united nations —
Editor's note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that Russia must be completely isolated internationally for its sham referendums in his country. In a video briefing to the council, he warned such a move would destroy the possibility of any peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Friday, President Putin held a ceremony in Moscow to officially annex the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine’s east and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in its south. Later in the day, Russia used its veto at the U.N. Security Council to block a resolution brought by the United States and Albania condemning the sham referendums and Russia’s illegal attempt to annex Ukrainian territory. Brazil, China, Gabon and India abstained in the vote.
As this article was published Friday afternoon, the Security Council was about to be briefed on leaks that appeared earlier this week in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines that carry gas from Russia to Europe. Russia requested the briefing. Ahead of the meeting, the U.N. ambassadors of Sweden and Denmark sent a joint letter to the U.N. Security Council president. They said two massive explosions “probably corresponding to an explosive load of several hundred kilos” caused the leaks. They assess “that those explosions are the result of a deliberate act.” The two countries are investigating.
More on the leaks from the Nord Stream pipeline here:
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military call-up last week has sent tens of thousands of Russian men fleeing the country. Thousands of Russians have also taken to the streets in several cities to protest the mobilization of 300,000 men to fight in Ukraine. As of Wednesday, nearly 2,400 protesters had reportedly been arrested. The U.N. human rights office is calling for their release.
Secretary-General Antonio-Guterres called Tuesday for a “prompt, impartial and effective” investigation into the death of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old woman died in Iranian police custody after she was detained for not covering her hair properly. Massive street protests have erupted in more than a dozen Iranian cities and around the globe following her death, to which security forces have reacted with force. Guterres’ office said he stressed to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a meeting on September 22 the need to respect human rights, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. The U.N. human rights office also condemned the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force against the protesters.
Security Council considering new sanctions on Haitian gang leaders
Mexico and the United States are working on a draft resolution to sanction the criminal gangs who have been seeking to exploit a political vacuum since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise at his home in the capital on July 7, 2021. Haiti’s foreign minister welcomed the action at a council meeting on Monday. The gangs have paralyzed the Caribbean nation, terrorizing civilians, blocking main roads and looting aid warehouses.
— Secretary-General Guterres deplored a powerful suicide bombing Friday that ripped through a packed classroom in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, killing and injuring more than 60 mostly female students of the Hazara Shia minority. Guterres said the Taliban must “protect the rights of all Afghans — regardless of ethnicity or gender — to access education safely and securely.” UNICEF said in a statement that schools must be “havens of peace” and the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said “education must be prejudice and violence-free.” There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
— The U.N. chief also condemned Monday’s deadly attack on a convoy carrying vital supplies to the town of Djibo, in Burkina Faso. The attack happened near Gaskinde, in Burkina’s Sahel region. Eleven troops, who were among those escorting the aid convoy, were killed and dozens of civilians are missing. Armed groups affiliated with al-Qaida and Islamic State terror groups operate in the area. Burkina Faso is in dire humanitarian condition, with nearly a fifth of the population in need of assistance. As of June, 1.5 million people were displaced from increasing insecurity in the country.