News in Brief 10 May 2024 |

This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Gaza: As exodus from Rafah continues, UN urges reopening of aid lines

In Gaza, UN humanitarians issued renewed calls for a ceasefire on Friday as “the only hope” to avert further bloodshed and restore lifesaving aid deliveries to Rafah.

Eastern Rafah has been emptying at a rate of around 30,000 people a day, amid the Israeli military’s operation there, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.

UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, repeated warnings that conditions are atrocious for the newly displaced, while roads to the coastal zone of Al-Mawasi, where Gazans have been instructed, to move “are jammed”.

With more, here’s the UN agency’s Senior Emergency Coordinator in the Gaza Strip, Hamish Young:

“One of the fathers told me he had nothing other than bad options to choose from. And as he was telling me where he was going, he started sobbing. Then his children starting crying and then started asking me what to do. It’s just a tragic situation and there’s just nowhere safe in Gaza for children.”

The development comes as the UN’s top aid official, Martin Griffiths, warned that Gazans are being “starved and killed” since the two main aid crossings in Gaza were closed.

The UN World Food Programme meanwhile, warned that its supplies of food and fuel in Gaza “will only last one to three days” and that without fresh deliveries of both “our operations will (grind to) a standstill.”

Myanmar spike in fighting fuels humanitarian emergency: OCHA 

To Myanmar, where escalating conflict in Rakhine state continues to threaten civilians who already face rising intercommunal tensions and forced recruitment by parties to the conflict.

In an alert, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, warned of fierce fighting between the Arakan Army and Myanmar Armed Forces in the town of Buthidaung, northern Rakhine. 

Other armed groups are also reportedly joining the conflict, increasing fears among civilians and aid workers, the UN aid office said, as it reported that military airstrikes have also intensified as the Arakan Army moves closer to the built-up downtown area.

All parties to the conflict are obliged under international humanitarian law not to target aid workers or the premises of humanitarian organizations, OCHA said, as it reiterated its call for the protection of civilians in Myanmar, an end to the violence and safe humanitarian access. 

All parties to the conflict should also cease spreading misinformation and hate speech, and promote social cohesion and respect for human rights, the UN aid office said.

Belarus probe finds torture of detainees is systematic: rights experts

Torture of detainees is “systematic” in Belarus since large public protests erupted in 2020 following a disputed presidential poll.

That’s the conclusive finding of an investigation by the UN Committee Against Torture into Belarusian state security and law enforcement officials.

In a statement on Friday explaining that “reliable and well-founded information” indicated that torture in Belarus was also “habitual, widespread and deliberate”, the independent rights panel reported that although around 5,000 complaints had been filed against law enforcement and other officials, in all cases, the authorities had decided “not to initiate criminal proceedings”.

The top independent rights experts – who are experts in their field and not UN staff – pointed to a paper trail of evidence indicating that torture was “frequent” in the aftermath of the disputed 9 August 2020 election.

Law enforcement personnel “often resorted to severe beatings and excessive use of physical force”, said Vedel Kessing, who led the investigation and who also noted that these practices “reflect trends regarding the perpetrators, methods and purposes of torture in Belarus and show a pattern of impunity for perpetrators.”

Daniel Johnson, UN News