This is the news in brief from the United Nations
Call for probe into deadly violence against Zimbabwe protests
In Zimbabwe, violence and the reported deadly use of live ammunition by security officials against protesters should be investigated thoroughly and transparently, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Friday.
The development comes amid a socio-economic crisis in Zimbabwe and protests following the Government’s decision to increase fuel prices.
UN spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani called on the authorities to ensure that the country’s security forces use firearms in line with international human rights law.
She also noted that access to the internet and social media messaging applications had been cut.
“The bottom line is that the use of live ammunition by security forces was used, excessive force was used. We don’t have verification on the exact number of people who were killed or injured, but there are doctors’ associations that are putting numbers out there, likely more than 60 people were treated in hospital for gunshots wounds. This is not the way to react to the expression of economic grievances by the population.”
Countrywide, more than 600 people have been arrested in the demonstrations to date, according to Zimbabwe’s Minister of National Security.
Ms Shamdasani noted reports suggesting that protesters had burned tyres, barricaded roads and set buildings on fire.
Deadly attack on Nigerian town leaves tens of thousands of people without aid
Aid deliveries have been cut to tens of thousands of people in troubled north-east Nigeria following an attack on a military base and a camp for the displaced in the town of Rann.
UN OCHA, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Friday that the assault by an armed group started at dusk four days ago and continued the next day.
Several civilians were reportedly killed and a medical clinic and warehouses with supplies were looted and destroyed.
Here’s OCHA spokesperson Samantha Newport speaking from Abuja:
“The camp is home to over 70,000 people but there are a lot of people mainly women and children taking refuge in this camp, this is one of many camps in Borno state which is the epicentre of the crisis in north-east Nigeria that has, of course, spilled over into neighbouring countries such as Chad, Niger and Cameroon.”
The attacks on the isolated town of Rann are increasingly frequent, although conflict in north-east Nigeria dates back 10 years.
The violence has triggered massive displacement and created a huge humanitarian crisis, with more than seven million people in need.
Fourteen aid workers who were in Rann at the time of the attack have been evacuated, but the town is now inaccessible to international humanitarian organizations by road and air.
DRC Ebola outbreak can be handled effectively, despite challenges: WHO
And finally to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where a high number of cases of infection of Ebola virus are still being reported, according to the UN health agency.
In a statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that built-up areas of Katwa Health Zone in the east of the country were the worst affected places in the past week.
But there has been a fall in the number of cases in Beni, a former disease hotspot, which is a “positive indication of how effective the response can be, despite multiple challenges”, the agency said – a reference to the more than 100 armed groups in the east of the vast country.
In the last three weeks, 79 new cases have been reported from 11 health zones in DRC’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
Latest data indicates a total of 663 cases of Ebola virus disease - 614 confirmed and 49 probable; 407 people have died and 237 have been discharged from treatment centres.
Fifty-nine per cent of cases were female and 30 per cent were children under 18 years old, including a high number of babies and toddlers.
Daniel Johnson, UN News
