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 | IOM
Well over 1.3 million people have fled Sudan’s ongoing war for South Sudan, the UN migration agency, IOM, reported on Friday, amid rising violence and a massive humanitarian emergency linked to the country’s political crisis.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC , OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday presented to the 61st Human Rights Council his global update on the human rights situation.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday presented to the UN Human Rights Council a new report on the human rights situation in occupied Palestinian territory.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday briefed the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the human rights situation in Sudan: “Nearly three years of brutal conflict have almost turned Sudan into a land of despair. The report I am presenting today is yet another chapter in the chronicle of cruelty. It outlines clear, ongoing patterns of violence against civilians, including killings, rape, and torture. As the fighting has intensified, violations of international law by all parties to the conflict have surged, while accountability has remained practically absent,” he said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday told the Human Rights Council in Geneva today: “Afghanistan is a graveyard for human rights. The cascade of edicts and laws announced by the de facto authorities since coming to power in 2021 is having a crushing impact on the Afghan people, particularly women and girls.”
3
1
Edited News | UNITED NATIONS , OCHA , UNHCR
Ukraine enters fifth year of war: Attacks and displacement deepen human suffering amid mounting recovery challenges
On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UN officials took stock of the immense human and economic toll of the conflict while appealing to the world to “never get used to war.”
2
27
2
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | General Assembly , UNITED NATIONS
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops on 24 February 2022 shattered the peaceful aspirations of an entire continent, but war must never be the new normal, UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday.
1
48
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
A ceremony marking the completion of the construction of the Portail des Nations, a soon-to-open visitors centre for the UN in Geneva, was held today for diplomats from around the world who have gathered in the Swiss city for the opening session of the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his opening remarks to the 61str session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
10
1
1
Edited News | HRC , SG
In Geneva, delegates from more than 120 countries gathered on Monday to mark 20 years of the UN Human Rights Council and a shared commitment to international law, amid runaway global instability and conflict, amid runaway global instability and conflict.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office has published a report on the grave human rights abuses suffered by the hundreds of thousands of people trafficked into scam operations mostly in southeast Asia.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Marta Hurtado briefed journalists on a UN report detailing child trafficking by gangs and how it is putting Haiti’s future at risk.