15 May 2015
Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights: Rupert Colville
Location:
Geneva
Subjects: (1) South East Asia / migrants boats
(2) Burundi
(3) International Day against
Homophobia & Transphobia
(1) South East Asia / migrants boats
With some 6,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants
believed to be still stranded at sea in precarious conditions in South East
Asia, and three countries actively implementing a policy of pushing boats back
to sea, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on
Friday urged governments in the region to take swift action to protect their
lives.
The UN Human Rights Chief said he is “appalled at reports
that Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have been pushing boats full of
vulnerable migrants back out to sea, which will inevitably lead to many
avoidable deaths.
The focus should be on saving lives, not further endangering
them.
” He said news that another boat, with several hundred people in abject
condition, had been given provisions and then pushed back out to sea by the
Thai navy on Thursday was “incomprehensible and inhumane.”
To see the full press release entitled ‘Pushbacks
endanger thousands in Bay of Bengal’ go to:
(2) Burundi
We are very concerned by developments in Burundi over the
past two days, and call on all armed forces and non-state actors to refrain
from taking actions which may endanger the lives of civilians and to ensure
their protection from the effects of conflict.
There is a clear risk that the
instability may be prolonged, or even made worse, if there are violent
reprisals.
We have received reports of numerous attacks on both
private and state media with radio and television stations destroyed,
endangering the lives of the journalists who were still inside them at the
time.
We call for a re-opening of all media outlets and the respect of the
independence of journalists.
There is also an urgent need to ensure the safety
of human rights defenders and journalists. To give just one example, one of
Burundi’s most prominent human rights defenders, Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa, has
had to go into hiding after receiving death threats.
Those who incite or engage in acts of mass violence are
liable to be prosecuted by competent judicial bodies, as reflected in the
recent statement by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
We are also very concerned that political instability and
reports of intimidation of civilians could result in an even greater
humanitarian crisis.
There is a significant increase of refugees fleeing
Burundi to neighbouring countries, with reports of rapidly deteriorating
sanitary conditions in some locations where large numbers of refugees have
gathered, such as Kagunga in Tanzania.
(3) International
Day against Homophobia & Transphobia
As you may know, this Sunday, 17 May is observed in many
countries as the International Day against Homophobia & Transphobia.
This
year, to help mark the occasion, the UN Human Rights Office has produced a new
video as part of our ongoing “Free & Equal” campaign.
The new two-minute video celebrates the contributions
that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBT) people make to
families and local communities around the world.
There are no actors, just real
people filmed in their workplaces and homes – among them, a fire-fighter, a
police officer, a teacher, an electrician, a doctor and a volunteer, as well as
that prominent defender of LGBT rights, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The
pop star Sara Bareilles has contributed the soundtrack and offered to help
promote the new video.
The video can be viewed and share at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JosMsjRNznM and at https://www.unfe.org/Faces
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact
please contact Rupert Colville (+41 22 917 9767 / rcolville@ohchr.org) or
Cécile Pouilly (+41 22 917 9310 / cpouilly@ohchr.org).
UN Human Rights, follow us on social media:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/UNrightswire
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