Temporary shelters in Gaza. Main news of the day | Wednesday: Ukraine, Middle East, Russia UN
The main news of the day in the UN and in the world: violations of international law and civilian casualties in Ukraine, violence in the occupied Palestinian territories, a Security Council meeting on Syria, UN experts called for the charges against human rights activist Alexei Sokolov to be dropped.
Report on Ukraine
As the three-year anniversary of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches, the prospect of a peaceful settlement remains elusive and fighting is only intensifying. This was stated by UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif, presenting the findings of the latest report of the UN Human Rights Office to the Human Rights Council. She stressed concern about the increased use of drones and new types of weapons. In November 2024 alone, Russian forces launched about 2,000 drones, killing dozens of people.
Palestinian Territories
The occupied Palestinian territories continue to face violence, displacement and a humanitarian crisis in the new year, the UN Human Rights Office in Palestine said. A new report says at least 332 people have been killed in fighting in Gaza since January 1. Human rights violations continue in the West Bank, including the use of methods and means of warfare outside the context of hostilities, the use of lethal force against unarmed people and extrajudicial executions.
The situation in Syria
The UN stands ready to do all it can to support Syria as it charts a new course after the fall of the previous regime. This was stated at a meeting of the Security Council by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen. He reported that the interim leadership continues to work on structuring and consolidating its authority. Pedersen also recalled that many areas of Syria are still outside the control of the interim authorities, the conflict continues, and there are real threats to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the country.
Alexey Sokolov
Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia Mariana Katsarova and Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor welcomed the release of Alexey Sokolov, who was released from jail on January 4 on bail pending trial. According to the statement, the Yekaterinburg human rights activist was arbitrarily arrested on July 5, 2024, for publishing the Facebook logo. Katsarova and Lawlor called for the charges against Sokolov to be immediately dropped and for him to be unconditionally released from any form of detention.