This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Ukraine: UN’s Guterres joins call for Bucha killings probe

UN chief António Guterres on Tuesday added his voice to growing international calls for a war crimes investigation into the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.

The Secretary-General’s comments came after shocking images from Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv showed hundreds of dead people, some with bullet wounds and their hands tied behind their backs and others burned or in mass graves, in areas previously under the control of Russian troops.

Mr. Guterres told the UN Security Council that an independent probe was needed to guarantee effective accountability.

In Geneva the UN rights office, OHCHR, explained that the episode marked a new low in the war, with victims’ bodies desecrated in death.

OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell said that “all the signs (were) that the victims were “directly targeted” and killed:

“It’s hard to see what was the military context of an individual lying in the street with a bullet to the head, or having their body burned.”

Sri Lanka authorities urged to respect freedom of expression – OHCHR

To Sri Lanka, where the UN rights office on Tuesday urged authorities to defuse tensions peacefully, after a state of emergency was declared in response to protests over the country’s deep economic crisis.

In the capital Colombo and beyond, people’s concerns have been rising in recent months, amid soaring costs for basic goods, linked to a lack of foreign currency caused by COVID restrictions.

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, said that the situation has worsened and that there have been shortages of food and fuel, along with power cuts, prompting new protests by desperate Sri Lankans.

Citing reports of “excessive and unwarranted police violence against protesters”, the UN rights office also said that social media networks had been shut down for 15 hours. 

Any use of emergency measures by the State must comply with international human rights law, said OHCHR said, its statement coming after UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet in February pointed to Sri Lanka’s worrying “drift towards militarisation”.

First aid convoy in months reaches Ethiopia’s Tigray – WFP

Desperately-needed food aid has reached Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where hundreds of thousands of people are close to famine, UN humanitarians have confirmed.

The development comes after a ceasefire was agreed in late March between federal authorities in Addis Ababa and forces loyal to Tigrayan separatists.

The truce – which follows nearly 17 months of brutal conflict in northern Ethiopia – mean that fuel tankers have been able to reach regional capital Mekelle, the World Food Programme (WFP) said.

In a tweet at the weekend, WFP said that more than 47,000 litres of fuel were busy refuelling aid vehicles so that relief can reach the most vulnerable communities.

The UN agency noted however that 200,000 litres of fuel is needed every week to meet humanitarian needs in the region.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.