Human Rights Council & other topics - Daily Briefing (25 February 2019)

Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Daily Press Briefing:
- Secretary-General's Travels
- Venezuela
- Mali
- Syria
- Darfur
- Afghanistan
- Malawi/Zimbabwe
- Honour Roll
SG TRAVELS
The Secretary-General this morning spoke at the 40th session of the Human Rights Council today and said that the human rights agenda is losing ground in many parts of the globe – but he is not losing hope. Although we see troubling trends, he said, we also see powerful movements for human rights and social justice. The Secretary-General warned that we are also seeing a groundswell of xenophobia, racism and intolerance – including rising anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred. Hate speech is a menace to democratic values, social stability and peace, he added.
The Secretary-General also spoke at the Conference on Disarmament, saying that key components of the international arms control architecture are collapsing.  The Secretary-General added that the demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, should it be allowed to happen, would make the world a more insecure and unstable place. He calls on the parties to the INF Treaty to use the time remaining to engage in sincere dialogue on the various issues that have been raised. It is very important that this treaty is preserved, he said.
The Secretary-General just spoke at an event with Peter Maurer, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), also joined by Julienne Lusenge, the Director of the Fund for Congolese Women and President of Women’s Solidarity for Peace and Integrated Development.  This is on gender-based violence.
Tomorrow, he will speak at the pledging conference on Yemen; and as you will recall the United Nations is asking for US$4.2 billion in a humanitarian appeal this year.
Tonight, he will speak at an event organized by the UN Correspondents in Geneva on press freedom.
VENEZUELA
As you saw over the weekend we issued a statement in which the Secretary-General said he was following with increasing concern the escalating tensions in Venezuela. He said he had been shocked and saddened to learn that a number of civilians lost their lives after the events on Saturday.
The Secretary-General appealed for violence to be avoided at any cost and for lethal force not to be used in any circumstances. He also appealed for calm and urged all actors to lower tensions and pursue every effort to prevent further escalation.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights also issued a statement on the situation in Venezuela.

MALI
Turning to Mali, following an attack on a camp of the Malian armed forces in Koulikoro, 55 km north-east of Bamako, yesterday, the UN Mission in the country (MINUSMA) calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice and expresses its solidarity with the Malian and European partners and salutes their effective response to the attack.
UN Police is monitoring the situation. The UN Mission and the UN Mine Action Service stand ready to support the Malian authorities in investigating the attack.
And over the weekend, you will have also seen that we issued a statement condemning the attack against members of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in the area of Siby that resulted in the death of three peacekeepers from Guinea and a number of injured.
That took place on Saturday.
The Secretary-General reiterated the determination of the Mission in Mali to continue implementing its mandate in support of the people and Government of Mali in their quest for peace.

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