The United Nations Office at Geneva
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UN Geneva Press Briefing - 23 September 2025
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UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING
23 September 2025
Civilian detainees subjected to violation since Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine
Jeremy Laurence, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), informed of the new OHCHR report, which showed that Russian authorities had subjected Ukrainian civilian detainees in occupied territory to torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, in a widespread and systematic manner. Russia had applied Russian criminal law in occupied territory, the report noted, ignoring the obligation under international humanitarian law to respect the laws in force in the occupied territory, unless absolutely prevented. The frequent disregard of legal and procedural safeguards had resulted in high numbers of arbitrary detentions and raised significant concerns about enforced disappearances. In territory under its control, Ukraine had detained mainly its own citizens on charges related to national security, including treason and espionage, the report said. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stressed that it was essential that the human rights of civilian detainees, who had been severely impacted by this terrible conflict, be prioritised in any peace talks.
Danielle Bell, Head of the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), speaking from Kyiv, said that civilian detention was a complex and often misunderstood issue. Civilians in detention faced a heightened risk of torture and abuse. Speaking of Russian detention of Ukrainian civilians, Ms. Bell said that Russia had disregarded international humanitarian law, subjecting numerous Ukrainian civilians for treason or criticizing invasion. Those targeted included human rights and civil activists. Since February 2022, Ukraine’s Prosecutor-General had recorded more than 15,000 Ukrainian civilian detentions by Russia, with at least 1,800 still in detention. Under international law, the occupying power could detain civilians, but only under strict conditions, something that Russia had disregarded. There was systematic and widespread mistreatment and torture of Ukrainian civilians by Russian authorities; more than 92 percent of interviewed former Ukrainian detainees had reported torture or ill-treatment. Since February 2022, HRMMU had documented 90 executions of civilians in detention and 36 civilian deaths in detention due to torture or poor conditions. Russian laws shielded Russian military personnel from accountability.
Speaking of civilian detention by Ukraine, Ms. Bell said that Ukraine had detained its own citizens accused of treason or sabotage; The increased number of conflict-related detainees - some 2,258 held by Ukraine in official pre-trial and penal facilities as of 21 July 2025, as well as 20,000 open cases – had strained Ukraine’s criminal justice system. Ukraine had largely followed its procedural safeguards, but concerns persisted; 117 of those detainees had reported torture or mistreatment when detained in 2022. Pre-trial detention was overused, and bail was rarely granted. Ms. Bell stressed the importance of the report, which put the spotlight on the continued use of torture; its public record could be drawn upon to keep the perpetrators accountable.
Full report is available here.
Responding to questions from the media, Ms. Bell said that there were some recorded instances of medical practitioners participating in ill-treatment or torture; denial of medical access had also been recorded. In the OHCHR report, 92 percent of the 216 Ukrainian civilians formerly detained by Russia had reported being tortured or ill-treated. Ms. Bell explained that the HRMMU had also interviewed detainees’ lawyers and family members. Torture had been documented in every region of occupied territories and various parts of the Russian Federation. On another question, Ms. Bell said that the interviewed sample was considered to be representative of the broader phenomenon, as it consistently showed that torture and ill-treatment had indeed happened across the occupied regions and Russia’s own territory. The recorded incidents were not random, and it would be impossible for the authorities not to know these incidents had taken place.
While there were instances of persons having died in Ukrainian custody, it was not established with certainty if they had died of torture, ill-treatment, or other causes. Ms. Bell explained that the UN Ombudsman’s Office estimated that there were 1,800 Ukrainian civilians currently detained by Russia; that number should be considered the bare minimum because documenting those cases was very difficult. This category included journalists, OSCE staff, or workers from the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, among others. Over 15,000 instances of detention of Ukrainian civilians by the Russian Federation since the beginning of the full-scale invasion had been recorded by Ukraine’s Prosecutor-General, and these figures were considered to be accurate. People were being detained and released every day in the occupied territories, which was why the numbers fluctuated. The way Russia was detaining Ukrainian civilians was inherently unlawful, reiterated Ms. Bell. The UN did not have access to places of detention in the occupied territories or Russia, even if it had been asking for access for years. All interviews had thus been conducted with the released detainees once they had returned to Ukrainian-controlled territories.
Cholera vaccination in Darfur
Hala Khudari, Acting Deputy World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Sudan, connecting from Port Sudan, stated that the cholera outbreak had started in late July 2024 in the state of Kassala and had now spread to all 18 states of Sudan. More than 113,600 cases and over 3,000 deaths had been reported from across the country, reaching a concerning case fatality ratio of 2.7 percent. Over the past year, similar surges of cases had been observed in White Nile and Khartoum among other states, resulting from the impact of the conflict and increased population movement compounded with severely limited basic services such as water, food and health.
With joint efforts among partners and other sectors, WHO had been successful in scaling up the response and controlling these outbreaks. The latest success had been in Khartoum, where reported cases had surged from 75 cases per day on to over 1,500, in just two weeks. With concerted interventions to control the outbreak cholera, the daily reported cases had then reverted to pre upsurge levels at 60 cases per day, a testament to the efforts of deployed WHO and health partner teams, strengthened surveillance, treatment of cases, and a targeted vaccination campaign, which had resulted in a steady decline of reported cases.
At the end of May, informed Ms. Khudari, the outbreak had reached Darfur for the first time since July 2024. Reported cases in Darfur continued to increase amid severe access constraints that were impeding the required scale of response. According to the latest update as of 21 September, 12,739 cases and 358 deaths had been reported from 36 of the 64 localities of the 5 Darfur States; in other words, 50 percent of the localities of the Darfurs were now reporting cases. WHO, with health partners, had been working diligently to control the outbreak with a focused effort to carry out a cholera vaccination campaign in the localities that reported the highest numbers of cholera cases. The campaign came at a critical time, when cholera cases in Darfur continued to appear at an alarming rate. Ms. Khudari explained that, while vaccination was a highly effective intervention, it was one part of a comprehensive cholera response, including surveillance, case management, water and sanitation and community engagement. WHO continued to coordinate with partners and other sectors to work jointly on all the elements of the response to control the outbreak.
Ricardo Pires, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), added that, according to UNICEF’s figures collaborated with the Federal Ministry of Health, there had been at least 380 recorded cholera deaths of children under five; 240 deaths of children between the age of five and ten; and 290 deaths of those between the age of 10 and 20.
Answering questions from the journalists, Ms. Khudari said that the WHO worked closely with the national authorities, namely the Federal Ministry of Health, to establish the number of cases and fatalities. As of 21 September, the national figures had reached over 3,000 deaths, reiterated Ms. Khudari, at the 2.7 percent case fatality rate. One of the biggest challenges was to deliver vaccines to those in need, considering long routes, insecurity, and the rainy season. Further vaccination campaigns would also depended on the availability of vaccines, said Ms. Khudari, adding that the Federal Ministry of Health had also submitted a request for a preventative campaign, which was now under consideration. In Darfur only, 12,700 cases and 358 deaths had been confirmed, but true figures could be higher. Fatality rates were higher in Darfur than the rest of the country, she warned.
Questions to the World Health Organization
Replying to a question, Tarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that although some observational studies had suggested a possible association between prenatal exposure to acetaminophen (paracetamol) and autism, the evidence remained inconsistent. Several studies had found no such relationship. If the link between acetaminophen and autism were strong, it would likely have been consistently observed across multiple studies. This lack of replicability called for caution in drawing causal conclusions about the role of acetaminophen in autism. Medicines should always be used with caution during pregnancy, especially in the first three months. It was important for women to continue to follow the advice of their doctors or health workers, who could help assess individual circumstances and recommend necessary medicines.
WHO based its recommendations on science, said Mr. Jašarević in response to another question. When it came to vaccine scheduling, the WHO guidance had been adopted by all countries, and it remained essential for the wellbeing of every child and their communities. Every vaccine recommendation by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), was grounded on the rigorous review of evidence. Countries could tailor their specific vaccination programmes, explained Mr. Jašarević, but each missed dose increased the chance of contracting life-threatening diseases. There were some 62 million people living on the autism spectrum around the world, and more needed to be known about the causes of autism. Autism and autism spectrum disorders were among the many mental health and neurological conditions being discussed at the 4th UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and mental health.
WHO believed that the health authorities around the world were best placed to make relevant recommendations for their populations, and their science-based findings ought to guide policies everywhere. Vaccines saved lives and did not cause autism, as proven by science, emphasized Mr. Jašarević.
Announcements
Michele Zaccheo, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that in New York, the high-level segment of the 80th General Assembly would commence today. The Secretary-General’s remarks, in which he would appeal for an urgency of action, would be shared with the media.
The Security Council would also be meeting in New York today on the situations in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Today at 2 pm, the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua would hold a press conference to present its latest report to the Human Rights Council.
On 24 September at 2:30 pm, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) would present its 2025 Review of Maritime Report, under embargo until 5 pm. Speakers would be Regina Asariotis, Chief, Trade Logistics Branch, and Hassiba Benamara, economist, Trade logistics branch, both at UNCTAD.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would conclude its 78th session on 26 September at 5:30 pm and issue its concluding observations on the six countries reviewed during this session: Russian Federation, Colombia, Chile, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe, and Lao PDR.
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances would begin at 3 pm today its review of the report of Benin.
Teleprompter
[Other language spoken]
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to this briefing from the United Nations in Geneva.
Today, as you know, Tuesday 23rd of March is General Assembly Day and and it's GA week in New York.
So all eyes on UN headquarters, as as you know, today is the start of the General Assembly and you know that the secretary general will address world leaders and we will make his remarks available under embargo as soon as as soon as we have those.
He as you, as you might expect, he will he will make a speech that will be a stark wake up call to the world framed around the need to make clear decisions at this decisive time.
And he will appeal for renewal and the urgency of action and moral leadership asking the question, what kind of world do we want to choose to build together?
So of course, it's, it's doesn't mean that there aren't, you know, very important things going on outside of the outside of the General Assembly in the, in the, in the context of the UN.
The Security Council is also meeting today at 7:00 PM Geneva time on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at 10:00 PM Geneva time on maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine.
And Speaking of Ukraine, we have our friends from OHCHR here, Jeremy Lawrence, who's going to introduce Danielle Bell.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
We have this morning published a report on the treatment of thousands of civilian detainees since Russia's full scale armed attack on Ukraine in 2022.
The report finds that Russian authorities have subjected Ukrainian civilian detainees in occupied territory to torture and I'll treatment.
The Russian Federation has frequently disregarded legal and procedural safeguards in occupied territory, resulting in high numbers of arbitrary detentions and raising significant concerns about enforced disappearances.
The cumulative effect of these measures, combined with the lack of accountability has placed many Ukrainian civilians outside the effective protection of the law during their detention and contributed to an oppressive environment and climate of fear in the occupied territory of Ukraine.
In territory under its control, Ukraine has detained mainly its own citizens on charges related to national security, including treason and espionage, the report details.
Many conflict related criminal cases also involve charges of collaboration based on the individual's interaction or Co operation with the Russian occupying authorities.
We reiterate that civilians must always be treated humanely and can only be detained on grounds of lawful under international law.
They must be released from detention as soon as such grounds cease to exist.
UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk calls for the human rights of civilian detainees to be prioritised in any peace talks.
That's the end of my little introduction.
We are drawing, joined from Kiev by Danielle Bell.
Danielle's the head of our human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, and she can provide more details about the report's findings.
Over to you.
[Other language spoken]
Thanks, Jeremy.
As Jeremy mentioned, the report focuses on 2 very distinct categories of civilians.
First, Ukrainian civilians detained by Russia in occupied territory and conflict related detainees held by Ukraine for national security grounds.
We prepared this report because civilian detention is a complex and often misunderstood issue, and it doesn't receive the same attention that other issues seen in this war do.
Civilians in detention face heightened risk of torture, abuse and disappearances, especially during wartime when they are often seen as security threats.
I will begin with the Russian detention of Ukrainian civilians.
Russia has detained Ukrainian civilians on a massive scale, disregarding international humanitarian law and applying its own criminal law in occupied areas.
Civilians have been systematically targeted for their perceived ties to Ukraine's armed forces and subjected to prosecution for alleged crimes such as treason, discrediting the Russian armed forces or criticising the invasion.
These are actions that are not considered to be crimes under occupation law.
Those targeted include civil society activists, journalists, human rights activists and ordinary individuals who express pro Ukrainian views or challenge the occupation through their words.
Since February 2022, Ukraine's Prosecutor General has recorded over 15,000 civilian detentions by Russian Federation authorities, with at least 1800 individuals still in custody.
For this report, my team documented 508 cases, which includes 216 interviews with released civilian detainees.
Let me be clear, under international law, occupying powers are permitted to detain civilians, but only under strict conditions, including with procedural safeguards and judicial oversight.
Russia has disregarded these legal obligations, leaving civilians vulnerable to mistreatment and abuse.
As Jeremy mentioned, a core finding of this report is systematic and widespread torture and I'll treatment of Ukrainian civilians by Russian authorities.
Of those interviewed, 92% recorded reported torture.
This includes severe beatings, sexual violence, threats such as mock mock executions.
1 detainee described to us beating being beaten so severely with a baseball bat that he begged to be shot.
His captor instead laughed and beat his teeth with a baseball bat, knocking out his teeth.
Civilians also described dire conditions of detention, including overcrowding, food shortages, and very limited or no access to medical care, poor hygiene and extreme isolation.
One woman described being detained for more than a year in a *** infested cell with almost zero time outside of her cell.
Since February of 2022, we've documented 90 deaths of civilians are executions of civilians in detention and 36 civilians who died as a consequence of torture, lack of access to health care and poor conditions of detention.
Civilians are often detained without charges or legal process, and families are left without information for weeks or months.
We interviewed A7 year old man who was detained for three years without being told what he was being charged for.
Civilians have also been illegally deported to facilities in Russia, isolating them even further.
These violations that we're describing have been enabled by Russian laws passed in 2023 and 2024, which shield military personnel from accountability.
Combined with a lack of transparent procedures and independent monitoring, Ukrainian civilians are left entirely outside the protection of law.
Turning to civilian detention by Ukraine, which is completely different in scale and nature, but it merits attention, Ukraine has detained civilians, mostly its own civil, mostly its own citizens, who are charged with national security offences like treason, sabotage, or collaboration.
As of July 2025, two 1258 individuals were detained.
My team conducted 409 interviews with civilians in custody and reviewed over 2000 court decisions.
Ukraine has largely followed its procedural safeguards, for example, ensuring access to lawyers and complaint mechanisms, But concerns do persist.
For example, 117 detainees reported torture or treatment when they were first detained in 2022, or most cases were from early 2022.
Pretrial detention is overused and bail is rarely granted.
Investigations into abuse have seen limited progress.
In conclusion, this report is vital for several reasons.
First, it confronts us with the harsh reality, with the harsh reality of torture, which underscores the urgency of ending it, and the report gives several practical recommendations for doing this.
Second, in any negotiation, the release of civilian detainees held by the Russian Federation must be a priority, and the law and the facts in this report provide a basis or can support these efforts.
Third, the public record formed by this report can be drawn upon to hold perpetrators accountable.
And finally, those detained and their family members deserve for the truth to be known and their suffering to be acknowledged.
Thank you very much.
I welcome questions about the report.
Thank you, Danielle, for this important chilling report.
We have a question online from Jeremy Launch Radio France.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Actually, I'd like to, to, to know yesterday the, the special report mentioned the fact that health personnel in Russia was participating in, in, in the torture of detainees.
I'd like to know if, if this is something that you've noticed also like the, the participation of, of medics and yeah, in, in torture.
And also you mentioned, I think that 92% of the, the, the, the detainees, the people detained by, by Russia explained that they were subjected to torture.
You also mentioned that torture is, is something that is happening in on the Ukrainian side.
I'd like to know if you can take a guess and, and, and say if this is limited, how many, what is the percentage of people detained in, in, in Ukraine that have been reported torture as well?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Jeremy for the questions.
First, regarding have we documented health practitioners or medics participating in the torture and I'll treatment of detainees, the answer is yes.
We have recorded some circumstances of this both with civilian detainees and a separate topic with with prisoners of war.
So we have recorded some instances of this and at the same time, what we've also recorded is people being denied access to healthcare.
So for example, about a month ago, we interviewed a woman who was begging for treatment for a broken knee and she was kicked in the knee instead.
So, So yes, this is something that we're recording both the torture and I'll treatment itself as well as denial of access to healthcare and treatment, including as a consequence of torture, which is one of the reasons why we have recorded deaths in custody from torture.
Your second question related to both the Russian Federation torture of Ukrainians and on the Ukrainian side.
So yes, in this report, 92% of the 216 released civilian detainees that we interviewed reported or provided credible and reliable allegations of torture and all treatment with the interviews concerning torture and all treatment by the Ukrainian side.
Yes, it took place.
The vast majority of the cases or the 117 cases that we documented for this report, with most of the cases, it occurred during the initial phases of interrogation and in early 2022, but we have recorded some more recent cases.
But for the purposes of this report, it covers just civilian detention of conflict related detainees from the Ukrainian side.
Thanks for the question.
[Other language spoken]
We'll go to the room now.
I'll ask you just to identify yourself and go ahead.
Christian, please.
So just for the benefit of.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
It's Christiana with a German press agency.
Could you give us some more details on on the interviews you had with people who were or are in Russian detention?
Where did you interview them?
How do you have access?
Where are they now?
And yeah, that's it.
Thank you, Christiana 1st, we interviewed the 216 civilian detainees after they were released from custody and once they came back into Ukrainian Ukrainian government controlled territory.
We also interviewed family members, defence lawyers and others who still had, who still have people that remain in custody in the Russian Federation.
So it's a mix of of survivors, family members, victims, witnesses.
So, for example, you know that we also have done close to 600 interviews of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
And because civilians and prisoners of war are sometimes detained together, PO WS that have been released have also been a wealth of information for some of the realities in these facilities.
Where did we document it?
We, as I mentioned, it was it's widespread and systematic torture.
It was documented in every region of occupied territory, as well as dozens of regions inside the Russian Federation.
So if you look at the map that's inside the report, it shows exactly the regions in which we have looked at detention.
Thank you for the question.
So can I just follow up, Are you saying that these people who were who left detention were allowed to leave occupied territory or is it territory that was later regained by Ukrainian forces?
[Other language spoken]
But for this, for this report, the vast majority of those civilian in civilian detainees that we interviewed were released in occupied territory and then made their way back to government controlled parts of Ukraine.
And we interviewed them here in country and they were able to get back.
And I would also add that it's different periods of time that they've been held.
So with some, they had only been held for two weeks.
And so these might be people that we've interviewed in territory that's been retaken by the Ukrainians, but it also includes people who have been detained for more than 2 1/2 years.
The report itself covers detention since the full scale invasion and it covers interviews that we that cover the period from June 2023 until September 10th of this year.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
And then we go back online to Satoko.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much for the briefing and Nina Larson with AFPI have a couple questions.
I was wondering if you could say the 92% that you found from your interviews, do you think that can be extrapolated to all the 15,000 people that you said had been, had been arrested since the since the start?
I mean, just how widespread this is?
And also you're talking about people who were held for different lengths of time, the Russians on the Russian side.
Would you say that the, the torture continued throughout, throughout their detention?
Because you said the Ukrainians, it was mainly at the start.
And finally, just on the on the medical personnel, I'm wondering if you could say a little bit more about how widespread you found this to be.
And also if you also found that medical personnel assisted not only took took part, but maybe advised in torture, which is what we heard from this special repertoire yesterday on how to inflict additional pain or seem to be present during torture.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you Nina for the questions.
So first, the 92%.
How do we assess that as being consistent across the 15,000 detentions that have been documented?
We assess that as being a reliable picture of the entire 15,000.
Why do we think this?
We look first at the scope and scale, torture, **** treatment occurred in every region of the occupied territory and, as I said, dozens of regions in the Russian Federation.
It occurred in all contexts throughout the detention, mainly, of course, during the mainly during interrogation, but that could also be at multiple facilities, but also during the daily routine.
So, for example, people being beaten when they're walking from their cell to the dining hall, they're being forced to walk at a bent angle.
So these are the things we would we hear consistently.
At the same time, we documented cooperation across entities.
So FS they are the Ukraine, the Russian Security Service has played a central appears to have played a central role in this.
It wasn't by accident.
They these weren't random incidents.
And it would have been likely unlikely or impossible for those in charge not to have known that this was taking place.
We also documented efforts by Russian authorities to conceal their identities during the torture, such as wearing masks and forcing detainees on camera to deny that they had been tortured.
So overall, you know, these factors make it highly unlikely that it occurred randomly.
And because we heard these accounts, like what I'm telling you wasn't from one or two people, this is what we heard consistently across the 216 released people that we interviewed, as well as other witnesses.
And I think that kind of answered your second question, cause your second question was with the with the Ukrainians.
It occurred most of the cases that we have of tortural treatment occurred in 2022 with the Russian Federation.
It occurred throughout the stages of detention, but with most cases or many cases being documented during interrogation, which could happen at multiple facilities.
3rd, on the question on medical personnel, I would need to go a little bit deeper into our notes and our interviews to be able to give a clear answer.
But generally, as you've seen over the years, our reporting and findings have been entirely consistent with that of the Commission of inquiry.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
We've got Sotoku Adati from Yomiurich Shimbun online, and then we'll come back to Isabel.
Yes, thank you very much.
I just want to follow up on the Ukrainian side.
Were there any Ukrainian civilians who died as a consequence of torture by the Ukrainian army or the lack of access to the healthcare in Ukraine?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So I just want to make sure I understand your question.
So you're asking, have we recorded deaths in custody of Ukrainians by Ukrainian authorities?
Is that?
[Other language spoken]
So this is something that we're monitoring very carefully.
While we have recorded instances where persons have died in custody, we haven't verified that they've occurred as a consequence, whether it's occurred as a consequence of torture or of other underlying health conditions.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
For if it's Spanish news Agency, I would like to firstly understand how did you estimate A-10008800 people still detained in Ukrainian people in Russia?
How more or less do you know?
Have you gotten this figure?
Secondly, on the detention sites, can you describe and tell us how many detention sites there are?
If they there are places that have been set up especially to to help to hold the civilians, Are they separated from prisoners of war in different sites?
Well, that's all.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
The number 1800.
This is an estimate by the Ukrainian Ombudspersons Office, who has documented at least 1800 Ukrainian civilians remain in detention by Russian authorities either in occupied territory and the Russian Federation.
This number should be considered an absolute minimum.
This is the number of confirmed cases from the United Nations side.
We've we've documented more than 400 cases with through interviews and speaking with eyewitnesses etcetera.
And those numbers are set out clearly in in the report.
But again, these numbers should be considered the minimum because documenting these cases is extremely difficult.
In terms of the numbers of detention sites where we have documented that civilians are being detained, those numbers are set out in the report.
I believe the number is 161 locations as well as several dozen unofficial sites.
Your third question was the separation of prisoners of war and civilian detainees.
You asked why are they detained together when they're supposed to be held separately.
They're different.
They're different categories, what we have found through the monitoring and reporting that we've been doing over the years that in many cases, civilians have been detained with the prisoners of war.
Thanks for the question.
[Other language spoken]
We've got Gabriella Sotomayor online and then we'll go to Emma in the room.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
Miguel, I'm sorry that I, I didn't get your first words in the statement, but I would like to to ask what happened with the children that were kidnapped by Russia in Ukraine?
They took it, they took it to to Russia as long as I know.
But what happened with them?
Do you have any idea if they return home or what happened?
Thank you for the question, Gabriella.
And the issue of children being deported, deported or illegally transferred from Ukraine to the Russian Federation indeed is an issue that we are monitoring and reporting on regularly.
And if you look at our previous reports that we've presented before the Human Rights Council, that there's updates set out in all of our previous reports with this report, it's focused on civilian detention, which is a slightly, which is like a different category.
And in this context, we have documented 9 boys and three girls that were detained on detained by the Russian Federation for charges such as spying or acts of sabotage against the Russian military.
But this is completely separate than the deported children issue.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Just a question on the numbers the the 15,250 in detention from the Ukrainian authorities.
Can you just say whether that that is credible for you and if you've been able to verify that yourselves?
And do you have your own number for how many recorded deaths in custody you have from torture?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
We assess the number of the prosecutor general, IE over 15,000 instances of detention of civilians by the Russian Federation since the full scale invasion.
We assess this figure to be accurate.
[Other language spoken]
Because you saw during the early days of the full scale invasion that the Russian authorities undertook massive wide scale arbitrary arrest targeting Ukrainians who were suspected of supporting the Ukrainian armed forces, suspected of giving information against the Russian military.
So there were many, many cases during the early days of the full skill invasion.
These arrests and detention have continued, although the nature has changed slightly.
We see more people being arrested and detained for acts that aren't criminal, such as criticising the special military operation.
And not everybody is detained for months and years at a time.
Some people are only detained for a day or two or two weeks, which adds up quickly.
Looking at how much time has passed since February 2022.
You also asked, so thanks Emma.
And you also asked about the 36th.
Are you asked about the number of cases of torture specifically from in in custody?
So we have, we've documented 26, excuse me, we've documented 36 deaths in custody that occurred as a consequence of torture, lack of access to medical treatment, poor conditions of detention.
And slicing off a figure of how many of those were just because of torture is quite difficult because it's the combined effect.
So for example, during interrogation, someone is kicked repeatedly in the head or the stomach and they have internal bleeding and they're denied access to healthcare.
I mean, people they should have survived and they don't, or so it's difficult to give an exact breakdown.
Thank you very much.
I'm looking at the room to see whether any more questions.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Michele, just a clarification about the children that you say that we're in detention, 9 boys and three girls, I think are they still in detention or do you know about them?
And I, I need to check the exact status so, so I, I can get back to you with that, with an exact answer to that.
[Other language spoken]
We also on, on children, we also monitor children who have been detained by Ukrainian forces.
So this is children who have been recruited to carry out acts of sabotage against Ukrainian military.
So the child detention linked to the war is happening on on both sides, but I can get back to you on the fate and whereabouts and current location of the nine boys and three girls that I've just mentioned.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Was that a hand up?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Hello, Miss Bell, Thank you for coming to see us.
I just wanted to make sure that from Associated Press.
The.
I just wanted to make sure that I understand this correctly.
So 15,000 over the course of the country, 15,000 over the course of the conflict, and roughly 1800 still detained.
Is that right?
Am I understanding that correctly?
That is correct, that is correct.
But the 1800 number, it needs to be considered the bare minimum.
This is the number of cases that we've been that Mister Lubinetz's office or the Office of the Ombudsman has confirmed.
The actual number is much, much higher.
Sorry, I just want to make sure that I understand that it's still in detention.
So the 15,000 is since the beginning of the full scale invasion.
This includes people who have been detained for days, weeks, months or years.
That's the number of detentions that the Office of the Prosecutor General has estimated that have taken place.
The 1800 bare minimum figure, that's the number of civilians that are believed or that are have been confirmed to still be in detention in either occupied territory or the Russian Federation.
So this is categories like the OSCE staff who remained in detention, the workers from the Zafir Asia power plant, journalists, civil society activists.
This is that they fall into that category, the people that are still in detention.
[Other language spoken]
I'm trying to get to the to the gist of how how that number has come down.
In other words, is it because the detention was so brief?
Like if you could just walk us through, are there any conclusions to be drawn from the fact that roughly what is that 12% of the people that were detained, detained, detained at one point, you know, are still being held at least minimum?
What I'm trying to, without getting too bogged down in the numbers, I'm trying to understand what kind of trend or what kind of conclusions we can draw from the fact that there are, you know, 1800 roughly as opposed to 15,000.
Was it simply that most of them were held only briefly Were was there?
Is there a sign of goodwill from the Russian authorities to hand over a certain number of them?
Have some of them died in custody?
[Other language spoken]
If you could give us a broad overview as to why?
Why the discrepancy on those numbers?
[Other language spoken]
People are being detained and released every day in the Russian Federation and occupied territory.
People are being picked up for expressing pro Ukrainian views, held for a couple of days, couple of weeks, couple of months and released.
So the number is always fluctuating.
We did see high, high levels during the early days of the full scale invasion.
People detained for short, medium, long periods of time.
The 1800 number is those that are still detained, so they've been detained for much longer periods of time, confirmed to be detained, but the not that actual number is considered to be much, much higher.
So in terms of trends and conclusions to draw, first, the way that the Russian Federation is detaining Ukrainian civilians is inherently unlawful under international humanitarian law.
It is required to put procedures in place for the internment of civilians because lawfully it can.
It can do that, but it has not done that.
Second, it is supposed to keep Ukrainian laws in place.
It should be Ukrainian laws that apply.
Instead, what they've done is they've applied their own domestic criminal law and charged Ukrainian civilians for acts that may may be lawful or should be otherwise lawful, like expressing pro Ukrainian views and at the same time those civilians who may have been detained on a lawful basis or a basis that could be provided for under international humanitarian law.
There were no, there was no framework in place for doing so, IE judicial oversight, predict procedural safeguards, less widespread systematic torture, dire conditions of detention.
So those are the key conclusions to be drawn from the report is the inherently unlawful nature and the lack of respect for human rights law.
So and then just to kind of come back to the numbers, it's not really discrepancy when you look at the numbers and the numbers of facilities across the Russian Federation and occupied territory where civilians are being held for varying periods of time.
The map inside the report is quite useful because it shows the different locations.
Does that answer the question?
We can also speak offline and I can go into more detail offline.
[Other language spoken]
And I'm sorry, the discrepancy was not quite the right word I should have used.
It's more of a gap or just the sort of evolution rather than discrepancy.
[Other language spoken]
But yes, thank you.
That does help.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
And don't hesitate to reach out separately.
I don't know if we have one more question on the matter from Gabriela Sotomayor.
If that's an old hand that's up from before.
If, if you have one more question, I just, you know, we'll take this one last one before moving on to our next topic.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Michele, one clarification, how many detention centres did you visit in Russia or in the occupied territory?
And then I have other questions, Michele, for human rights and another issue.
[Other language spoken]
OK, All right, go, go ahead, please.
UN Human Rights does not have access to detention facilities in occupied territory or the Russian Federation, although we have been asking for this access for years.
All of our interviews with civilian detainees that had been held by the Russian authorities took place on Ukrainian soil once they had been released and returned to government controlled areas.
And we will continue to request for that access.
And one of the core recommendations we've been making in this report and our previous reports is exactly the point you just raised, Gabriella, is the absolute need for independent access of human rights monitors to these facilities, which would be a key tool for prevention.
So thank you for raising this important question.
[Other language spoken]
Daniel Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, speaking to us from Kiev.
Thank you very much.
I understand that we've got some questions for Jeremy Gabriel, if you could make that quick just because we've got some our guests from WHO waiting on standby.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yesterday there was a release of a report on Venezuela.
I would like to know, it was pretty strong about, I don't know the number exact of foreigners in detention in Venezuela.
But my question is if the High Commissioner received the the representative of Venezuela or the ambassador or anything that Venezuela could say with the High Commissioner, if you have something to say.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I'm, I'm afraid I'll have to come back to you on that.
I'm, I'm not aware of any instances of, of the meetings of of late, but rather give a definitive answer.
I'll come back to you.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Jeremy and thank you all.
We've got Tariq Jasarovic standing by here at WHO in Geneva and also Halaqudari, who is the acting Deputy WTO representative in Port Sudan.
Tarek, perhaps you'd like to say a few words to introduce.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Michaela, and good morning, everyone.
What we have heard last last Friday from colleagues from ICRC about the situation in Sudan.
They also mentioned health situation, they mentioned cholera outbreak.
We talked about it as well.
So we wanted to have an update.
So I'll give the floor to Hala who is in in, in Port Sudan and who will tell us more about cholera outbreak and cholera vaccination specifically in Darfur, but across the country as well.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So yes, my briefing today is about the response to the cholera outbreak in Darfur states in particular.
As you know, the cholera outbreak started in late July in the state of Kassala and has now spread to all 18 states of Sudan.
We have reported more than 100 and 13600 cases and over 3000 deaths from across the country and this is really a concerning case fatality rate of 2.7.
Over the past year, we have witnessed surges of cases in White Nile and Khartoum, among other states.
This is resulting from the impact of the conflict and increased population movement compounded with severely limited basic services such as water, food and health.
With joint efforts among partners and other sectors, we have been successful in scaling up the response in controlling these outbreaks.
The latest success was in Khartoum where where reported cases had surged up from 75 cases per day to 1500 with concerted interventions to to control the outbreak.
Luckily the daily reported cases reverted to pre search up levels at 60 cases per day.
I was actually in Khartoum earlier this month and witnessed first hand the improvement of the cholera situation.
It's a testament to the efforts of deployed WHO and health partners, strength and surveillance, treatment of cases and a targeted vaccination campaign, which resulted in a steady decline of the reported cases at the end of the May.
At the end of at the end of May, the outbreak reached Darfur for the first time since July 2024.
Reported cases in Darfur continue to increase amid a severe access amid severe access constraints that are impeding the required scale of response.
According to the latest update, as of 2 days ago, 12,739 cases as well as 358 deaths were reported in 36 of the 64 localities of the five Darfur states.
This is 50% of the localities in the Darfur's.
WHO with HealthPartners has been working diligently to control the outbreak with a focused effort to carry out a cholera vaccination campaign in the localities that are reporting the highest number of cholera cases.
As preparation started, numerous challenges and delays were faced in delivering the cholera vaccines to Darfur.
Relentless efforts were needed using all options through cross line and cross-border routes to finally reach Darfur.
The critically needed vaccines and supporting supplies were finally delivered in Nyala in the South Darfur state earlier this month.
After weeks of preparations to overcome access, transport and logistical challenges, the Colour of Vaccination campaign has kicked off this Sunday.
The campaign aims to protect 1.86, eight, 1.86 million people in six priority localities of the Darfur's.
The campaign started in Nyala Shaman, Nyala, Janu and belayed the localities of South Darfur and as well as Abu Jabra and Adani localities of East Darfur and plans are under way to launch the campaign in Talwila in North Darfur.
Vaccines have arrived in Talwila in North Darfur after overcoming numerous challenges related to distance Rd inaccessibility due to the rainy seasons and other challenges, and preparations are ongoing to launch the campaign before the end of this month.
The Wheeler is of particular concern as it hosts over 575900-ID PS 575,000 and 900 ID PS, mostly fleeing from the besieged city of Fafashir.
The reports that we have received is OF700419 cholera cases alone, accounting for 61% of the total cholera caseload in the Darfur states.
The vaccination campaign will target 406,000 people in Tahuila and is anticipated to curb the further spread of the disease and complement efforts to control and save the lives of those at most risk.
The campaign comes at a critical time as cholera cases in Darfur continue to rise at an alarming rate, at an alarming fatality rate to be specific.
Amid this ongoing conflict, additional localities in West, Central and South Darfur will also be covered in another round of an oral vaccination campaign against cholera in the upcoming weeks.
The campaign will be a key factor in controlling the spread of cholera within Sudan, as well as neighbouring countries including Chad, Libya and South Sudan, by that contributing to the health security of the country and the region.
Our teams and Darfur are on the ground.
They have been there for many years, for decades, continuously monitoring the situation and coordinating the response to cholera, among other health needs.
While vaccination is a highly effective intervention, it is only one part of a comprehensive cholera response, including surveillance, case management, water and sanitation, and community engagement.
WHO continues to coordinate with partners and other sectors to work jointly on all the elements of the response to control the outbreak.
WHO will continue to support surveillance through it's established electronic and early warning system, the deployment of rapid response teams that will gut as well as delivering essential medicines that are needed for the cholera treatments.
We have delivered over 77 metric tonnes in 2025 to support established cholera treatment centres as well as building national capacities to ensure patients can access quality care.
We're also working with partners and health authorities and the communities to ensure risk communication, community engagement and closely working with the WASH sector, which is an integral part to the cholera response.
WHO remains committed to improve access to health, to serve everyone and everywhere in Sudan.
And I would really like to end with a call for peace as without peace, there cannot be health.
Over to you.
Thank you very much.
Khalaqudari speaking to us from Port Sudan.
Before we go to questions, I'd like to segue to Ricardo Pirez from UNICEF, who has some latest figures on children in cholera in Sudan.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thanks to my colleague in Port Sudan as well.
Very, very dire situation for people and children as well.
I do have a an update on the figures of children impacted by cholera.
So especially children under 5 have been slightly disproportionately affected.
We know that so far at least 380 have died.
Children between 5 and 10 years of age at least 240 have died and children or young people between 10 and 20 at least 290 have died.
This comes of course, at a time when more than 70% of hospitals in conflict affected areas are non operational, with health centres being damaged or destroyed during the conflict, like in supplies and and even staff, as well as as as facilities being often used as shelter.
And this is also in addition to relentless attacks on power and water infrastructure that have cut millions of people, lots of them children, from safe and clean water and forced many families to collect water from unsafe and contaminated sources.
[Other language spoken]
Back to you, Mckelly.
Thank you so much, Ricardo.
I think we're ready for questions.
Nina, if you could please specify who the questions for?
Yes, hi, thank you very much.
This Nina Larsen with AFPI was just wondering on the on the numbers of cases and deaths, if these are WHO numbers or if they come from the authorities, if you could specify?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Actually, we work with the ministry, the the National Federal Ministry on a system to implement early warning and make sure that we are receiving and collecting the data regularly.
So the figures are a joint effort and of course they come from the Federal Ministry of Health in Darfur.
In particular, we had to work on a specific programme that was lighter and that was more agile to work with partners on the ground such as Ingos, as well as the health authorities on the ground to collect this data regularly.
And we work closely at the federal level here to confirm and of course, very, you know, validate these numbers.
So I can confirm that these numbers are should by the Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration and support by WHO.
[Other language spoken]
We'll take a question from John Zaracostas online.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I, I, I missed the, I'm sorry, I missed the early figures that you were reading out.
Do we have the estimated cases in in Sudan of cholera and the estimated deaths of all age groups?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you for your question.
As of 2 days ago.
As of the reports from 2 days ago, the national figures have reached 100 and 13600 cases and over 3003 thousand deaths.
These are the reports that are now collected as of the 21st of September and they are at 2.7 case fatality rate, which is really actually above the threshold of 1%.
I can provide further numbers if you believe, if you need further numbers for specific to Darfur, but these are the national figures as you inquired.
[Other language spoken]
And then we'll go back to John.
I think he's still got his hand up.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
My question is for Tariq, but not on Sudanese and another health issue.
[Other language spoken]
All right.
I asked the question, John, sorry.
Sorry.
John, do you have a follow up or is that your hand is still up from before?
Yes, I do, actually I do.
You mentioned the the there will be a follow up vaccine campaign.
Do we know when given the urgency and the target, how many people are you aiming to reach?
[Other language spoken]
So yes, there is going to be a follow up campaign in Genena or West Darfur, Central Darfur and South Darfur.
This the actual vaccines are in country and they've reached Janina and are being stored down now in cold chain facilities in Janina and will kick off within the next two weeks as preparations are ongoing with regards to the targets.
I will have to confirm that number and get back to you in one minute, but realistically just few give you a minute.
We will, I will, I will share this number in one moment.
I'm sorry to to do that.
But yes, I mean the, the preparations are in place and will be will be kicked off within the next one to two weeks.
I think the hardest part really is to is to actually get the vaccines there.
And I think that has been our biggest challenge over the last few weeks when it came to addressing the campaign in in Nyala and the neighbouring localities, considering first, you know, there were challenges to reach the vaccines to Chad and and from that side.
So actually the vaccines that were in Port Sudan were re redistributed to serve the the Darfur state and it took a rather extensive amount of time to reach considering the long routes, the insecurity and the rainy season.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I, I think we've got a couple more questions.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I I had one question from UNICEF.
I was also wondering if you could say on the numbers where specifically they come from.
And then another question for WHO, which would just be on the access or the vaccines.
If there's also an issue with with the quantities of vaccines available from, from stockpiles And if you could say just a little bit more about the the challenges of of getting them there.
What what are the, the main challenges?
[Other language spoken]
Go ahead first Ricardo and then we go to Holla.
Yeah, our our numbers come from from the same source as as WHO mentioned they are a combination of our work with with the local health authorities.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
With regards to the availability of the vaccines, so usually this actually goes to the ICG, which is a group that actually reviews all requests that come from the Federal Ministry of Health.
And once it's reviewed, these vaccines are deployed, of course with the support of UNICEF that transport these vaccines into the country.
These the the the quantity of vaccine is actually measured based on the epidemiological data, the need and the severity of the situation and usually the quantities are exact.
We there are additional requests that are being made by the Federal Ministry of Health to the ICG to actually address other locations within the Darfur's as we move forward.
As I said, we will be targeting other locations, but with regards to vaccination quantities, this is really based covered based on the availability of vaccines by the ICG.
And as to date, there has been strong support to make sure that we are addressing the cholera outbreak in Sudan.
So that's really on that one.
I would also like to add that we did, I mean the Federal Ministry of Health did submit as well a request for a preventative OCV campaign and this will be reviewed and considered in due time, which will also help the additional to curb the additional spread of the the cholera outbreak.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Miss Houdare for coming to see us.
Just wanted to follow up.
You mentioned earlier that the the, the the case counts and fatalities on the national level.
You mentioned that you could break it down by Darfur specifically.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yes, indeed.
For Darfur in specific, we have actually yeah, case fatality rate.
So if I may, as of 2-3 days back in Darfur, the number of cases have reached 12,739 suspected cases and 358 deaths.
The case fatality rate overall in Darfur is at 2.8, but I have to highlight that we are receiving concerns from, you know, local at locality level which may be higher.
The figures also show us that vulnerable populations such as elderly and under 5 are reporting over 5% case fatality rate, which also shows that these high risk areas, high risk populations are really of of concern.
The most recent figures in West Darfur, if I, if I may specify, are showing a case fatality rate of 11.8%.
So also this really raises the alarm to make sure that we we intervene both at the response level with regards to the different interventions that cholera outbreak requires, but also to fast track the OCV cholera vaccination campaign that is planned in the coming weeks.
I would like to highlight with regards to the, the target populations that we aim to reach in West and Central Darfur.
It's aimed to reach at least 558,000 people in the coming OC cholera vaccination campaign in the states of Southwest and Central Darfur's in response to the the question that came from John.
So thank you, over to you.
Thank you very much.
Halaqudari speaking to us from Port Sudan.
I don't see at the moment any more questions on this topic.
I think we're going to go to Gabriella who has a question for WHO.
And Tarek, sorry, did you have a on another issue?
[Other language spoken]
Gabriella, go ahead, ask you a question of Tarek and then we'll go to Nina.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Miguel.
Yesterday, I have a great surprise because I didn't know that President Trump was also a scientific person, but he said that the pregnant women do not have to take Tylenol during the pregnancy because this is related to autism.
Is that true?
I mean, I don't know how President Trump arrived to this issue, but yeah, he said that so.
I mean paracetamol is one of the most widely taken drugs during pregnancy, so maybe half of pregnant women use it.
So this is important that the president of USA say do not take it because it couldn't it can cause.
[Other language spoken]
What's your question though for Tariq?
That one, that one if, if Tylenol is bad for pregnant women because it OK, great Tarek.
[Other language spoken]
All right, thanks.
[Other language spoken]
Well, I can tell you what we know about acetaminophen, which we know here as as paracetamol.
So there were some observational studies that have suggested a possible association between prenatal exposure to acetaminophen or paracetamol and and autism, but the evidence remains inconsistent.
Several studies that have done after that have found no such a relationship, and if the link between acetaminophen and autism were strong, it would likely have been consistently observed across multiple studies.
So this lack of replicability really calls for caution.
Enjoying casual conclusions about the role of acetaminophen in autism now.
In general, medicines in pregnancy should always be used with caution, especially in the first three months.
It is important that every woman continues to follow the advice of of their doctors or health workers who can help assess individual circumstances and recommend necessary medicine.
[Other language spoken]
Oh, sorry.
I'm sorry.
You're right.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I forgot that you now.
I told Nina we were going to go to her first.
Sorry.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I was wondering if you could say how concerned who is about the United States president, arguably the most powerful man in the world making these assertions, what impact this could have on on medical or women's medical decision making.
And also in that same same press conference, he he made assertions about vaccines again and can raise concerns about combined childhood vaccines.
So yeah, if you could comment on that as well.
[Other language spoken]
Well, we are based, we are scientifically based organisation.
So we based our recommendations on science.
So if you want to specifically on vaccine scheduling, so I can tell you this that the childhood immunisation schedule is carefully guided by WHO and has been adopted by all countries and have has saved at least 154,000,000 lives over the past 50 years.
The schedule remains essential for the health and well-being of every child and every community.
Now these schedules have continually evolved with science and now safeguard children, adolescent and adults against 30 infectious disease.
Every vaccine recommendation by the strategic group of experts on immunisation, SAGE and we will have a a SAGE meeting, a press conference on a SAGE meeting I think in in coming days and that's an independent advisory group.
WTO is grounded in rigorous review of evidence and carefully designed to offer the best protection against serious diseases and to be delivered when most needed.
Now WTO recommended schedules have age ranges and options so that countries are able to tailor the specific programme to the country context.
When immunisation schedules are delayed or disrupted or altered without evidence review, there is a sharp increase in the risk of infection not only for the child but also for the wider community.
Infants too young to be vaccinated and people with weakened immune system or underlying health conditions are at greatest risk.
And just to conclude on the spacing, further spacing out vaccines beyond what is recommended also requires more visits to the doctor, increases the likelihood that the child will miss a dose or can result in vaccines being given out out of sequence, which in some cases may reduce vaccine performance.
So each missed dose increases the chances of contracting a life threatening infectious disease.
Thanks my best to keep the speaking order as I promised so Jamie and then Isabel and then we'll go back to Gabriela.
Thank you and and remind me if I forget.
Thank you and I'm sorry, Isabel if I if I stepped in on you the the the Terry if you could please just thank you very much for coming to see us.
The just to going back to the autism issue.
What does WHO attribute the sharp increase in the number of instances of autism, particularly in the Western world?
Is it because of, well, what what would you say?
I'm not going to prejudge what you might say, but what, what is what is how does WHO attribute this increase in recent years to to the number of instances of autism?
What I can tell you is there are nearly 62 million people living with autism spectrum disorder worldwide, and it's clear that as a global community, we need to do more to understand the causes of autism and how best to care for and to support the needs of autistic people and their families.
Now, autism and autism spectrum disorders are among the many mental health and neurological conditions that are being discussed this week at the 4th UN High Level meeting on NCDS and mental health.
You know that we talked about it at a press conference, We talked about NCDS in New York at the, at the, at the UN General Assembly.
Isabel, yes, hello Tarek on, on the paracetamol issues.
So could you indicate over which.
These studies that you mentioned were conducted and also from The Who perspective, whether pregnant women can feel reassured about taking paracetamol and in the sense that WHO has nothing to change on this regard.
Well, I will have to look really about dates, specific dates of these various studies that have been done.
But, but what I said is really is really important.
And that's, that's, that's during the pregnancy.
All medicines should be taken with with caution, especially at the beginning.
And it has to really be done in consultation with the doctor or health worker because it depends really on individual circumstances and, and what can be recommended as, as as medicines.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Michelle.
My question is, is WHO does, WHO has any advice for politicians or leaders, leaders in the world before they speak about health issues?
I mean, politicians talking about health issues, Well, we, we really would like everyone in all communities to really listen to their health authorities.
And we believe that health authorities are making the best possible advice for their for their people, taking into account of the recommendations that are based on science.
I think there's a follow up there from Nina.
[Other language spoken]
All right, just a quick follow up.
Given your recommendation that they follow medical advice, how concerned are you about the the firing of, for instance, the entire vaccine board for the CDC and the United States?
And what advice do you think the US President is following?
[Other language spoken]
Well, again, we really hope that that all National Health agencies working on different health issues will, will really look into what is the, what is science is saying.
And, and, and, you know, science is there to, to provide evidence that that guides those policies everywhere.
[Other language spoken]
We know that vaccines do not cause autism.
Vaccines, as I said, saved countless lives.
So, so this is something that science has has proven and, and, and these things should not be really questioned.
Thank you very much, Tarek vaccine save lives.
I think that's a very important message.
I don't know if we're going to end it there after any go ahead.
We will send, we will send notes on Sudan and also I will, I will send what I have said on, on paracetamol and, and, and vaccine schedule.
So you will have it in the notes.
[Other language spoken]
Many thanks to you.
If we have no more questions on this topic, I'm just have a few announcements to make.
A reminder that today at 2:00 PM there is in the context of the Human Rights Council, the Group of Human Rights experts on Nicaragua briefing.
That's 2:00 PM in this room today.
Tomorrow, 24th of September, at 2:30 PM, Anktad, the UN Trade and Development is going to hold a press conference on the publication of their 2025 review of maritime transport.
It's embargoed until the same day at 5:00 PM.
And Katharine is here in case you have any additional questions about that.
We have in terms of a meetings update for today, the Committee on Economic and Social and Cultural Rights is concluding at 78 session next Friday at 5:30 PM and will issue its concluding observations on six countries whose reports have been reviewed during the session.
Those are the Russian Federation, Colombia, Chile, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe and the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances will begin this afternoon at 3:00 PM and it will review the report on Bina.
With that, I just wish you a wonderful afternoon.
[Other language spoken]