The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Bi-weekly press briefing -16 January 2024
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1:29:09
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MP4
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5.5 GB
PRESS BRIEFING BY THE UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE
16 January 2024
New Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization
Celeste Saulo, who had assumed her duty as the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) this month, stated that one of the most complex challenges faced by humanity was climate change, and it was her wish that the global community would come together to address this challenge. Support to regions and countries ought to be intensified, especially to those which were grappling with developmental challenges. This support should help nations become key players and shape the climate agenda at all levels. The Sustainable Development Goals were the guiding star, as inequalities intersected with climate change. WMO would work to make sure that those members with lower levels of development would receive particular attention. Ms. Saulo stressed that adapting to climate change was not a choice but a necessity and spoke about the importance of building resilient communities and early warning systems. Under her leadership, early warning systems would be fortified, and science and life-saving information would be made accessible to all. She stressed that every person on the planet should have access to life-saving information in real time.
Speaking of mitigation, SG Saulo said that WMO’s Global Greenhouse Gas Watch aimed at providing a comprehensive and accurate overview of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. In the pursuit of common objectives, international cooperation, accessible financial mechanisms, collaboration between science and education, public-private partnerships, inter-institutional agendas and other processes were not simply beneficial, but truly essential, she said. The World Economic Forum’s latest risk report highlighted the severity of extreme weather events as the second biggest threat, closely interlinked with other risks. To address the existing massive challenges, media support and professionalism were needed so that people around the world could understand what was at stake, and in order to help tackle misinformation and fake news. The road ahead would not be easy, but with determination progress was possible.
Responding to numerous questions from the media, SG Saulo said that the WMO needed to offer stronger support to its members on how they communicate on climate action. She hoped that she could work together with the press corps to produce clear, robust, authoritative communication, based on science, to reach people around the world with facts. Speaking on early warning systems, SG Saulo said that the Early Warnings for All initiative had thus far identified 30 countries who were mostly prone to hazards and less developed, where coordination had commenced at the national level. National meetings had begun to identify what the exact needs were and how each agency would attend to those priorities. By the end of 2024, concrete results were expected to be seen in these 30 countries (which included Mauritius, Haiti, Guyana), but activities were also underway in other countries.
SG Saulo emphasized that her priorities would be early warnings and greenhouse emissions monitoring, with the emphasis on helping regions and countries. While campaigning for this position, she had spoken to representatives of 168 countries in order to identify what their needs were. Implementation was a crucial aspect of everything the WMO did, she said. She explained that the world was already close to 1.5 degrees Celsius over the preindustrial temperatures. During 2024, it was expected that this threshold would be passed, especially as it was a El Niño year. The worrying trend was there, confirmed by the atmospheric data, and not enough action had been taken so far. Communication was at the heart of everything the WMO did, said Ms. Saulo, who was planning to have a series of meetings with a wide range of stakeholders, including donors and partners. Resource mobilization had to speed up, as many development actors were still way too bureaucratic, while there was no time to waste.
Responding to another question, SG Saulo underscored that women brought diversity and a different way of thinking to the WMO and other organizations. For her, family was a source of inspiration as she wanted to do her best to leave the best world possible to future generations. She also emphasized the importance of diversity, inclusivity, and openness. Finally, SG Saulo said that climate change could not be considered without considering inequalities; for example, Africa had contributed the least to global warming, but was suffering from many of its consequences. She hoped that, during her mandate, concrete results would be achieved for the most vulnerable countries and regions.
WHO global report on trends in prevalence of tobacco use 2000-2030
Dr. Ruediger Krech, Director of Health Promotion at the World Health Organization (WHO), stated that globally there were 1.25 billion adult tobacco users worldwide, which was good news as the number was 19 million lower than two years before. This was a first such decline, made even more important by the growth of the global population, which added some 149 million adults over the same period.
In total, 150 countries were now on a downward trend in tobacco use, with 56 among them already tracking towards the global target of a 30 percent reduction by 2025. Regulating tobacco sales, including tobacco taxes, worked well, along with measuring who exactly smoked in every country and helping those people quit. An average person tried to quit smoking ten times before succeeding, he said. While countries set themselves the ambitious voluntary target of a 30 percent reduction in tobacco use prevalence by 2025, the report showed that the world collectively would only make a 25 percent relative reduction in tobacco use unless more concerted efforts were made to adopt stronger tobacco control measures.
Currently the fastest decreases in tobacco use were happening in the lower middle-income group of countries, which showed that tobacco control could be done regardless of a country’s economic status. The European Region remained a challenge, where rates among women were more than double the global average for women and were reducing much slower than all other regions. The WHO region which currently had the lowest tobacco use prevalence was Africa, where the smoking population had already decreased from an average of 18 percent in 2000 to under 10 percent in 2022. Yet, due to population growth, there was likely to be more tobacco users in the African region come 2030 than there were now.
WHO urged countries to continue putting in place tobacco control policies and continue to fight against tobacco industry interference. The minute a government thought they were winning the fight against tobacco, the tobacco industry seized the opportunity to manipulate health policies to keep selling their deadly products. The ”Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2023”, published by STOP and the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control, showed that efforts to protect health policy from increased tobacco industry interference had deteriorated around the world.
Dr. Krech informed that tobacco control was as much about protecting future generations as helping existing users to quit, and that the WHO would dedicate this year’s World No Tobacco Day to protecting children from tobacco industry interference. In February, countries were set to meet in Panama for the 10th Session of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Conference of Parties where the tobacco industry would try to influence global health policies by offering financial and in-kind incentives interfering with countries rights to protect the health of their populations. Strengthening the WHO FCTC was a global health priority outlined in the sustainable development goals. WHO stood ready to support countries in defending evidence-based tobacco control measures in the face of industry interference.
Answering questions from the press corps, Dr. Krech said that there was a lot of room for improvement for Switzerland, which hosted several major tobacco corporations and grew tobacco. In certain countries in Europe, smoking among women was increasing, partly because of the absence of regulation on advertisements and product placements. The tobacco industry presented women smoking as self-fulfillment and liberation, which could not be further from the truth. A large majority of women smokers would like to quit smoking, but nicotine, as it was known, was highly addictive.
Dr. Krech gave a concrete example of the Big Tobacco’s putting pressure on individual countries by purchasing first-class air tickets for their health delegations. He said that there was an unprecedented, stronger-than-ever push by the tobacco industry against the WHO and tobacco control efforts. If a country had not been banned e-cigarettes, at least strong regulatory measures had to be taken to ensure that children had no access to e-cigarettes, which could be very well concealed. E-cigarettes were hooking children to nicotine, which was highly addictive, and there were double-digit increases in certain countries with lax measures. There were thousands of flavors in the market, including vanilla ice cream and gummy bears, most of them attractive to children. All flavors ought to be banned.
On another question, Dr. Krech explained that the tobacco industry targeted Africa the most because the prevalence there was the lowest and people were young and would be smoking for a long time. He also pointed out that most studies showing that e-cigarettes were less harmful were funded by the tobacco industry. The industry was swamping markets with hundreds of new products and thousands of flavors, which were hard to all analyze and regulate. This had to be counteracted and the trend had to be reversed. E-cigarettes were not consumer goods and had to be regulated, stressed Dr. Krech. Finally, he informed that cigarette butts were the single most used plastic in the world; billions of those ended up in the oceans and ended up being eaten by the fish.
Execution by nitrogen asphyxiation in the US state of Alabama
Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the OHCHR was alarmed by the imminent execution, in Alabama, United States of America, of prisoner Kenneth Eugene Smith, through the use of a novel and untested method – suffocation by nitrogen gas, which could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international human rights law.
The UN Human Rights Office called on Alabama state authorities to halt Mr. Smith’s execution, scheduled for 25 January, and to refrain from taking steps towards any other executions in this manner. Alabama had already sought to execute Mr. Smith unsuccessfully by lethal injection in 2022. Mr. Smith also had ongoing proceedings in federal courts against his upcoming execution which had not been finally resolved.
Nitrogen gas has never been used in the United States to execute human beings. The American Veterinary Medical Association recommended giving even large animals a sedative when being euthanized in this manner, while Alabama’s protocol for execution by nitrogen asphyxiation made no provision for sedation of human beings prior to execution. Ms. Shamdasani reiterated that the death penalty was inconsistent with the fundamental right to life. There was an absence of proof that it deterred crime, while it created an unacceptable risk of executing innocent people.
Full statement can be found here.
Answering questions from the media, Ms. Shamdasani said that Mr. Smith had been found guilty for capital murder. There had already been one botched execution attempt with a lethal injection. On another question, she said that there had been difficulties to access lethal drugs in the USA, which was why Alabama had opted for this untested method. The OHCHR had raised the issue with the federal authorities of the United States but acknowledged the federal-state division of judicial responsibilities in the country. In the USA, 37 states had either abolished the death penalty or had not carried out one in more than a decade, which was a welcome development. Several other states had worryingly approved of this untested method of execution. Mr. Smith had a pending appeal in the federal court, informed Ms. Shamdasani. She said that this method had never been used in the United States but could not state definitely if it had been used anywhere else in the world.
Conflict in Sudan
Responding to a question, Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the conflict in Sudan was now in its ninth month, and the High Commissioner for Human Rights had repeatedly appealed for the respect of the rules of war and protection of civilians. Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) said that the Emergency Relief Coordinator had allocated USD 10 million from the Central Emergency Relief Fund to support those fleeing the country. Some 60,000 people had fled from Sudan into South Sudan over the past month only.
Announcements
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service, informed that the Committee on the Rights of the Child had opened its 95th session on 15 January, and was concluding this morning its review of the report of Republic of Congo. The Committee would also review Bulgaria, Senegal, Russia, Lithuania, and South Africa.
Teleprompter
[Other language spoken]
Welcome to this press briefing of the Information Service at the UN in Geneva.
Today is Tuesday, 16th of January and we are very happy to start our briefing by welcoming quite an exceptional speaker we have this morning.
That's why we have decided to give her a lead way of at least half an hour.
We have with us Celeste Salo that, as you know, is the new Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organisation, the first woman to be elected to discharge and 1st Latin America, if I'm not wrong.
Mrs Salo is from Argentina, as you know.
She will give you some introductory remarks and then we will open the floor to questions.
And then once we've finished with Mrs Salo, we'll continue with the press, with the regular press briefing and the other guests who are on the agenda that you've received this morning from Solange.
So without further ado, I give the floor to Missus Saulo for her introductory remarks.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
Well, dear friends from the media, I'm very happy to stand before you today as the new Secretary General of the WMO.
I'm very happy to be here.
Not for me as a person, but because humanity is facing one of its most complex challenges, climate change.
Of course, from the bottom of my heart, my wish is that we will face this challenge together as a global family, bound by a shared responsibility, a vision for the future of our children and of course, a common purpose.
Over the next years, we have an opportunity, a duty and a possibility to shape the narrative on climate action.
This is about empowering nations, fostering inclusivity and creating sustainable pathways for shared prosperity.
We are not mere observers, we are architects of a sustainable future.
International cooperation was largely born here in Geneva, and this is an amazing tool to tackle the challenges of our time, as our forefathers and foremothers did before us.
To make a true impact, we must intensify our support to regions and countries, especially those grappling with developmental challenges.
If we are a family, no member should be left behind.
Our support should enable nations to be key players in shaping climate agendas at all levels.
In the realm of climate of climate action and climate change, the Sustainable Development Goals are our guiding stars.
We stand at the intersection of inequality and climate change, and our strategies must reflect the urgency of the times.
Our commitment to reducing inequality and development gaps are unwavering.
We will prioritise regional and underground activities, ensuring innovation reaches every member, especially those with a relatively lower degree of development.
Adapting to the climate change is not a choice but an essential necessity.
It is about building resilient communities, especially in the most vulnerable regions, capable of resisting to and recovering from climate related disasters.
Early warning systems will be the lift chain in Disaster Risk Reduction, transforming threats into opportunities for sustainable development.
Under my leadership, we will fortify early warning systems, enhance data accessibility, and make science and timely, life saving information accessible to all.
The overarching Early Warning for All initiative is committed to ensuring that every person on Earth has access to timely, authoritative and life saving weather and climate risk information, recognising that adaptation must go hand in hand with mitigation.
WMO has another big initiative which is our Global Greenhouse Gas Watch, aimed at providing A comprehensive and accurate overview of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Understanding the impacts of human activities is crucial for developing innovative solutions, including the advancements of renewable energy across all countries and regions.
In our pursuit of common objectives.
International cooperation, accessible financial mechanisms, collaboration between science and education, public private partnerships, interinstitutional agendas and other processes are not simply beneficial but are essential.
We will forge stronger ties with United Nations organisations and bodies, development agencies, governments, the civil society, the scientific community, the private sector and of course, last but certainly not the least, the media.
Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, the World Economic Forum is happening this week in Davos.
This forum just released its Global Risk Report.
What are the most threatening risk in the world today?
According to their views, the rampant spread of misinformation and disinformation is the first one, the growing severity of extreme weather events the second one, and global economic downturns.
These threats are interlaced, creating a complex web of challenges that demand our immediate and decisive action.
Most of the action happens here in Geneva, behind the scenes, and ripples throughout the world.
To address these gigantic challenges, we need you to deliver reliable scientific information to the people.
We need you, the media, to interpret what is coming our way.
We need your loyalty and your professionalism so people can better understand our world and how it goes.
We need you to help us tackling this information and fake news.
I'm very much looking forward to embarking on this journey with you all.
It will not be an easy Rd, but if we, if we have the strength and determination, we will write it for our global family and for the generations to come.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Secretary General Salo, for this introductory remarks.
And I'll open the floor to questions now.
And I'll start with the room.
If there is any journalist who would like to ask a question.
Benjamin Lewis from the Swiss radio.
Thank you very much.
Secretary General.
First question before everything is Cuba Parle Francais Deco.
All right, great.
My question is about what you just said about misinformation and how to tackle that.
We saw in the last month that WMO was.
Went very vocal, very present in the media, but at the same time we see a rise of, for example, heads of state, maybe 1.
You know very well who are more and more pushing another narrative, which is, for example, global warming is a plot something like that.
How do you intend to reinforce the presence of WMO in the media?
Or something else to combat to to to really to fight against?
This this type of.
Of speech, yes, sorry, thank you very much for your question.
And of course, yes, we have to reinforce our, our contact with, I would say not only the media, but of course our members to support them in, in, in how they communicate climate action and the priorities that the world has in terms of climate action.
So we will, of course, communication.
[Other language spoken]
And I think it's a very complex issue having also many channels and we have to cover all of them.
So that's why I'm here.
I, I, I hope that we can work together to make this clear, robust and authoritative communication about what is happening and what we expect.
We are an organisation that is based on science, that is our strength and we need to use science for the benefit of society.
So yes, I will reinforce whatever is needed at the WMO level.
Also, I will help the countries to have their own press system so that they can really engage with better communications.
And I hope you that Geneva International will help us also.
Indeed.
Thank you very much, Emma Farge, Reuters.
Good morning, Secretary General, welcome.
You mentioned early warning systems, which I suppose is going to be a priority for you.
This is obviously something that your predecessor also talked about.
Can you tell us how much progress was already made before you came into this position and how much work needs to be done?
How much has been done and and how challenging will it be going forward?
I know there were UN estimates to have them everywhere by 2020.
Seven, 1.5 billion invested.
Can you give us an update on the progress and the challenges ahead?
[Other language spoken]
Certainly, thank you very much.
I think that Early Warning for All initiative is a great opportunity and not only also to, to address our community needs, but also to, to put at the centre of this, of this scene the national Meteorological and hydrological Services and how they can help their societies to, to to be resilient and to adapt to climate change.
In terms of what we have done up to now, we together with the other partners organisations including UNDRRITU and of course Red Cross, we have identified 30 countries and we are that are mostly not only prone to hazards, but also are the less developed ones, small island states where we started to coordinate at the national level and to address what are their, their needs.
And so within those thirty countries, we've launched national meetings where that part, including the met services and the disaster response agencies sit together to understand what what their needs are and how each agency will attend those priorities.
So we expect that by the end of 2024 we will be doing we will showing you concrete results at the level of of those thirty countries.
Besides those thirty countries, we are also moving forward with other countries that do are not perhaps so behind, but they with just a small amount of support, they can really make a difference.
So we will not keep just for those thirty countries, but we'll try to enlarge this.
So I think that we are in a good shape.
For those that do do not know, we started from half of the world not being covered by early warning systems.
So we have to just move from that number towards something that shows that we are making progress and we will do that during this year.
Yes, just had to follow up quickly if you could mention a few of the countries among the 30 and say what sort of hazards they're vulnerable to.
[Other language spoken]
While you're requesting my memory.
But I, I will go for Mauritius, for example that it's top on news now of course, we do have Guyana, for example, we have Haiti.
We have small island estates mainly.
Maybe we can complete that, at least with our experts, but mostly, of course, countries from Africa and from the southwestern Pacific area, where we, we identified that the needs are stronger.
Thank you very much.
Christophe Vogt, the head of office of ISBN French Agency.
Thank you for taking my question and welcome, Secretary General.
So you talked about two main priorities, which are the early warning systems everywhere in the world.
Also better understanding of greenhouse gas effects and how much they are.
We were actually surprised last year when WMO told us that we don't really know how much greenhouse gases there are in the in the atmosphere, but what those are things that are already worked on.
What are you?
How do you want to imprint your your leadership of the WMO?
What's going to be Celeste Solo's priority for the agency?
Well, thank you for that question.
And you know that this the organisation is a member driven organisation.
So that means that our members tell us what their priorities are and you, you have synthetized very well.
We have to go for early warnings, we have to go for greenhouse gases watch, and we have to go to improve our observing capacity, capability all around the world, because our network, our observation and network is not enough.
So I would say that Celeste Saulos could put a print or a signature on the how, not on the what.
And the the how means for me that regions are at the centre of what we do and countries are at the centre of what we do.
And sometimes we pretend to know what the necessities of the country are, but actually we don't know.
We need to speak with them.
And I just mentioned that when I was campaigning, I had conversations with 168 countries trying to understand what their needs were.
And so All in all, we, we share a common understanding of what we need, the issues, how we can implement and the the implementation is for me the crucial aspect of all what we do.
If we fail at at implementation, we will be failing.
I would say the word and, and here is where my, my, my strength will be, will be focused in implementing, implementing the decisions that our member countries decided.
So yes, speaking with countries working horizontally and implementing and showing concrete results of what we are doing for me is at the centre of my of my mandate.
Thank you very much.
If I don't see other hands in the room, I go to the platform and I'll start with Antonio Brotto, the Spanish news agency.
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
Last year the race of temperatures was 1.4° above the pre industrial levels.
Do you think this?
Year we will reach the 1.5 the this number that was set up by by Paris agreement as the as the limit that we shouldn't cross.
And if this happens, do you think this is this would be a big defeat on the battle against climate change?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you colleague for your question.
Yes, indeed.
Our report on climate showed that we are close to 1.5 above pre industrial levels in 2023.
And the science and it's not not just an opinion and that is something I want to build on.
We are, we are building on science tells that us that during a linear years we have more possibilities to have a warmer year.
So we expect to be close or above the 1.5° anomaly.
So if you exceed A threshold one year, it's it's a warning I would say, but it's not just that you are not there for the Paris agreement.
You need I would say 10 years more or less records above 1.5 to really be above the Paris threshold.
So I think that what the atmosphere is telling us is that the trend is there and we should really be worried about this trend.
That is what the atmosphere, the atmosphere and the data is telling us for, for the global society.
We must take action.
And that is what I'm most, most concerned about and that we are far from.
Having enough action in terms of reducing greenhouse gases and that is really a concern.
Thank you very much.
Paola Dupraz, Geneva Solutions, Yemeni Arcenevra, I wanted to ask you, you mentioned the, the, the issue of access to the financial mechanisms that you're going to be trying to promote.
And I mean, your message has been really advocating more for, for these countries socially as well as financially.
But I'd like to, to, to understand a little bit more, you know, how you, how you're going to be doing this, how you're going to be interacting with, with those organisations and the private sector and so forth.
And and this is actually one of the the themes that is being discussed this week at in.
So I'm just curious to to understand a little bit better how you are going to put in place these these ideas that you discussed.
Thank you for your question.
First, first of all, a communication is, is, is A1A key part of all what we do.
And we have to be sure that make sure that all the stakeholders and all the partnerships that we build agree on, on certain commitments.
And I think that the private sector developing agencies do agree on, on on the necessity of of taking action as fast as possible.
So my, my, my first approach of course is having meetings with all of them.
I will be going on an official mission to the UN by the end of this month, also meeting with the World Bank.
And I think that resource mobilisation is part of what we need, but we're not.
We need to speed up resource mobilisation.
I'm, I'm, I have to say that we are too bureaucratic.
And then when I say we, I, I would say the development agencies and, and, and the some actors are involved are really too bureaucratic.
And sometimes when they make a decision, it takes two or three years to have the money in place.
We cannot allow those time scales for action.
So that is where I would like to really make a difference.
So speak with the donors, speak with the partners, speak with our private sector and, and, and agree on some common issues that we need to address if we want to have things in place as soon as possible.
Thank you very much, Lisa Schlein, Voice of America.
Thank you, Alessandra, and welcome, Secretary General.
Nice to see you on the podium.
The World Meteorological Organisation has been around for about 74 years and it's been led by men.
I was wondering how you feel as a woman having upended this old boys network, and how this might change the direction in which the World Meteorological Organisation will go.
That is, I'm interested in knowing whether you think you might have a somewhat different perspective on what the priority needs are or at least on how to how to manage to get these priority needs actually met, not just talked about.
You just mentioned bureaucracy right now.
I'm wondering whether that has been a hindrance and if you're trying to get rid of that.
And you also are talking about global families and I'm wondering actually what why do you have a different perspective on how things should be run?
Thank you very much.
And it would be appreciated if we could have your opening remarks sent to us.
[Other language spoken]
Yes, of course, I will share my opening remarks and well, thank you for this welcome.
As a the new, not only the new Secretary General, but particularly the first female.
I think it's, I am I, I don't know, some had the opportunity to break many ceilings, crystal ceilings.
[Other language spoken]
What women bring to to to organisations and particular particularly to the WMOI think that we will bring diversity.
It's not only about women.
I would say it is about diversity and we have different ways of thinking the, the problems, the issues and finding solutions.
I don't say that is necessarily better, but it's, I think it's different.
And, and I for example, I highlighted for me how important family is for me as a building block, something that moves me forward because I'm thinking on the new generations all the time.
I, I cannot, I cannot do something without thinking the impact for the future generations.
And, and I, I need to feel comfortable with what I live to the future generations.
I'm committed for them.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I'm old enough and, and, and, and I think it's, it has to do with how much I care because I have a son, a daughter and I, I do have a grandson that was born less than one month ago.
So I'm really moved by that.
And the, and, and, and I feel huge responsibility because of, of this new generation.
So I think I will bring that.
[Other language spoken]
I will be, I will bring diversity and inclusivity.
For me, those are key components of something that has to be addressed in a, in AI would say in a in a common perspective and moving all together.
Thank you very much.
I have a last question from Peter Kenny or African Media.
[Other language spoken]
Thanks for taking my question.
Secretary General, I wanted to ask you, you mentioned that some of the countries that are top of the priority list for early warning systems are in Africa.
And I think Africa is one of the continents that does actions that perhaps impact the climate the least.
But is Africa increasingly being impacted by climate change and the effects of it?
[Other language spoken]
Oh yes, you, you have already mentioned that this, this is a problem.
And, and, and, and I always mention that we cannot discuss or address climate change without considering inequality.
And there it comes, Africa and all the developing world, because we have, we have contributed the less, but we are impacted the most.
And this is part of the inequality that I mentioned all the time.
And this is not a technicality.
Inequality is growing also as climate change is increasing.
So we have to deal with this very complex situation and we have to address it in a systematic and of course, holistic way.
So I hope that the world understands that we need to help those that are most vulnerable because it is our responsibility in the end, because we are responsible also of the inequality that the world shares now.
So I hope that during my mandate, we can really have concrete results in this most vulnerable countries and regions.
Thank you very much, Secretary General Solo.
This concludes the questions from the journalist.
I would really like to thank you for having come and introduce yourself and and brief our journalist.
And please feel free to come back anytime also with the specific press conferences, especially when you have your important report being published.
So thank you very much.
We will continue now with the press briefing.
[Other language spoken]
This is Secretary General.
I would like to ask our Tariq and Dr Rudiger Crack to come to the podium and we make a short pause of a few seconds.
Rico Sybil.
[Other language spoken]
We have the pleasure to have with us Tarek, together with Doctor Rudiger Crack, who's the Director of Health Promotion at WHO to brief you on the global report on trends in prevalence of tobacco use.
Please, you have the floor.
Just to remind journalists before that.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So we have sent embargoed press release yesterday alongside with the with the report and embargo is lifting.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So we will also be sending a remarks that Doctor Craig will make just now.
[Other language spoken]
What is yours?
Thank you very much and a very good morning to all of you.
I have very good news to you for you at the start of this year.
I think we need that.
And the good news is that we have 1.25 billion people still smoking.
That is the last figure we have from the Global Trends report that we're releasing today.
But that also means that we have 19,000,000 less smokers than we had two years ago.
That is the first time that we see such a decline.
And that means that this is also despite, of course, the continuing growth of the world's population, which added approximately 149 million people.
So the tobacco industry wanted to have about 35,000,000 more smokers, but we have 19,000,000 less and that is due to very good tobacco control measures in many, many countries.
150 countries are now well on track with tobacco control and they see a downward trend in tobacco use with 56 amongst those who actually meet the OR almost meet the targets that we have for tobacco control until 2030.
WHO and partners, we work on a on a set of tobacco control measures.
So we know that individual measures don't really work as much and as effective as if you have a full package.
And a full package means that you regulate the tobacco sales.
It means that you look at tobacco taxes so that you're increasing the price of tobacco products that you actually measure well who is smoking in your country so that you know which population groups in your country you can reach best in order so that they quit.
Then you need to help people quit smoking.
You cannot just leave them alone and say, oh, you just shouldn't smoke but you.
It is an addiction.
Nicotine is a very addictive substance as we all know, and so therefore people need very good support during the phase of quitting.
We know that this needs a lot of support because on average people need about 10 attempts to quit smoking until they succeed.
So to give you 2 examples, Brazil and the Netherlands, they actually meet all those targets, which you have in the full package of what we call Empower.
And that's very good news for that.
And as I said, there's 56 other countries who are very close to reaching that target as well.
And downward trends in 150 countries, as I said, while countries have set themselves an ambitious target in the Sustainable Development Goals of 30% decrease, if trends continue as they are, we will only reach 25 S One could say, well is it is the glass half full or half empty, but we see that there has been a really change in the tide.
Tobacco industry has a difficult time because in a lot of member States, they don't want to see tobacco smoke in their countries any longer, and that's really, really good news that we see in those countries.
However, the minute we get a bit more easy about tobacco control, the minute we actually think, oh, the trends are good, so politically we can move to another area, we see that the tobacco industry seizes that opportunity and gets in the minute.
And they do this with very awkward sometimes what I would call personally, I would call criminal efforts.
And the more I'm in tobacco control, the more of these really very puzzling attempts they are.
If you know that your actions in the tobacco industry, your actions will cause death, they are killing and they continue to do everything possible to undermine the country's very good efforts.
We have seen this, for instance, in what they call novel products on E cigarettes and vaping, where they actually try to get our children as young as eight years old to actually use E cigarettes or vapours.
This is, I believe, criminal, but they do, and in many countries these use of E cigarettes and vaping are not yet regulated.
That is why late December, we have looked at all the evidence and we've done so for the last three years to see what the effects of E cigarettes and vaping are on population health.
And we can safely say that countries need to take urgent action to govern this better.
And that is what you can see also from our statement that we've issued in late December.
Looking very quickly at what happens in different regions in the world, we can see that currently the fastest decreases in tobacco use are happening in lower and middle income group countries.
So that shows also that tobacco control can be done regardless of your economic status in a country.
So even in lowest developed countries you can do very good tobacco control.
The country that or the sorry the region that is a bit of a problem is the European region where especially women are, you know on the increase in some parts in some countries or at very **** level still of tobacco users.
So that's regrettable as they are more than double the global average for women and are reducing much slower than in other regions.
And that again has causes in effective tobacco control in some of the European countries.
Then if I look at the Eastern Mediterranean region that has about 27% of the population of tobacco rates is not yet decreasing as much as we would like that to see.
It is of course the region with the highest number of experiencing humanitarian crises and difficulty in in in maintaining monitoring efforts.
So we do understand that the the causes for the the slower decline in the Eastern Mediterranean region is due to the other humanitarian crisis that this region faces.
More than one in three countries in the region of the Americas are on track and meet the 30% reduction target, making this region second only to the African region where we see the lowest prevalence of tobacco smoke.
Of countries on track with almost half and projecting the lowest prevalence by 20-30 and we so we project the American region of about 14 to 8% respectively in tobacco use by the year 2030 also.
So therefore this is good news, but we do urge countries to continue putting in place tobacco control policies and to continue the fight against tobacco industry interference at highest priorities.
The Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2023, published by The STOP and the Global Centre for Good Governance in Tobacco Control, show that efforts to protect health policy from increased tobacco industry interference have deteriorated around the world.
Tobacco control is much about protecting future generations as helping existing users to quit now.
National Service consistently show that children aged 13 to 15 years in most countries are accessing and using tobacco and other nicotine products.
So therefore, WHO has chosen the uh, the the theme of protecting children from tobacco industry interference as the theme for 2024 Tobacco control for us.
Next month, countries set to meet in Panama for the 10th session of The Who Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of Parties, where the tobacco industry will try to influence global health policies by offering financial and in kind incentives interfering countries rights to protect the health of their population.
[Other language spoken]
The industry tries to pay for delegates to be at the at the conference of parties, we know.
So with that, of course they try to interfere with what countries are going to say.
I think we need to stop that.
And absolutely we need to be transparent.
We need to talk about this.
This is Aun body.
It's one of the strongest control bodies that we have in WHO and tobacco industry tries to undermine this very effective body.
We need together do something about this.
So with this I end here and I'm very happy to take questions.
Thank you very much, Doctor Craig, we hear your appeal.
[Other language spoken]
So I'll start with Ben Lewis, Swiss radio, national radio.
Thank you very much.
I'm sorry, my first question will be country specific.
I work for the Swiss public media, so you see me coming.
In the last month, we have seen the release of the interference Tobacco Lobby Interference Interference Index.
I don't know if I translate that well.
Switzerland is ranking 89 / 90 of the countries that were observed.
I'm very eager to hear your observation in light of what you have just told us, your observations of the very place where you live and where you work and where you are right now delivering all these results.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you for this question.
Tough one.
[Other language spoken]
So in, in the UN, we would say there's a lot of room for improvement for Switzerland, right.
And if we're looking outside of this hall, just across the street, we have Japan International Tobacco.
We have just in Lausanne, we have Philip Morris.
So outside, if you walk outside of Geneva, you go to the Euro, you see tobacco grow, growing, lots of things to improve.
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
Jeremy launched Radio France International.
Thank you, Doctor.
[Other language spoken]
One on Europe, you said that Europe is performing poorly.
You mentioned women in Europe, but you didn't exactly specify, specify why do we have this trend in Europe?
Is there any anything that is linked to what you said regarding the industry that fits every time that we ease on the legislation and that the industry gets in?
Do you have a specific example in Europe where this is happening?
And the second question will be on what you said about Panama and the meeting there.
Does it mean that you have examples of industry people that that that were paid or might have been paid or I mean the industry tries at least to to pay those delegates?
Is this thing happening right now and do you have names?
[Other language spoken]
So thank you very much.
So first of all, why is it that in Europe specifically women's tobacco users not declining on the country?
In some countries it's actually increasing.
So from our analysis, we see that in quite a few countries still you have a non performance of what we call the regulatory mechanism so that you, for instance can have ads in cinemas.
There's actually different ways how you can actually promote, you know, the, the image of smoking, for instance, in product placement, in filming in, in, in discussions around women's rights and freedom.
So the old, I mean colleagues, it's really the old measures that tobacco industry has used for a long time.
So they perceive women as, you know, enjoying their freedom by smoking and that you do today, perhaps not during through ads on TV, but in social media, you know, with a lot of influences promoting the self, you know, fulfilment through smoking.
And nothing could be more away from the truth because you're getting addicted and you're less free if you're smoking.
And that shows that then 75% also of the women would love to, to quit smoking, but then have difficulties in actually reaching that because as I said, nicotine is a highly addictive substance.
So that is with regard to, to women where the, the, you know, the, the societal image of women smoking needs urgently to be reversed.
That it's not the normal, that it's not giving you additional joy, but it is actually something that handcuffs you and makes you less free than you were before.
So that is I think something that you have in Europe where you know our, what we call empower measures need to be more stringently implemented.
So that is that you had a second question with regard to whether I, I, I, I can name some examples for the, the Cop of interference.
I can only do that once we have had the Cop because at the moment there we, you know, our colleagues in the FCTC secretariat, they take up the, the national nominations for the delegations.
But if you have delegations from very low income countries of 20 and plus you know where actually the FCTC pays for one person due to the rules and regulations, we wonder where that money comes from.
So I think we can be more specific of what we see also during the negotiations of the COP, which is really important for taking decisions in tobacco control worldwide.
We will tell you or I think we will be able to, to give you a much more detailed picture then which countries we have seen which talk completely over represented the country's, you know, political or economic power to be participating in, in the in the conference of Parties.
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, just follow up, but can you do the opposite?
I mean, you can't name a country, but can you name a company that might have tried it?
Oh yeah, take the big, take the big 5 and you, you have it right.
So it's, it's the, I mean that's very clear.
Now I, I can give you a very nice example and I will not mention the country's name.
So in WHO we have a way of working with closed doors with countries and that is because we need to get the different sectors together, trade, customs, education, health and so on.
So we have these closed door discussions in Geneva because we know that if we have them in the countries, after we get out of a minister's door, the tobacco industry will have the next appointment.
So we actually get them here closed door.
And one country then said, oh, actually in the programme that we confidentially shared with them before, they said, oh, but could we have like 3 hours of free time?
Because we would, as a delegation, like to go to Lausanne.
And we said, OK, Lausanne is a nice city.
[Other language spoken]
Is there anything you want to do in Lausanne?
And they said, yeah, we just want to meet with Philip Morris because they're paying first class air tickets for us to come to Geneva, right?
So you see what the tobacco industry is doing, right?
And we managed to say, well, we pay you the travel, but according to UN rules and regulations, if you're agreeing with that, we're actually extending a day where we actually give you access to all the civil society organisations here in Switzerland who actually take very good measures to combat the industry, as we said, where there is a lot of room for improvement.
[Other language spoken]
I just wanted to reiterate, I'd also be really interested in more details on on the Panama meeting when that actually happens and the infiltration attempts.
But is that the first time that you've seen this happen for one of those meetings?
I'm just curious or or is that par for the course?
And then more broadly on the regulatory battle on vaping, I just wondering if you could kind of update us on on where you are with that and whether The Who can use the framework on tobacco to tackle that or are you sort of in a tobacco?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
So what we see is definitely a stronger wind by the tobacco industry against us in WHO, but also in tobacco control in general.
[Other language spoken]
So the last COP was before COVID and, and we had seen already tendencies of that, but not as much as we see it now.
That's why we're now the FCCTFCTC secretariat has come up to say we need to make that transparent that we're seeing this trend and that is why we're announcing it now, right?
Why we'll why we saw a tendency before, we now see much more of that this time.
So that is one thing.
The other is about the E cigarettes and the regulatory framework for this.
So what we're saying is if a country has not banned, so there's a few countries who have banned E cigarettes, which we welcome, If you have not banned it, you should take very strong regulatory measures, meaning that you need to ensure that children do not get access to E cigarettes, right.
So you know, as as I said, in many countries, there's no regulation that means that you really see 88 year old children using E cigarettes.
And the, the next thing is the advertisements, you know, so you can have it in the string of your hoodie, in the string of your hoodie, you can have an e-cigarrete, you have it in a plastic toy, right?
So you have it as a, you know, a stuffed animal.
You have E cigarettes in there.
So that means you have it as a lipstick, you have it as a pencil.
So this could be an E cigarettes and you wouldn't see it.
This is because children want to hide that they're using E cigarettes in front of their teachers and in front of their parents.
This is happening in many countries if you're not regulating the industry.
And that's why I'm calling this as a person, not as an organisation.
I'm calling it criminal, right?
And so I find this and not understandable how you could do this as you know that you're hooking children to nicotine, which is highly addictive, right?
And so we have teachers calling us, especially in the UK where you saw 150% increase in the last three years of uptake of E cigarettes by children, right?
So they call us to say children cannot stay a whole 45 minute lesson anymore because they need to step out to get, you know, E cigarettes, right?
That is what's happening, colleagues.
And I think we really as a world community need to stand up and do something about this.
Another thing is if you know, there are a couple of countries to say, well, it could be used as a cessation device.
So if you decide to do that, we strongly recommend you to say there shouldn't be any flavours.
There's thousands of flavours around in the market, most of them attractive to children.
Vanilla ice cream, gummy bears, you know that is attractive to children, less so for, you know, older adults, right?
It speaks to my grandchild, not to me, right.
So therefore we need to be clear that this needs to be regulated.
So if you as a member state want to regulate E cigarettes and, and say, well, let's see whether or not it has an impact on cessation, then you should ban all the flavours.
And what it is also is that 95% of these devices you can manipulate.
So the quantity, you know, the, the percentage of nicotine in the liquids, you can actually, actually manipulate the voltage, right?
So that means with what sort of strength do you inhale the liquid?
You can also manipulate in many of the devices and there's actually patterns hold by the tobacco industry to manipulate those devices, which are connected to an app, to an app by themselves.
So if you want to quit smoking and you actually decrease the the percentage of the nicotine, the industry can say up and can manipulate your things.
They're not doing it yet, but they have declined to give up this patent.
So you can see what what, what potential is there by the tobacco industry.
So we believe that you need as a country to regulate all these things better.
And then the the last thing is the control, because you might have very good national policies, but the majority of these E cigarettes and vapours are bought and purchased through the Internet.
So how do you, if you're regulating this, you're banning for instance, E cigarettes, how do you then control that these devices are no longer available to children?
That is something what 1 can do, but you have to do it as well.
Be relieved.
Quickly, this is the last question some more.
It was just the last part of the question.
You have the mandate on this regulation despite it being about tobacco.
Thank you very much.
Lisa Schlein, verse of America on the on the platform.
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, thanks for this.
This learning that we're getting here about about the vaping.
Do you have any statistics on how widespread this is among children globally?
And also I read recently an article which suggested that there should be a surgeon general for vaping in the United States as well as a surgeon general for cigarettes.
Do you believe that this is a good idea?
[Other language spoken]
And recently I've been shopping in supermarkets and I noticed that there are a lot of cigarettes that are on sale.
And so I'm wondering why this is happening, whether the cigarette smoking is going down, or shouldn't there be some kinds of shaming process on merchants not to?
Lower the prices of cigarettes and I personally was really kind of appalled by this.
And now regarding Africa, I was sort of surprised that you said that smoking there is kind of low.
I thought that there were few regulations in Africa and that in fact the tobacco country was being very hard fisted in terms of trying to get people to continue smoking and not to have laws passed in order to diminish this.
So if you could speak about that.
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you for for these questions.
Let me start with the last one on Africa.
Indeed, what we're seeing is that the tobacco industry targets Africa the most at the moment because there's the lowest prevalence and they are actually trying to increase the tobacco growth.
So farming in in Africa the most and they're trying to interfere with governments and and policies in Africa.
That is their their target continent at the moment.
It's also a very young continent.
So they once they recruit their victims, they, they know that they might have have them for a longer period of time.
So indeed, we're working a lot with African governments to not let loose and actually strengthen their, their governance mechanisms in tobacco control.
What you said with regard to sales of cigarettes so that there's discount prices, that's against FCTC.
Now the US, you're coming from the US, you're not party to the FCTC, unfortunately.
So therefore your government is not legally bound by it and that is what you're see.
So we urge of course the United States of America to be very, very clear about that weakness that you can actually put discount prices on cigarettes which you couldn't do if you were the US were party to the FCTC.
So else what you said about or the question about the increases in uptake of E cigarettes in children, Well, we do see as I said in in a couple of countries we see huge increases 150% in the UK.
We see in in the US also a steep uptake of double digit numbers.
I am we do not have the latest up increase measures in 2023.
It is a an alarming trend in the last four to five years.
So as you know, I've been here quite a few times in in these briefings and two years ago I could say, well, we see this trend happening but we do not really have a clear understanding.
What we do see now is that from measures that we are not doing as WHO but a lot of academic institutions and civil society organisations are doing, we see double digit increases in many countries, including the US.
And that again has to do with very LAX regulation on E cigarettes in those countries, right?
So that is why we're ringing the bell here.
I think we need to get even more clear about, you know, having concrete measures on E cigarettes.
However, that has not been party of decisions in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control as of yet, and we need to see whether we need to take this up at the World Health Assembly's decision making body so that we're also bringing it to The Who governing bodies.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yes, hi, thank you for taking my question.
I was wondering if you could address, I mean when it comes to the industry interference, the industry makes a lot of claims about their new the new smokeless or smoke free products and how how do you counter?
That I mean they, they're always saying that it's more than I guess 90% safer or whatever, whatever their numbers are than.
Traditional tobacco.
[Other language spoken]
I mean, what's The Who views on that and how do you counter that kind of marketing?
And also I wanted to ask when it comes to children or young people, you mentioned the the.
[Other language spoken]
Flavours that.
Which obviously bely the industry's claims that.
They're not targeting children.
I was also, if you say something about the designs they use that they're always being promoted here in Switzerland especially, you know, they look like iPhones or whatever and, and.
Finally, just if you have.
Anything to say about the puff sticks that are also they're not produced by the big tobacco companies themselves, I guess, but they're you know, if you.
Could say about that problem as well.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
Now first of all, the more we look, the more we find on E cigarettes and the harmfulness of, of these products, the we have good reasons to believe that the, the study that you're quoting where it says that you know, there's 95% less harm in E cigarettes has been financed by the tobacco industry.
So what we find is completely different.
The tactics of the industry, of the tobacco industry is to swamp the market with new products, 3000 new devices every month.
No regulatory authority in the world, including the FDA, which is the biggest, you know, in the US could deal with 3000 plus new devices every month to regulate because you need to regulate them one by one.
That's impossible.
You have thousands of flavours.
Each of these flavours contain different chemicals.
So the toxicity of these liquids, if you inhale them, if you're not swallowing them, but you inhale them is completely different.
So the tactics of the of the tobacco industry is to swamp the market, then they sell it.
And if they if then the regulatory authority picks out one to say, but that has not been regulated.
The industry just pays the due fees.
So that is the tactics, right and that needs to be counteracted.
So we need to reverse the trend.
And therefore we say this is not a consumer's good.
You know, an e-cigarrete cannot be the same as a chocolate bar, right?
So if you want to as a as a government, say, right, we don't know, perhaps it helps some few people to quit smoking.
It should be regulated as a medicine.
You could get it through a pharmacy and you need a prescription for it.
That's a different thing, right?
So I go to the doctor, I say I'm addicted to tobacco or to nicotine.
[Other language spoken]
Then the doctor has a good conversation with me about my habits and you know what I, what my goals are.
And then she might prescribe an e-cigarrete that I could, could get through a pharmacy without a flavour, without my, my ability to, to actually manipulate the device.
Right.
So that is the way to go, right.
And with your last question on now help me the sorry, the plastics.
[Other language spoken]
Because I mean, cigarettes, the cigarette butts are the most single used plastic in the world.
It's billions and billions of cigarette butts that end up in our oceans that are eaten by fish, that contaminate the fish with the toxicants.
That's really bad.
So we're working with our colleagues in the UNEP on the Convention on Plastics.
And again, that needs to be regulated, we believe.
I mean, again, these filtered philtres in cigarettes is just another tactics of the tobacco industry.
You know, like many years ago when they introduced that, they said, oh, it's less harmful.
No, it's just that you can inhale deeper the fumes, right, which stay in the below in the arterioles in your lungs, right.
[Other language spoken]
So we believe that philtres should be also banned.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I want to, if we can run to us, please, because we really have to go ahead.
I'll give the floor to Peter Kenny or African Media.
Yeah, thanks, Doctor.
Craig, you mentioned the presence of Japan Tobacco International in Geneva and Philip Morris in Mozam.
What is the distribution of the top five tobacco companies, the other three, Could you mention that to us, please?
[Other language spoken]
In terms of the global, in terms of the global.
Bets.
[Other language spoken]
So I mean the the top, top three of course BAT, Philip Morris International and Japan International tobacco.
We have of course Chinese tobacco right, which is a big, big state-run tobacco company.
And we have you know, conglomeration of of tobacco industries as well.
So these are the top sellers in the world on on tobacco.
And last question goes to Christian Erich, the German news agency in the PA.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
We are talking about tobacco users, but we are also including the vaping.
So the figures that you mentioned, 1.25 billion tobacco users, that would not include the e-cigarrete users, is that correct?
[Other language spoken]
Confused as to whether we are talking about tobacco, about smoking or about everything together.
[Other language spoken]
Yes, as as you say, so this the 1.25 billion is tobacco users, they don't this figure does not include vapours only, right.
So The thing is however that we see that most of the tobacco users who then they they might also use vaping or E cigarettes or other devices, but they switch, they switch from tobacco to vapours.
That is the majority of users.
There's a small fraction who have managed to really switch completely over to E cigarettes and vaping, but that's a minority.
Very clear.
Thank you very much, Doctor Craig for this expensive briefing and and for the reports.
And I'm sure Tariq will follow up with the with the notes.
[Other language spoken]
And I will now turn to my right to give the floor to Ravine Shamdasani for OHCHR on the death sentence in Alabama.
[Other language spoken]
Thanks, Alessandra.
Good morning, everyone.
We are alarmed by the imminent execution in the United States of America of Kenneth Eugene Smith through the use of a novel and untested method, suffocation by nitrogen gas.
This could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international human rights law.
The UN Human Rights Office calls on Alabama State authorities to halt Smith's execution, which is scheduled for the 25th 26th of January, and to refrain from taking steps towards any other executions in this manner.
Alabama already sought to execute Smith unsuccessfully by lethal injection in 2022.
Smith also has ongoing proceedings in federal court against his upcoming execution proceedings, which have not been finally resolved.
Nitrogen gas has never been used in the United States to execute human beings.
The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends giving even large animals a sedative when being euthanized in this manner.
While Alabama's protocol for execution by nitrogen asphyxiation makes no provision for sedation of human beings prior to execution, the protocol also refers to the odourless and colourless gas being administered for up to 15 minutes.
Smith has also advanced with expert evidence that such an execution by gas asphyxiation in his case results in particular pain and suffering.
We have serious concerns that Smith's execution in these circumstances could breach the prohibition on torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as well as his right to effective remedies.
These are rights that are set out in 2 international human rights treaties that the US is bound by.
These include the International Convention, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The Human Rights Committee, which is the UN body charged with monitoring implementation of the Covenant, has also criticised the use of asphyxiation by gas as an execution method, the use of untested methods, as well as widening the use of the death penalty in states that continue to apply it.
The death penalty is inconsistent with the fundamental right to life.
There is an absence of proof that it deters crime and it creates an unacceptable risk of executing innocent people.
Rather than inventing new ways to implement capital punishment, we urge all states to put in place a moratorium on its use as a step towards universal abolition.
Thank you very much, Ravina, for this quite chilling briefing, I should say.
OK, let's start with Emma.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Have you also written to US authorities saying this and what have you said and which ones?
And I'm sorry, I don't know the back story of his case, but how can an execution fail?
What happened there?
[Other language spoken]
The the details are really sobering and and almost difficult to talk about.
They well, Mr.
Smith was he was 22 years old when he was charged with capital ******.
After, you know, trials and appeals, he was finally convicted of of capital ******.
Jury voted to recommend life sentence, but a judge overruled that and, you know, imposed the death penalty on him.
They attempted to execute him by lethal injection, and they spent more than an hour trying and failed.
It was a botched execution.
This is what had happened.
And now he is set to be subjected to this very untested method, which could amount to torture, cruel or inhuman degrading treatment under international law.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Come back to the reason why someone would use this, this, this gas for an execution, because I'm, I'm not sure I understand exactly why would the, the, the authorities in Alabama would use this method precisely.
[Other language spoken]
Now, the UN position is very clear.
We are against the death penalty.
We are against people being killed, you know, for having committed crimes.
There is a an absence of evidence that this deters crime in any way.
On the other side, there is a lot of evidence that the death penalty has been used in cases of miscarriages of justice, that it is used against people who later turn out to be innocent, that it's used disproportionately against minorities in the US, against people of African descent.
It's disproportionately used against people who don't have the means to defend themselves with proper legal representation of their choosing.
The So any method of execution we are, we are against.
For all those reasons, this particular method is untested.
The reason perhaps that Alabama has resorted to this method is that states have had increasing trouble accessing the drugs that are needed for lethal injections.
So they're resorting to looking for novel, untested methods to execute people rather than actually applying sanctions that work and that are more humane and in line with international human rights law.
Let me go to the platform, Lisa.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Uh, I, I may have missed it.
What, uh, what date is the execution is supposed to take place?
And then also, uh, I'm not sure you answered Umm Emma's question about whether you've had direct contact with either the federal, of the federal authorities or the actually with the people in Alabama, those who are, you know, the governor, governor's office and that sort of thing.
Have you had direct contact with them?
And then I'm wondering since since the United States has has ratified the conventions against torture and so forth, these, these international conventions, then this is a federal power and there is the separation in the United States between the federal.
Authorities and the state authorities.
So does the United States government, federal government have any power to over the Alabama decision on what it is to do?
Can it actually tell it not to go ahead with this execution or not?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
The execution is scheduled for the 25th, 26th of January depending on the the time zone that we're talking about.
I believe it's the 25th of January in Alabama on whether we've raised the issue.
I'm sorry.
Yes indeed.
And I didn't answer your question.
This is an issue that we have raised repeatedly with the the government, the federal authorities of the United States.
As you pointed out, Elisa, there is the federal state distinction to make.
At the federal level.
There is actually an existing moratorium on the use of the death penalty, which we welcome and which we would, you know, encourage to actually be a step towards universal abolition of the death penalty.
The death penalty still is applied in, I'm sorry, 37 states have abolished the death penalty or not carried out an execution in more than a decade.
So this is also very welcome.
Unfortunately, we have, in addition to Alabama, two other states, Mississippi and Oklahoma, that have approved this new untested method of using nitrogen to execute people.
And a bill to approve this method has also been presented in Nebraska.
So it is worrying that this is gaining ground as a method of execution.
We, I think I'm, oh, sorry, on the appeal on, on what the federal level can do.
[Other language spoken]
Smith has an appeal pending.
He has ongoing proceedings in a federal court against his upcoming execution.
And these are proceedings which have not been fully resolved.
This is why we are also raising his right to an effective remedy.
These appeals need to be exhausted.
These these proceedings in the federal court also need to be exhausted.
And the execution certainly should not be carried out until that's that has happened.
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, thank you, Ravine.
Just to be when you say you've raised it with federal authorities, with who is that with the Ministry of Department of Justice or exactly which organisations have you discussed this with?
And when you say also that it's tested, are you also?
Saying then that it's never been used in any other situations or any other countries.
So far as you're aware.
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It's clear, I think the American Bar Association has said that it has never been used in the United States.
Whether it's been used anywhere in the world, to our knowledge it has not.
Now, of course, you know very well that the use of the death penalty in many countries is mired in secrecy.
There's a real lack of transparency.
So I can't say definitively whether it's been used anywhere else or not.
But to our knowledge, it has not been used.
It, it is untested on how we raise our concerns and at which level and, and with which ministry.
Well, which department.
In the case of the US, it's complicated.
We have, for example, the UN Human Rights Committee that I referred to, they raised this in the review of the US before the committee.
So that is raised with the delegation that's in the room.
It's raised, you know, at the federal level with, with whoever is representing the government at that at that moment.
We are, of course, in frequent contact with the permanent mission of the US here.
Now on this specific case of Mr.
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I, I'm not, it's not clear to me whether that has been raised with the authorities.
But generally this issue has been raised repeatedly with the US authorities.
Any other question to Ravina?
I don't see any.
So thank you very much, Ravina, and let's hope.
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Of course, just a flag.
You have all received a press release on Ukraine that was put out by our office in Kiev.
If you have any further questions on that, please feel free to reach out to us.
You will have seen that there is a marked increase in civilian casualties as the Russian Federation has intensified missile and drone attacks across Ukraine.
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Sorry, I didn't see you.
Do you have any update on Sudan situation?
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Thanks for raising it.
This really is a conflict which has had such devastating impact on civilians, both in terms of people killed, millions displaced, ongoing concerns about sexual violence and many other human rights violations.
We are now in the ninth month.
I believe yesterday was the 9th month mark since this conflict began.
We, the **** Commissioner has been very clear in his call to all parties to seize hostilities and to ensure the protection of civilians, to take all feasible precautions to minimise in any case harm, including attacks on civilians and civilian objects.
To release all those who are arbitrarily detained.
To immediately cease the use of land mines and other explosive ordinance that is clearly prohibited.
So no, thank you for for raising the concern.
You know your, your question about this situation, which I would encourage everyone to report on much more.
We're happy to provide more information if you would like.
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And just to add that to that, that the emergency relief coordinator that were USG Martin Griffiths, that was here yesterday and also mentioned Sudan, not to forget it.
In the current dire situation.
Mr Griffiths USG Griffiths has allocated $10 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support men, women and children fleeing from Sudan to the neighbouring countries.
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It also they've also said that we're anticipating thousands of additional people that may cross the borders into South Sudan from Sudan over the next six months, stressing a system that is already under stress coming from Sudan.
In the just in the past month, there were about 60,000 people who fled and arrived in South Sudan.
So this is this is a very large number of people crossing in very short time.
And starting since mid-april, about half a million people have crossed into South Sudan from Sudan.
So it's very rare situation also for the refugees.
Lisa Yeah, just very quickly, Ravina, on the execution, 2 things.
I I received the press release on Ukraine, but not on Alabama.
I don't know why, but please, I need that.
And also there was, I think within the past week or two, there was another expert committee that actually came out with a very strong press release regarding this execution.
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I would be interested in getting that as well.
If you do you do you know what that is and can it be sent to me?
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Lisa, the special procedures mandate holders issued a press release on this as well.
We'll send you that and the briefing note should be following very shortly.
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Any other question to Ravina?
I don't see any hand up, so thank you very much.
I just have one announcement for you.
We don't have press conferences to remind you about just the Committee on the Rights of the Child which opened yesterday, it's 95th session and it's concluding this morning the review of the report of the Republic of Congo.
The other countries to come up for review are Bulgaria, Senegal, Russian Federation, Lithuania, South Africa.
That's going to be the last one and they will have also meeting with the state parties on Thursday, 1st of February in the afternoon.
That's what I had for you.
I don't see any hand up for me either.
So thank you very much, Bon Appetit and I'll see you on Friday.
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