Middle East

Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra issued two decrees related to the recently signed Global Peace Agreement between the Government and armed groups, establishing follow-up mechanisms, as well as committees in each prefecture to supervise implementation of temporary security arrangements.

The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process called today for leadership and political will among both Israelis and Palestinians, warning that rising extremism and the risk of war are eroding the viability of a two-State solution to the conflict.

Marked by sporadic deadly violence, the current situation in Israel and Palestine is untenable in terms of advancing the agreed-upon two-State solution, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the Palestinian Rights Committee today.

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

At least 34 United Nations and associated personnel were killed in malicious attacks while on duty in 2018, according to the annual report of the UN Staff Union’s Standing Committee for the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service. It is among the lowest casualty rates of the last five years.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights today expressed concern after the approval in first reading of a bill to amend Guatemala’s National Reconciliation Law.  If adopted, the amendment would result in a generalized amnesty for all cases of grave human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict.

The prospects for a viable, contiguous State of Palestine have dwindled as Israel continues its illegal settlement expansion in occupied Palestinian territory, speakers told the Security Council today, noting also that the lack of progress on intra-Palestinian reconciliation persists, and that violence between the Israelis and Palestinians shows no signs of abating.

Some 170 people either died or went missing in two separate shipwrecks on the Mediterranean Sea, according to UNHCR.  NGO sources said that some 53 people died on the Alborán Sea in the western Mediterranean, while Italy’s navy reported 117 out of 120 people dead or missing in an additional shipwreck on the central Mediterranean.

The World Health Organization reports that full operations in response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s North Kivu Province, which were disrupted by civil unrest in late December, have resumed across all locations. It warns that further interruptions could have serious consequences.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights calls on Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender Nabeel Rajab and ensure that all Bahrainis are able to exercise their rights to freedom of opinion and expression without fear of arbitrary detention.  She urges Bahrain to stop criminalizing dissenting voices.