The Secretary-General arrived in Juba, where he will attend the independence ceremony of the new Republic of South Sudan tomorrow. He first stopped in Khartoum, telling reporters there that, while the people of North and South Sudan will soon live in different countries, their futures will remain closely linked.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Secretary-General held his third meeting with the Cypriot leaders today in Geneva, which he said was productive. Some of the difficulties hampering a comprehensive agreement were identified and the leaders agreed to enter into an intensive period of negotiations on core issues when they return to the island.
The Secretary-General expresses his disappointment that the parties to the conflict in South Kordofan State, Sudan, have not yet agreed to a cessation of hostilities and deplores the grave humanitarian impact of continued fighting, particularly in light of the end of the UNMIS mandate on 9 July.
The Secretary-General welcomes the orderly conduct of the parliamentary elections in Thailand and the promise by all parties to respect the will of the Thai people as expressed through the democratic process. He hopes the elections will be an important step towards genuine reconciliation and long-term stability.
A joint UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has confirmed that rape, pillaging and cruel and degrading treatment were committed in Nyakiele, in South Kivu province, between 11 and 13 June 2011, by troops led by a former Mayi Mayi commander, who reportedly deserted from an integration camp of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC).
The Secretary-General welcomes the signing yesterday in Addis Ababa of the agreement between the Governments of Sudan and Southern Sudan on border security and the joint political and security mechanism. He urges them to conclude and implement, as a matter of priority, a cessation of hostilities agreement.
The Secretary-General has welcomed the signing yesterday in Addis Ababa of the Framework Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, or SPLM-North. He commends both parties for the political will they have demonstrated in reaching the agreement and urges them to use the momentum created to conclude a cessation of hostilities in South Kordofan.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports significant displacement in the Nafusa Mountains of Libya, which has seen intense fighting between Government forces and opposition groups and 64,000 displaced Libyans since mid-March. The World Food Programme has delivered, through partners, some 546 metric tons of food for more than 100,000 people in the mountains.
The International Criminal Court today issued arrest warrants for Muammar al-Qadhafi, one of his sons and the head of Libya’s intelligence forces for alleged crimes against humanity, on reasonable grounds that the arrests are needed to prevent the suspects’ further commission of crimes in the Court’s jurisdiction.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has expressed her serious concerns about the trials of 21 people in Bahrain, including that the due process rights of the defendants were not respected and the trials appeared to bear the marks of political persecution. Her office said that up to 1,000 people reportedly remain in detention.