UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has condemned the response of a number of Governments in the Middle East and North Africa to the legitimate demands of their people as illegal and excessively heavy handed. She is particularly troubled by targeted attacks of security forces on certain professions.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Secretary-General attaches great importance to the forthcoming mission to Côte d’Ivoire by the five-member high-level panel established by the African Union’s Peace and Security Council to facilitate a peaceful solution to the post-election crisis in Côte d’Ivoire. He urges all Ivorian parties to extend their full cooperation to the high-level panel.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, says that the High Commissioner will formally ask the Egyptian Government to accept a mission from the Office. The aim of the mission is to assess the situation and find ways to help the transition to democracy from a human rights point of view.
The Secretary-General met with President Alan García of Peru in Lima today. Speaking at a joint press conference, he said Peru has seen considerable progress in consolidating democracy and attaining the Millennium Development Goals. The challenge now is to spread these gains equally to the country’s most vulnerable people, especially in rural areas, where the majority of indigenous peoples live.
On the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attack that took the lives of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others, the Secretary-General stands with the people of Lebanon in commemorating the life and achievements of Mr. Hariri. He reaffirms the commitment of the United Nations to the efforts of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to uncover the truth so as to bring those responsible to justice.
The Secretary-General, having just learned of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's decision to step down, said he respects what must have been a difficult decision, taken in the wider interests of the Egyptian people. At this historic moment, he reiterates his call for a transparent, orderly and peaceful transition.
The Secretary-General strongly condemns today’s suicide bombing that killed and injured numerous people at an army recruitment centre in Mardan, Pakistan. He is appalled by the reported use of a minor to commit this terrorist act.
The Secretary-General today addressed the General Assembly's informal thematic debate on disaster risk reduction, saying that last year, more than a quarter of a million people were killed by disasters. He stressed that lives can be saved by advance planning and by building schools, homes, hospitals, communities and cities to withstand hazards.
UNHCR is bringing in more assistance to Côte d’Ivoire as the number of internally displaced persons continues to grow in the west of the country. A cargo plane from Belgium will carry 2,450 tents which will provide shelter for up to 12,000 people, and a road convoy is bringing thousands of blankets, mats, mosquito nets and kitchen sets.
The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by reports of repeated armed clashes between 4 and 6 February 2011 between Cambodia and Thailand around their common border area, which has reportedly claimed a number of lives and led to the displacement of civilians and destruction of property.