UN News Today 02 October 2025 |

Haiti: Human rights chief Türk condemns use of drones on gangs

The crisis in Haiti was under the spotlight at the Human Rights Council on Thursday where UN rights chief Volker Türk condemned the government’s use of attack drones on alleged gang members.

Addressing the Council, Mr. Türk insisted that any efforts to restore security must be rooted in human rights and go hand in hand with rebuilding the rule of law:

“Since March, the Government has stepped up its use of explosive drones in its anti-gang operations in Port-au-Prince. As of mid-September, drone strikes have killed at least 559 people, including 11 children. Most of these drone strikes are likely unlawful under international human rights law.”

Mr. Türk noted the Security Council’s decision to create a new force to tackle gang violence and urged countries to support it with sufficient funding, personnel and human rights safeguards to underpin its work.

Gaza’s maternity wards full, mothers and babies in danger

To Gaza, where UN agencies warned on Thursday that many women have nowhere left to go to give birth, because healthcare has been destroyed across the wartorn enclave.

The UN population fund, UNFPA, says that 55,000 pregnant women are trapped in a cycle of displacement, bombardment, severe hunger and malnutrition, with nowhere to seek medical help.

Approximately 130 babies are born every day across Gaza and more than a quarter are delivered by Caesarean section, the agency says.

From the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, James Elder highlighted the desperate situation now in Gaza City and at Al Aqsa and Nasser hospitals:

“There’s a real level of fear and stress among the community here in Gaza City and in the south. Well, I’ve spent time in Al Aqsa (Hospital) so the level of trauma and wounds of children is as bad as I’ve ever seen it at a Nasser hospital for the first time. Seeing large numbers of mums with newborns in corridors such as the way hospitals are simply, are simply overburdened because of the devastation of the healthcare.”

Every week in Gaza, at least 15 women give birth outside a health facility without skilled help, UNFPA says, and around one in five newborns are born prematurely or suffer from low birth weight and other complications.

Syria prison survivor’s mission of justice for those still missing

Syria news now, and inspiring testimony from a former prisoner of the Assad regime who’s pursuing justice and accountability for all those still missing, with the backing of the UN.

Riyad Avlar was 19 when he was arrested in 1996 and held incommunicado for 15 years. He was denied a fair trial, tortured and lived in constant fear of execution before he was eventually released in 2017.

Today, Mr. Avlar advises the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria. It was established in 2023 by the UN General Assembly and mandated to clarify the fate of all those still missing.

Here he is now speaking about his role:

“I am one of the people who was subjected to physical, psychological, and sexual torture. So, this is what gave me the motivation to search for justice for myself and for the people who were with me who couldn’t make their voices heard,
and for those who were martyred in detention centres under torture whether physical or psychological torture, or even because of the lack of care for their health conditions, or even food. These are the things that give you the drive
to always seek accountability and justice and for that to be through human rights.”

According to the NGO Syrian Network for Human Rights, at least 181,312 individuals remain arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared, including 5,332 children and 9,201 women.

Daniel Johnson, UN News