Iraq

A new report by the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stresses the need to prevent torture in places of detention in Iraq, including the Kurdistan region.  “No circumstances, however exceptional, justify torture,” said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative in the country.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Nicolas de Rivière (France):

The International Labour Organization (ILO) reports significant job losses and deteriorated labour market conditions in Myanmar since the military takeover.  ILO says employment contracted by an estimated 6 per cent in the second quarter of 2021, compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, reflecting 1.2 million job losses.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

On 30 June 2021, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1518 (2003) removed the following entry from its Sanctions List of individuals and entities:

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned today that a further escalation in violence is unfolding across Myanmar, saying there appear to be no efforts towards de-escalation, but rather a build-up of troops in key areas, contrary to commitments the military made to end the violence.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) until 27 May 2022, deciding to provide a strengthened United Nations team in advance of the country’s election, to monitor election day and to continue to assist with the vote.

Secretary-General António Guterres praised the impactful first decade of the “Every Woman Every Child” campaign, which mobilized more than $180 billion in investments.  While maternal and child deaths have declined significantly in that time, he cautioned that COVID-19 has revealed the fragility of those advances.

Five months away from national elections in Iraq — a milestone event in the country’s young democracy — violent attacks against both civilian and military targets continue with “troubling” regularity, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, as delegates called for continued vigilance against terrorist activities and the enactment of economic reforms.

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) committed genocide against the Yazidi and war crimes against unarmed cadets and military personnel at Tikrit Air Academy, the head of the United Nations team investigating these atrocity crimes told the Security Council today.