The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
“The M23 recently took control of the city of Sake following fighting with the DRC armed forces. Recent hostilities between the M23, the DRC army and other armed groups in the village of Bweremana, about 50 km from Goma, left at least 18 civilians dead. Some 400,000 people have been displaced in North and South Kivu since the beginning of this year alone,” the human rights spokesperson said.
“Any such attack on Goma risks catastrophic impacts on hundreds of thousands of civilians, putting them at heightened exposure to human rights violations and abuses,” she said.
The High Commissioner is calling on all parties to the conflict to de-escalate tensions and, consistent with their obligations and responsibilities under international human rights and humanitarian law, to ensure that civilians are unharmed. They must also respect the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality, and ensure those in need have safe and unfettered access to humanitarian aid.
“The High Commissioner appeals to all States with influence on the parties to impress on them the urgent need for an immediate cessation of hostilities,” Shamdasani said.
“Any role played by Rwanda in supporting the M23 – and by any other country supporting armed groups active in the DRC – must end,” she said.
“The people in the DRC are exhausted by violence, exhausted by conflict, exhausted by the horrors of their daily life. And this must not be allowed to worsen further,” Shamdasani said.
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact:
In Geneva
Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or
Liz Throssell - + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org
Seif Magango: +41 79 752 0488 / seif.magango@un.org
Tag and share
Twitter @UNHumanRights
Facebook unitednationshumanrights
Instagram @unitednationshumanrights
Tag and share - Twitter: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
STORY: UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on risk of imminent attack on Goma
TRT: 01:38
SOURCE: OHCHR/ UNOG
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 24 January 2025 – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shots : Palais des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We are deeply alarmed at the heightened risk of an attack by the M23 armed group on Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Recent hostilities between the M23, the DRC army and other armed groups in the village of Bweremana, about 50 km from Goma, left at least 18 civilians dead. Some 400,000 people have been displaced in North and South Kivu since the beginning of this year alone.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Any such attack on Goma risks catastrophic impacts on hundreds of thousands of civilians, putting them at heightened exposure to human rights violations and abuses.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The High Commissioner appeals to all States with influence on the parties to impress on them the urgent need for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Any role played by Rwanda in supporting the M23 – and by any other country supporting armed groups active in the DRC – must end.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The people in the DRC are exhausted by violence, exhausted by conflict, exhausted by the horrors of their daily life. And this must not be allowed to worsen further.”
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
A UN Human Rights Office report released today on Israel’s settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks on Tuesday concerning the deadly blast at a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul:
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks on the impact of Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , WFP
Middle East war may deepen global hunger; mass displacement, rights violations on the rise
The Middle East war could cause the worst disruption to humanitarian work since COVID, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC
The UN’s top human rights forum gathered in Geneva on Monday, where Member States highlighted the growing civilian toll of war in the Middle East, sparked by Israeli and U.S. bombing of Iran, counter-strikes by Tehran against Gulf states and Israeli shelling of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to attacks by the armed group.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNFPA , IOM , UNHCR
As the UN Secretary-General touched down in Beirut on Friday in solidarity with the people of Lebanon, UN agencies highlighted the dangers for civilians and particularly pregnant women and migrant workers, amid ongoing airstrikes and rocket fire between Hezbollah fighters and Israel.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
Russia’s deportations of Ukrainian children amount to crimes against humanity: independent UN rights probe
Scores of Ukrainian children are still missing after being deported far and wide across Russia and occupied territories while their families continue to search for them, human rights investigators said on Thursday.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
The UN’s emergency relief chief on Wednesday condemned the “$1 billion-a-day” cost of the war roiling the Middle East, at a time of severe cuts to the global body’s humanitarian work in emergencies and “soaring” needs.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO , UNHCR , UNICEF , WFP
Middle East war: UN warns of ‘toxic rain’ danger from oil depot strikes as mass displacement, aid supply shocks spread
Toxic “black rain” linked to strikes on oil depots, mass displacement and continuing disruption to humanitarian supply chains are upending lives across the Middle East and beyond after 10 days of war in the region, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on Friday made the following remarks on Israel’s military ground incursions and displacement orders in Lebanon.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , IOM , WHO
The escalating war in the Middle East has heightened growing concerns about further civilian suffering and displacement in the region and far beyond, UN agencies said on Friday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk made the following remarks at a press stake out on the current situation in the Middle East.
“The crisis sparked in the Middle East one week ago following US and Israeli attacks on Iran, and Iran’s counterattacks, has been spreading like wildfire. It is causing significant damage in Iran, Israel and at least a dozen other countries, mostly in the Gulf, with risks of major economic and environmental ramifications across the world,” he said.