE from escaping to government-controlled areas.

"K. Kanaga," a 35-year-old woman whose name is withheld for security reasons, said that around 7 p.m. on May 9, she and 15 others were hiding in a bunker that they had built under a tractor when a shell struck the tractor. "If it hadn't been for the tractor, we would have all been dead," she said. About eight to 10 shells struck the immediate area, which was populated with tents and improvised bunkers. Kanaga's 45-year-old cousin was staying in a tent nearby; she never reached the bunker and was killed in the attack. "Many other people were injured as well, but I don't know how many," Kanaga said. "I could hear their screams."

"R. Raman," 29, said that he and his family had been hiding in their bunker in Mullaivaikal - a dug-out trench without any cover - for several days. "We were being attacked from all sides," he said. "My wife and I only left the bunker to get food and water for our three children."

Early in the morning on May 9, a shell struck one of the tents closeby, killing Raman's 15-year-old nephew and wounding his nephew's older brother and sister. Raman believes that the shell came from Sri Lankan army positions and may have been targeting LTTE forces that were deployed in the jungle about 100 meters away. Several shells struck the tented area inhabited by displaced civilians.

Raman said he and his family were afraid to try to escape to government-controlled areas. When they and several hundred others had tried to leave the area in early April, LTTE fighters opened fire on them. "I saw them shoot at least 15 people," he said. "They just opened fire on the first row of people. I don't know whether they lived or died, however. We fell to the ground as soon as the firing started. When it stopped, we ran back as quickly as we could. There were children among the people who got shot as well." According to Raman, about half of the people managed to escape that day. The other half were forced to return.

According to doctors who spoke to Human Rights Watch, at around 8 a.m. on May 12 the makeshift hospital at Mullivaikkal was again shelled, as many wounded civilians were waiting for treatment. Nearly 1,000 patients were in the hospital at the time of the attack, including many wounded during attacks on May 9-10. A shell reportedly exploded in front of the admission ward during visiting hours, when many relatives came to visit patients, and doctors usually arrived for work. Doctors reported that the attack killed 49 people (26 immediately, others later succumbing to injuries); another 31 injured remain in the hospital. Among those killed was the administrative officer of Mullaitivu Regional Director of Health Services, who was arranging admission of a patient. A doctor said that the shelling came from the direction of Iraddaivaikal, where government forces are deployed. Human Rights Watch and other independent monitors have not been permitted access to the conflict area by the government, so cannot confirm these casualty figures.

The Mullivaikkal hospital, which had been newly relocated away from the front line, has been repeatedly hit by shells believed to have been fired by Sri Lankan army forces. Photographs of the hospital following the shelling today can be viewed at (slideshow link).

Human Rights Watch has repeatedly raised grave concerns about violations of international law by both parties to the conflict. The LTTE has violated the laws of war by using civilians as "human shields," by preventing civilians from fleeing the combat zone - including by use of lethal force - and by deliberately deploying their forces close to densely populated areas. The Sri Lankan armed forces have indiscriminately shelled densely populated areas, including hospitals, in violation of the laws of war.

Human Rights Watch reiterated its call to Sri Lanka's key donors - including the United States, the European Union, India, Japan, and China - to demand that the Sri Lankan government end its use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas, particularly near hospitals. Both the government and the LTTE should permit safe humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to flee the combat zone.

Human Rights Watch reiterated its call for the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka to be urgently taken up by a formal meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York and by a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Pakistan: Avoid Civilian Casualties

Taliban Atrocities No Excuse for Abuses by Military

May 11, 2009

(New York) Pakistani armed forces and Taliban militants should take all necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties in fighting in Pakistan's volatile Swat valley and adjoining areas of the North West Frontier Province, Human Rights Watch said today.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled their homes since the Pakistani army began major military operations on May 7, 2009, to oust the Taliban from the valley and other areas of the Malakand region of the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA).

"Beheadings and use of human shields by Taliban forces are not a blank check for the Pakistani army," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Winning the war, but also the peace, in Swat can only be achieved by minimizing civilian suffering."

People fleeing the valley into the town of Mardan told Human Rights Watch that the Taliban had mined parts of the valley and were preventing people from leaving the town of Mingora and outlying areas, effectively using the people there as human shields to deter military attack. Human Rights Watch also received reports from people forced to flee the fighting, that the Taliban are continuing their vigilantism and violent attacks, including killings and public beheadings, particularly in Mingora.

Displaced persons told Human Rights Watch that on May 10, the Taliban shot and killed Maulana Zahid Khan, imam of the central mosque at Nishat Chowk, Mingora, because he had objected to their stockpiling arms and laying landmines. Zahid Khan was dragged into the town square and executed when, accompanied by other local residents, he confronted the local Taliban commanders, telling them that their activities could not possibly be construed as Islamic.

Human Rights Watch also received reports of civilian deaths and the destruction of property in the Pakistani military's aerial bombardment. However, because the area is a closed military zone with journalists and human rights monitors barred from entering, it is currently not possible to verify this information independently. Local journalists have left the area, and the army is not permitting Pakistani reporters or foreign correspondents to enter. The area is under indefinite curfew, lifted briefly to allow civilians to flee. Power and telephone links to the rest of the country have been severed since April 28. People who fled the valley also reported food shortages there.

Given the scant regard the Taliban and the Pakistani army have in the past shown for the welfare of civilians during fighting in the Swat valley and in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Human Rights Watch expressed particular concern about possible civilian deaths and injuries.

"The United States has urged Pakistan to find a military solution to the Taliban," said Adams. "But it must also send the message that the laws of war must be followed and civilians protected."

On April 13, President Asif Ali Zardari signed an ordinance imposing Sharia law in the Swat valley and effectively empowering the Taliban and other groups there and in surrounding areas of PATA. But on May 7, in a nationally televised address, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani declared an end to the peace deal with the Taliban, citing multiple violations of the deal by the Taliban and vowing to "eliminate them."

Since 2007, the Taliban have imposed their authority in Swat and adjoining areas through summary executions, including beheadings of state officials and political opponents, public whippings, and large-scale intimidation of the population. Girls' schools have been shut down, women have not been allowed to leave their homes unless escorted by male family members, polio immunization programs were halted, and nongovernmental organizations were expelled. Music and film were banned and stores trading in them destroyed. All men were required to grow beards.

Human Rights Watch has called upon the Pakistani government to arrest those responsible for violations of human rights and hold them legally accountable.

"The Taliban have perpetrated and continue to inflict heinous abuses upon the people of Swat and need to be held accountable," said Adams. "It is absolutely essential that this barbarism is halted and the rule of law reestablished in Swat and adjoining areas."

Human Rights Watch said that the Pakistani military in previous operations in FATA had resorted to mass arrests, excessive use of force in policing operations, and collective punishment of the civilian population. While there have been no confirmed reports of such measures during current operations, Human Rights Watch urged the Pakistani military to ensure that such abuses are not repeated.

"Pakistan has to end the cycle of bad fighting followed by making a bad peace," said Adams. The lesson of Afghanistan is that the only way of preventing a Taliban resurgence, is for the other party to ensure that its treatment of civilians is humane and respectful, that suffering is minimized rather than exacerbated, and that immediate and sustained relief is provided to the displaced."

Human Rights Watch called upon concerned governments and international agencies to provide immediate and substantive financial and logistical support to address the humanitarian crisis caused by the fighting. About half a million people were displaced in the North West Frontier Province even before recent fighting began. This number is expected to double within a matter of days.

"Pakistan is facing one of the largest displacements of people seen in South Asia since the partition of India in 1947," said Adams. "Unless this crisis is dealt with urgently and competently while minimizing the scope for corruption, the humanitarian and political crisis in the region will only worsen."