Crime


SC/16242

The Security Council today debated the future of the United Nations residual war-crimes court, established in 2010 to complete the remaining work of the Rwanda and former Yugoslavia tribunals after their closure in 2015 and 2017, including proposals to transfer certain technical functions — such as archives management and support for national prosecutions — to the UN Secretariat.

In Sudan, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today called for urgent action to safeguard children and essential services in the country. UNICEF estimates that 10 million people have been displaced there; half of those 10 million are children. This is the highest level of child displacement in the world.

SC/16084

As the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals nears the end of its mandate, speakers in the Security Council today called for enhanced cooperation from Member States to ensure justice for perpetrators of atrocities, war crimes and genocide committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, while some urge that the “outdated” instrument be shuttered.

Ongoing conflict in Rakhine has driven an estimated 360,000 people out of their homes, bringing the total number of displaced there to nearly 570,000. This is part of a broader crisis unfolding across Myanmar, displacing more than 3.5 million people — an increase of 1.5 million people compared to a year ago.