This is the News in Brief from the United Nations
Ending war only ‘real hope’ for prosperous Afghanistan: UN mission chief
Only by ending the war in Afghanistan can there be “real hope” for a prosperous future for the country, the top UN official there said on Thursday.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), underscored that peace is the only solution to the ongoing conflict that has resulted in more than 100,000 casualties over the past decade.
In a statement, he said: “As I told the Security Council last week, whatever the outcome of the presidential election may be, peace will be the issue of paramount importance to the new administration”.
He reiterated the UN’s call for “everyone to raise their voices for peace, and for all stakeholders to make genuine and concrete steps toward ending the war, as there can be no military solution to the conflict in this country.”
Mr. Yamamoto underlined the UN’s commitment to supporting intra-Afghan talks that uphold human rights and lead to sustainable peace.
And he stressed the importance of including women and youth saying they are essential for an Afghan-owned peace process, in addition to being fundamental to all ongoing peace efforts.
Independent UN rights experts raise alarm over ‘incommunicado detention’ of Chinese scholar
Turning next to China, UN human rights experts expressed alarm over the detention of a Chinese academic of Uyghur origin who is being held at an unknown location in the country.
The whereabouts of Tashpolat Tiyip, the former president of Xinjiang University, have been unknown since he was detained in 2017 while travelling to a conference in Germany.
According to reports, he has been sentenced to death on charges of separatism.
However, the experts said that the Chinese authorities had indicated to them that Mr. Tiyip is being tried on corruption, that a lawyer had been hired by his relatives, and “that he has not been sentenced to death”.
The experts said that if they receive conformation that Mr. Tiyip had not been sentenced to death, it would be “welcome news”.
They reiterated their recommendation that information about his current place of detention be made public and that his family should be allowed to visit him.
"Incommunicado detention, enforced disappearances and secret trials have no place in a country governed by the rule of law”, they spelled out.
Violent attack in Burkina Faso leaves dozens of women dead, draws censure of UN chief
And finally, to Burkina Faso where 35 civilians, the majority of whom were women, died in an attack on Tuesday at the hands of suspected jihadis in Arbinda, Soum province, near the border with Mali.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson on Wednesday evening, Secretary-General António Guterres “strongly” condemned the incursion, expressed his deep condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.
News reports maintained that the attack was the worst assault on the country in five years.
The UN chief conveyed the Organization’s solidarity to the Government and people of the West African nation and reiterated the UN’s continued support to the Governments of Burkina Faso and other countries of the Sahel region in their efforts “to fight terrorism and violent extremism”.
Meanwhile, a fresh assault that took the lives of eleven soldiers was made on Thursday, around 60km from the first attack.
