UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 8 September 2020

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UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 8 September 2020

1:18:08

MP4

619.9 MB

08-09-2020

Press Conferences | OHCHR , UNHCR , UNOG , WMO , IOM

UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 8 September 2020

ENG

Poisoning of Alexei Navalny

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the High Commissioner welcomed the news that Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny had emerged from his coma in a Berlin hospital. She urged the Government of the Russian Federation to carry out, or fully cooperate with, a thorough, transparent, independent and impartial investigation, after German specialists said they had “unequivocal proof” that Navalny had been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. High Commissioner condemned the poisoning.

“The number of cases of poisoning, or other forms of targeted assassination, of current or former Russian citizens, either within Russia itself or on foreign soil, over the past two decades is profoundly disturbing,” Bachelet said. “Navalny was clearly someone who needed state protection, even if he was a political thorn in the side of the government. It is not good enough to simply deny he was poisoned, and deny the need for a thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigation into this assassination attempt. It is incumbent on the Russian authorities to fully investigate who was responsible for this crime – a very serious crime that was committed on Russian soil.”

Full statement can be read here.

Responding to questions, Mr. Coville said that other examples of poisoning included Sergey and Yulia Skripal in 2018, Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, and Anna Politkovskaya in 2004; Colville also mentioned the shooting of Boris Nemtsov in 2015. OHCHR was in no position to apportion blame for Navalny’s poisoning; the responsibility to properly investigate Navalny’s and all other cases lay with the Russian authorities. The issue of Navalny’s poisoning may come up during the upcoming Human Rights Council’s session, but that was for the Member States to decide. In the past, the Council had created a number of commissions of inquiry, but that too was an issue for the States, explained Colville.

Alessandra Vellucci, for the UN Information Service, added that the Director-General of the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had stated that the allegations of the use of the nerve agent, a chemical weapon, were an issue of grave concern, and contrary to the norms established by the international community.

Incitement to violence against journalists and human rights defenders in Pakistan

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that the OHCHR had followed with increasing concern numerous instances of incitement to violence against journalists and human rights defenders in Pakistan, in particular against women and minorities. Especially worrying were accusations of blasphemy – which could put accused individuals at imminent risk of violence.

OHCHR had raised its concerns directly with the Government and urged immediate, concrete steps to ensure the protection of journalists and human rights defenders who had been subjected to threats. OHCHR also stressed the need for prompt, effective, thorough and impartial investigations with a view to ensuring accountability in cases of violence and killings. The leadership should unequivocally condemn incitement to violence against religious minorities and what appeared to be an increase in the use of blasphemy laws for personal or political score-settling.

OHCHR press briefing note is here.

Arrival of Rohingya vessel in Aceh

Paul Dillon, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), stated that, after more than seven months stranded at sea, the largest group of Rohingya refugees to arrive in Indonesia since the Andaman Sea crisis in 2015, were receiving support from local authorities supported by the IOM, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and partners.

The 296 Rohingya – primarily women and children – had landed in northern Aceh on 7 September and were under the care of local authorities. IOM was helping the Government to ensure that all arrivals receive rapid COVID-19 tests as required by Indonesian authorities and accompanying the process to find them suitable and safe accommodation. Those events underlined yet again the urgent need to continue to ensure the safe, timely disembarkation of refugees and migrants at sea in a manner that addresses public health concerns.

IOM press release can be found here.

Babar Baloch, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), welcomed the life-saving disembarkation of approximately 300 Rohingya refugees on the northern coast of Aceh, Indonesia the previous morning. Having survived some seven months at sea in desperate conditions, an unknown number were in need of medical attention.

Approximately 330 Rohingya refugees were understood to have embarked on the journey in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in February. Their hazardous ordeal had been prolonged by the collective unwillingness of states to act for more than six months. Equally, the Bali Process, as the only existing regional coordination mechanism able to convene states on such maritime movements, had failed to deliver comprehensive, regional action to predictably save lives through rescue and disembarkation. At least 30 lives had been lost at the sea.

More information is here.

In response to questions by journalists, Mr. Dillon said that the conditions on board the vessel were reported to have been abhorrent. This journey must have been an imaginable drama for the survivors, added Mr. Baloch. They were all in need of immediate medical attention, which was the focus right now.

Rescue of migrants in the Sahara

Paul Dillon, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), informed that an IOM Search and Rescue team operating in Niger’s northern Agadez region the previous week had rescued 83 migrants in distress, in collaboration with the General Directorate for Civil Protection. The rescue on 3 September had taken place in a remote stretch of the searing Sahara Desert, where hundreds of migrants were believed to have perished from dehydration, vehicle accidents and assaults in recent years.

The migrants had been bound for Libya. The group had been stranded for three days without food and water before being spotted by the joint SAR patrol. Many had been dehydrated, injured and in need of immediate medical assistance. Had they not been seen, they would certainly have died, adding to the grim death toll of anonymous migrant deaths in the desert.

Full press release can be read here.

“United in Science” report

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), informed that on 9 September at 5 p.m. Geneva time, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas would present the high-level, multi-agency United in Science 2020. The event would be webcast on webtv.un.org. Accredited UN journalists would also be able to join via Web-ex. The embargo on the press release would be lifted at 1 p.m. Geneva time on 9 September.

The report provided the latest information on greenhouse gas concentrations, the impact of COVID-19 on emissions, and the emissions gap compared to the Paris Agreement targets. It gave details on the global climate 2016-2020 and projections for the forthcoming 5 years. It also considered the impact of climate change on the cryosphere, oceans and fresh water, and looked at how COVID-19 restrictions had affected the ability to monitor climate change.

Other announcements

Alessandra Vellucci, for the UN Information Service, reminded that on 9 September at 10 a.m., Ambassador Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, President of the Human Rights Council, would hold a virtual press conference about the upcoming 45^th session of the Council.

Also on 9 September at 1 p.m., the Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) on Yemen would launch its report investigating human rights violations in Yemen, from September 2014 to June 2020, mandated by HRC resolutions. Speakers would be Kamel Jendoubi, Chairperson of the GEE, Melissa Parke, Member of the GEE, Ardi Imseis, Member of the GEE.

Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), spoke about the new UNCTAD report “Scaling up Voluntary Sustainability Standards through Sustainability Public Procurement and Trade Policy”, which was published today, 8 September. The report looked at the role of government as a vehicle to drive the adoption of voluntary sustainability standards, which could be a powerful tool to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and other public sustainability commitments. The effectiveness of VSS to contribute to sustainable development depended partly on their degree of adoption by economic operators. In that respect, governments could play a significant role by integrating VSS into public procurement and trade policy.

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which had opened its 19^th session online on 8 September, would hold public meetings on 14 and 15 September afternoons, to have a dialogue with Iraq on additional information (on the implementation of the Convention) submitted under article 29(4) of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The session could be followed on http://webtv.un.org/

At 5 p.m. today Geneva time, the President of the General Assembly would give a press conference, which could be watched at http://webtv.un.org/

On 9 September, the UN Secretary-General would participate in the “UN75 Youth Plenary”, which would be an opportunity to support and amplify youth voices for a peaceful, just, and sustainable world as outlined in the priority area of the UN Youth Strategy: Youth 2030. The event can be watched live at http://event.un.org.

Teleprompter

[Other language spoken]

Welcome to this briefing of Eunice Geneva on the 8th of September.

I'll start immediately with an announcement from Ankhtad, from Catherine, who's with us in the room.

Catherine, the objective, the development.

[Other language spoken]

The favour is a Linorme volunteer.

The durability.

Don Bercibo Cuper SE Tanos AP Yeah, Claire Newlisos, who would like to make an announcement.

And in the meantime, Rupert, can you come on the podium?

[Other language spoken]

Good morning, everybody.

We are in the process, hopefully as I speak, sending out embargoed press releases to you about the United in Science 2020 report.

This is being released tomorrow.

There will be a press conference in New York by the UN Secretary General with a virtual link up to Geneva, the WMO Secretary General, tomorrow.

It's the press conference itself is at 1700 Geneva time.

The actual embargo lifts before then.

The embargo lifts at 1300 Geneva time.

So this is a report, it contains a forward from the UN Secretary General and it brings together reports from a number of scientific agencies.

So the World Meteorological Organisation, the Global Carbon Project, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, UN Environment Programme, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and EU KS Met Office.

If you've got any questions, please please, please, you know, please please let me know, send me a send me a quick e-mail.

But as I said, the embargoed press release with the report should be on its way to you now.

And it's the press release is in all official UN languages.

[Other language spoken]

And I believe we are waiting also for from our colleagues in New York for some more information that we will distribute as usual to the journalist here in Geneva.

[Other language spoken]

Is there any question for Claire?

I don't see any online in the room either.

OK, thank you very much, Claire.

And let's go to Rupert for OHCHR.

[Other language spoken]

Two items today, first one on the Russian Federation and Alexei Navalny, and the second one on threats to women journalists and human rights defenders in Pakistan.

So begin with the Russian Federation.

The UN **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Michel Bachelet, is today welcoming the news that the Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has emerged from his coma in Berlin hospital.

In light of the assertion by German specialists that they have quote, unequivocal proof that Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, the **** Commissioner is also urging the Government of the Russian Federation carry out or fully cooperate with a thorough, transparent, independent and impartial investigation.

The number of cases of poisoning or other forms of targeted assassination of current or former Russian citizens, either within Russia itself or on foreign soil over the past two decades is profoundly disturbing.

The **** Commissioner also says that the failure in many cases the whole perpetrators accountable and provide justice and the truth for the victims or their families is deeply regrettable and hard to explain or justify.

The **** Commissioner notes that nerve agents and radioactive isotopes such as Novichok and polonium 210 are sophisticated substances that are extremely hard to source.

These are not materials that you can buy in a pharmacy or a farm shop or a hardware store.

As the **** Commissioner says, this raises numerous questions.

Why use substances like these?

Who is using them and how did they acquire them?

She also pointed out that prior to his reported poisoning, Alexei Navalny had been repeatedly harassed, arrested and assaulted, either by the authorities or by unknown assailants.

Navalny is clearly someone who needed state protection, even if he was a political thorn in the side of the government.

And as the **** Commissioner says, it's not good enough to simply deny he was poisoned and deny the need for a thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigation into this assassination attempt.

It is incumbent on the Russian authorities to fully investigate who was responsible for this crime, a very serious crime that was committed on Russian soil, and to ensure the protection of the human rights of its citizens, including Mr Navalny.

Thank you, Rupert.

And I see already questions.

I'll start with online, Jamie.

[Other language spoken]

So just one second, one by one.

[Other language spoken]

Can you hear me, Rupert?

[Other language spoken]

I didn't hear you say the phrase that you condemn this poisoning.

[Other language spoken]

I mean, is, is the **** Commissioner saying she condemns this poisoning and has she been in contact with any Russian officials about it?

Yeah, of course we condemn poisoning.

[Other language spoken]

But I think what the the completely unequivocal affirmation by the the German authorities and German medical specialists that this was Novichok is, is pretty extraordinary.

So that's obviously why we make this very clear call for a proper, thorough, impartial, transparent, independent investigation.

[Other language spoken]

The **** Commissioner's statement mentioned other instances.

Could you elaborate on that and what those instances were?

[Other language spoken]

Yes, obviously there was a case in 2018 of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, father and daughter in the in the UK town of Salisbury, who were also poisoned to Novichok.

And also important to remember, although they both survived, that the British couple living in the in the town were also poisoned and one of them died.

Also in the press release the **** Commissioner mentions polonium 210.

That obviously is a reference to the case of Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with polonium 210 in 2009.

And as far as we were, there's been no investigation at all on the Russian side into his killing.

And the suspects who were identified for his killing has never been extradited.

There's the shooting of Boris Nemtsov, leading opposition politician and former Deputy Prime Minister in 2015, who was shot dead in Moscow.

Now in his case, 5 Chechen men were were found guilty of his ******, but the people who hired them were never identified or or charged.

There are there are a lot of other cases.

Anna Politkovskaya, the famous journalist, she was eventually shot in 2006, shot dead in her flat in Moscow.

But prior to that, two years before that, reportedly she she had also been poisoned while drinking tea on her way to cover the the siege and massacre in Beslan in 2004.

But she survived the poisoning.

And there are there are a number of other cases, of course.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks, Rupert.

The cases that you cite previously have in certain instances been attributed to the Russian state, to the to the Putin government.

And the statement you have given clearly raises the possibility that the use of Novichok may also implicate the Russian state in this attempt on Milani's life.

Who do you think therefore, in these circumstances should be doing this investigation?

It's clearly not going to come credibly from the Russian state.

Well, in theory it should do.

The Russian state is, is responsible for crimes that occur on it or investigating and, and prosecuting crimes that occur on its territory.

And also, of course, for cooperating with crimes in which there is some link that occur overseas.

So for example, Lipinink or the Skripals.

Now, you know, we're not in a position to attribute direct blame on anyone.

But I think what we're making very clear is we don't believe the proper processes have been carried out in many of these cases.

And with the resulting essentially close to total impunity in in Polosqvaya's case.

Also five Chechen men were also found guilty in her case.

But again, it's not entirely clear who ordered that killing or who was behind that killing.

So this sort of thread of impunity, lack of accountability, lack of transparency runs through many of these cases.

And we believe very clearly that's incumbent on the Russian authorities to to sort that out.

Moussa Merci all direct, non set, non set affair non Kelly meet la responserite de governimo Italy don't get direct and dependent Fiab obia El povo Ella all direct Don la Fer.

Well, I think that's pretty much exactly the same as the previous question.

So as I've said, we we're not in a position to make direct accusations.

We're not a police body ourselves.

We're not you know, we haven't done full and thorough investigations.

We haven't been in a position to and nobody's asked us to.

But as I said, clearly the responsibility for investigating this kind of case, most recently Alexey Navalny, but also the earlier ones, lies with the with the rational authorities and we don't believe that's been done.

[Other language spoken]

Byram, is that you?

[Other language spoken]

It would help if you would put your full name when you connect the briefing right.

Thank you so much Mr Report.

[Other language spoken]

As you ever yesterday you saw there be a public prosecution in Riyadh convicted 8 people in country to ****** case and U.S.

special Rapporteur Miss Kalamat against Kalamat committed yesterday and saying is Saudi's country to wed the parody of justice.

And then she said these verdicts came no local, no legal or moral legitimacy and they came at the end of process which was neither failed nor just or transplanted.

She's intimidated yesterday.

So will you condemn this decision by ZOD Arabia court or if you will not, what is your message or call to the ZOD Arabia authorities?

[Other language spoken]

Well, obviously Anyes Kalamar is, is really the the expert on this case.

She did a lengthy report on an investigation into it.

But what I would say, well, couple of things.

Firstly, as you know, the United Nations is against the death penalty.

So that aspect of yesterday's announcement we would not be opposed to.

However, this was a very severe and very gruesome crime, horrendous crime.

And again, this is a case where there hasn't been proper transparency in the in the justice process.

And clearly those responsible should be prosecuted and and given sentences commensurate with crime, which would be in cases such as horrendous crime would be very, very lengthy gaol sentences.

But there's a whole issue of, of transparency in the conduct of the of the case, which Calamari has gone into in considerable detail.

So we'll have to see what happens next on on that one.

Lisa, back to the Navalny case.

Yes, back to the Navalny case.

Good, good morning and good morning to you, Rupert.

A few little questions first on the issue of investigations.

I understand your point.

The interestingly the Human Rights Council, as you no doubt note, is about to begin its session.

Isn't this a forum in which it might be appropriate to raise the question of this latest poisoning by the Russians, in which case the investigation could be of a more international nature, since domestically it might not be as well as it should be?

Then do you have any opinions on on sanctions on how to put pressure upon the the Russians?

Because they deny everything always and they get away with everything.

And so how can you hold the government accountable for these crimes?

And then lastly, if Mr Navalny, and we hope you know, recovers well, would it be safe for him to go back to Russia or is that a situation which would be extremely risky for him?

Regards to the Human Rights Council, I mean that's again, as you know, that's states who, who operate there and sometimes in mysterious ways.

So it would be up to states, it could well come up during the council session.

But that's not, you know, it's not for us to decide or, or to, to deal with.

[Other language spoken]

Is anyone planning to bring it up and in in in case, if so, in what?

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, I mean, that's not really for us to to make that call.

In fact, we often have concerns about sanctions depending on how they're how they're used and and who they're targeted against.

And we're we're generally against sweeping sanctions against states that affect people who are not connected at all with the the issue on which the sanctions are being delivered.

And as to whether it's safer axi Navalny to return to Russia, I think that's really for him to for him to decide.

And you know, he's been he's been a very outspoken critic.

[Other language spoken]

So I think we'll have to leave that in for him to decide.

And as you said, we also hope he makes a full recovery.

It's it's early days yet, but at least he's out of the coma.

[Other language spoken]

Hi, Rupert, Thank you for taking my question.

Nice to see you.

Nice to see you, Alessandra.

So in the IT, it looks like in Russia there is a pattern to get rid of opponents.

So that that is clear, I mean, with all the examples that you are mentioning.

So my question is why can't your office do an independent investigation on this case or what needs to happen?

I mean, do you depend on Member States to ask for it or can your office go and say we need to investigate?

[Other language spoken]

I mean, we, we can and we have on occasions done investigations in places we can't go to, but it's very complicated.

And you, you obviously need to feel you have a reasonable chance of investigating properly in order to do that, whether it's us or whether it's a special rapporteur or a, or a, you know, Commission of inquiry and so on.

So obviously, as you know, the, the Human Rights Council has created dozens of commissioning inquiries, in fact, finding missions into, into situations where sufficient number of states feel there's a need to do that.

But there have been other situations where they could have instigated those kind of inquiries and they haven't.

But that's, as I said, an issue for states in, in, in for us.

I think it would be extremely difficult for us to to investigate cases like these involving substances such as Novichok, plenium 210 and so on.

And, and you know what's behind all that?

That would be very, very difficult for the Office of the **** Commissioner to carry out that kind of investigation.

And if, frankly, it should be a police investigation, this is a crime.

So these are crimes.

These are killings or attempted killings or assassinations, shootings and so on.

So these should be full criminal investigations, effectively.

John Zaracostas for The Lancet.

Can you hear me, Rivet?

[Other language spoken]

I'd like to remind you that last Thursday the head of the UN backed Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons also expressed the the the the the fact that the allegation that Rupert has described as a matter of grave concern made reference to the state parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention for whom for which the use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances as principle and wholly contrary to the legal norms established by the international community.

This is a statement which is available.

I see Catherine has raised her hands.

Catherine.

And maybe in the meantime, if you can connect with John.

Catherine.

[Other language spoken]

Alessandra, just to let you know that we were unable to hear you.

So I don't know what you said before you spoke about disarmament.

Did you announce anything specific?

Because nobody was able, I think, to to hear you.

[Other language spoken]

I see our cameraman say that yes, the voice, the audio went out well.

But I just I just made a reference to the statement made by the head of the UN backed Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons last Thursday.

There was so I didn't speak about disarmament as such.

There was there is a in this statement of reference to the Chemical Weapons Convention and it's available on the web or we can send it to you Gabriella and then we will try again with John.

[Other language spoken]

So after 70,000 disappearances in Mexico, the state already is going to recognise individual communications with the Committee of Enforced Disappearances.

So that is a very good news.

But my question is, if you have a any, if you're aware of if during General Assembly in New York, the government of Mexico is going to deposit the instrument because it it has to be something like that.

I mean, it's like to make it official.

So if you can mention something.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, I mean, normally there is, but I, I don't know the specifics with this, this convention.

If you want more information on that, I have a colleague called Vivian Kwok, who of course she joined us just before the the shutdown.

So she, I'm not sure she's ever appeared before you, but Vivian can answer your questions on that.

[Other language spoken]

Rupert, if you send us the contact details, we can send it to the journalist and I.

[Other language spoken]

He's again connected.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning, Rupert and Alessandra.

[Other language spoken]

With reference to your statement on Novi Shock, I was wondering if you were in consultation with the office of the OPCW in The Hague and if they gave you additional background.

And my question is, being such a deadly nerve agent, why was it only added to the OPCW ban list in November last year, 26 years after the Convention was concluded in Geneva?

Look, the second question is obviously one for them, not for us.

I can't tell you that.

Have we been in touch with them?

No, I don't believe so.

Effectively, you know, the we're speaking and mentioning Novichok on the basis of what the German authorities have said.

And I stress how unequivocal they were.

They didn't say.

It appears to be Novichok or so, both at the level of the experts and at the level of the German government.

And there's obviously no reason to to doubt that statement.

And the clarity of it is, is stark.

Laurent, we have a problem with this platform today.

I've seen Ron's hands and then he disappears.

So let's go to Emma and maybe if Laurent needs to.

[Other language spoken]

Kind of follow up to John's question.

Are you calling Russia to let experts from OPCW get in the the country in order to lead the broader investigation of the of that Novichok affair?

And and in the same vein, you, you think Germany should also let people from OPCW get in?

We're not making a specific references like that.

Again, that would be for the OPCW to decide if they to get involved or if they were to be asked to be involved.

What we're saying at this point is there has to be a proper investigation.

There's a very serious crime committed on Russian soil.

It appears to be no doubt that it was committed.

There appears to be no doubt that this, you know, exotic and highly deadly substance, Novichok was used.

And clearly there must be a proper investigation who does it, how they do it, as long as it's independent, impartial and thorough and preferably quick.

You know, that it's less, it's less important in a sense to say who does it.

But as I said before, in theory at least, it's incumbent on the Russian authorities to investigate a crime of this severity that took place on their own territory.

[Other language spoken]

Let's take the last question from Emma and then we go to Pakistan.

[Other language spoken]

Actually, switching to Doctor Mcquaig, if I may, because you brought that up last week, I saw allegations in the Guardian that the reason the doctor is so vulnerable right now is that UN peacekeepers guarding the hospital and residents have actually withdrawn due to COVID-19 factors.

It just seems absurd if it's true that, you know, the UN is criticising his vulnerability right now.

If it's the UN peacekeepers that are actually making him more vulnerable, could you comment on those allegations, please?

Yes, I, I think it's slightly missed.

I'm not going to say inaccurate, but I, I think it's a little bit misleading in that article.

And we've, we've checked this morning.

Having seen that ourselves, I would stress it's not only the safety of Doctor Mukwegee, it's also his staff.

And there are 64 staff members on each shift at the Panzi Hospital.

[Other language spoken]

In fact, now Monusco is, is extremely stretched and under pressure on many fronts.

Initially you had the COVID and shutdown and so on.

That was, that was I think initially when this idea that they weren't protecting the hospital originated, that is changed, but they're not, they're still not in a position to put a permanent presence in the, in the Panzer hospital because of the, the, their own resources situation.

But MONUSCO patrols are being carried out around the hospital and they've established also an alert system with the, with the staff.

In parallel, a first batch of 30 Congolese security officers are being being selected in coordination with Doctor Mukwege's team and they're being screened and trained for deployment to ***** Hospital.

So for that specific purpose of protecting him and his staff and there are continuous ongoing discussions to improve, improve the security there.

But so you know, I'd say the, the article isn't wrong, but it's not perhaps it's not perhaps telling the full story there.

So I think, you know, everyone is acutely aware, particularly after we made that statement that protection is needed.

So it's not, it's not simply a question of ignoring it and and not doing it.

It's more complicated.

Thank you, Rupert.

Let's go to your second point, Pakistan.

We've followed with increasing concern numerous instances of incitement to violence both online and offline against journalists and human rights defenders in Pakistan, in particular against women and minorities.

And especially worrying are the accusations of blasphemy, which can put accused individuals at imminent risk of violence and indeed death.

Pakistan women journalists last month publicly warned of what they described as a coordinated campaign of social media attacks against those who've been critical of government policies.

And I think it was 164 signatories to that, to that public letter they put out.

In one such case, the journalist and human rights defender Mavi Sermed has received numerous messages on social media containing highly derogatory and violent language, including gender blade face slurs and death threats.

Accusations of blasphemy on social media were followed by actual Police Complaints filed against Mrs Sermed, whose personal details were also revealed on Twitter.

Last year, at least 4 journalists and bloggers were killed in connection with their reporting in Pakistan.

Among them was Aruj Iqbal, who was a woman who was shot dead in Lahore, and she sought to launch her own newspaper.

And last Saturday, the 5th of September, journalist Shahina Shaheen was shot dead by unidentified men in Baluchistan's Ketch district.

In the vast majority of such cases, those responsible have not been investigated, prosecuted and held to account.

We have raised our concerns directly with the Government of Pakistan and we've urged immediate, concrete steps to ensure the protection of journalists and human rights defenders who've been subjected to threats.

We also stress the need for prompt, effective, thorough and impartial investigations with a view to ensure accountability in cases of violence and killings.

Victims and their families have the right to justice, truth and reparations and we welcome the fact that in the at least in the case of Shaheena Shaheen, a number of **** level government officials have condemned the ****** and pledged to bring to justice the perpetrators even if it's not happened yet.

We call on the leadership of Pakistan to unequivocally condemn incitement to violence against religious minorities and what appears to be an increase in the use of blasphemy laws for personal or political score settling, and we call them to encourage respect for diversity of opinion.

We also encourage the government to address impediments to the active protection of the right to freedom of expression, including by carrying out legal reforms such as those recommended by the UN Human Rights Committee and other international human rights mechanisms and and the the committee if you want to refer to it.

Human Rights Committee reviewed Pakistan in 2017, so fairly recently.

Thank you, Rupert.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks, Rupert.

You've brought your concerns to the government.

Only one case, apparently, from what you say, has had some kind of investigation.

What, what essentially has been the response of the government.

I mean, you know, government is not ******.

[Other language spoken]

And there has been lots of cases of blasphemy, of people being imprisoned and put to death and killed because of this.

And nothing seems to happen.

So what?

What did they say to you about this?

Sorry, I'd have to check what actual responses have been.

But we've had contacts with them fairly frequently and at various levels, including the **** Commissioner on issues of this type and in particular the the use of the blasphemy laws targeting in particular the Ahmadi religious minority.

And we've also taken issue with statement sometimes by very senior government officials, which appear to actually encourage violence and incitement to hatred against, against people from the Ahmadi minority in particular.

But in terms of their responses to us, I don't, I don't have that information.

So we'd have to check that.

[Other language spoken]

Rupert, you mentioned that several, I, I think 100 journalists sign a letter on this case.

So are they in gaol danger?

Could they be in danger?

I mean, the, the government is responsible for their protection of these journalists that signed the the letter.

[Other language spoken]

Well, that's what they're calling for.

So yes, it was 164 signatures on the latter and it was headed joint statement attacks on women in media in Pakistan.

And they, they, they and I, I quote, they say what is certainly a well defined and coordinated campaign, personal details of women journalists and analysts have been made public to further discredit, frighten and intimidate us.

We are referred to as peddlers of fake news, enemy of the people and accused of taking bribes.

In some instances.

Our pictures and videos have also been morphed.

Women in the media are not only targeted for their work, but also their gender.

Our social media timelines are barraged with gender based slurs, threats of sexual and physical violence.

These have the potential to incite violence and lead to hate crimes, putting our physical safety at risk.

And they also talk about attempts to hack into their social media accounts and so on.

So actually I'd recommend you you looking at that letter, we can send you a copy if you like.

Because they make their own case very strongly and very clearly.

And as I said, it's it's many, many signatures, including some well known generals.

They also bring up specifically, the one case they bring up specifically is that of Shereen Mazari, who's the minister, and comments made by the minister.

Paula, I just have a question about the with the resumption of the Human Rights Council next week, whether there is going to be any discussion about the ongoing repression of government's opponents in Nicaragua.

[Other language spoken]

The best thing is to check with Rolando Gomez because he he knows every dot and, of the Council schedule and so on.

I believe there's a report coming up on Nicaragua, but I'd have to, I'd have to check and I believe there may be a speech by the **** Commissioner on Nicaragua, but I'd have to check that too.

I hope you have received the two press releases that we've sent out this morning.

1 is on the logistical arrangements of the Council and the other one on the programme.

I indeed the Council, we hear about the human rights situation in Nicaragua and then or update by Commissioner, **** Commissioner Bashley, followed by a general debate.

I think they've distributed also the programme of work.

The draught programme of work is also available.

And you have more detail on the note that we've sent out.

In fact, on the whole programme.

Rolando couldn't come today, but he said he's available, He's back.

He's available for questions if you need.

I don't think there are more questions for you Rupert, which were quite enough.

Oh no, sorry, there is no one last simple play.

[Other language spoken]

OK, so let's three Rupert, pardon me.

[Other language spoken]

Hello Rupert, Libya and the agenda item.

[Other language spoken]

I'll just add the fact Friendly Mission is very near the beginning of its work, so I doubt they'll be able to go into great detail on any particular episode.

But that's speculation on my part that I know that it's a it's a relatively recent creation and it takes a long time to set up these bodies and get get them fully functioning.

So I suspect it will be a fairly brief and not particularly detailed specifically updates Freddy Rupert.

[Other language spoken]

You'd have to ask Monusco for the details, but I think they are obviously attempting to protect everyone or or at least helping the Congolese authorities to protect everyone.

As I said, the hospital, it's not just up to Mcquaig.

He has at anyone time on any shift.

There are 64 staff operating in the hospital.

And his family, yes, that's a very good point because his family, when he was attacked in 2012, the attack was on his family compound.

He, he fortunately escaped, but his bodyguard and, and personal friend was killed and his family were held hostage for a while.

So clearly you need a sort of holistic protection for Doctor Mcquaigy and for everything he's connected with, given the the level of the threats that he's been receiving.

Now in terms of the details of how and so on, well, obviously I'm not sure when this school would want to reveal every detail of how for security reasons.

But as I said earlier, you know, the situation is being taken very seriously.

They do have enormous problems.

They're all all the, you know, ongoing fighting killings and so on and so forth in the Kibo's and Naturi.

So Menuscus, it's not, its only job is to protect Doctor Mukwege, it also has to try and protect Congolese citizens.

And it's a hugely difficult task in a, in a vast country with so many, you know, sort of micro conflicts taking on and going on in particular areas.

But, you know, I can just stress again, you know, the, the threats to him have been taken very seriously and that's why we made the statement about it last week.

And the Musco is, you know, 100% aware of the seriousness and the doing their best.

But I think if you want specific details, you'd need to to speak to Monosco directly.

I guess this is triggered more question.

[Other language spoken]

I'm sorry.

I'll, I'll take this last two and then we will go to HCR and IOM Gabrielle and then Catherine and then we'll see you.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for the patience.

Mexico in Mexico, 10 women, 10 women are murdered in Mexico every day due to gender issues.

Mothers.

The of these victims are in the office of the National Human Rights Commission in Mexico and they are protesting because they want concrete actions from the government.

They want justice for their daughters and they want a dialogue.

But the President have not met the victims, not the commissioner of the leader of the National Human Rights Commission.

And the President has minimised their demands.

And he was very worried because one painting was kind of, you know, destroyed that That was his comment on the painting.

So do you have comments on this issue in Mexico?

[Other language spoken]

But I mean, obviously, you have to take femicide seriously, any killings seriously.

But femicide is a particular problem in Mexico and in some other Latin American countries as well.

As you know, we have a fairly large, of one of our largest country offices is in Mexico.

And I'm sure they're very engaged on that issue with the National Human Rights Commission, with the government and others.

And unfortunately, there are so many killings taking place in Mexico of, of women, as you've said, but also of journalists of human rights defenders and others.

So it's so there's a, you know, countrywide problem in terms of violence and but obviously violence is directed at women because of their gender is, is a particular concern.

But I don't have specific details on some parts of your questions.

You could always try and call Marta and see if she can give you more.

Last question, Catherine, Robert, Hi, good morning.

I have a question regarding the region of Sahel and particularly the attacks against schools, students and and teachers.

You have many armed groups that are systematically attacking these people.

So do you have any comments about that?

[Other language spoken]

So this concerns Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.

Yeah, No, obviously the situation across the region is, is a huge concern and we have spoken about it before.

I just have a note in front of me on Niger.

But so basically they're they've been trying to do a report.

This is on quite an old situation, but it was, it's the kind of situation you're talking about.

It was the disappearance of 102 people near Inati in Niger earlier this year.

And the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria conducted a mission there.

And they've, they've published a report just a couple of days ago to the parliament in Nigeria and it's, it's pretty grim stuff.

They found that 71 out of the 100 and two people were victims of summary executions.

And you know, there are there are many more details in that report and identification of burial sites and so on.

But as you say, the problem is much wider than that one incident.

And of course, that also makes it less easy to to investigate in depth everything that's going on across across all the countries concerned and in in areas that are very unstable and very unsafe.

But it's, it's very problematic.

Thank you very much, Rupert.

And before we we leave the issue of human rights, I'd like to remind you that tomorrow at 10 AM, we will have a press conference, virtual press conference on the Human Rights Council, 45th regular session.

This is going to be given by Ambassador Elizabeth Tishy Fisselberger from Austria, who's the President of the Human Rights Council 14th cycle.

And Rolando will also brief you on the housekeeping and practical aspects of the session.

I we have communicated to him the question that you had expressed last time on the question of the heading press conferences with the various experts that are going to come for the, for the, for the Council.

[Other language spoken]

The Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen of the Human Rights Council will launch its report investigating human rights violation in Yemen from September 2014 to June 2020.

And that should be scheduled to be presented to the council on 29th through September.

So there the speakers will be the members of the of the group.

Kamel Jan Duby was the chairperson.

Melissa Park Rd Inn, says both members of the group.

So this is what I have for human rights.

[Other language spoken]

Will be the mandate may possibly like this you will see.

[Other language spoken]

We start with Paul.

[Other language spoken]

So let's start with Indonesia and we have also Babar both UMNHCI will we'll brief you in Indonesia.

Paul Yeah, thank you very much.

After more than seven months stranded at sea, the largest group of Rohingya refugees to arrive in Indonesia since the Andaman Sea crisis in 2015 are receiving support from local authorities with the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration, UNHCR, and its partners.

The 296 Rohingya, primarily women and children, landed in Northern Ache early Monday morning and are now under the care of local authorities.

IOM is helping the government to ensure that all arrivals receive rapid COVID-19 tests as required by Indonesian authorities and accompanying the process to find them suitable and safe accommodation.

As we've we, as we have.

[Other language spoken]

As we have following every arrival of Rohingya vessels since 2009, IOM Indonesia will continue to work with partners to ensure shelter, water and other core needs are met in the coming days.

Now the latest arrival follows the 26th June landing of 99 Rohingya refugees in ACHE.

Initial information to be confirmed with further interviews indicates they're part of the same group originating from a single mothership.

Speaking to IOM staff, a spokesperson from the group said they were ferried to the larger vessels seven months ago before setting off for Malaysia.

A 20 year old single woman who said she'd left the refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh, estimated that at least 30 of the roughly 500 people aboard the larger vessel died in the intervening months, including a very young child.

She added that twice during this.

Groups of people left the ship in smaller boats, one bound for Indonesia and the other for Malaysia.

These may be the two boats that landed on the 8th of June in Lankowie, Malaysia, carrying 269 Rohingya, and the group of 99 landed in Ache about two weeks later.

A 27 year old man who said he'd left a wife and children in a Cox's bizarre refugee camp separately corroborated the story.

Both witnesses say they do not believe there are further vessels at sea at this time.

Monday's events underlined yet again the urgent need to continue to ensure that safe and timely disembarkation of refugees and migrants at sea in a manner that addresses public health concerns.

[Other language spoken]

Go ahead mother.

Thank you there Paul.

[Other language spoken]

Unisia, the UN refugee agency welcomed the life saving disembarkation of nearly 300 Rohingya refugees on the northern coast of Ache, Indonesia yesterday early morning.

As mentioned, these Rohingya refugees have survived seven months at the sea in desperate conditions and and many of them are in need of medical attention.

Among the group, 4 out of five are women and children, and the arriving refugees report that some 30 refugees are estimated to have died in route.

Really troubling the fact that a vessel with desperate refugees on board has been adrift in the sea for seven months without being able to land or find safety despite making several attempts.

Their hazardous ordeal has been prolonged by the collective unwillingness of states to act for more than six months.

We know that in the region there's the Bali Process, which is the only existing regional coordination mechanism able to convene states in the region on such maritime movements.

This mechanism has failed to deliver comprehensive regional action to predictably save lives through rescue and disembarkation.

In this case, the cost of inaction has been fatal as 30 precious lives that could have been saved have been lost at the sea.

UNICR has access to the refugee arrivals and is interviewing them with the assistance of interpreters as required.

At this stage, our main priority is the safety and health of the people, which consists of many vulnerable women and children.

More than 100 people in the group have told us that their refugees previously registered with Unit CR in Bangladesh.

Some still hold their Unit CR Bangladesh ID cards, while some said they'd lost it during the sea journey.

In this regard, it is important for us to ensure that these people have access to protection and asylum procedures.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

And I see Lisa has a question.

[Other language spoken]

And the questions are for both of you, whoever wishes to answer them.

First of all, how I mean it, it's amazing to me.

How did these people survive at sea for seven months?

Where did they get food?

Everything that goes into, you know, you know, survival.

And I don't know the size of the boat, whether it was overcrowded.

I mean, I was probably some kind of a living nightmare.

I mean, if you could elaborate upon that situation somehow.

And then what guarantees are they are there that these people will not be deported?

I think this has happened in the past where migrants have been picked up at sea, maybe not in this among the Rohingya.

I, I, I don't really know, but you know, where they have been picked up and then they have been deported.

So what sort of guarantees of safety, if any, are there?

And then one other question, which is a little further afield.

But the Bangladeshi government, I believe, has begun relocating some Rohingya refugees from Cox's Bazaar to some kind of an awful isolated island where the where the refugees have been unwilling to go in the past.

And yet they seem to, if if I'm correct about this, have been sent there.

Your reaction to that, Please, Paul, you want to start then I give the floor to my bar.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for your question.

Look, there's a lot of information that we're we're gleaning at this time about the circumstances of the of the voyage, of the journey, resupply and things like that.

What we've seen in the past with these, with these motherships and this occurred in 2015 during the Andaman Sea crisis is that there is resupply from shore of food, water and, and, and, and the basics.

But I mean, clearly, whether it's a, a, a small freighter or a very large fishing vessel, people would have been, would have been living in, in, in very dire conditions, particularly considering the length of time.

And we're not talking about a couple of weeks.

This is 7 months now that people have been at sea.

You know, we have called repeatedly in the past for.

For a, a concerted effort to ensure the safe disembarkation of migrants and refugee stranded at sea, this case in that sense is no different.

The and again, just reverting, reverting back to 2015.

I mean, the conditions aboard those vessels were absolutely abhorrent.

You know, people were being pitched overboard when they died.

There was very little food, very little water in this particular case.

We haven't seen that kind of evidence yet, but we're looking into it as as above our said earlier, there's a lot of medical issues that are being addressed at this time and we'll just have to wait and see what how things play out over the next 24 to 36 hours as we pull together all the strands of this particular story.

[Other language spoken]

This must have been an ordeal of unimaginable trauma for these people.

I mean, being out there with many, many children and women having no idea what's going to happen to to them.

So it's really, really troubling that seven months desperate refugees have been adrift at the sea without finding a safe boat or safe land to disembark.

Refugees have told you, they say our staff, that they departed Bangladesh in early February this year and try to land repeatedly in different countries without success, they have reported.

At some time before the arrival in Indonesia, as mentioned, they were transferred from a larger boat to a smaller boat prior to ultimately disembarking in Ache.

Unicia has not yet been able to verify these details yet and is continuing to seek further information.

So the priority now is because these people have been a lot of trauma, many of them are frail, in need of immediate attention, medical attention as well.

So that's where the focus is right now.

Lisa, in terms of the the Bashan Char Island that you mentioned, there were reports about Rohingya elders or leaders from Cox's Bazar visiting that site, but it wasn't with our involvement as far as I understand.

And in terms of relocation, our collective voices that there has to be proper assessments from the humanitarian agencies in terms of in the having a collective look in terms of seeing how the site is and, and and if it's able to host people over there.

[Other language spoken]

A question for Paul on the smugglers and the the people who were rescued in the Niger, in the desert, please.

I just was wondering if you could offer a little bit more context as to kind of how exceptional it is to have a rescue of this sort.

I mean, obviously the Sahara Desert is a huge place.

So are you doing rescue operations or are you scouring the desert regularly for people who might find themselves in in peril?

Such has happened with these migrants.

And how many are you kind of missing?

Because presumably there this was a success story that you found them and you saved them.

But are there many other stories that go in a different direction?

[Other language spoken]

Emma, bear with us because Paul has still to brief you on this.

And I have another question from Nick.

I guess it's going to be on Indonesia.

So let Paul brief and then he'll answer your question.

[Other language spoken]

Bruce, please, can you hear me?

[Other language spoken]

But you mentioned that they had tried to disembark in several countries.

Which countries did they try to disembark along the way?

At what points in the journey?

And is there any more that you can say about the mothership, either you or Paul, in terms of the size of it, in terms of where it originated from, how the the refugees essentially got on to it?

What was the first part, Nick?

Sorry, the first part was which country, which countries did they try to disembark in?

[Other language spoken]

In terms of details, we haven't reached there.

I mean, this is the initial testimonies that we are collecting.

So as we move on, more detail may be available.

But these refugees are telling us that they had started their journey from Cox's Bazaar in, in Bangladesh seven months ago and and they have been adrift at, at the sea also in, in, in.

[Other language spoken]

The second bit, please.

What details you can provide about the ship, how big it was?

And you say it was adrift.

I mean, did it, did it break down or, or was it simply that they spent seven months trying to find some place to go?

All the initial details we have, I mean, they're saying they have been at the, at the sea.

They have been moved from 1 ship to to another.

Remember on 24th of June or 25th of June, there were nearly hundred that arrived at the same place in Indonesia.

And then there were reports of other boats being in, in the sea.

It's very hard to get the exact details at this stage at least.

[Other language spoken]

OK, Paul, you want to speak about Tunisia and then answer Emma's question, please.

I could just add to that what Babar was saying.

The, you know, this vessel's been out in the Andaman Sea and at the top of the Strait of the Malacca Strait for for months.

It's, it's stretches credulity to believe that, that people were not aware of its presence.

There was resupply, we understand.

So people were talking about it.

It's not a, it's not a question of a ghost ship that just popped out of out of nowhere.

I know there was a question earlier about, about, about deportations from Indonesia.

I spent many years in Indonesia and I'm I'm not personally aware of any cases of, of Rohingya or other people deserving of protection ever being deported from Indonesia.

The and the other thing is just to underline what Barbara was saying, I mean, there's move, there's movement off this vessel, off this mothership, at least two that we're, we're pretty sure occurred 1 to Langkawi and the other to ache a couple of months ago.

So there is, there's movement off the vessel and back on.

So the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together now.

It's it's, it would be understandable if some, if some of the smaller vessels have been pushed back, for example, as has been suggested back on and people forced back onto the mothership to buy their time until there's another opportunity to disembark.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, very well.

An IOM search and rescue team operating in Nisha's northern Agadez region last week rescued 83 migrants in distress in collaboration with the General Directorate for Civil Protection, the DGPC.

The rescue on the 3rd of September took place in a remote stretch of the Syrian Sahara Desert, where hundreds of migrants are believed to have perished, dehydration, vehicle accidents and assaults in recent years.

The migrants were bound from Libya.

They included 42 males, mostly Nigerian but also several from Togo, Mali and Ghana, as well as 41 Nigerian females, including twin 4 year old girls.

It's common for vehicles carrying migrants to break down in the desert for smugglers to get lost or abandoned, their passengers fearing checkpoints or military patrols.

SAR operations in Agadez and Derku have rescued 321 migrants thus far in 2020 and 1793 since joint operations began in Measures Canary Desert in 2016.

This group boarded 4 pickup trucks, taking alternative routes towards Libya to avoid detection by law enforcement and security forces.

Witnesses from among those rescue told Iowa staff that last Tuesday, the smugglers made a stop over some 230 kilometres north of Durku, another Sahara Crossroad, now fearing that the authorities had seen them.

After spotting military vehicles on the road ahead, the smugglers robbed and then abandoned their passengers to their feet.

The group was stranded without food and water before being spotted by the Tsar Patrol, and many were dehydrated, injured and in need of immediate medical assistance.

Had they not been seen, they would certainly have died, adding to the grim death toll of anonymous migrant deaths in the desert.

After receiving water, food and medical care, the migrants were transported to a COVID-19 confinement site in Dirku where they will undergo a 14 day quarantine period.

7 migrants are currently being medically assisted at the health centre in Dirku and after their two week quarantine ends, those migrants who wish to return to their country of origin can opt to move to IO Ms Transit centre in Dirku and join the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration programme.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Paul.

Any question for Paul?

I don't see any.

Oh yeah, there is one.

Oh yes.

Emma, you had asked a question on this.

Sorry.

[Other language spoken]

Emma, I believe you're asking.

I mean, do we have a sense for, for how many had died and, and what the movements are?

And I mean, the nature of of these movements is clandestine.

So it's very difficult to know the impossible and just, you know, how many people are moving through particular areas at particular times.

It's a vast, it's a vast space and there are many, many routes N.

So it's, it's, it's an imponderable really what we can say with some certainty is that, you know, human remains are uncovered in the desert.

We've had cases in the past of, of, of SAR operations that have uncovered, uncovered bodies buried in the, in the sand.

And we've heard plenty of anecdotal stories from migrants that we've rescued along the route and others who've spontaneously arrived back from the desert about about accidents and incidents in the desert that claimed migrant lives.

I see Tamir is the question.

[Other language spoken]

It is general question about the response of UN agencies on the fluids in Sudan.

We see friends from the news that there are more than 100% are killed and there is a catastrophic nature disaster there.

I wonder if there is a response from the UN organisations, if they have enough information from the WTO or maybe IOM or other organisations.

Thank you very much Tamir.

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

We're still in the room.

If there is anything they have to brief on.

[Other language spoken]

Unfortunately, he is left, but maybe he will send you something also.

But maybe Paul or Babar, would you like to say something about Sudan, the humanitarian situation in Sudan?

[Other language spoken]

And I don't know if Madixi is still connected.

She was, but Babar, yeah, Madixi is also connected.

Any other colleague who's connected who would like to say something about this, let me know.

Just raise your hand.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Alessandro.

Is it specifically linked to the floods and the situation or it's in general?

Tamir, It is on the on the floods, there was a statement that we had issues.

So I can look it up and and share it with you.

I unfortunately, I don't have it right now at hand.

OK, thank you very much.

And, and as I said that I will also ask Jens if he has any update on that maybe to share with you.

I'm seeing, I'm just looking if there's any other colleague who wants to intervene.

[Other language spoken]

Papar has got something.

So this is what we said on 1st of September and it is available on on online where we were raising concerns about the heavy seasonal rains that have caused flash floods and rivers to burst their banks in Sudan, including the Nile and affected thousands include the Nile in the capital of Khartoum and in the Twin Cities of Omdurman and affected thousands of internally displaced people, refugees and host communities in Sudan.

I can share the link and you can have access the full statement.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

OK, So I don't see any other colleague who wants to take the floor, and that's why I've got just a few announcements for you.

First of all, first of all, I got an answer from Rolando about the reports of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen.

First of all, he tells me that the experts will be available after the press conference for interviews, so let him know if you're interested and he plans to send you the report later today.

If that's the plan, he hopes he'll be able to share the report in advance under embargo with you then.

I would like to remind you that today the committee, sorry that the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which opened its 19th session yesterday afternoon.

We hold public meetings next Monday 14th of September and Tuesday, 15th of September in the afternoon both days to have a dialogue on Iraq and you can follow the session on UN Web TVI also would like to inform you that today in New York, there will be a press briefing by the outgoing President of the General Assembly, the President of the 74th session, 74th General Assembly.

That will be at 11 AM New York time and it will be available on Web, TV and on the UN social media platforms.

Just an information that tomorrow, 9th of September, at 10 AM New York time, the Secretary General will participate in the UN 75 Youth Plenary, which is convened under the auspices of the President of the General Assembly and organised by the Office of the SGS Envoy on Youth in collaboration with a major group of children and youth and the International Coordination Meeting of youth Organisations.

The reason for this event is that it's a virtual event that is, is to bring together young people from all over the world to lead and drive a discussion on the theme the future we want, the UN we need, reaffirming our commitment to multilateralism.

And obviously this will also feed the discussions and the liberations with policy makers that will take place at the General Assembly **** level event on US on UN75 on September 21st.

We will give you much more on that, but this is already an information about tomorrow, 10 AM New York time and the plenary will be transmitted live on event.un.org.

And I think this is what I had for you.

Yeah, all the announcements that I had for you for the moment.

So if there's no other question and and I will bring your request to Jennifer if there's no other question.

Thank you very much and have a nice afternoon.

[Other language spoken]