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	There is no excuse for waging war on civilians by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), agencies Syria   May 2016   Speech by MSF International President Dr. Joanne Liu, at UN Security Council session. 3 May 2016   Last Wednesday, airstrikes obliterated Al Quds Hospital in Aleppo. They blew apart at least 50 men, women and children. It killed one of the last remaining paediatricians in the city. A murderous airstrike.   There were almost 300 airstrikes in Aleppo over the last 10 days. Civilians, often in crowds, were repeatedly struck.   What are individuals in wars today? Expendable commodities, dead or alive. Patients and doctors are legitimate targets. Women, children, the sick, the wounded and their caregivers, are condemned to death. Stop these attacks.   I went to Kunduz, Afghanistan following the U.S. attack on our trauma centre on 3 October 2015.   One of the survivors, an MSF nurse whose left arm was blown off during the relentless airstrike, told me something that haunts me daily.   He said that when fighting erupted in Kunduz, MSF told its staff that its trauma centre was a safe place.   “We believed you,” he said. “Did you know that we would be bombed?”   I told him that until 3 October, I truly believed that the hospital was a safe place.   I cannot say that any more about any medical facilities on the frontlines today.   In Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, hospitals are routinely bombed, raided, looted or burned to the ground.   Medical personnel are threatened. Patients are shot in their beds.   Broad attacks on communities and precise attacks on health facilities are described as mistakes, are denied outright, or are simply met with silence.   In reality, they amount to massive, indiscriminate and disproportionate civilian targeting in urban settings, and, in the worst cases, to acts of terror.   The effects of the attacks against health facilities emanate far beyond those immediately killed and injured.   They demolish routine and lifesaving healthcare for all. They make life impossible. Full stop.   On 26 October 2015, a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit an MSF hospital in Haydan, in the north of Yemen, leaving at least 200,000 people without lifesaving care.   It was the first of three MSF facilities partially or completely destroyed in Yemen over a period of three months.   Attacks on MSF facilities provide only a glimpse into the brutality of war.   Attacks on other hospitals and clinics – and schools, markets, houses of worship – are routine. Local health workers bear the brunt of these abuses.   We are at a deadly impasse. We can no longer assume that fully functioning hospitals – in which patients are fighting for their lives – are out of bounds. Hospitals and patients have been dragged onto the battlefield.   In Jasim, a town in southern Syria, citizens have protested in front of a hospital to prevent its re-opening. They know what happens to functioning hospitals.   We are facing an epidemic of attacks on health facilities, impeding our ability to do our core work. And to date, our calls for independent investigations have gone unheeded.   Accountability begins with independent and impartial fact finding. Perpetrators cannot be investigators, judges and juries.   Make no mistake: we will relentlessly denounce attacks on healthcare. We will speak out loudly and with force about what we witness in the field.   Medicine must not be a deadly occupation. Patients must not be attacked or slaughtered in their beds.   We physicians take an oath when we join the medical profession. We treat every individual, regardless of who they are, regardless of their religion, their race, or on which side they may fight. Even if they are wounded combatants, or if they are labelled as criminals or terrorists.   Hospitals must not be attacked or forcibly entered by armed personnel, including to search for and capture patients.   To turn our back on these basic principles is to turn our back on the foundation of medical ethics.   Medical ethics cannot be buried by war. The neutrality of war-time medical care cannot be stamped out by state sovereignty or domestic law. Especially in an age of counter-terrorism and counter insurgency – characterized by shifting alliances and murky rules of engagement.   While the nature of warfare may have changed, the rules of war have not.   You are charged with protecting peace and security. Yet four of the five permanent members of this council have, to varying degrees, been associated with coalitions responsible for attacks on health structures over the last year.   These include the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, the Russia-backed Syrian-led coalition.   You therefore must live up to your extraordinary responsibilities, and set an example for all states. I repeat: Stop these attacks.   The discussion here today cannot amount to empty rhetoric. This resolution cannot end up like so many others, including those passed on Syria over the past five years: routinely violated with impunity.   In Syria, where healthcare is systematically targeted, and besieged areas are cynically denied medical care – uphold your obligations.   Ensure the protection of the impartial provision of healthcare in conflict.   Also support the obligations of health workers to treat all sick and wounded without discrimination.   Dr. Maaz, the paediatrician murdered in Aleppo last week, was killed for saving lives.   Today, we remember his humanity and bravery, shared by so many patients, nurses, doctors, communities and MSF staff caught up in areas of conflict.   For their sake: translate this resolution into action. Re-commit – unambiguously – to the norms that govern the conduct of war.   This resolution must lead to all states and non-state actors stopping the carnage.   You must also pressure your allies to end attacks on healthcare and populations in conflict areas. We will not leave patients behind. And we will not be silent. Seeking or providing healthcare must not be a death sentence.   You will be judged not on your words today, but on your actions. Your work has only begun. Make this resolution save lives.   May 2016   Airstrike destroys Red Cross, MSF-supported hospital in Aleppo killing 14.   The bombing of the MSF-supported hospital in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Wednesday 28 April has killed at least 14 people, and three doctors.   According to hospital staff on the ground, the hospital was destroyed by at least one airstrike which directly hit the building, reducing it to rubble. Other airstrikes in the neighbourhood also hit areas close to the hospital.   “MSF categorically condemns this outrageous targeting of yet another medical facility in Syria” said Muskilda Zancada, MSF head of mission, Syria. “This devastating attack has destroyed a vital hospital in Aleppo, and the main referral centre for paediatric care in the area. Where is the outrage among those with the power and obligation to stop this carnage?”   MSF, along with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which also supported the Al Quds hospital, both expressed outrage over what appeared to be deliberate targeting of the life-saving facility.   "The recent attack on the ICRC-supported Quds hospital is unacceptable and sadly this is not the first time the lifesaving medical services have been hit," said Marianne Gasser, head of the ICRC mission in Syria, in a press statement.   "We urge all the parties to spare the civilians. Don''t attack hospitals, don''t use weapons that cause widespread damage."   The situation in Aleppo city, consistently at the frontlines of the brutal conflict, was critical even before this attack. An estimated 250,000 people remain in the city, which has seen dramatic increases in levels of bombardments, fighting and fatalities in recent weeks.   Over the last week, several other medical structures have been attacked and destroyed in Aleppo, and five rescue workers from the Syrian Civil Defence organisation have been killed.   MSF has been donating medical supplies to Al Quds hospital since 2012, and has built a very strong working relationship with the staff there.   “Compounding this tragedy is that the dedication and commitment of the staff of Al Quds, working under unimaginable conditions, has been unwavering throughout this bloody conflict,” said Zancada.   The 34-bed hospital offered services including an emergency room, obstetric care, an outpatients department, an inpatients department, an intensive care unit and an operating theatre. Eight doctors and 28 nurses worked full time in the hospital, which was the main referral centre for paediatrics in Aleppo.   * MSF runs six medical facilities across northern Syria and supports more than 150 health centres and hospitals across the country, many of them in besieged areas. Several hospitals across north and south Syria have been bombed since the start of 2016, including seven supported by MSF - in which at least 42 people have been killed, including at least 16 medical staff.   May 2016   UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura described the "worrisome deterioration of the cessation of hostilities" as the country''s five-year civil war continues, and referenced the Aleppo hospital strike. He added, "In the last 48 hours, we have had an average of one Syrian killed every 25 minutes. One Syrian wounded every 13 minutes."   Nadim Houry, Human Rights Watch''s deputy Middle East director said: "With the civilian death toll rising and hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the country, key powers need to be focused on protecting civilians in all parts of Syria".   "There are decisive measures that key powers, particularly those on the Security Council, can take to deter abusive parties and improve protection for civilians," he said.   According to news reports "Some 200 civilians have been killed in the past week in Syria, nearly half of them around Aleppo".   The United Nations human rights chief said that the latest reports of civilian deaths and injuries in Syria, including bombings of marketplaces and medical facilities, reveal a “monstrous disregard for civilian lives by all parties to the conflict,” calling for urgent action by all relevant actors to resolve to help the people of Syria.   “Reports are coming in from Aleppo, Homs, Damascus and Rural Damascus, Idleb and Deir ez-Zour of mounting civilian casualties,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra''ad Al Hussein in a statement released by his Office (OHCHR).   “In Idleb last week, on 19 April, bombs were reportedly dropped in a vegetable market in Maarat al-Nu''man, the busiest area in town, during the busiest part of the day, killing at least 44 people and destroying dozens of shops. In the town of Kafr Nabel, bombs were again dropped on a market in the busiest area of the town, narrowly missing an after-school centre containing 50 children aged 6 to 10,” he added.   In addition, the High Commissioner said that in the opposition-controlled part of Aleppo over the past few days, pro-Government aircraft have destroyed a key hospital and other medical facilities, reportedly killing a number of medical personnel, including the only remaining paediatrician in the area, as well as many patients.   In the Government-controlled part of Aleppo, another hospital was struck and many civilians were killed in attacks launched in a number of neighbourhoods.   The High Commissioner said OHCHR has over the years documented numerous attacks on hospitals and other medical facilities as well numerous strikes on marketplaces during busy shopping times – which, depending on the circumstances, may amount to war crimes.   “In any case, these indicate a serious, alarming disregard for one of the cornerstones of international humanitarian law: the duty to protect civilians,” he said.   Civilians also remain trapped in besieged villages, towns and cities across Syria. Many innocent civilians are at risk of starvation and have no access to adequate medical care, the High Commissioner said.   “Urgent action is needed by all relevant actors to ensure the protection of civilians and their right to life, and to fight the impunity that has done so much to encourage the multitude of horrendous breaches of international humanitarian law and international human rights law that have taken place in Syria over the past five years,” Mr. Zeid stressed.   “In the context of such an abysmal situation, the persistent failure of the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court is an example of the most shameful form of realpolitik,” the High Commissioner said.   “In the minds of many, the world''s great powers have in effect become accomplices to the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of human beings, and the displacement of millions. There is currently no disincentive for any of the many war criminals in Syria to stop contributing to the wild spiral of killing and destruction that has engulfed the country,” he added.   The High Commissioner also urged the international community to “address the terrible suffering of the Syrian people with the resolve that has been so absent for so long.”   May 2016   The United Nations mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic expresses outrage at yesterday’s terrorist attacks in the cities of Tartous and Jableh that have reportedly killed scores of civilians. The terrorist group, the so-called ISIS, has claimed responsibility.   These assaults, utilising both suicide attackers and vehicle-born improvised explosive devices, were carried out in areas known to be peaceful civilian areas. In Tartous, the primary target was a bus station. In Jableh, the attacks were focused on a hospital, resulting in the reported killing of patients, visiting family members, doctors and nurses.   “These attacks bring chaos and terror to areas of the country where some degree of normal life was still possible,” said Commission Chair Paulo Pinheiro. “The Commission stands in solidarity with the Syrian people in demanding that all parties to this war reject such reprehensible violence and take every possible step to protect civilians,” Pinheiro added.   Noting that hospitals and medical personnel are specifically protected under international humanitarian law, the Commission stresses that attacks targeting protected locations or which fail to distinguish between civilian and military targets may amount to war crimes. It is essential that perpetrators of such crimes be held accountable.   The United Nations expert on the human rights of internally displaced persons Chaloka Beyani has condemned in the strongest terms the deadly attacks on camps for internally displaced persons that took place on Thursday 5 May calling the actions “a grievous attack against highly vulnerable civilians that has all the hallmarks of a war crime.”   Air strikes hit settlements near Sarmada, a town in Idlib province close to the border with Turkey in northern Syria where displaced people had sought sanctuary, reportedly killing at least 30 people and injuring over 80, among them many women and children. Most of those in the camps had fled fighting and air attacks on Aleppo since February.   “There can be no justification for such atrocities against those who had already been forced to flee their homes due to conflict and are at their most vulnerable living in tents and reliant on humanitarian assistance,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons. “A targeted attack against them would constitute an abhorrent and criminal violation of international humanitarian and human rights law and standards.”   “International law is clear: every human being has the inherent right to life,” Mr. Beyani stated. Referring to the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, he reiterated that “attacks or other acts of violence against internally displaced persons are prohibited in all circumstances, including attacks against their camps or settlements.”   http://www.msf.org/en/article/msf-president-un-security-council-stop-these-attacks http://www.msf.org/en/news http://healthcareindanger.org/ http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/more-100-humanitarian-agencies-call-immediate-and-sustained-access-syria http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/IICISyria/Pages/IndependentInternationalCommission.aspx http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36218997 http://www.unocha.org/top-stories/all-stories/syria-attacks-civilians-and-civilian-infrastructure-need-stop-immediately-sa Visit the related web page
	A lack of access to justice disproportionately affects the poor by Open Society Justice Initiative Canada   April 2016   On the second Tuesday of every month, in a store-front office in the small town of Bancroft, Canada, two lawyers sit down to do business. Maybe a client has had an argument with a landlord, or a dispute with an employer; perhaps someone has been denied claiming social assistance, or is dealing with tax troubles, or facing discrimination at work. Whatever the problem, the advice is all free, whether given out in person, or over a phone help line; in this small, economically depressed town, most of the clients could not otherwise afford to talk to a legal specialist.   The weekly legal advice clinic is operated by the Community Advocacy and Legal Center, a nonprofit community legal clinic that has been working in this area of Ontario for over 30 years. It is part of a province-wide network of Community Legal Clinics (CLCs) which is a shining example of the provision of legal access—making sure people are not left without the benefits of legal protection just because they can’t afford a lawyer.   Ontario''s well-developed legal services culture has also led to the development of clinics that serve specific populations: the Fair Change clinic in Toronto, for example, focuses on helping homeless people avoid fines for minor street offences.   Such primary legal advice not only benefits low-income clients: it can reduce costs for the justice system as a whole by resolving issues that might otherwise have ended up in more costly litigation before a court. The clinics also seek to go beyond any specific problem, by educating low income clients more broadly about their rights, and engaging in law reform and community development. Ultimately, this effort aims at change that affects the entire low income community.   The UN estimates that up to four billion people globally live outside fair and functioning justice systems. Even when there is a functioning national court system, for most many people getting legal assistance for using law to find solutions to civil and administrative justice problems, to protect and advance their interests is an impossibility.   A lack of access to justice disproportionately affects the poor: without the ability to protect their assets, livelihood opportunities are curtailed; when people do not feel physically safe it stops them accessing healthcare, education or making the most of their own potential as individuals. Socioeconomic costs of unresolved legal problems can be significant and can be detrimental to health. It is clear that barriers to access to justice impact development. The new UN development agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals unequivocally declares that poverty reduction, sustainable development and access to justice are fundamentally linked.   But how can the goal of realizing universal access to justice be realized? The Ontario model shows one way forward. That system grew out of the efforts of local community groups and volunteer lawyers, who after initially relying on philanthropic support managed to secured public funding and the creation of a province-wide system of primary legal assistance. Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General now funds both provide formal legal aid services, including criminal and some civil legal issues, as well as clinic law (“poverty law”) services provided by CLCs, which currently consists of 76 independent CLCs across province.   Can this kind of institutionalization and financial sustainability be achieved elsewhere? At the Open Society Foundations, we believe it can. We have launched a new initiative on legal empowerment which aims to institutionalize nationwide community-based justice services targeting nine countries: Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Ukraine, and the United States.   There are clearly considerable differences between these countries: what works in Ukraine, where limited legal advice is dispensed by community law centers, is unlikely to work in South Africa, which has strong but uneven community advice offices staffed by paralegals, built through the struggle against apartheid.   Broadly, we can say that we will be working with our civil society and government partners to support both lawyers and with community based paralegals to combine a range of tools to find solutions to individual and community wide legal problems; and that our efforts will focus on strengthening the delivery of basic services, while simultaneously advancing systemic reform in the interest of the poor.   This new legal empowerment initiative will work to ensure that such services are institutionalized, are widely available at a national level and operate in a financially sustainable manner.   Too often such holistic justice programs are dependent on private funding from foundations or foreign aid rather than public funding. Too often they are ad hoc and dependent on charismatic individuals as opposed to institutional structures. Through this initiative we will work with governments, civil society and donor partners to identify and advance policy solutions for securing high quality services, widespread coverage, independence, and sustainability.   This will be a considerable challenge. But ultimately, it is part of a vision of legal empowerment, which is what happens when ordinary people, even the most marginalized, are able to use the law themselves to find concrete solutions to their day to day justice problems, and to hold authorities to account. Visit the related web page
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