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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE U.N. SYSTEM
TUESDAY, 13 DECEMBER 2016

SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON’S BRIEFING TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON THE SITUATION IN ALEPPO

I have been invited to address you on the tragic situation in Aleppo. Since late November, we have seen Syrian Government forces and their allies capture large swathes of territory from Eastern Aleppo. During the last 48 hours, we have seen an almost complete collapse of armed opposition front lines, leaving them with only 5% their original territory in the city.
This came about after levels of bombardment that many witnesses describe as unprecedented. Civilian deaths and injuries continue at a brutal pace as the United Nations receive credible reports of scores of civilians being killed either by intense bombardment or summary executions by pro-Government forces. We have seen shocking videos of a body burning in the street, ostensibly after aerial bombardment. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has received reports of civilians, including women and children, in four neighbourhoods being rounded up and executed.
As front lines have shifted, civilians have fled across dangerous routes bringing almost no belongings with them. Many families have lost contact with their families inside of Eastern Aleppo, after they were displaced or after they burned their SIM cards and devices for fear of facing repercussions on being detained. There have been allegations of young men being rounded up and detained, or sent to fight for Government forces. Tens of thousands have already been recorded flooding into western Aleppo, but it is likely that many more thousands have been displaced, who are not recorded or registered - but we have no accurate data.
Neither do we have accurate data on the number that remain in the opposition-controlled pocket of Eastern Aleppo, because all of the health and governance entities capable of counting the living, or the dead, have effectively dissolved in the chaos. Moreover, the Syrian authorities have systematically denied us the presence on the ground to directly verify reports. However, this does not mean that the reports that we are receiving are not credible. We are confident that civilians number in the thousands.
Meanwhile, yesterday, the Russian Defence Ministry reported that it has helped over 100,000 civilians to leave eastern Aleppo neighbourhoods, including 40,484 children and that it has supplied 78 tons of humanitarian assistance to IDPs. It also reported 2,215 militants laid down weapons and left eastern Aleppo and that the Russian military is continuing to demine eastern Aleppo neighbourhoods and have completed demining of over 31 hectares of urban structures as well as 18 kilometres of roads.
The Russian Defense Ministry has also stated that there is no “opposition,” “humanitarian organizations” or “human rights defenders” in Aleppo and that eastern Aleppo had been under the full control of terrorists. It has also questioned estimates of “250,000 besieged civilians” as overstated and emphasised that terrorists held over 100,000 civilians as human shields in eastern Aleppo and left as soon as presented with the opportunity to do so. The Russian Federation’s Reconciliation Centre has also reportedly registered allegations of torture and execution as described by residents fleeing eastern Aleppo.
We understand that negotiations are ongoing between the parties, for an evacuation deal, facilitated by Russia and Turkey. We support these efforts and stand ready to help implement and oversee such an agreement which we understand may now be imminent. We remind all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law, to prioritise the safe passage of civilians out of Eastern Aleppo and to ensure that those who have surrendered or been captured are treated humanely and in line with international law.
This Security Council and member states have repeatedly emphasised the importance of early warning and prevention as critical to addressing the challenges of international peace and security.
There was an abundance of early warning given to this Council regarding the situation in Aleppo. Most notably, my Special Envoy repeatedly warned over the past several months that eastern Aleppo could be destroyed by the end of the year if urgent action was not taken. He proposed concrete measures to address concerns regarding Al Nusra Front without risking the unnecessary loss of life or the destruction of parts of one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.
In addition, the General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted to urge preventative action by this Council on Aleppo. But when presented with opportunities to do so over the last three months, this Council has failed to do so. Since September, the Security Council has failed to adopt three resolutions that could have enabled a humanitarian truce, evacuation of civilians and the entry of lifesaving aid.
I have said before that we have collectively failed the people of Syria. The Security Council has not exercised its preeminent responsibility with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security. History will not easily absolve us, but this failure compels us to do even more to offer the people of Aleppo our solidarity at this moment.
The immediate task is to do all we can to stop the carnage. As the battle for Aleppo concludes, I call on the Syrian authorities and their allies, Russia and Iran, to honour their obligations under international humanitarian law and do the following: urgently allow the remaining civilians to escape the area and facilitate access for all humanitarian actors and the delivery of critically important assistance. The laws of war and universal human rights must be respected.
In recent days and hours we appear to be witnessing nothing less an all-out effort by the Syrian government and its allies to end the country’s internal conflict through a total, uncompromising military victory. I do not accept recent statements by the Syrian Government and Russian Ministry of Defense that there were no opposition groups or humanitarian organisations present in eastern Aleppo.
This does not mean that I discount the importance of fighting terrorism or the need to combat the confirmed presence of the listed terrorist group Al Nusra Front in eastern Aleppo. I in fact support and agree with this. But as my Special Envoy has argued, should the presence of less than 1,000 fighters determine the fate of tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of civilians?
Context also matters. No one disputes that Nusra fighters are indeed present in Aleppo. But they are also present in larger numbers and concentrations elsewhere in Syria. ISIL is not known to be present in Aleppo. But it has appeared to exploit the focus on Aleppo by the Syrian government and its allies to go on the offensive in Palmyra.
The Syrian conflict will not end as a result of what happens on the battlefield in the next days and weeks. Neither will military advances solve the refugee crisis. Nor will the defeat of ISIL and its poisonous ideology be complete when Mosul and Raqqa are ultimately liberated. This is wishful thinking.
Just this week Colombian President and Nobel Peace Laureate Juan Manuel Santos warned us that a final victory through force, when nonviolent alternatives exist, is nothing other than the defeat of the humanity itself.
In Syria the consequences of such a de-humanising approach could be to further accelerate radicalisation leading to the next iteration of Al Qaeda and ISIL. It would also send a frightening signal to the millions who have already fled the violence, rendering the Syrian refugee population semi-permanent and placing further pressure on the region and Europe.
This Council has repeatedly affirmed that an inclusive and Syrian-led political process that addresses the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people is the only way to find a sustainable solution to this wretched conflict. It is past time for you to act -- and to force others to act -- upon this prescription.
Aleppo should represent the end of the quest for military victory, not the start of a broader military campaign in a country already ravaged beyond all recognition by five years of war. The current battle needs to be followed by an immediate end to violence by all sides, unfettered humanitarian access throughout engagement and genuine engagement without preconditions around the political tools we already possess, including Security Council Resolution 2254.

SYRIA: SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR END TO ‘CARNAGE’ IN EASTERN ALEPPO

• Today the Secretary-General said that we are getting alarming reports of atrocities against civilians, including women and children, in eastern Aleppo. He said that we must do all we can to stop the carnage. All fighters, particularly government forces and their allies, must honour their obligation to respect civilians and abide by the laws of war and human rights. He once more calls on all parties to return to the negotiating table.
• The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, today pleaded with the international community to heed the cries of the women, men and children being terrorized and slaughtered in Aleppo and to take urgent steps to ensure that the tens of thousands of people who have fled, surrendered or been captured are treated in line with international law. The UN Human Rights Office has received credible reports of scores of civilians being killed – either by intense bombardment or summary execution by pro-Government forces. Dozens of bodies reportedly litter the streets of a number of east Aleppo neighbourhoods, with residents unable to retrieve them due to the intense bombardment and fear of being shot. Reports suggest that of those fighters who have fled, some were reportedly caught and killed on the spot while others were arrested.
• In a statement we issued yesterday, the Secretary-General expressed alarm over reports of atrocities against a large number of civilians, including women and children, in Aleppo. He has instructed his Special Envoy for Syria to follow up urgently with the parties concerned. The Secretary-General also spoke yesterday evening on this matter with the Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin.
• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that shelling, aerial bombardment and ground combat continue to result in death and injury of civilians in Aleppo. The UN reiterates its deep concern for the safety and security of people still trapped in besieged eastern Aleppo. Field reports indicate that grave human rights violations may be taking place as Government of Syria and pro-Government forces are entering remaining besieged neighbourhoods.
• In past days, civilians have had to flee along very dangerous routes, across combat lines bringing almost no belongings with them. The UN has recorded tens of thousands of people leaving east Aleppo to several areas in west Aleppo and the surrounding countryside.
• Some have gone initially to shelters, picking up some non-food relief items and then left the shelter to join their families or acquaintances elsewhere. Syrian Arab Red Crescent, local NGOs and the UN continues to provide assistance to all those that can be accessed. The response includes medical care, hot meals, essential nutrition services for children and lactating women and winter clothing.
• It is likely that thousands more are displaced but are not recorded or registered. The UN has no data as to how many people remain or have been displaced within areas which have recently come under the control of Government of Syria.

• This afternoon at 4 p.m., the Secretary-General will meet with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio at City Hall.
• The Secretary-General will express his gratitude to New York City – which three quarters of UN Headquarter staff and their families call home – for being a gracious host to the United Nations.

• A new from the UN Mission in Libya () and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that the breakdown in the Libyan justice system has led to a state of impunity in which migrants are subjected to serious human rights violations and abuses. The report shows that people smuggled or trafficked into the country face torture, forced labour and sexual exploitation along the route, and many also while held in arbitrary detention. Migrants are held in detention centres where there is no formal registration, no legal process, and no access to lawyers or judicial authorities. Places of detention are severely overcrowded, with insufficient food and clean water and with no access to toilets.
• Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, that the list of violations and abuses faced by migrants in Libya is as long as it is horrific. “This is, quite simply, a human rights crisis affecting tens of thousands of people”, he said. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Martin Kobler, the need for Libya to acknowledge that migrants are being abused. But countries of origin and destination beyond Libya also need to play their part, he said.
• The UN Peacebuilding Fund approved almost $3 million in funding for national reconciliation efforts in Libya. The international community and Libyan experts have stressed that the political process cannot succeed there unless work on reconciliation starts, but because of the high risks of these efforts, no other funds have been willing to step in. The project, led by UNSMIL, will be implemented by UNDP in collaboration with NGOs.

• The UN Mission in South Sudan () is very concerned over the killing of six persons around Yambio town. Over the weekend, a Mission patrol returning to Yambio from Mundri found the six dead bodies with gunshot wounds some 70 kilometres northeast of Yambio town. The bodies were handcuffed and blindfolded. The UN patrol also found huts burnt to the ground nearby. The UN Mission is following up on the incident and the information received.
• Meanwhile, the UN Mission carried out a fact-finding mission yesterday to Rier in Koch County to verify reports of an ambush in the area on 11 December. A commercial vehicle was reportedly ambushed some 50 kilometres south of Bentiu, killing five civilians and four Government-aligned soldiers and injuring 14 others. The injured are receiving medical treatment at the UN protection site in Bentiu.

• The UN in Colombia’s leadership is visiting today the Local Zones and Points where the separation of forces between the Colombian Armed Forces and the FARC-EP is to take place in different parts the country.
• This local deployment is crucial for the UN Mission to monitor and verify the bilateral ceasefire and cessation of hostilities and to verify the laying down of arms.
• The tripartite Mechanism with the Government and the FARC-EP recently took stock of what has been accomplished and the remaining challenges following the ratification of the Peace Agreement and the designation of 1 December, 2016 as "D-Day"—marking the beginning of the implementation schedule for the ceasefire and laying down of weapons.
• The Mechanism noted that FARC-EP combatants have begun their movement towards the Local Zones and Points according to schedule; all Government, FARC-EP and UN observers have been trained; the MVM has begun its investigation of incidents and that deployment at local level is under way.
• It also underscored the outstanding challenges, in particular the need to act swiftly to build the camps where the FARC-EP will gather guerrillas and militias, and to complete the deployment of Mechanism observers at local level.

• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has urged the Government of Cameroon to ensure that there is a prompt, effective and independent investigation following a protest in the town of Bamenda on 8 December, during which four people are reported to have been killed.
• There have been several demonstrations in recent weeks in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, primarily against the use of French in schools and in the courts.
• The Human Rights Office calls on the Cameroonian authorities to ensure that the security forces exercise restraint when policing demonstrations, and also calls on demonstrators to protest peacefully.

• The Executive Director of UNICEF, Anthony Lake, today warned that the conflict in northeast Nigeria has left children severely malnourished and at risk of death. He said that in the three worst-affected states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, farming has been disrupted and crops destroyed, food reserves depleted and often pillaged, and livestock killed or abandoned. The impact on children is devastating, he said.
• UNICEF estimates that 400,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the next year in the three affected states. If they do not receive the treatment they need, 1 in 5 of these children will die.
• Mr. Lake noted that these figures represent only a fraction of the suffering as large areas of Borno state are completely inaccessible to any kind of humanitarian assistance. UNICEF is extremely concerned about the children trapped in these areas. “What is already a crisis can become a catastrophe”, Mr. Lake said.

• The World Health Organization’s () Malaria Report 2016 that malaria control improves for the most vulnerable in Africa, but that global progress remains off-track.
• Across sub-Saharan Africa, a steep increase in diagnostic testing for children and preventive treatment for pregnant women has been reported over the last 5 years. And among all populations at risk, the use of insecticide-treated nets has expanded rapidly.
• But in many countries in the region, substantial gaps in programme coverage remain. Funding shortfalls and fragile health systems are undermining overall progress, jeopardizing the attainment of global targets.

• The Secretary-General’s portrait will be unveiled on Wednesday in the Secretariat Lobby.
• The portrait was painted by Lee Won-Hee, a Korean artist, who is a professor at the College of Fine Arts at Keimyung University.
• He has had dozens of solo and group exhibitions in Asia, the US and Europe.

• The Secretary-General is announcing today the appointment of David Shearer of New Zealand as his new Special Representative for South Sudan and Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS.
• Mr. Shearer succeeds Ellen Margrethe Løj of Denmark. The Secretary-General is grateful for Ms. Løj’s dedication and excellent leadership of UNMISS over the past two plus years, under extremely challenging political, security, humanitarian and human rights circumstances in South Sudan.
• Mr. Shearer brings to this position extensive political and humanitarian experience. He will take up his new position in 2017 following his resignation as a Member of New Zealand’s Parliament.

• Belarus has become the 139th UN Member State to pay its regular budget dues in full.