The attacks took place on July 16 and 18 and are said to have stemmed from a dispute over land, ownership of the lake and user rights.
The attacks reportedly follow clashes sparked by tribal violence in the southwestern Pacific country in February, which also left about 26 people dead.
The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) had called on the government at the time to address the problem and ensure the protection of civilians, especially women and girls.
Preventing further bloodshed
The High Commissioner said the death toll in the attacks in East Sepik province could rise to 50 as local authorities continue to search for missing persons.
In addition, more than 200 villagers left the province because their houses were set on fire.
“I urge the authorities to conduct a prompt, impartial and transparent investigation and ensure that those responsible are held to account,” Mr Türk said.
“It is also vital that victims and their families receive reparations, including adequate housing, effective protection from further attacks and necessary psychosocial support.”
The High Commissioner also calls on the authorities to address the root causes of land and lake conflicts in the affected communities to “prevent the recurrence of further violence.”
Diplomatic turn to avoid Lebanon-Israel still possible: Special Coordinator
Lebanon and the wider region remain on a knife edge as the war in Gaza continues and gun battles rage across the southern border with Israel, the UN Special Coordinator for Human Rights told the Security Council on Wednesday.
Briefing ambassadors behind closed doors, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert gave her update together with the head of UN peacekeeping operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, following the latest report from the UN mission overseeing the so-called Blue Line between Lebanon and northern Israel.
She said Lebanon, along with the rest of the region, is still teetering on the brink, but a diplomatic way out is still possible. according to a press release about the state of affairs.
She dismissed the idea of an all-out conflict as inevitable, saying that both Lebanon and Israel had stated that they did not seek war. She expressed hope that a “Gaza deal” would lead to an immediate return to a cessation of hostilities along the Blue Line.
Fireworks box
However, the Special Coordinator expressed concern that a miscalculation by either side could easily lead to a regional war.
She therefore urged that no effort be spared to bring both sides back from the brink of the abyss, while stressing the implementation of resolution 1701 as the path to long-term security.
She also explained that, amid an “ongoing presidential impasse,” the erosion of the authority of the state and its institutions was a material fact on the ground.
“She deplored that the Lebanese people are forced to survive on remittances or by combining multiple jobs, and underlined the urgency of reviving progress in economic and financial reform,” her office said in a statement.
Sexual violence against Sudanese refugees ‘chronically underreported’
Following disturbing reports of conflict-related sexual violence in Chad’s eastern provinces, UN Special Representative Pramila Patten, who monitors the scourge, visited the Ouaddaï region to assess the situation and meet survivors.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, briefs members of the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue.
Of the 620,000 refugees who have fled Sudan due to ongoing hostilities, about 90 percent are women and children.
The number of refugees is only increasing: more than 3,200 people still flee to eastern Chad every week.
Ms Patten met refugee women and learned first-hand how sexual violence is an ongoing threat to vulnerable civilians during Sudan’s ongoing conflict.
The cases involved multiple perpetrators, ethnically motivated sexual violence, rape in front of family members, and attacks on female activists and aid workers.
The women also shared their experiences of the challenges they faced in accessing essential services such as legal assistance, mental health care and trauma counseling.
“In any conflict, sexual violence is a chronically underreported crime, and this case is no exception,” Ms Patten said.
Surviving without help
“Survivors of sexual violence have been unable to report their cases or access life-saving care due to the scale of the crisis, distance and lack of health facilities, as well as shame and stigma rooted in harmful social norms.”
She said that in most cases, women who suffered sexual violence in Sudan or during their flight only sought medical help once they discovered they were pregnant.
The Special Representative calls on “all parties to the conflict to comply with international human rights and humanitarian law and in particular to ensure an immediate and complete cessation of all violence against civilians, including sexual violence”.
