This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.
Desert Locust ‘re-invasion’ threatens millions across Horn of Africa
Fresh swarms of Desert Locusts have formed in the Horn of Africa, threatening crops and the food security of millions, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Wednesday.
According to the agency, locust infestations increased over the past month in Ethiopia and Somalia as a result of extensive breeding, favourable weather and rainfall, with populations predicted to increase further in the coming months.
“New locust swarms are already forming and threatening to re-invade northern Kenya and breeding is also underway on both sides of the Red Sea, posing a new threat to Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, and Yemen,” FAO said in a news release.
The greater Horn of Africa region witnessed one of its worst ever Desert Locust infestations, earlier this year. A new crisis could have devastating consequences for communities affected by recurrent drought, conflict, high food prices, and the coronavirus pandemic.
The upsurge occurred in spite of an unprecedented campaign supported by FAO and partners, in which more than 1.3 million hectares of locust infestations were treated across ten countries this year.
Control operations prevented the loss of an estimated 2.7 million tonnes of cereal, enough to feed 18 million people a year, in countries already hard hit by acute food insecurity and poverty.
Independent expert decries shrinking space for China’s human rights lawyers
Human rights lawyers in China continue to be detained, disappeared and tortured, a UN-appointed independent rights expert has said, before calling for a missing attorney to be released.
The comment from Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, is in reference to the so-called “709 crackdown”, which began in July 2015.
The Special Rapporteur said that this was when the profession of human rights lawyers was “effectively criminalised in China”, under the guise of national security concerns.
She cited the arrest and enforced disappearance of human rights defender and lawyer Chang Weiping, as an example of ongoing efforts to silence lawyers who have been outspoken about human rights in China.
In January this year, Ms. Lawlor said that Mr. Weiping spent 10 days in “residential surveillance at a designated location”, overseen by security officials on suspicion of “subversion of state power”. His law licence was annulled.
Mr Weiping posted an online video in October, alleging torture and ill-treatment.
Soon afterwards, he was detained by security officials and placed under surveillance again, the Special Rapporteur said.
She added that “since then, his whereabouts remain unknown, his lawyers have been unable to contact him and no charges have been brought against him”.
Bangladesh cartoonist must be released on medical grounds, urge rights experts
A call now for the release of a Bangladeshi cartoonist who’s been detained for allegedly spreading fake news about the country’s response to COVID-19.
In their appeal on Wednesday, three UN-appointed independent rights experts said that Ahmed Kabir Kishore – who needs insulin to treat diabetes - should be released immediately, as his health is worsening.
Mr. Kishore was arrested in May after his cartoons were posted online in March and April. He was charged under the 2018 Digital Security Act for spreading false news and misinformation on the country’s COVID-19 response.
“Criticism of government policy, including through political satire and cartoons, is permitted under the rights to freedom of expression and cultural rights, and should not be criminalised,” the Special Rapporteurs said.
In court hearings held virtually, Mr. Kishore’s bail applications have been denied five times, and no trial date has been set, said Karima Bennoune, Irene Khan and Tlaleng Mofokeng.
They said that the authorities had released thousands of individuals to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in prisons, and that there was “no legitimate reason to refuse Mr. Kishore’s request for bail”.
Daniel Johnson, UN News.
