IFOR takes the floor at 46th UN HRC during the general debate with the High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Michelle Bachelet

IFOR is currently participating in the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council which is in remote modality due to the pandemic. Today program of work included the general debate with the High Commissioner for Human Rights and following the States representatives, NGOs with Consultative Status have been able to take the floor.

IFOR referred to some concerning local situations such as Colombia, Eritrea and Western Sahara and then addressed the issues of criminalization of solidarity and nuclear disarmament

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Human Rights Council, 46th Session

Geneva, 26th February 2021 

Item 2: General Debate

Oral statement delivered by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Madam High Commissioner,

IFOR thanks you and your office for the reports.

We are particularly concerned by the situation in Eritrea and in the region and by the lack of collaboration as also highlighted, yesterday, by the new Special Rapporteur[1] and share a deep concern for the risk and danger faced by young people who refuse to serve in the National Service.

We welcome the recommendations which have been listed in your report on Colombia[2] and highlight the importance to guarantee a comprehensive intervention by the State to reduce the violence and not just an increase in the military presence.

 We are alarmed by the increasing cases of criminalization of solidarity[3] with individual cases of people being charged with aiding and abetting illegal immigration because they provide first assistance to migrants or rescue them, whether at sea, in the mountains or in the middle of forests.

 Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa[4], continues to be a pending decolonization case. International Law needs to be implemented.

IFOR restate the call made a few months ago “on the governments in the region and around the world to contribute to a peaceful  solution of the conflict and the implementation of the fundamental rights of the Saharawi people”[5].

We would like to conclude with a positive note: nuclear weapons are finally banned!

We welcome the enter into force of the UN Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons (TPNW)[6], on January 22nd 2021[7].

Thank you.

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1. Oral update of Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, at the 46th HRC on February 24th 2021. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26795&LangID=E

2. A/HRC/46/76.

3. In 2019 the Red Cross EU Office released a statement regarding the soaring of the criminalisation of solidarity in Europe. https://redcross.eu/latest-news/the-eu-must-stop-the-criminalisation-of-solidarity-with-migrants-and-refugees 

   Some recent individual cases:
   Gian Andrea Franchi and Lorena Fornasir: https://www.avvenire.it/attualita/pagine/si-preso-cura-dei-migranti-sotto-accusa-nonno-andrea

   Carola Rackete: https://theconversation.com/sea-watch-3-captain-arrested-eu-complicit-in-criminalising-search-and-rescue-in-the-mediterranean-119670

   Sean Binder and Anouk Van Gestel: https://www.ceps.eu/ceps-events/criminalisation-of-solidarity-how-to-protect-the-right-to-help-migrants-and-refugees/

4. It is on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories since 1963.

5. IFOR has released a statement on the situation in Western Sahara on November 13th 2020 http://www.ifor.org/news/2020/11/13/ifor-statement-on-the-current-situation-in-western-sahara. Another one was released on December 14th 2020 http://www.ifor.org/news/2020/12/14/smlf3m85b4eq2r7kexpxd76zzgvoi5.

6. https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/

7. https://www.icanw.org/tpnw_enters_into_force

• You can download the original statement here.

• You can watch the recording of the session here. IFOR statements is at 00:46:36.

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IFOR has released a public statement regarding Western Sahara on November 13th 2020, the day before the truce was broken in the region. You can read the original statement here.

A second statement has been published December 14th 2020 on the U.S. recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and on the primacy of fundamental rights and international law. You can read the original statement here.

IFOR has a long standing engagement for nuclear disarmament and on January 22nd 2021 has organized a new Day of Action to join activists worldwide to celebrate the entering into force of the UN nuclear ban Treaty adopted on July 7th 2017 by the UN General Assembly. The Treaty reached its 50th ratification on October 24th 2020, International UN Day.

You can watch here, the video message of the president of IFOR which has been released for the occasion.

You can read more about the Day of Action here and discover some actions from IFOR members published on our Facebook page.

IFOR OPEN LETTER TO THE U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL

Open letter to U.N. Secretary-General H. E. Mr. António Guterres and in copy to the U.N. General Assembly 

His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres
Secretary-General United Nations
Headquarters New York City 

19th May 2020 

Dear Mr. Secretary-General, 

We are writing to you as International Fellowship of Reconciliation, a global movement seeking to transform, through nonviolence, the world away from endless cycles of violence towards justice, rec- onciliation, and lasting peace. As a concerned international NGO, accredited to the UN ECOSOC, we are writing to you to express our appreciation for your efforts dealing with the current health crisis in the world and to share some of our thoughts with you at this difficult time. We join with you in recognizing "the fury of [COVID-19] illustrates the folly of war," and we thank you for your leadership in calling for a global ceasefire as a first step to “end the sickness of war”. We are encouraged that your call has resonated with millions across the world, and gained endorse- ments from 70 Member States, with expressions of acceptance from parties to conflict, and non-state actors as well. We call on all UN member States to support Your appeal, to the General Assembly and to the Security Council, and put it into practice. 

The pandemic has revealed the single common vulnerability of humankind, which knows no border. We who are but one of the species on the planet earth must shun our urge for identity superiority or risk even more devastating pandemics. With this shattered illusion of separateness, humanity cannot tolerate war and violence anywhere, as it threatens health and peace for everyone everywhere. Coun- tries are grappling internally with political, economic, racial, and social divides that exacerbate efforts to contain the virus, while inequity in the global community reveals the new depths of suffering in countries that already bear the brunt of the pain caused by climate change, hunger, economic sanctions and exploitation, and armed conflicts. 

While the impact of COVID-19 on the countries where we have active members has varied, together, we affirm the urgency for a new and creative way forward that builds human security globally through health, economic justice and peace. We therefore appeal: 

1. Prioritize the protection of poor and marginalized people. Economic inequality increases the impact of the pandemic and sets the stage for more devastation with the risk of even greater lethality. For instance, underinvestment in healthcare means many countries are unable to meet the simple challenge of providing personal protective equipment to those in 

need. Concentrated poverty means sheltering in isolation, and for women and children locked down with abusers, it promises new levels of violence, abuse, and death. 

2. Protect civil liberties and human rights. Emergency legislation rushed through in many countries may serve as cover for oppressive measures and the violation of human rights. Traditionally marginalized communities are forgotten or ignored, and vulnerable people are cut off from official support. We urge you, Mr. Secretary-General, to prioritize and support the work of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Michelle Bachelet to adapt the global index for human rights to ensure that it monitors abuses in a world now reshaped by COVID-19 legislation. We urge you to call on all member States for accountability. 

3. Use the momentum of this global crisis to shift resources to meet human needs and create lasting peace. Weapons of war cannot defeat a virus, address climate change, nor solve any other world problem. As States pursue ‘business as usual’ military strategies to contain the virus and create security, the world wastes opportunities to coalesce around creative responses that match the grave nature of this crisis, like protecting the most vulnerable from harsh economic impacts and working in solidarity to ensure global health emergency preparedness. These are the kinds of creative responses that lead to lasting peace. We call for disarmament and a major reduction in military spending worldwide, starting with the abolition of all nuclear weapons. We call for the conversion of military industry to civilian production and for the end of exports of weapons to states at war or violating human rights. Humanity will thrive with equitable local community investment and the shift from funding warfare to funding healthcare and peace. We urge the United Nations to invest more capacity and financial support in nonviolent conflict transformation, mediation and Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping. 

Now is the time to create a “new normal” built on a culture of peace and non-violence. We call for global bridge-building and cooperation, and global leadership encouraging increased global solidarity. The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals recognize the interconnected reality of our world. With branches, groups, and affiliates in more than 40 countries, IFOR offers its support to UN agencies in achieving these goals. By highlighting the centrality of peace to a world free from poverty and inequalities, the SDGs challenge the world to put into practice a new way of thinking. Addressing the issues named above ensures that nations can create roadmaps out of COVID-19 that leave no one behind. 

We wish you well and further success in your work. 

Charlotte Sjöström Becker
President of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation

*The present Letter has been sent in cc to H. E. Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, current president of the U.N. General Assembly and to the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council.

For a downloadable version of this letter, click here.