This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Ceasefire now in Gaza, urges UN chief on first day of Ramadan 

A Ramadan ceasefire for Gaza must be implemented immediately, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, the first day of the Muslim holy month.

All remaining hostages taken during Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October must also be released immediately, the UN chief said, as he described the impact of what he called the “catastrophic Israeli onslaught in Gaza” that’s now in its sixth month.

“Even though Ramadan has begun, the killing, bombing and bloodshed continue in Gaza...My strongest appeal today is to honour the spirit of Ramadan by silencing the guns and removing all obstacles to ensure the delivery of lifesaving aid at the speed and massive scale required.” 

Echoing the UN chief’s ceasefire call, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that it had reached two hospitals in northern Gaza at the weekend with supplies.
These included trauma items for 150 patients and 25,000 litres of fuel to Al-Ahil Arab hospital, and Al-Sahaba hospital.

But WHO reported that medical teams there lacked a long list of basics to do their work, including “food, fuel, specialised staff, anaesthetic drugs and antibiotics. 

Syria in grip of violence not seen in years, warn top rights experts

Syria is experiencing a wave of violence not seen in years that likely amounts to war crimes, top UN-appointed rights investigators said on Monday.

The UN Syria Commission of Inquiry, which reports to the Human Rights Council, warned that fighting escalated on 5 October last year, when consecutive explosions at a military academy graduation ceremony in government-controlled Homs killed at least 63 people, including 37 civilians.

The Syrian Government and Russian forces “responded with bombardments” that struck at least 2,300 sites in opposition-controlled areas in the space of three weeks, “killing and injuring hundreds of civilians”, the investigators said.

Locations hit included “well-known and visible hospitals, schools, markets and camps for internally displaced persons” which may amount to war crimes, they said in a statement.

Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry, Paulo Pinheiro, insisted that the Syrian people “cannot sustain” any more fighting, after 13 years of war which have left 16.7 million inside the country in need of humanitarian assistance – that’s the largest number of people in need since the start of the crisis.

“More than 90 per cent now live in poverty, the economy is in freefall amid tightening sanctions, and increased lawlessness is fuelling predatory practices and extortion by armed forces and militia,” Mr. Pinheiro explained.

The Commission’s report is due to be presented to the Human Rights Council on Monday 18 March.

Truth and justice call for disappeared Thai lawyer 

It’s been a full 20 years since Thai lawyer and activist Somchai Neelapaijit went missing – high time that the authorities disclose what happened to him, top independent rights experts said on Monday.

The joint appeal led by the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances comes almost two decades to the day since Mr. Neelapaijit vanished.

His alleged enforced disappearance is believed to be related to his work as a lawyer defending Muslim minorities in southern Thailand. 

No-one has been held accountable for his enforced disappearance but “truth, justice and redress” in the case of Mr. Neelapaijit must be achieved “without further delay”, the rights experts insisted.

They highlighted how the lawyer’s wife, Angkhana, had faced threats and reprisals in her search for justice, but that she had refused to give up her quest – even becoming the first Asian woman to join the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.