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	Far too many perpetrators of wartime sexual violence still walk free by Pramila Patten Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict   Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict remarks at the Security Council open debate on “Preventing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence through demilitarization and gender-responsive arms control”. (Extract):   "We meet today to consider the 15th annual Report of the Secretary-General on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence at a time when gender equality gains are being rolled back, even as militarization is being bankrolled at unprecedented levels; at a time when the world’s resources are being used to feed the flames of conflict, while women and children starve; at a time when military spending has soared to over 2.2 trillion USD, while humanitarian aid budgets have been slashed; and at a time when weapons continue to flow into the hands of perpetrators, while the vast majority of victims remain empty-handed in terms of reparations and redress.   We meet at a time when the pursuit of peace and gender equality has once again become a radical act. The essential, existential task we face is to silence the guns and amplify the voices of women as a critical constituency for peace.   Yet, right now, in the Sudan and Haiti, women and girls are being brutalized and terrorized by sexual violence committed at gunpoint. In Afghanistan, the systematic assault on, and erasure of, women and their rights is destroying lives and livelihoods. Two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of displaced and refugee women and girls face a heightened risk of being preyed upon by traffickers.   In the Middle East, women and girls are disproportionately affected by the ongoing bloodshed, displacement, trauma and terror: they are among the many victims of the 7th of October attacks on Israel by Hamas, and they comprise more than half of the victims of the relentless bombing of Gaza, which has shattered the healthcare system, leaving pregnant women, and others in desperate need with nowhere to turn.   The report before us today provides a global snapshot of incidents, patterns and trends of conflict-related sexual violence across 21 situations of concern. It records 3,688 UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence committed in the course of 2023, reflecting a dramatic increase of 50 per cent as compared with the previous year. This spike in recorded cases is particularly alarming in a global context where humanitarian access remains severely restricted and constrained.   In 2023, women and girls accounted for 95 per cent of the verified cases. In 32 per cent of these cases, the victims were children, with the vast majority being girls (98 per cent). Twenty-one cases were found to target LGBTQI persons on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.   While the report conveys the severity and brutality of UN-sourced and verified incidents, it does not purport to reflect the global scale or prevalence of this chronically underreported, historically hidden crime.   We know that for every survivor who comes forward, many others are silenced by social pressures, stigma, insecurity, the paucity of services, and the limited prospects for justice.   In terms of global trends, the report documents how sexual violence has curtailed women’s access to livelihoods and girls’ access to education, amid record levels of internal and cross-border displacement. Women and girls face heightened levels of sexual violence in displacement settings, as returnees, refugees and migrants.   For instance, in eastern DRC, the climate of interlinked physical and food insecurity has driven many displaced women and girls into prostitution out of sheer economic desperation.   In Ethiopia, reports surfaced of sexual exploitation in exchange for food, as well as continued sexual enslavement in Tigray, in proximity to the compounds and barracks of arms bearers.   Moreover, in many contexts, women with children born of wartime rape are often accused of affiliation with the enemy, excluded from community networks, and plunged into poverty.   By contrast, sexual violence perpetrated with impunity remains profitable in the political economy of war. Conflict-driven trafficking in persons for the purpose of sexual exploitation continues to generate profits for armed and violent extremist groups.   In Haiti, armed groups and criminal gangs continue to generate revenue through kidnapping, using the threat of sexual violence to extort ever-higher ransoms.   Sexual violence remains part of the repertoire of political repression, used to intimidate and punish opponents, and as a tactic to silence women actively participating in public and political life, notably in Libya and Yemen.   The report further records a discernible trend of digital threats in Myanmar, where online harassment and hate speech specifically targeted women associated with the resistance movement, and included the release of sexually explicit images and incitement to violence.   This year’s report highlights an unprecedented level of lethal violence used to silence survivors in the wake of sexual assault. In 2023, reports of rape victims being subsequently killed by their assailants surfaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar, demonstrating the need to strengthen forensic capabilities, investigations, and accountability processes that ensure the protection of victims and witnesses.   Frontline service providers and women human rights defenders were not spared. Armed actors threatened healthcare workers in Sudan, and reprisals against human rights defenders were reported in South Sudan, the DRC and elsewhere.   Across time and space, we see that the availability of weapons directly facilitates these attacks. Between 70 and 90 per cent of conflict-related sexual violence incidents involve the use of a weapon, in particular firearms, according to United Nations research.   In eastern DRC, the threat of rape at gunpoint remains a horrific daily reality that overshadows the lives of women and girls, impeding their essential livelihood and sustenance activities. During one incursion into a village, fighters from an armed militia gang-raped 11 women, looted their belongings, and set fire to their homes. Four of the women were mutilated and killed. The seven survivors were taken to a health center, but left without medical treatment, as the clinic had been burnt and raided;   In the Central African Republic, women and girls tending farms and fields face the persistent risk of rape by roving armed actors in the area;   In Haiti, women and girls travelling to work or school face the risk of collective rape by gang members armed with weapons largely trafficked from abroad.   The accelerated withdrawals of peace operations from Mali and the Sudan have brought issues of transition and exit to the fore. Weapons management strategies are a critical part of preventing the occurrence and recurrence of conflict-related sexual violence in such settings.   In 2023, I visited the border area between Sudan and South Sudan, where women and girls have been targeted for rape, gang rape and abduction on the basis of their ethnicity, with the perpetrators emboldened by entrenched impunity.   Since the resurgence of conflict in the Sudan, I have engaged with both parties listed in the Annex to the annual report, namely the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). These parties are required to take specific measures to prevent and address sexual violence. Moreover, all States must abide by the sanctions imposed by this Council, notably the arms embargo on Darfur, as part of efforts to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable peace.   The report before us today lists 58 parties that are credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of sexual violence in situations on this Council’s agenda, the vast majority of them being non-State actors.   Over 70 per cent of listed parties are “persistent perpetrators”, meaning they have appeared on the list for five or more years without taking the requisite remedial or corrective action. It is critical to ensure coherence between the list of implicated parties and the measures imposed by UN sanctions regimes.   We must use these tools to stop the flow of weapons into the hands of perpetrators of sexual violence. There could be no more direct and effective way to disarm the weapon of rape and, ultimately, to prevent and eradicate these crimes.   In terms of access to justice, far too many perpetrators of wartime sexual violence still walk free, while women and girls walk in fear. Left unchecked, these crimes set back both the cause of gender equality and the cause of peace.   Today we know more than ever before about the factors that either enable or restrain the scourge of conflict-related sexual violence. We know that illicit weapons cast a long shadow over the lives of innocent civilians, while emboldening those who seek to spread fear and pursue criminal aims.   Today’s debate brings into focus the need to better align the CRSV and arms control agendas, as part of prevention and risk mitigation. We cannot condemn the perpetrators of sexual violence in our speeches, while continuing to fund and arm them through our supply chains.   For decades, we have heard survivors of conflict-related sexual violence say: “that man had the gun, and he had the power”. Recently, we documented the case of a 19-year-old Haitian woman in Cité Soleil, accosted by masked men who put a gun to her neck, dragged her into a field, and raped and beat her, while pressuring her to confess an association with men she did not even know.   In 2023, the UN documented the case of a 60-year-old woman in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, who was gang-raped at gunpoint by three soldiers while hiding in a field near her home. A frontline service-provider in Unity State, South Sudan, reported to my Office: “the youth are now accustomed to carrying weapons wherever they go…those who have weapons are the ones threatening people and perpetrating sexual violence, making disarmament a key step in prevention”.   Indeed, we cannot address sexual violence without shifting power dynamics. Starting today, we need women in the room, weapons under regulation and embargo, money for human rights defenders on the table, and change on the ground.   This includes supporting the courageous civil society activists who speak truth to power wielded at gunpoint, never allowing threats to silence them.   Women in the war-torn corners of our world need to see hope on the political horizon. Our words, deeds and decisions in this Chamber and beyond must give them cause for hope and must contribute to peace with justice, peace with gender equality, peace with dignity and development, peace that endures".   http://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/statement/remarks-of-srsg-pramila-patten-at-the-security-council-open-debate-on-preventing-conflict-related-sexual-violence-through-demilitarization-and-gender-responsive-arms-control-new-yor/ http://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/statement/srsg-pattens-opening-remarks-at-the-international-conference-of-prosecutors-on-accountability-for-conflict-related-sexual-violence-the-hague-26-march-2024/ http://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/in-their-own-words-voices-of-survivors-of-conflict-related-sexual-violence-and-service-providers/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2023/11/international-community-must-walk-talk-safety-and-security-women-and-girls-times http://www.globalsurvivorsfund.org/latest/articles http://www.mukwegefoundation.org/news/ http://www.trustfundforvictims.org/en/about/our-impact/supporting-victims-sexual-gender-violence http://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule93 Visit the related web page
	6 million people have been killed by conflict in eastern DRC since 1996 by UN News, OHCHR, MSF, IOM, UICEF, agencies   Aug. 2024   6 million people have been killed by conflict in eastern DRC since 1996. (MSF)   Violence is escalating in eastern DR Congo, where the humanitarian needs are dire and rising. A resurgence of violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is worsening the already-dire humanitarian emergency in the country, forcing millions to flee their homes to overcrowded camps where access to basic needs is severely limited as needs skyrocket.   Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) teams working in DRC are witnessing how this latest escalation of violence is impacting people’s lives and compounding the humanitarian crisis, particularly in camps where displaced people are sheltering. As the conflict continues to unfold, here’s what to know about what’s happening in eastern DRC and how to help.   What's happening in DR Congo?   The violence we're seeing now in eastern DRC is part of a protracted conflict that has afflicted the region for decades. Its lush, fertile land is rich with natural resources like gold, copper, lithium, and oil, which armed groups have been fighting to access and control as millions of civilians are caught in between, facing attacks, repeated displacement, and increasingly dire conditions in camps. Overview: DR Congo   DRC is the second-largest country in Africa, about the size of Western Europe. Today, 7.2 million people are displaced in DRC—a record for the country— and the vast majority are in the eastern provinces.   According to the UN, DRC is one of the five conflict zones with the highest numbers of serious violations against children, alongside Palestine, Somalia, Ukraine, and Syria.   75 percent of the population live on less than $2.15 per day, making DRC one of the poorest countries in the world. Childhood vaccine coverage is the lowest in 30 years, according to the World Health Organization.   An estimated 6 million people have been killed by conflict in eastern DRC since 1996.   Resurgence of the M23 conflict   The Congolese army and its allies are fighting the March 23 Movement, known as M23, which has been progressively taking over territory eastern DRC since 2022. The fighting began to intensify in January 2024, causing mass casualties and displacement. North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri provinces are the most affected. The escalation has impacted people’s access to health care, food, and other basic needs, triggering mass waves of displacement and raising the risk of disease outbreaks.   Repeated waves of mass displacement   Over 5 million people are displaced across Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, including 2 million who have fled in just the last two years. As people continue to flee the fighting, displacement camps around Goma, the capital of North Kivu, are growing more crowded and living conditions are deteriorating further, with severely limited access to basic needs such as proper shelter, food, water, sanitation facilities, and health care.   Some new arrivals don’t even have plastic sheeting to cover their makeshift shelters. Displaced people living in these conditions are at increased risk of falling ill.   In some areas, such as Masisi territory, displaced people are sheltering wherever they can, including schools, churches, and sheds.   Inadequate humanitarian response   Since day one, the international humanitarian response has been inadequate and far too slow to meet the severity of the situation and the fast-growing needs in DRC, with underfunding, ineffective coordination, and lack of emergency preparedness in areas close to the front lines. In some areas, MSF is alone in addressing medical and humanitarian needs, which far outweigh our capacity to respond.   Sexual & gender-based violence   MSF teams in DRC have seen alarming rates of sexual violence as reported by our patients, especially in camps around Goma. Most assaults are perpetrated against women searching for food or wood outside the camps, driven to venture out due to lack of access to basic supplies. Our teams treated more than 22,000 survivors of sexual violence in North and South Kivu’s Minova health zone last year, and continue to see high numbers of cases at the facilities where we work throughout the region. This represents only the survivors who sought care from MSF; the true number of survivors is likely far higher due to stigma and barriers to accessing care.   As the fighting intensifies near cities, civilians are in increasing jeopardy. MSF teams are treating patients with gunshot wounds and injuries from explosions, including children.   Food insecurity & malnutrition   Despite being rich with fertile agricultural land, DRC is one of the most food-insecure countries in the world, with more than 23 million people experiencing food insecurity. Food shortages have led to a significant increase in prices, while checkpoints on roads impede access to farmland, leaving crops abandoned. These factors contribute to rising malnutrition rates in DRC.   MSF teams have seen worrying levels of malnutrition among children in many of our projects in eastern DRC. Last year, monthly admissions of children for malnutrition doubled   http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/conflict-dr-congo-whats-happening-how-help http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/small-voices-youngest-victims-conflict-ituri-dr-congo http://www.iom.int/news/alarming-humanitarian-crisis-eastern-drc-calls-urgent-action-protect-vulnerable-populations http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/dec/21/children-executed-and-women-raped-in-front-of-their-families-as-m23-militia-unleashes-fresh-terror-on-drc   May 2024   DRC: UN and partners warn escalating conflict is fuelling unprecedented civilian suffering. (Inter-Agency Standing Committee)   Escalating conflict is driving record levels of gender-based violence, displacement and hunger in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), threatening to push the country to the brink of catastrophe without urgent international action.   Decades of conflict and the resulting humanitarian emergency have already exhausted and traumatized millions of civilians. In the last few months alone, more than 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, bringing the total number of displaced people to an all-time high of 7.2 million.   Ensuring that sufficient aid reaches civilians in need swiftly and without impediment is critical. But this year’s Humanitarian Response Plan is woefully underfunded, with just 16 per cent of the US$2.6 billion needed having been received. The gap between rapidly rising needs and sufficient resources means millions of people are left without the lifesaving support they need.   This lack of resources is compounding the crisis by forcing humanitarian organizations to curb their assistance, with women and girls paying a devastatingly high price. Minimal protection and security in crowded displacement camps means many are forced to exchange sex for survival and support for their families. When they venture outside to collect firewood, water or for work, they are also exposed to appalling levels of sexual violence.   Gender-based violence has surged to unprecedented levels, with recorded cases surging between 2022 and 2023. Stigma and the fear of retaliation prevent many survivors from coming forward. In addition to sexual violence, children are also at risk of other threats, including abduction, killing, maiming and recruitment by armed groups.   Perpetrators of human rights violations must be held accountable for their crimes. Under international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected.   More than 25 million people – a quarter of the population – continue to face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity in the DRC, a country facing one of the world's largest food crises.   Cholera and measles are also spreading rapidly as the health sector continues to deteriorate. Climate extremes worsened by El Niño are yet another threat for already struggling families.   Bringing an end to the escalating humanitarian crisis in the DRC requires addressing its root causes: conflict, the exploitation of natural resources, illicit financial flows, prevailing gender inequality and development deficits.   We must step up our support to the Congolese people, including to women and girls who are bearing the brunt of this conflict, as they work to rebuild their lives and livelihoods and return to their homes. The international community must mobilize additional resources for the humanitarian response and support for civil society organizations – as well as the political will to end the violence once and for all.   http://interagencystandingcommittee.org/inter-agency-standing-committee/statement-principals-inter-agency-standing-committee-democratic-republic-congo-crushing-levels http://www.iom.int/news/alarming-humanitarian-crisis-eastern-drc-calls-urgent-action-protect-vulnerable-populations http://www.nrc.no/news/2024/may/joint-statement-ingos-in-dr-congo-call-for-a-cessation-of-hostilities-and-the-respect-for-international-humanitarian-law/ http://www.msf.org/drc-civilians-caught-crossfire-north-and-south-kivu   * Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) briefing to UN Security Council and discussion of conflict in North Kivu and its spillover into South Kivu, with political representatives from DRC and Rwanda: http://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15760.doc.htm   Mar. 2024   UNICEF and WFP demand action to protect children and unfettered humanitarian access in Eastern DRC.   The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are calling for immediate action to protect children and families caught in the escalating violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where an increasing number of people, including children, have been wounded or killed near makeshift camps.   Both agencies call on all parties to the conflict to prioritize the protection of civilians and allow humanitarian agencies to do their work.   The latest conflict in the Eastern DRC has resulted in catastrophic conditions for the local population. Fierce fighting has, over the past two weeks, moved 25 kilometres’ west of Goma towards the town of Sake, where children and their families are caught in a deadly crossfire.   “Children in DRC need peace now,” said Grant Leaity, UNICEF Representative in the DRC. “We are calling for children to be protected in this war and for an end to this violence through renewed efforts to find a diplomatic solution. We are extremely concerned about the safety of children and their families in and around camps in Goma.”   This has triggered a huge movement of people to already over-crowded displacement camps. An additional 214,950 people have joined the 500,000 people already displaced to areas around Goma. Separately, tens of thousands of others moved towards Minova in South Kivu.   Crucial land routes to facilitate food delivery and other supplies have been cut off, causing shortages and price spikes in Goma’s local markets. The situation further strains families struggling to put food on their tables.   “We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe of massive proportions,” said Peter Musoko, Country Director and Representative for WFP in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). “Make no mistake: If we do not act now, lives will be lost.”   The increase in violence and displacement is straining resources for both agencies to mount a comprehensive response that includes food, clean water, good sanitation, safe shelter, basic health care, and protective services for women and children.   DRC has become one of the continent’s most significant internal displacement crises, with 6.9 million people displaced, primarily due to conflict in the east. In the last year alone, IOM estimates that 1.6 million people have been displaced.   http://www.wfp.org/news/drcs-hunger-crisis-deepens-families-once-again-flee-fighting http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-urges-immediate-action-amid-heightened-risks-displaced-eastern-dr-congo http://www.wfp.org/news/unicef-and-wfp-demand-action-protect-children-and-unfettered-humanitarian-access-eastern-drc http://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2024/hundreds-of-thousands-face-desperate-conditions-as-fighting-surges-in-eastern-dr-congo/ http://www.unhcr.org/africa/news/press-releases/unhcr-urges-protection-civilians-and-aid-access-amid-surging-violence-eastern http://www.icrc.org/en/document/dr-congo-civilians-firing-line-use-heavy-weapons-signals-alarming-new-phase-armed-conflict http://www.icrc.org/en/document/democratic-republic-congo-forgotten-people-north-kivu http://www.wfp.org/stories/eastern-drc-women-and-girls-pay-high-price-ongoing-conflict http://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/conflict-drc-over-hundred-thousand-people-without-clean-water-live-disastrous http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/04/un-high-commissioner-human-rights-volker-turk-concludes-official-visit-drc   24 May 2024   Myanmar: Growing human rights crisis in Rakhine state. (OHCHR)   We are receiving frightening and disturbing reports from northern Rakhine State in Myanmar of the impacts of the conflict on civilian lives and property. Some of the most serious allegations concern incidents of killing of Rohingya civilians and the burning of their property.   Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced in recent days by the fighting in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships. Approximately 4,000* Rohingya have reportedly fled to an area on the Naf River near the border with Bangladesh, seeking protection.   Over one million Rohingya are already in Bangladesh, having fled past purges. The High Commissioner calls on Bangladesh and other States to provide effective protection to those seeking it, in line with international law, and to ensure international solidarity with Bangladesh in hosting Rohingya refugees in Myanmar.   Testimonies, satellite images, and online videos and pictures indicate that Buthidaung town has been largely burned. We have received information indicating that the burning started on 17 May, two days after the military had retreated from the town and the Arakan Army claimed to have taken full control. Our Office is corroborating information received about who is responsible.   One survivor described seeing dozens of dead bodies as he fled the town. Another survivor said that he was among a group of displaced numbering in the tens of thousands, who were blocked by the Arakan Army, on the road west linking Buthidaung to Maungdaw town. Survivors recounted that the Arakan Army had abused them and extorted money from them as they made their way to Rohingya villages around 10 to 15 kilometres south of the town, where Rohingya already displaced by earlier attacks on villages had previously sought shelter. Rohingya in these areas have, for weeks, described sheltering with families they do not know, without enough food to feed their families.   In the weeks leading up to the burning of Buthidaung, the UN Human Rights Office has documented renewed attacks on Rohingya civilians by both the Arakan Army and military in northern Rakhine State. As well as aerial strikes, including by unmanned aerial vehicles, we have received reports of shooting at unarmed fleeing villagers, beheadings, disappearances, burnings of homes. For years, the military has targeted the Rohingya and actively enforced draconian and discriminatory restrictions affecting all aspects of their lives.   We see clear and present risks of a serious expansion of violence as the battle for neighbouring Maungdaw town has begun -- where the military maintains outposts and where a large Rohingya community lives, including hundreds of displaced Rohingya who moved to town from villages seeking safety.   In this appalling situation, civilians are once more victimized, killed, their properties destroyed and looted, their demands for safety and security ignored, and they are again forced to flee their homes in a recurring nightmare of suffering.   The High Commissioner calls for an immediate end to the violence, and for all civilians to be protected without any distinction based on identity. Prompt and unhindered humanitarian relief must be allowed to flow, and all parties must comply fully and unconditionally with international law – including measures already ordered by the International Court of Justice, for the protection of Rohingya.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2024/05/myanmar-growing-human-rights-crisis-rakhine-state   26 Apr. 2024   The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has raised alarm over the situation in northern Burkina Faso, where several hundred civilians, including children, were reportedly killed amidst fighting between security forces and armed groups.   According to media reports, over 220 civilians, including 56 children, were killed in attacks reportedly carried out by the military in two villages on a single day in late February.   Furthermore, at least two international media outlets – the BBC and Voice of America – have been “temporarily suspended” in the past few days following their reporting of the deadly attacks.   OHCHR spokesperson Marta Hurtado called for an immediate end to restrictions on media freedom and civic space.   “Freedom of expression, including the right of access to information, is crucial in any society and even more so in the context of the transition in Burkina Faso,” she said in a statement.   Burkina Faso has been under military rule since early 2022 amid an insurgency by extremist militants which triggered a series of coups and counter coups.   Capt. Ibrahim Traore was named transitional president in September 2022, and the transitional government has continued to battle insurgents and further reported counter-coup attempts.   Ms. Hurtado added that while OHCHR has not been able to independently verify reports of the alleged massacre due to lack of access, it is crucial that allegations of such serious violations and abuses by various actors are brought to light and that the transitional authorities promptly undertake thorough, impartial and effective investigations.   “Perpetrators need to be held accountable and victims’ rights to truth, justice and reparations must be upheld. Fighting impunity and pursuing accountability is paramount to ensure people's trust in the rule of law and social cohesion,” she stressed.   Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, visited the country in late March, where he highlighted the multifaceted challenges Burkinabè have been facing since the overthrow of the democratically-elected government in January 2022.   In all, about 6.3 million out of a population of 20 million people need humanitarian assistance, and in 2023, OHCHR had documented 1,335 violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian laws involving at least 3,800 civilian victims.   “Armed groups were responsible for the vast majority of violations against civilians in incidents involving more than 86 per cent of the victims,” Mr. Türk said, emphasising that “protection of civilians is paramount. Such wanton violence must stop and the perpetrators held accountable.”   # 27/8/2024: UN strongly condemns Burkina Faso terror attack; hundreds killed   UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned the killing of around 200 people in the Burkinabe town of Barsalogho at the weekend, which left a further 140 injured.   According to news reports it was the latest terror attack by the Al Qaeda-linked militant group known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) in the north of the West African country which has captured large areas of territory in recent years.   JNIM is just one of the armed groups which have moved into Burkina Faso from neighbouring Mali, contributing to a major security crisis which has resulted in two military coups during 2022.   Scores of the wounded were evacuated to healthcare facilities in the nearby city of Kaya.   UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the UN chief extends his condolences to the families of the victims and people of Burkina Faso. “The Secretary-General expresses his solidarity with the transition authorities in their fight against terrorism and calls on them to ensure that those responsible for these despicable acts are held to account”, he added.   Mr. Dujarric also reported that UN humanitarians working in the area of the “terrible attack” described conditions overall as “pretty horrific”.   “According to local officials, at least 90,000 displaced people were living in Barsalogho as of last year. These families had sought refuge there from insecurity in surrounding areas, and their arrival placed an additional strain on local services and supplies”, he said. All of the province where Barsalogho is located is facing acute hunger, adding that insecurity in surrounding areas has also made it much more difficult to provide aid in Barsalogho.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/08/1153646 http://www.acaps.org/en/countries/archives/detail/burkina-faso-spike-of-violence-in-centre-nord-region-since-january-2024 http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/09/18/burkina-faso-islamist-armed-groups-terrorize-civilians Visit the related web page
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