This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.
Top UN court orders Myanmar to protect Rohingya from genocide
Myanmar must take steps to protect its minority Rohingya population, the top UN court unanimously ruled on Thursday.
The International Criminal Court, or ICJ, also ordered authorities to prevent the destruction of evidence related to genocide allegations.
The case against Myanmar was brought to the ICJ in November by The Gambia, on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, arguing that the mainly-Muslim Rohingya had been subjected to genocide.
The Rohingya primarily reside in Rakhine state in northern Myanmar, a majority Buddhist country.
More than 700,000 members fled to neighbouring Bangladesh following a reported military crackdown in August 2017 during which numerous alleged human rights abuses were committed.
In its ruling, the ICJ imposed “provisional measures” against Myanmar, ordering the country to comply with obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
75 years post-Auschwitz, antisemitism still threatens democracy
Commemorating 75 years since the liberation of the notorious Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, independent UN rights experts said on Thursday that “urgent action” is needed to combat mounting antisemitism.
In a statement issued ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marked next Monday, they said that States around the world are failing to sufficiently counter antisemitic violence, discrimination, and hostility within their societies or to ensure that their populations are appropriately educated about the Holocaust.”
The UN experts pointed to Toulouse, Pittsburg, Brussels, Poway and Jersey City as “just some of the places where Jews have been murdered in recent years”.
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms and protects the rights of all, is a key legacy of the Nazi Holocaust, when around six million Jews, alongside other targeted groups, were systematically and brutally murdered.
Global forestry gets a boost
The UN agriculture agency, FAO, is teaming up with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to bolster its capacity in forestry and to assess how land is used.
Through FAO’s forest monitoring platform, a newly-minted three-year agreement will provide Member States with access to Japanese data and better evidence-gathering.
FAO Deputy Director-General Daniel Gustafson said that as deforestation and land-use changes are leading sources of global carbon emissions, coordinated satellite-based information has a critical role to play in supporting countries” to achieve their climate change pledges.
The new collaboration will expand the scope and usability of FAO platforms and the agency expects it to benefit its ongoing work on forest, peatland and mangrove monitoring and assessment.
Liz Scaffidi, UN News.
