HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS welfare system; one to Panama to remotely monitor the human rights situation in the context of massive protests in Venezuela; one to Haiti to assist with the establishment of the human rights section of the UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti; one to Honduras to assist with human rights monitoring following the crisis that unfolded after the elections; and one to Togo to monitor the human rights situation. In the case of Myanmar, the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, various thematic mandateholders, the High Commissioner and other UN partners, including the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, consistently alerted the international community to the seriousness of the situation in Rakhine State. This contributed to action being taken by the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and the Security Council in an attempt to address the crisis. Through its resolution A/RES/72/248, the General Assembly called on authorities in Myanmar to end military operations that have led to the violations of the human rights of the Rohingya community and to grant unrestricted access to the international human rights mechanisms to independently monitor the human rights situation in the region. Furthermore, following a December 2017 special session on the human rights situation of the minority Rohingya Muslim population and other minorities in the Rakhine State of Myanmar, the Human Rights Council, through resolution A/HRC/ RES/S-27/1, condemned the human rights violations committed in Rakhine State, called upon the Government to cooperate with the special procedures and requested that the High Commissioner track progress made concerning the situation and provide updates to the Human Rights Council. In relation to Yemen, the High Commissioner issued regular press releases to highlight the violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that were allegedly perpetrated by both sides to the conflict. These efforts contributed to the adoption by the Human Rights Council, in September, of a consensus resolution establishing a Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen, who were appointed in December. Through its support to the Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, UN Human Rights contributed to increased responsiveness and the integration of human rights concerns into the UN’s response to conflict-related sexual violence in the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea. In Guinea, the Team of Experts assisted the Government to address accountability for the events of September 2009 in a stadium in Conakry, which resulted in serious human rights violations, including killings, sexual violence, torture and enforced disappearances. This support resulted in 16 indictments, including of former President Moussa Dadis Camara and high ranking military commanders and the hearing of over 450 witnesses and victims. In Côte d’Ivoire, the Team of Experts provided technical assistance to the national army for the implementation of its action plan on combating sexual violence, which resulted in a reduced number of violations attributable to the military. UN Human Rights work on Syria An important focus of the advocacy and reporting work undertaken by UN Human Rights during 2017 was the evolving human rights and humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic. UN Human Rights ensured that evidence-based human rights information and analysis was integrated into the Secretary-General’s monthly reports to the Security Council, and also released monthly Human Rights Digests to provide partners with early warning analysis tools aimed at highlighting human rights concerns in Syria. Furthermore, advocacy efforts were stepped up and included the formulation of a number of recommendations targeting parties to the conflict, Member States and UN partners involved in both the political and humanitarian response with a view to enhancing human rights protection in Syria. Through the deployment of three human rights advisers to Beirut, Amman and Gaziantep, UN Human Rights continued to support the humanitarian leadership for the Syrian crisis, which resulted in increased advocacy around 50 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2017 violations of international law, and the integration of human rights into strategic and operational humanitarian decision-making fora and response plans. UN Human Rights maintained regular contact with the Office of the Special Envoy as well as Member States in order to provide human rights analysis and early warning input into the political process. It was actively involved in developing the United Nations plan in support of the post-agreement transition phase in Syria, which was aimed at coordinating activities to reinforce transitional arrangements following the conclusion of a peace agreement. The planning process was endorsed by the UN Syria Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) in March 2017. The Office has also been involved in supporting the engagement of various actors with international human rights mechanisms and the work of the Human Rights Council, including civil society actors, and continued to cooperate with the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.

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