Libya

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

Almost 3,000 migrants were rescued yesterday, after trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration, which said several ships were involved in more than a dozen rescue operations.  The total number of casualties is not yet known.

The search for the peacekeeper missing since Tuesday’s attack on a peacekeeping convoy continues, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic reports.  Besides the four peacekeepers killed, there are now 10 wounded, including nine Moroccans and one Cambodian.

State cooperation with the International Criminal Court was crucial to ensuring justice for victims of mass atrocity crimes committed during 2011 events in Libya, its Chief Prosecutor said today, pressing the Security Council for assistance in the arrest and surrender of those allegedly responsible.

Alarmed at the volatility and human rights situation in Libya, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative there cautioned today that the country risked a return to wide-spread conflict.

United Nations investigators in the Democratic Republic of the Congo confirmed the existence of at least 17 further mass graves in Kasai-Central Province, where soldiers have clashed with the local Kamuina Nsapu militia, which brings to 40 the number of graves documented by the United Nations since August 2016.

Today is World Tuberculosis Day, and UNAIDS is urging countries to do much more to reduce the number of tuberculosis (TB) deaths among people living with HIV.  The most common cause of death among people living with HIV, TB caused the deaths of 400,000 of the 1.1 million people who died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2015.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya said today he is concerned at continued reports of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law across the country.  He said that credible, effective and accountable security institutions are urgently required to end the deteriorating security situation.

The Government of Iraq reports that 180,000 civilians have fled western Mosul since mid-February, when military operations to retake the city’s western districts began.  Humanitarian agencies are bracing for the possibility of an additional 300,000 to 320,000 civilians fleeing in the coming weeks.

The Secretary-General was in Nairobi today.  He expressed his solidarity with the Kenyan people in dealing with the drought that has hit the country.  He added that he had deep gratitude for Kenya’s commitment to multilateralism and also the Government’s commitment to peacekeeping and peace-enforcing.