Latest news with #Shamdasani
Scoop
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Syria Crisis: Hundreds Killed In Ongoing Violence, Hospitals Overwhelmed
Briefing reporters in Geneva, UN human rights office, OHCHR, spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani highlighted 'credible' reports of 'widespread violations and abuses, including summary executions and arbitrary killings, kidnappings, destruction of private property and looting of homes' in the city of Suweida. 'Among the reported perpetrators were members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the interim authorities as well as other armed elements from the area, including the Druze and Bedouin,' she said. Many hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of injured, the UN refugee agency UNHCR also noted. Forced to flee On Friday morning, OHCHR colleagues reported that clashes were continuing and that 'a lot of people are trying to flee or have fled the area', Ms. Shamdasani continued. The latest updates from the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office, OCHA, on Thursday indicated that nearly 2,000 families had been displaced from areas affected by the fighting. Hundreds have reportedly been killed since sectarian violence involving the Druze and Bedouin communities erupted on 12 July, triggering an intervention by Syrian security forces. OHCHR's Ms. Shamdasani highlighted an incident on 15 July in which at least 13 people were killed when 'armed individuals affiliated with the interim authorities deliberately opened fire at a family gathering'. Briefing an emergency meeting of the Security Council in New York on Thursday, UN Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari also referenced reports of 'civilians, religious figures and detainees being subjected to extrajudicial executions and humiliating and degrading treatment'. He urged all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure. Rumours and fact-checking Ms. Shamdasani stressed that the UN human rights office has been trying to verify the information through 'contacts on the ground…families of people who were killed, eyewitnesses', but that obtaining reliable estimates of the death toll remains challenging. 'There are lots of videos circulating,' she said. 'Some claim to be fighters who are in the area filming the abuses and violations they're carrying out. We are trying to verify some of these videos, but there's a lot of disinformation out there and a lot of it is being used to incite further violence to inflame tensions.' The OHCHR spokesperson also expressed concern about reports of civilian casualties resulting from Israel's airstrikes on Suweida, Dara'a and central Damascus. 'Attacks such as the one on Damascus on Wednesday pose great risks to civilians and civilian objects,' she warned, calling for the strikes to cease. Israel had launched the strikes pledging to protect the Druze community. The violence and displacement have sparked 'considerable' humanitarian needs, with the health and aid systems struggling to keep up, said William Spindler of the UN refugee agency UNCHR. 'Many of the hospitals have been overwhelmed by the number of people who have been injured in the recent fighting,' he said. According to OCHA, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has dispatched enough trauma and emergency surgery kits for 1,750 interventions to the area, but many 'remain undelivered due to access constraints'. Since the displaced had to flee at very short notice, they are in desperate need of essentials – blankets, jerry cans, solar lamps – but providing these items has been a challenge. Too risky to enter 'We have this in stock and we are ready to deliver them as soon as the security allows it,' Mr. Spindler said. 'For now, this has not been possible.' He also warned of water shortages due to electricity outages. He said people are unable to buy bottled water or food because of the insecurity. UNHCR has an office in rural Suweida and Mr. Spindler expressed concern about the impact of the hostilities on the agency's operations, infrastructure and personnel. 'We know that humanitarian infrastructure has been affected,' he said, describing an incident on 15 July in which a warehouse of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent was severely damaged by shelling. The UNHCR spokesperson called on all parties to the conflict to respect and protect humanitarian premises, personnel and assets 'in accordance with international humanitarian law'.
Express Tribune
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
UN urges 'immediate halt' to Afghan deportations
Listen to article The United Nations insisted no one should be sent back to Afghanistan, after Germany on Friday deported 81 Afghans convicted of crimes to their Taliban-controlled homeland. The UN rights office warned that surging numbers of Afghans being forced to return to their conflict- and crisis-torn country from elsewhere in the region especially but also further afield was creating "a multi-layered human-rights crisis". "UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk calls for an immediate halt to the forcible return of all Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers, particularly those at risk of persecution, arbitrary detention or torture upon their return," spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva. She stressed that sending people, even those convicted of crimes, back to a country where they risk facing serious abuses "violates the core international law principle of non-refoulement". The comments came after Berlin said it had deported 81 Afghan men convicted of crimes in Germany, the second such operation. Germany, like most countries, stopped deportations to Afghanistan and closed its embassy in Kabul following the Taliban's return to power in 2021. But it resumed expulsions last year, when the previous government of Social Democrat chancellor Olaf Scholz expelled 28 Afghan convicts. Friday's deportations come as Afghanistan is already reeling from the returns of more than 1.9 million people since the beginning of the year from Iran and Pakistan. Iran has deported some 500,000 people in the past month alone, Shamdasani said. The UN warned last week that as many as three million could arrive by the end of the year. "People returning to Afghanistan, whether by compulsion or of their own volition, find a country facing an acute humanitarian and human-rights crisis," Shamdasani said.
The Citizen
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
UN calls for halt to Afghan deportations amid abuse fears
More than 1.9 million Afghans have been deported this year, with the UN warning of systemic abuse under Taliban rule. A Taliban security personnel stands over an armoured tank bearing a Taliban flag, as he keeps guard during a religious procession by Afghan Shiite Muslims celebrating Ashura, on the tenth day of the Islamic holy month of Muharram, in Kabul on July 6, 2025. Picture: Wakil Kohsar / AFP The United Nations insisted no one should be sent back to Afghanistan, after Germany on Friday deported 81 Afghans convicted of crimes to their Taliban-controlled homeland. The UN rights office warned that surging numbers of Afghans being forced to return to their conflict- and crisis-torn country from elsewhere in the region especially but also further afield was creating 'a multi-layered human-rights crisis'. 'UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk calls for an immediate halt to the forcible return of all Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers, particularly those at risk of persecution, arbitrary detention or torture upon their return,' spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva. She stressed that sending people, even those convicted of crimes, back to a country where they risk facing serious abuses 'violates the core international law principle of non-refoulement'. Germany defends deportations The comments came after Berlin said it had deported 81 Afghan men convicted of crimes in Germany, the second such operation. Germany, like most countries, stopped deportations to Afghanistan and closed its embassy in Kabul following the Taliban's return to power in 2021. ALSO READ: Taliban enforces smartphone ban in Afghan schools But it resumed expulsions last year, when the previous government of Social Democrat chancellor Olaf Scholz expelled 28 Afghan convicts. Iran and Pakistan ramp up mass deportations Friday's deportations come as Afghanistan is already reeling from the returns of more than 1.9 million people since the beginning of the year from Iran and Pakistan. Iran has deported some 500,000 people in the past month alone, Shamdasani said. The UN warned last week that as many as three million could arrive by the end of the year. 'Structural and systemic discrimination' 'People returning to Afghanistan, whether by compulsion or of their own volition, find a country facing an acute humanitarian and human-rights crisis,' Shamdasani said. 'They also face structural and systemic discrimination, gender persecution, issues related to ethnicity, obstacles to full reintegration into society, and a dearth of work and livelihoods as a result of a struggling economy.' NOW READ: Lawyers for Human Rights slam Proteas for playing Afghanistan
Indian Express
12-07-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
UN reports 798 deaths near Gaza aid hubs in six weeks
The UN rights office said on Friday it had recorded at least 798 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and near convoys run by other relief groups. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation. After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians trying to reach the GHF's aid hubs in zones where Israeli forces operate, the United Nations has called its aid model 'inherently unsafe' and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards. '(From May 27) up until the seventh of July, we've recorded 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, and 183 presumably on the route of aid convoys,' UN rights office (OHCHR) spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a media briefing in Geneva. The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade, told Reuters the UN figures were 'false and misleading'. It denies that deadly incidents have occurred at its sites. 'The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid site have been linked to UN convoys,' a GHF spokesperson said. 'Ultimately, the solution is more aid. If the UN (and) other humanitarian groups would collaborate with us, we could end or significantly reduce these violent incidents.' The Israeli army told Reuters in a statement that it was reviewing recent mass casualties and that it had sought to minimise friction between Palestinians and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) by installing fences and signs and opening additional routes. The OHCHR said it based its figures on sources such as information from hospitals in Gaza, cemeteries, families, Palestinian health authorities, NGOs and its partners on the ground. Most of the injuries to Palestinians in the vicinity of aid distribution hubs recorded by the OHCHR since May 27 were gunshot wounds, Shamdasani said. 'We've raised concerns about atrocity crimes having been committed and the risk of further atrocity crimes being committed where people are lining up for essential supplies such as food,' she said. After the GHF assertion that the OHCHR figures are false and misleading, Shamdasani said: 'It is not helpful to issue blanket dismissals of our concerns – what is needed is investigations into why people are being killed while trying to access aid.' Israel has said its forces operate near the relief aid sites to prevent supplies falling into the hands of militants it has been fighting in the Gaza war triggered by the Hamas-led cross-border attack on October 7, 2023. The GHF said on Friday it had delivered more than 70 million meals to Gaza Palestinians in five weeks, and that other humanitarian groups had 'nearly all of their aid looted' by Hamas or criminal gangs. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has previously cited instances of violent pillaging of aid, and the UN World Food Programme said last week that most trucks carrying food assistance into Gaza had been intercepted by 'hungry civilian communities'. There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies 21 months into Israel's military campaign in Gaza, during which much of the enclave has been reduced to rubble and most of its 2.3 million inhabitants displaced.
The Sun
12-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Gaza civil defence says Israeli forces kill at least 30
GAZA: Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 30 people on Friday, including 10 who were waiting for aid in the south of the war-ravaged territory. The latest deaths came as the United Nations said nearly 800 people had been killed trying to access food in Gaza since late May, when Israel began easing a more than two-month blockade on deliveries. UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said most of the deaths occurred near facilities operated by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. 'We've recorded now 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the GHF sites,' from the time the group's operations began in late May until July 7, Shamdasani said on Friday. An officially private effort, GHF operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and frequent reports of Israeli forces firing on people waiting to collect rations. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives and violates basic humanitarian principles. Responding to the UN's figures, Israel's military said it had worked to minimise 'possible friction between the population and the (army) as much as possible'. 'Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted... and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned,' it said. Gaza civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said that 10 people were shot by Israeli forces on Friday while waiting for supplies in the Al-Shakoush area northwest of Rafah, where there have been repeated reports of deadly fire on aid seekers. 'Extremely difficult' In an update, the civil defence agency reported a wave of Israeli air strikes, drone attacks and bombings across the densely populated territory, which has been devastated by 21 months of war. There was no immediate comment on the latest strikes from the Israeli military, which has recently expanded its operations across Gaza. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties. A Palestinian speaking to AFP from southern Gaza on condition of anonymity reported ongoing attacks and widespread devastation, with Israeli tanks seen near Khan Yunis. 'The situation remains extremely difficult in the area -- intense gunfire, intermittent air strikes, artillery shelling, and ongoing bulldozing and destruction of displacement camps and agricultural land to the south, west and north of Al-Maslakh,' an area to Khan Yunis's south, the witness said. The Israeli military said its soldiers were operating in the area, dismantling 'terrorist infrastructure sites, both above and below ground', and seizing 'weapons and military equipment'. The civil defence also reported five people killed in an Israeli strike the previous night on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Jabalia al-Nazla, in northern Gaza. Nearly all of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions for the territory's more than two million inhabitants. Many have sought shelter in school buildings, but these have come under repeated Israeli attack, with the military often saying it was targeting Hamas militants hiding among civilians - AFP
