UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : UN Geneva Press Briefing

[Other language spoken]

Welcome to the press briefing of the Information Service in the UN Geneva.

I have a very long list of speakers today and we start with the humanitarian cluster.

We look at the different situation of humanitarian situation in the countries subjected to the rains.

And I'd like to start immediately with OCHA.

I've got Jens with me on the podium who has brought us Paula Emerson, who's the head of office of OCHA in Mozambique, who's reaching us from Maputo.

[Other language spoken]

You have the floor.

And we'll start with the situation, humanitarian situation and displacement in the rainy season in the country where you are posted, please.

Thank you very much.

Following on, my colleague from UNHCR who spoke on Tuesday about the situation in Nampula.

We are seeing that attacks are continuing and people are continuing to move away from their home areas seeking safety.

So far, 107,000 people have left their homes in Nampula.

This is the third largest major wave of displacement that has occurred.

So in the last four months altogether 330,000 people were displaced this year.

The majority had fled more than once.

89% had already fled in the past, they barely had time to recover when they again had to leave due to attacks or fear of attacks.

These largest.

This latest wave that is taking place in Nampula is unusual as we've seen reports of non state armed groups attacks lasting now for a couple of weeks, whereas the pattern in the past was more in and out and it has resulted in as I said over 100,000 people that have fled.

These were areas that have been affected by the cycle.

This year there were three cyclones.

A vast majority are children, 67% of them are children.

There are huge concerns about the protection of of people with reports of gender based violence, women, girls being affected but also children who are separated and a cabinet by their their carers.

And most of the people are staying in host communities with many staying in open spaces under the reins with a few staying in schools which is having an impact on exam of the kids who were in those schools.

The government was the first responder with the private sector mobilising foods and also the boreholes for people to have access to water.

The humanitarians are trying to do the best that they can with available stocks, but they are major stock counts so far, a total of 40,000.

So about 40% of the total number has received some food for about two weeks and they're also receiving voucher assistance and some other support.

But this is hopefully an inadequate career, adding to the protection and needs from people that were heavily traumatised as they left their communities.

In some instances it's also forcing returns as people are not receiving assistance where they are currently, even though they have very little information about what is happening back home and if the security situation has stabilised.

And cholera, A cholera outbreak has been declared in the place of flight in Nampula.

Some donors have stepped up and we appreciate those donors and that have stepped up and provided some additional funding, but more is needed.

The recent announcement by the Emergency Relief Coordinator of 6,000,000 is extremely welcome, but to bring the operations to scale and to support the the people who have been so severely traumatised and with the successive crisis that have taken place, stock outs are massive.

Stock outs are happening, notably foods, Health, Dignity, Kids and others.

And with humanitarian planning for this year and half of the funding of what we had available in 2024, much more is needed.

So we are appealing for additional financial contributions to support this latest wave of displacement, while we are also continuing regular programmes to people who have been rendered vulnerable by by the insecurity and the conflict that's been taking place in Canada.

Above all, what people need is peace.

It is planting season right now.

People should be getting their farms ready to plant.

[Other language spoken]

It should be taking exams.

[Other language spoken]

Right now.

So important that we also keep in mind what it what would address the situation in a more secure way.

Thank you very much, Paula, for this update of this dire situation.

I'll open the floor to questions now.

First in the room if any FA the Spanish agency.

Thank you for taking my question.

I was wondering if Paula Emerson could answer why she thinks there is an extension of the violence to Nampola if they they have detect some trends?

[Other language spoken]

So what we have seen is that between 24 and 25, the number of incidents affecting civilians has doubled to over 700.

So more than 2 1/2 incidents affecting civilians have occurred in 2025 and worryingly geographic expansion of those incidents.

And the non state armed groups are very mobile and are present not only in the province of Cabo Delgado, but had gone further W into Niaasa in the middle of this year and have entered Nampula, according to the reports we were receiving two or three months ago and seem to have remained in Nampola.

It's the, the, the, the, the geographic.

What we are witnessing is the geographic spread of the conflict.

Thank you very much.

The questions in the room are online with the many journalists connected.

[Other language spoken]

Olivia Leopard, Reuters, Thank you very much.

I, I with a figure of displacement going up to 107,000.

I mean, have you seen in the past week particular increase in, in people fleeing?

And maybe you can just like outline the reasons why that is and, and also just spell a few of the key things that you're seeing.

There is an urgent need and demand for in terms of humanitarian resources.

Borla, thank you very much.

People flee because their villages are attacked and burned and destroyed, and others flee in surrounding villages for fear of attacks.

That is why they're they're leaving their homes.

What are the most urgent needs?

According to what people have told us, food, health, wash and shelter and NF IS and protection.

Those are their most urgent needs.

Thank you very much, Paula.

I don't see other hands up for you.

So thanks and thanks to Jens for taking you to the Geneva Press Corps.

And let's remain on the humanitarian situation and also related to the rainy season, floods and hurricanes, But let's go to South East Asia, to Asia with South Asia and South East Asia with UNICEF and IFRC.

Let the colleague come to the podium while I like to recall the message.

The statement of the Secretary General who is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life caused by severe flooding and landslides across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, and conveys his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, expresses his solidarity with all those affected by these devastating floods.

And of course, the United Nations are mobilised to support relief and response efforts in these countries.

And to hear a little bit more about that, I'll go to start with Ricardo, who has some update on the situation of children impacted by these climatic shocks in Southeast Asia.

And then we will listen from IFRC on the situation, especially in Sri Lanka and in the region.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks, Alessandra.

Before I get into the situation in Southeast Asia, let me just quickly mention that out of the over 100,000 people displaced in northern Mozambique, 2/3 of them are children.

So we're hearing reports of great violations being committed against them, which is obviously of great concern to UNICEF and the lack of access to humanitarian workers and aid at such a needed time.

So I just wanted to add that before.

[Other language spoken]

So in Southeast Asia over the past months, and indeed in recent weeks, children across five countries, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia have faced devastating effects of typhoons, floods and storms.

They're waking up in evacuation shelters.

They're drinking unsafe water.

They're watching their parents struggle to rebuild homes and livelihoods that have been destroyed not once, but repeatedly.

And they're missing school not for days, but for weeks.

Let me_what this means for education specifically our.

Latest data shows that since late November This year more, than 4.1 million children in the region have had their education disrupted due to devastating climate related disasters more.

Specifically in, Vietnam 3,000,000, students have had their education disrupted by recent typhoons floods, and storms in.

The Philippines 919,000 children were affected by flooding and winds last month and unable to attend school and Indonesia over 180,000 and 700 students are current currently out of class.

With more than 2000 education facilities affected by recent flooding, authorities are still working to determine the full scale of the damage.

In Thailand, nearly 90,000 and 500 students are out of their classroom classrooms due to flooding.

In Malaysia, more than 5000 students have seen their education disrupted since the start of the monsoon season.

For many of these students, this isn't even their first interruption this year.

It's their second, third or fourth time they've watched floodwaters consume their classrooms.

Globally, as we said in January, at least 242 million students in 85 countries had their schooling disrupted by extreme climate events in 2024, the last year for which we have global data.

Each represents a child whose learning has been disrupted, whose routine has been shattered, whose path to a better future has been shaken.

Education is just one dimension of this crisis.

The overall scale, that of what we're witnessing in the region, is unprecedented.

The relentless pattern of climate related disasters striking the same communities over and over again is leaving families with less time to recover between each blow and children disconnected from the services they need.

7 year old Kang from Kalbang province in Vietnam told us that she had to run to evacuate her home since the water was reaching her niece, she said.

[Other language spoken]

Vuong TI **** a 39 year old mother from Tuang Kwang province, also in Vietnam, has two children diagnosed with severe and moderate acute malnutrition, she said.

The flowed water surrounded our house for three days.

We were isolated and I tried to keep breastfeeding but I didn't have enough food for myself.

I had to feed my baby instant porridge with no meat or vegetables, just plain porridge.

So what does it mean to be a child in the impacted countries?

It means they might not have clean water, water to drink.

In Indonesia, water supply systems have been submerged and damaged, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.

Amongst the the most vulnerable children in Vietnam.

480,000 children people, excuse me, currently lack safe water.

It means health services as are disrupt, disrupted, disrupted precisely when disease risks are highest and facilities are damaged or overwhelmed.

In the Philippines there are nutrition supply stock outs and the area diarrhoea outbreaks that are becoming more common.

And it means living in overcrowded shelters where protection risks escalate and children faced increased dangers of violence.

Also, separation from families and exploitation.

But beyond these immediate dangers, there's something also happening that we cannot ignore.

These children are being robbed of their futures.

Each flood, each typhoon compounds existing vulnerabilities.

The psychosocial trauma accumulates as family resources get depleted.

And the capacity to recover diminishes with each success.

Successive disaster East Asia and the Pacific is one of the most disaster disaster prone regions in the world.

Children are sitting at the front lines of the climate crisis, experiencing first hand what it means when extreme weather becomes more frequent, more intense and less predictable.

UNICEF stands ready and continues to support local governments and they're not national response to make sure children in all affected countries can access life saving support, including safe water and nutrition services.

We're also providing emergency cash assistance to help families meet their basic needs.

But humanitarian response, while essential, is not enough.

We cannot continue responding to crisis after crisis without taking steps to prevent future emergencies.

We need to invest in climate resilience and adaptation and disasters, Disaster Risk Reduction.

We need to build resilient water system, strengthen schools and health facilities against extreme weather to keep children healthy and learning, and create early warning systems to protect children before disaster strikes.

Every child has the right to education, to health, to safe, to safety, to a future.

When we wait to address the climate crisis with urgency, it demands, we're failing these children.

When we fail to address the climate crisis with the urgency it demands, we're failing these children.

The world is watching this disaster unfold, but we must do more than watch.

They must act.

These children cannot withstand the next typhoon, the next flood, the next disaster without our support and commitment.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Ricardo.

That's very important.

And let's remain in the area.

So let me turn to Tommaso and to the colleague from Sri Lanka, John Antwiso, who is the IFRC Head of Country Cluster delegation for South Asia.

I think that we go directly to John.

John, you have the floor for your introductory remarks.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you and good afternoon colleagues.

In the past week, South Asia has faced devastating series of floods.

In Sri Lanka, cyclone did were bought unprecedented rainfall triggering catastrophic flooding and landslides across all districts.

More than 1.5 million people have been affected, with hundreds of lives lost and thousands displaced.

Entire communities remain submerged.

Critical infrastructure, roads, bridge, power lines have been severely damaged.

From the very first hours of the disaster, the Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers were on the ground.

The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society mobilised over 3500 volunteers immediately conducting search and rescue, providing first aid and distributing essential household items.

The IFSC supported these efforts by deploying personnel from our country cluster delegation in Delhi and regional teams, ensuring rapid coordination with government authorities and UN partners.

Our priority right now is getting relief to the people who need it most and Sri Lanka Red Cross branches are leading that work on the ground right across the country.

Even with roads and bridges damaged, local branches have been using every possible route to deliver water, hygiene items and bidding to isolated communities.

The city is supporting them by providing technical guidance coordination, but it's the local volunteers who are making last month conditions to scale up the response.

The IFSC has launched an initial emergency appeal for 5 million Swiss francs for Sri Lanka, alongside an initial allocation of 1,000,000 Swiss francs from our Disaster Relief Emergency Fund.

This fund will enable us to provide water and sanitation, health services, psychosocial support and cash assistance to the most vulnerable families.

In the midst of these numbers, I want to share with you what I witnessed on the ground during a field assessment earlier this week.

The devastation caused by the days of relentless rain, wind and flooding is heartbreaking.

I sat with families who had lost everything, their homes, their livelihoods, in every treasured position.

I met parents and children sleeping in a school turned safety centre and others living on makeshift shelters on the side of the road, exposed to the weather and also speeding vehicles.

Some told me how they escaped the rising water by clinging to improvised rafts, carrying only what they could grab in moments of panic.

Yet in the middle of this tragedy, I also saw extraordinary kindness.

Strangers stopping their cars to hand out food and water, car loads of donated essentials arriving at the Sri Lankan Red Cross headquarters, and Red Cross volunteers.

Many of them affected themselves from the very same community as that have been flooded, putting on their vests and answering the call to serve.

This is the spirit of humanity in action and it is what gives us hope even in the darkest moments.

Beyond Sri Lanka, this is a regional crisis.

In Indonesia, floods have affected over 3 million people and our teams are working with the Indonesian Red Crescent PMI to deliver clean water, medical care and emergency relief.

Across Asia, we are coordinating support from multiple countries simultaneously, ensuring resources are shared efficiently and that no community is left behind.

First, urgent funding to keep pace with the scale of knees is needed.

Second, we need to continue coordination with governments and UN agencies and we are grateful to the humanitarian partners who have supported these efforts so far.

We need to overcome access challenges and deliver quick assistance quickly.

And 3rd, long term investment and resilience.

These floods are stark reminder that climate driven disasters are becoming the new normal.

We must strengthen early warning systems, anticipatory action and community preparedness to break the cycle of disaster and recovery.

Let me be clear, we cannot do this alone.

The IFSC and our Red Cross and Red Crescent partners are working around the clock, but the needs are immense.

We urge donors, governments and partners to step forward and support our emergency appeal for Sri Lanka and our regional response efforts.

Every contribution will help us save lives today and build safer, stronger communities for tomorrow.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, John.

And yes, indeed, extremely important appeal.

I open the floor to questions on the issue of flooding in this region in the room.

No hands up on the platform.

I'll give you a moment.

I see none, but so thank you to both UNICEF and IFRC.

But before I let you go, John, you spoke about the volunteers, the importance of the volunteers.

I just would like to remind everybody that today is International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development.

We were speaking more about humanitarian here, but the volunteering itself is extremely important.

And the Secretary General send out a message on this day saying that in a in a need of political division, social isolation, volunteering offers a powerful way to forge connections and foster our shared humanity.

On this International Volunteer Day, we honour the millions across the globe stepping forward to serve their communities and advance the greater good.

This year's team Every Contribution Matters, that reminds us that everyone has something meaningful to offer and that every cause, from hunger to climate to humanitarian action, benefits from the enthusiasm and expertise of volunteers.

The Secretary General stand this deepest gratitude to the more than 4014 thousand people who have served through the United Nations Volunteers Programme and to the countless others who give their time and talents to help neighbours and strangers alike.

This week also marks the launch of the International Volunteer Year, which will be 2026, the Secretary General says Over the next 12 months, I urge everyone everywhere to volunteer for a 'cause that matters to him or her in terms of crisis and uncertainty.

You can be the change you wish to see since the Secretary General and together we can grow a global movement of volunteers and build a brighter, more caring future for all.

And since you are a movement of volunteers, Tomaso, I think you would like to add something as we have heard from from John.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Alessandra.

Today we also mark International Volunteer Day for the IFR TS, a moment to pause, reflect and honour the more than 17,000,000 Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers who will make the world a safer and more peaceful place every single day.

They are our strength.

They are the trusted faces of our network, responding to crisis, standing with their communities and driving local action that makes global impact.

This year, our team this year is local.

Everywhere reminds us of what makes our network unique.

Volunteers who come from the communities they serve, as we just heard from Sri Lanka.

Backed by global coordination and solidarity, volunteering has been at the core of our across across the movement for more than 150 years.

To this day, voluntary service, helping the others without desire for personal gain remains one of our fundamental principles, guiding everything we do.

Today, we say thank you to our across requested volunteers around the world.

Whether they are responding to earthquakes or cyclones, to the climate crisis or to migration, their commitment has been unwavering.

As we honour their commitment, we also want to remember the volunteers and staff who lost their lives this year while helping the others.

Their safety, dignity and well-being must be safeguarded as they carry out their humanitarian mission.

And I want to highlight today the shocking figure of 25 Red Cross and A Crescent colleagues killed this year, the last five in Sudan at the end of October.

In this International Volunteer Day, we want to recognise our volunteers and renew our share commitment to strengthening, protecting and sustaining volunteering for the next generation.

In a word of uncertainty, volunteer brings meaning and connection.

Volunteers embody hope and resilience in the face of conflict, disasters and crisis.

They show that community reduction works everywhere.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much and thanks to all the volunteers in the world.

17,000,000 CSIS figure, yes.

[Other language spoken]

So I don't see any other hand up for our colleagues on the podium.

Thank you very much, John.

Thank you very much for intervening and telling us of the situation that I'll ask our colleagues to of the FAO to come so that we conclude this humanitarian cluster and then we will go to human rights, please.

So I have the pleasure to welcome Nuru Makita, who's the Senior Liaison Officer of FAO.

Mr Tal, you have an appeal to global emergency and resilience for FAO, please.

[Other language spoken]

On the 3rd of December during if it was 179th Council if it will launch its global its first global appeal for emergencies and resilience, a unified and coherent framework to address a good food and security across 54 countries.

[Other language spoken]

This appeal consolidated our crisis and resilience related work targeting both protected emergencies and southern sharks.

Our goal is to support 100 million people requiring $2.5 billion, $1.5 billion for life saving emergency level support, $1 billion for resilience in early recovery and 70 million for global and technical systems that allow delivery in fragile context.

The appeal is fully aligned with what shows Global United overview that will be launched next Monday.

What sets this appeal apart is it operational detail it drove from country level plans aligned with FO updated emergency resilience approach focusing on protecting and restoring local food production.

This plans identify critical timing windows and shooting early agriculture action prevents greater losses later in the year.

They described the operational enablers required to deliver to deliver from antipodal action and prepositions inputs the expected result for 2026, increased cultivated area in food production, protected life, livestock, improved water access, stabilised markets and a reduction in household needing deputy humanitarian assistance.

This appeal is not just a financial request, it is a coherent sequenced model for delivery and impact.

For the first time, members can see if there was emergency and resilience portfolio in one place, prioritising areas where our mandate is strongest.

It centres on restoring agency to farmers and producers, enabling them to regain control of their livelihoods and reduce dependence on humanitarian aid.

A key challenge address is the structural misalignment in humanitarian spending.

Also 80% of accurately put insecure people live in rural area.

Only 5% of food sector humanitarian funding support food production.

By shifting resources to producers we maximise return on investment.

Everyone dollar invested yields over $3 in local food, reinforcing markets, reducing pressure on humanitarian system and protecting development gains.

If I will not deliver this work alone but through strategic partnership with government, civil society, organisation, NGOs, regional and global network collaboration amplifies our impact, allowing us to reach more people and maintain technical quality in complex settings.

In closing, this appeal here is more than an overview of needs, its efforts, commitment to deliver differently with clarity, coherence and impact.

The needs are real, the solutions proven and the support of partners is essential to put this appeal into action and deliver the impact that crisis affected people deserve.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

Let me see if there is any question in the room.

I don't see any hand up or on the platform.

I don't see any hand up either.

Thank you very much for this important appeal.

And that concludes our briefings on the humanitarian situations.

Let us go to the human rights situation and just a little bit of change in the programme.

I'd like to welcome our colleagues from IPU to hear about the human rights violation against members of Parliament.

Thomas, welcome.

You have brought Reggie Huizenga.

I hope you pronounce you well.

IPU Human Rights Programme Manager to tell us about these violations, who would like to start directly with Mr Zinke, please.

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

We're here in the lead up to International Human Rights Day, the 10th of December, bringing you the latest data that the IPU has compiled over the year in the situation of members of Parliament and the abuses that they faced in the course of 2025.

This information has been compiled through the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, which is a dedicated and unique mechanism that exists to protect and defend members of Parliament and whenever their human rights are being violated.

This has been an unprecedented year.

It's for the first time in the almost 50 years history of this committee that the committee had to deal with over 1000 cases of violations against a members of parliament.

What has also been unprecedented in 2025 that this concerns 58 countries.

So that's almost a third of all countries in the world.

Some of the findings for this year is, are that this is not something that affects one particular region.

All regions in the world are affected by this phenomenon.

We see a disproportionate increase in the number of cases against women parliamentarians and in fact, if you look back at the last 10 years, there's been a six fold increase in cases against women parliamentarians, whereas on in the case of men, male MPs, this there has been a three fold increase.

[Other language spoken]

What we also see and really what stands out for 2025 is that in 83% of the cases it's members of the opposition who have been targeted and it really underscores the message that and the ones who are most at risk are the ones who are vocal, who criticise the authorities and as a result of that face patterns of abuse and intimidation.

We continue to monitor several high profile cases including the case of Mr Marvin Barghouti, who was a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

He was arrested in 2022.

Thousand and two, he's serving 25 life sentences and 220 years prison sentences and the IPU has been calling for his release.

At the time, the IPU sent a trial observer which clearly concluded that there was no fair trial and it also Mr Barghouti had been subject to I'll treatment in detention.

In addition to this case, the IPU is also particularly concerned about what's happening in Bangladesh.

This also includes the situation of our honorary President, Mr Sabet Chowdhury, who is facing allegedly politically motivated proceedings.

All of this is happening following the change of government that's happened in August last year in Bangladesh.

Others in Bangladesh are detained and the IPU committee is also monitoring their situation.

On a more positive note, the IPU was also able to to conclude with a success stories cases in several countries and let me mention some of them, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Malaysia, Senegal, Thailand and Zimbabwe.

And just to highlight one particular case that also illustrates a little bit how the committee of the IPU works in the situation of Mr Ahmed Alwani, a member of Parliament from Iraq, who had been in detention for over 10 years, who had been sentenced to death, had faced politically motivated proceedings.

The IPU carried out a mission to Iraq in 2023 and by talking to the political and religious leaders, a solution was found.

Mr Arwani was released earlier this this year in April and he is now free to continue his life.

Thank you very much.

Let me see if there are yes safe.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for taking my questions.

First I wanted to know if you could send us some data about Spain and Latin America.

Also, I wanted to know if you have detected any specific country where there are apart from the ones you mentioned that there are a very serious cases.

And also I was curious which pattern do you detect that makes you investigate this?

Because we, we see all types of, of aggressions against parliamentarians.

But I'm wondering when do you account this?

When do you, yes, the aggressions, when do you account them?

[Other language spoken]

So when it comes to Latin America, the, the most serious situations that are before the committee concern the situation of former MPs in Venezuela and also situation of MPs, former MPs in Colombia.

These are the two countries where we have the most cases.

But it's not always something simply about numbers.

Sometimes an individual situation can be very serious.

For instance, in the case of Nicaragua, we're following the situation of of of two members of Parliament, which is very serious.

So the way the committee works is that a complaint has to be submitted to the committee by by ideally the the parliamentarian facing the abuse or a family member or members of of his or her parliament.

It can also be human rights organisation.

There's quite an established procedure for for handling this.

And this would then in turn, allow the committee to look at this because the committee is not a party and judge at the same time.

It also needs to keep a neutral distance from all of this in order to to look at the facts and to be able to work with the authorities to to promote a satisfactory solution, which is always, and that's the effort of the committee, in line with international human rights standards.

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

Could you just say what you consider to be violations?

What counts as a violation and and count talk us through a few of the incidents that you've reported.

Do you also know what were say the top three countries where violations occurred?

And generally how concerned are you about what this means for respect for elected officials or opposition officials?

[Other language spoken]

So we released in the lead up to Human Rights Day this map and and the map also highlights the kinds of violations that are most common.

And in fact, the first one, which is really typical for members of Parliament, is the undue laws and suspension of the parliamentary mandate.

The second one really resonates with the message that I gave you before, which it's the the ones who are vocal about the government facing the biggest risks.

So this really leads to violations of freedom of expression.

But also in quite a number of cases we see members of Parliament prosecuted, that there are politically motivated proceedings taking place against members of Parliament because this can also be a very effective way of governments to get rid of opposition MPs.

So there as well, we try to tread very carefully because of course the message for the IPO is not that members of Parliament are above the law.

Of course, if they have committed crimes, they should also be held to account.

But when they are prosecuted, of course, they also should benefit from fair trial guarantees.

Countries that have the most cases are Venezuela, as I mentioned before, we had many cases in Thailand, with many cases in Cambodia.

There are a number of cases in Zimbabwe.

There are.

There are many countries where there are multiple cases with alleged violations against Members of Parliament taking place to mention as well.

No region is immune to this, including Europe.

There are many cases that the committee is examining in Turkey.

And in fact, next week, there will be a human rights mission from the IPU going to Turkey from Monday to Wednesday, where all these concerns will also be raised with the Turkish authorities.

Thank you very much.

Other hands in the room?

[Other language spoken]

So let's go to the platform.

Catherine Cianco.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning, Thomas and good morning, Hajir.

I'd like to come back on the question of my colleague Emma.

Could you please tell us about Europe, the situation in Europe and also the access to the to information and the freedom of expression regarding parliamentaries?

How can you describe the evolution in European countries about the freedom of expression of, of for parliamentaries?

[Other language spoken]

So it's difficult for us to give an, an overview of, of the state of freedom of expression for members of Parliament in Europe as such.

So we're, we're looking at from the angle of what, what comes to the IPU Committee on the human rights of parliamentarians, because we cannot solicit these cases ourselves.

They really have to come our way.

And what we can say for Europe is that the the situations that concern us most are the situations of members of Parliament in Turkey, simply because it's the numbers over 100 cases of members of the opposition where who are facing all kinds of alleged political intimidation through political through prosecutions, but also being allegedly hindered in exercising their parliamentary mandates.

So this is the most prominent case in Europe.

We have some other cases as well, but they are now at the confidential stage.

So it's not something that I can tell you more about.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks very much, Katherine.

Just to add to that, to give you advance notice that next year in February we'll be publishing a major report on public hostility and intimidation to against MPs.

So this is a major global report, but it includes also deep dives into five countries.

So looking at online intimidation and and in person intimidation of parliamentarian.

So that will be coming out in February next year.

Thank you very much.

I think that was a good compliment information.

[Other language spoken]

I just wanted to clarify because you told us that you have over 100 cases in Turkey, but I have already noted that you have over 100 cases in general this year.

So I don't know if I got that right.

[Other language spoken]

So the number of cases that the that the committee is dealing with in Turkey is is 100.

I think it's 101 in total.

So this is part of the overall more than 1000 a 1027 cases that are before the committee today.

Emma, you had your hand up on a follow up.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, thank you so much.

Just a quick question, do you have, do you, are you following also cases of parliamentarian in Palestine under the the Israeli colonisation, let's say occupation?

[Other language spoken]

In fact, one of the most prominent cases that the Committee on Human Rights and Parliamentarians of the IPO has been following is the case of Mr Marvin Barghouti.

And I mentioned his name earlier.

He was, he was detained in 2002.

So he's been in prison for the last 20-3 years.

[Other language spoken]

And the IPU was one of the first organisations to really look into this case at the time when he had been arrested by the Israeli authorities.

And we were able to send a trial observer.

And in fact, this trial observation report has also been widely quoted in in recent months because it was an opportunity for people to find out about the irregularities that took place in the trial of Mr Marvin Barghouti, which also as a result, meant that since then the IPU has been asking for his release.

And we've also associated ourselves with the Marvin Barghouti campaign, which is asking just that.

But in addition to his situation, it's also the situation of Mr Sadat and several other members of Parliament who have been subject to administrative detention.

[Other language spoken]

My follow up is about the evolution of the cases.

We know that IPU has this department working for many years and through the years.

Do you see an evolution in certain regions because we always addressing problems in Africa in in certain specific countries?

Do you see new cases in coming out in regions that were not used to have this kind of reporting or you would like us to, to wait until February?

Well, I, I think what what Thomas was referring to, the report that will come out in February has a slightly different angle because it's really focused on intimidation of members of Parliament by members of the public.

And this particular committee that we're reporting on today is looking at state sponsored violence.

[Other language spoken]

But of course, the ultimate effect is maybe the same for Members of Parliament, because they are not free to do their work properly.

In terms of the evolution of cases, well, what I said before, what is really clear that the number of cases have gone up over the years.

And if I look at the map now, as I said before, all regions are concerned.

But the numbers are quite telling for Asia.

And I remember in a more distant past, it used to be Africa where there were many cases before the committee, while there's still a number of cases before the committee.

But it really shows that there has been increasing concern about several situations in Asia, I would say.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for taking my question.

I have another question on the evolution of cases.

You you report an increase, but I was wondering if you if you could and saying that it's targeting A mainly opposition parliamentary, but I would like to understand why there is this increase in particular a big increase in the for the men.

Is it because there is a better reporting because people deputies are are are parliamentarian are more going reporting those violations?

If you if you or is it because you have better statistics?

If if you could explain that and could you explain also the better?

What do you consider human rights violations do you include as well?

I mean, what is the minimum stand out to to say now we have a violation of human rights?

And do you also consider attacks on on Internet, on social media in those violations or not?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

When it comes to the human rights violations, we, we follow the standards given by the United Nations and also the standards that are often enshrined in national constitutions as well.

So we follow the different, the essential components of each of these rights to evaluate if a human rights violation has been has taken place.

And of course, in the situation of members of Parliament, what is specific is that they can also face violations that really affect the exercise of their parliamentary mandate, which is also which also explains why the the most critical situation that they face is the arbitrary suspension or loss of their parliamentary mandate that they're simply expelled from, from the parliament.

And when it comes to threats to their physical integrity or intimidation, there is, well, we look at standards given to us by the United Nations and this can also be about violence online.

It can be on violence that is physical in nature, but also online violence, and this will also be very much the focus of the report that will come out in in in February next year.

Now for the other questions I was asking.

Why there are many more men?

Why are there many more men?

I think the reality here is that in a way, women are catching up in reporting to the Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians because in a way men were already reporting.

Maybe they had easier access to these kinds of international mechanisms that women had.

And that's why they have been able to reach out to us to report on alleged violations affecting them.

And we see now in recent years that women are also finding their way to report on what is happening to them, to the IPO community.

Katrine is in your hand.

Yes, still a hand.

[Other language spoken]

Because I thought that maybe someone had a follow up in the room.

I, I wanted to ask them the time frame of your study, from which date to which date, if you could clarify this and I don't know if you spoke or we can see the composition of your, of the, the committee, how many people are part of the committee and how are they chosen?

Are they elected?

Are they designated or how does it work?

[Other language spoken]

So the committee is a committee committee comprising 10 members of parliament from different parts of the world.

And that's also to help ensure that different perspectives are brought to the discussions on these cases, which are all very sensitive.

The president of the committee is from France, a French senator, the deputy president, the vice president is from Mongolia.

They're elected by the full IPU membership, so for five years it's a non renewable term.

And our our experiences being this that irrespective of their political leanings, they're all very much committed to human rights and to helping their colleagues at risk because they themselves may be able to do their work without any fear of reprisals in their own countries.

But that may not be the situation for others on the study.

So the study which is the study for February, which is the other topic on the intimidation of MPs by members of the public.

So we've looked at 5 different national situations, so Argentina, Benin, Italy, the Netherlands and Malaysia and that's what we will report on.

And this is covered the last year of of surveys interacting with parliamentarians.

But the but the study as such asks them to report as well on levels of intimidation that they have faced throughout their career.

So on the one hand, it focuses it took place the study over a one year.

But it will look at things that have happened over a longer period of time.

So what you have reported today, that's what she was asking, I think for, for, for, for that report that will be in February.

No, no, no, the, the, the reports that you have the committee that who's reported that, what was the time spent for that?

This is this is this is covering the full year of 2025.

So this is the 1st of January until December 31st.

And yes, last question, yes, it was a follow up to to my previous question on the online cases.

As you were mentioning that online cases are included.

I was wondering if the the report show the the, the, the, the percentage of how many cases of all over are from Electro online attacks, because I guess that that could inflate the the figures given that 10 years ago there were less attacks on the social media.

So if you have that percentage, that would be interesting, but maybe you will have it in the in the next report.

We don't have specific statistics on online attacks.

And also this is, this is a very delicate matter as well because of course there is freedom of expression and it's not that any attack or insult against a member of Parliament is something that we would qualify as a human rights violation.

So it's it's also something where we are treading very carefully.

It has to really be about a threat to want someone's physical integrity or something of a similar nature that could qualify as a crime that needs to be punished by law.

So, but it's an interesting point.

The the report that will come out in February.

We'll look at that specifically.

So we will be able to say more about that then.

Thank you very much.

Really, this was extremely interesting.

Reggie and Thomas, we will wait for the report in February, but we remain with human rights because we have last but definitely not least, our colleague from OHCHR.

Thank you very much, Tamin Alkitan.

And then online we have SAFE Magango from Nairobi.

Tamin, you have a briefing on the situation in Syria one year after the government change.

And then we will hear from SAFE on the protests in Tanzania.

So let's start with you, Tamin.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning everyone.

In a few days, Syria will mark one year since the fall of the Assad regime.

While the interim authorities have taken encouraging steps towards addressing past violations, these steps are only the beginning of what needs to be done.

The interim authorities have established national commissions for transitional justice and missing persons, as well as investigation bodies into violence in the coastal areas and in Sueda, and they announced a draft law on transitional justice.

Trials have started against alleged perpetrators of the coastal violence, yet we continue to see distressing accounts of summary executions, arbitrary killings and abductions, mainly targeting members of certain communities and individuals affiliated or accused of affiliation with the former government.

Hundreds were killed since the fall of the former regime, including from gun, knife and stone attacks and as a result of shelling and hand grenades.

These killings were carried out by security forces of the interim authorities, groups affiliated with them, elements associated with the former government, local armed groups and unidentified armed individuals.

We have also documented deaths resulting from explosive remnants of war.

Other reported Other reported violations and abuses include sexual violence, arbitrary detentions, looting, destruction of homes, forced evictions, and confiscation of houses, land and property, in addition to restrictions on freedoms of expression and of peaceful assembly.

In many of these instances, the violence has mainly affected certain communities, including Alawites, Druze, Christians and Bedouins.

It has been fed by rising hate speech both online and on the streets.

The past year has also been marked by repeated Israeli military operations, including incursions and occupation of additional territory.

We have received reports of civilian casualties, including in a recent Israeli military operation near Damascus, as well as arrests and home searches.

The integration of former armed groups into the new security forces has so far happened in a hasty manner without proper human rights vetting process.

This vetting and proper security sector reform are crucial to ensuring that perpetrators of serious violations of international law are not integrated into the security forces and prevent further violations.

All violations, past and present, must be independently, thoroughly and transparently investigated and those responsible held to account.

We call on the authorities to take action to address the root causes of these violations.

Accountability, justice, peace and security of all Syrians are absolute prerequisites.

For a successful transition, victims rights to effective remedies and reparation must be fulfilled.

The UN Human Rights Office, through our programme in Damascus, is supporting Syrian efforts to ensure an inclusive transitional justice and strengthen rule of law.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks for your patience.

Last, I'll open the floor to questions in the room.

Any hand up?

[Other language spoken]

Yes, Tim and thank you so much.

I would like to ask you your presence in Syria, I mean, do you have any office in there?

If yes, how many people are working over there and how do you continue your work in Syria in the field?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for that, Mohammed.

As you know, for many, many years under the Assad regime, we were not able to access the Syrian territory.

We were working remotely on monitoring and documenting violations.

So since the government change, we have started a process of having access to Syrian territory and we have been trying to establish a presence in Syria.

And today I can tell you that we have 8 staff members in Damascus.

The authorities have granted our office, our the Office of the High Commissioner, A provisional approval to conduct programmes inside Syria.

This is of course, pending a the conclusion of a host country agreement which would, which would allow us to have an office in Damascus.

Of course, the the access to different parts of Syria is still difficult and needs a great load of, of logistic work because of the volatile security situations in, in certain places.

[Other language spoken]

I mean, I, I know that some of our colleagues are international staff.

I'm not sure about the breakdown, but I can I can verify that I see Matt is connected and as the as end up Matt, you want to add something on the situation in Syria from your side?

[Other language spoken]

Thanks, Alessandra.

Morning everyone.

Just a really quick one from us to say that we are sending out on embargo today a press release for Monday, which is obviously the anniversary, the one year anniversary, the fall of the Assad regime.

The press release will update the latest numbers of returns from the region, but also within the country and will emphasise that, of course, while this is a crucial historic opportunity that the international community needs to grasp to support Syria and the new regime, huge challenges remain within the country to ensure stability.

And not least the fact that there are, of course, over 16 million people who who still require humanitarian support within Syria.

Many of the services have been decimated.

Those people who do return, refugees from the outside are often coming back to destruction and to a very difficult environment.

So please do have a look at our press release and we have various colleagues in the region who can also provide interviews if there is demand.

Thanks, Alessandra.

I'll hand it back to you.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, that's it.

[Other language spoken]

I wanted to know if along this year you have detected any trend in the violence, if there are there have been some months with more violence.

And also if you could explain why do you think this is happening?

This is to repress any suspected support to the ancient, to the old regime or are you detecting any other reasons?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for that.

As I said, yes, what we are working on is documenting patterns of summary executions, arbitrary killings, abductions that we have been speaking about throughout this past year.

On the reasons, I mean, this is a very important question.

As you can imagine, the situation in Syria is, is not completely stable.

It's a volatile security situation.

So there can be different underlying reasons of this violence.

Of course, when we notice that a certain number of these of the victims of these acts belongs to certain communities, we can we can imagine that there is, of course, with the hate speech, there can be violence based on the religion or the identity of of these victims, which is very serious in terms of human rights and serious future.

And as you can imagine, in such a situation, pure criminality would also be on the rise.

So sometimes in in some cases, all these reasons can be, can, can be compounded in certain cases of killings.

This is why it is crucial for Syria today and for the interim authorities to embark on a genuine process of transitional justice.

And the transitional justice should include truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non recurrence for for everyone in Syria, for the the victims of violations of the past.

And also the violations of the present days must be addressed because transitional justice will not be successful unless all the victims of violations, both both past and present are granted truth and justice.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, regarding the first question, I wanted to know if there was more violence when the regime failed or the violence has been the same quite all the year or which changes have you seen?

Obviously we have seen periods where the violence was on the rise.

This reminds me of the few days in March where the the coastal violence was on the rise and also in July in Sueda.

We continue to to to receive reports on violations and clashes sometimes between certain armed groups.

So I think that this this sort of violence is still intermittent.

We know that the authorities are deploying efforts to control the situation and we have seen, as I said, trials that have started in Aleppo against alleged perpetrators of violence in the coastal region.

So there are efforts.

They have not yielded to complete control of the security situation yet.

We hope that this will continue and that Syrians will will see a day where their country is completely safe and secure for them.

Thank you very much.

Other hands in the room.

Let me go to the platform.

I don't see anything.

You stay on the bottom with us and I go now to save.

[Other language spoken]

My gang goes calling in from Nairobi.

[Other language spoken]

Hopefully we can hear you.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning, everyone.

Ahead of protests planned for Independence Day in Tanzania on the 9th of December, we remind the authorities of their obligation to ensure the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

We urge the government to instruct the security forces to plan and implement their operations in a manner that allows Tanzanians to fully exercise their fundamental rights.

Reports indicate that hundreds of people were killed and over 2000 detained by security forces when protests broke out following the 29 October general election.

The government has since the vote intensified a crackdown against opponents and on the 3rd of December police issued a blanket nationwide ban on all Independence Day protests.

We'll call on the government to lift this of a broad disproportionate step.

We remind the security forces to that they must refrain from using force to disperse non violent assemblies and make every effort to de escalate tensions.

We'll recall again the requirements of international law in this area.

If unavoidable, any use of force, including less lethal weapons must be restricted to the minimum extent necessary.

Firearms should be used to disperse where arms should not be used to disperse any assembly and can only be used as a measure of last resort to counter an imminent threat of death, serious injury.

The commanders of the security forces have a responsibility to take measures ahead of any protests to ensure respect for these principles.

Since mid November, dozens of individuals, including academics, civil society actors and local political leaders have reportedly been detained, with several of the arrests allegedly carried out by unidentified armed personnel.

Security deployments have been increased in urban centres, warnings issued to businesses, restrictions imposed on fuel sales and surveillance of digital communications expanded.

Such measures risk inflaming tensions and significantly undermine the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and participation in public affairs.

5 weeks after the election, the authorities still have not disclosed information on the number of people killed and the circumstances of the deaths.

Neither have they disclosed information on reports of enforced disappearances.

This continued absence of transparent information risks further eroding public trust and height and heightening tensions at A at a critical moment, we call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained.

Our office is aware that the government has established an investigation into the postulation violence.

UN human rights chief Volkataric reminds the authorities that such probe must fully adhere to international standards of independence, impartiality, fairness, promptness and transparency, and must provide robust protection against reprises, intimidation or arbitrary detention for all who engage in this work.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

Safe and yes Pedrero AFP yes hi thank you questions on Tanzania yesterday Meta suspended Tanzania activist 2 two Tanzanian activist accounts for showing posting images of of the crackdown in Tanzania.

So I wanted to to know if you were informed about that, if you're aware about that and and what was your appreciation of that.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks Alex for that question.

Yes, indeed, we're aware of the suspension of the Instagram accounts by Meta.

We have not necessarily looked into these individual cases, but we have to remind the authorities matter that all restrictions of access to the public sphere must be dictated by adherence to human rights.

They must be necessary, they must be lawful.

And if they have not met these standards, they didn't need to restore access because then these restrictions would have been politically motivated.

And it would need to look at the specifics of this case.

But in general, then it needs to be that any restrictions of access to media source and media platforms is not arbitrary.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, sorry I, I didn't hear well at some moment.

Did you say that you have been in contact with Meta or that you will do it?

[Other language spoken]

No, no, we've not been in contact with Meta on this specific cases.

No, but I think I just wanted to know if you will, if you haven't.

But if you will, I'll have to check on that and get back to you.

I don't know of plans to to do that, but we're definitely aware of the development.

Thank you very much, Saif.

Other questions in the room or online, I don't see any.

So thank you very much for this.

Tamim, you want to add anything?

[Other language spoken]

So thank you very much to both Tamim and Saif.

I am left with a few announcements before you go.

Your boss is coming to speak with the press on the 10th of December.

This is the correct date Mr Fokker.

[Other language spoken]

The Commissioner for Human Rights will speak on Wednesday 10th December at 10:30 from this room.

It's the end of the year traditional press conference that High Commissioner gives you.

So just remind, be reminded of that.

Following a request from Akanu, the Director General of UN office at Geneva, we'll also speak to you.

That will be on the 16th of December.

It would be a prequel today, Tuesday press briefing.

So I hope you'll be able to connect or come to the room in which would be even better at 10 AM on Tuesday.

So that's Tuesday, not the next one, but the one after Internet at the 10:00 in the room for the prequel to the briefing with the Director General of the UN Geneva Office, Mrs Tatiana of Valovaya.

I also have a couple of meetings here to remind you, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

It's closing this afternoon at 3 PMI think you've heard about their conclusions and the Committee on the Protection, the rights of all migrant workers and members of their family will review next Monday the report of Honduras.

Just a nicer note for everyone.

You may have seen already the ladies around Concordia, but just to remind you that on the 9th of December it's probably the nicest day at the parley, we will have the the bizarre, the end of the year bazaar organised by the UN Women's Guild and any your contribution, every penny that you will spend there will go for projects to support women and children around the world.

So it's very deserving issue and I hope you'll be all there doing your end of year shopping on this occasion.

So that is all I had.

If there are no questions for me, I don't see any.

Thank you very much.

Have a, a very nice, sorry.

Have a very nice weekend and I'll see you on Tuesday.

[Other language spoken]

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 05 December 2025