Several countries have committed to working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and international experts to understand the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a joint statement on Tuesday.

Australia, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Slovenia, South Korea, the UK and the US said they support a transparent and independent analysis and evaluation of the origins of the virus

"In this regard, we join in expressing shared concerns regarding the recent WHO-convened study in China, while at the same time reinforcing the importance of working together toward the development and use of a swift, effective, transparent, science-based, and independent process for international evaluations of such outbreaks of unknown origin in the future," the statement said.

"The mission of the WHO is critical to advancing global health and health security, and we fully support its experts and staff and recognize their tireless work to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, including understanding how the pandemic started and spread," it said.

These 14 countries said they are concerned that the international expert study on the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples.

"We share these concerns not only for the benefit of learning all we can about the origins of this pandemic, but also to lay a pathway to a timely, transparent, evidence-based process for the next phase of this study as well as for the next health crises," the statement said.

They said scientific missions should be able to work under conditions that produce independent and objective recommendations and findings.

"In a serious outbreak of an unknown pathogen with pandemic potential, a rapid, independent, expert-led, and unimpeded evaluation of the origins is critical to better prepare our people, our public health institutions, our industries, and our governments to respond successfully to such an outbreak and prevent future pandemics," they said.

"It is critical for independent experts to have full access to all pertinent human, animal, and environmental data, research, and personnel involved in the early stages of the outbreak relevant to determining how this pandemic emerged. With all data in hand, the international community may independently assess COVID-19 origins, learn valuable lessons from this pandemic, and prevent future devastating consequences from outbreaks of disease," they added.

The White House separately said China refused to fully cooperate with the WHO's fact-finding mission, alleging Beijing has not been transparent and failed to hand over critical underlying data regarding the virus' origins.

"That certainly doesn’t qualify as cooperation," spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

The report, Psaki said, "doesn’t lead us to any closer of an understanding, or greater knowledge than we had six to nine months ago about the origin. It also doesn’t provide us guidelines or recommended steps about how we should prevent this from happening in the future."

"And those are imperative," she added./ agencies

Marwan Barghouti will form an electoral list apart from the group that will be registered to run in Palestinian legislative elections later this year, a source told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

The source close to the Barghouti, who is imprisoned by Israel, said the leading Fatah member will issue a statement explaining the reason behind the move.

Barghouti will not head the list nor will run, but will support it, according to the source.

It is expected that the list will be registered with the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC) on Wednesday but the source said negotiations are ongoing with Fatah leadership, without disclosing further details.

The CEC has received requests to register 25 lists for legislative elections. Five have been accepted while Fatah is expected to submit its list on Wednesday, the final day for registration.

Barghouti is expected to run for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority, according to the same source.

In February, sources close to Barghouti announced his intention to run in the presidential elections from prison, but he recanted that decision after receiving a letter from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel arrested Barghouti in 2002 and sentenced him to life for "responsibility for operations carried out by armed groups affiliated with Fatah that killed and wounded Israelis."

Palestinian elections will be held in three stages: legislative on May 22, presidential on July 31 and elections to the National Council on Aug. 31./aa

In a report, the UN mission in the West African nation of Mali on Tuesday concluded that a January airstrike by the French army overwhelmingly killed civilians among suspected non-armed members of terrorist groups, a claim denied by France.

The UN’s Multidimensional Integrated Mission for stabilization in Mali (MINUSMA) recommended that Malian and French authorities launch their own independent investigation of the circumstances of the strike and possible violations of international humanitarian law and human rights. It also advocated appropriate reparation for victims and members of their families.

On Jan. 3, French forces operating under Operation Barkhane airdropped three bombs on a gathering of at least 40 people believed to be elements of a terrorist group near the village of Bounti in Mali’s Douentza region. However, contradicting the official version, local sources claimed the bombs targeted a wedding procession in the village attended by civilians.

A fact-finding mission appointed by MINUSMA found that of the 22 people killed, 19 were civilians and three were suspected members of Katiba Serma, a group affiliated to al-Qaeda. Another eight civilians were injured in the strike. The victims were all men age 23 to 71, most of them residents of the village of Bounty, it said.

The report added that the fact-finding team which visited the village “did not find any material element at the scene of the incident that could have attested to the presence of weapons or motorcycles.” The French army claimed it carried out the strike based on intelligence and real-time elements that formally identified the gathering to be one of the armed terrorists.

MINSUMA said the “strike raises significant concerns” over respect for the principles of the conduct of hostilities and the obligation to verify that the targets are indeed military.

“The group affected by the strike was overwhelmingly composed of civilians who are people protected against attacks under international humanitarian law,” it said.

In a statement, the French Armed Forces Ministry raised “reservations over the research methodology” and “opposed unverifiable local testimonies and unsupported hypotheses to a robust intelligence method of the French armies.” It reiterated that the airstrike targeted an armed terrorist group and not a group of civilians, as alleged in the findings.

The ministry claimed the strike followed a robust targeting process based on NATO standards and the evaluation of the results of the strike also followed a rigorous framework, applied to all the operations carried out by France./aa

Kuwait Prime Minister and Ministers took constitutional oath before a parliament session on Tuesday in line with Article 91 of the Constitution.

Article 91 states that before assuming his duties in the National Assembly or in its committees, a member of the National Assembly shall take the constitutional oath in a public session.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah assigned, on January 24, His Highness Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah as Prime Minister.

His Highness the Amir signed a decree on March 2 approving the new cabinet, which took constitutional oath the next day./ KUNA

The United Nations will urge international donors to pledge up to $10 billion on Tuesday to help Syrians fleeing a decade of civil war in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying that the need for humanitarian support has never been so great.

In the fifth annual conference to keep Syrians refugees from starvation, the event hosted by the European Union will seek $4.2 billion for people inside Syria and $5.8 billion for refugees and their hosts in the Middle East.

Some 24 million people need basic aid, a rise of four million over the past year and the highest number yet since a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 led to civil war.

"It has been ten years of despair and disaster for Syrians," said UN aid chief Mark Lowcock. "Now plummeting living conditions, economic decline and Covid-19 result in more hunger, malnutrition and disease. There is less fighting, but no peace dividend," he said in a statement.

Fighting between Syrian army forces and rebels has subsided since a deal a year ago ended a Russian-led bombing campaign that had displaced over a million people, but Russian air strikes, along with Iranian and Syrian-backed militaries, continue to attack rebel outposts.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is set to address the conference on Tuesday. On March 10, marking a decade of conflict, he said Syria is a "living nightmare" where about half the children have never lived a day without war and 60 percent of Syrians are at risk of going hungry.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement called on international donors to help rebuild the country, particularly to repair critical health, water and electricity services.

"Our infrastructure is ruined," said Khaled Hboubati, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society.

Rebuilding destroyed cities will take billions of dollars more and cannot start until powers involved in the conflict, including Russia and Iran, help agree a peace settlement, the European Union, which is hosting the conference, says.

International Committee of the Red Cross head Peter Maurer urged world powers to reach a peace deal or face many more annual donor conferences for Syria. "Humanitarians are here to help but the ultimate responsibility lies with parties to the conflict," he said.

New York: Two senior UN officials denounced on Sunday, “systematic” attacks on peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar and flagged that the international community has a responsibility to protect the people from atrocities.

Following another day of widespread bloodshed by the Myanmar military, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights, strongly condemned the Myanmar military’s widespread, lethal, increasingly systematic attacks against peaceful protesters, as well as other serious violations of human rights since it seized power on 1 February.

“The shameful, cowardly, brutal actions of the military and police – who have been filmed shooting at protesters as they flee, and who have not even spared young children – must be halted immediately”, they said in a joint statement.

Coordinated attacks

Yesterday witnessed the bloodiest day since the demonstrations against the coup began, with security forces killing at least 107 individuals – including seven children – according to multiple credible reports, with the number of deaths expected to rise as reports are confirmed.

Hundreds more were wounded and detained during these seemingly coordinated attacks in over 40 locations throughout the country, and thousands have been arbitrarily arrested – many subjected to enforced disappearance.

The UN officials called on the military to immediately stop killing the very people it has the duty to serve and protect.

International role

The senior officials also called on the Security Council to build on its statement of 10 March condemning the violence, among other things, and for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and wider international community to promptly act to protect the people from atrocities. 

Although the State has the primary responsibility to safeguard its population, in cases where it is manifestly failing, the international community “should take timely and collective action in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations to protect civilian populations that are at risk of atrocity crimes”, they reminded.

End impunity

Both UN officials also called for an end to systemic impunity in Myanmar.

“We must ensure accountability for past crimes and deter the most serious international crimes from being committed”, they stated.

“The failure to address the atrocity crimes the military has committed in the past, including against Rohingya and other minorities, has brought Myanmar to this terrible pass”. 

Ms. Nderitu and Ms. Bachelet urged all parties – including defecting officials, police and military officers – to cooperate with international mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Human Rights Council’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, in fighting impunity in the country.

“There is no way forward without accountability and fundamental reform of the military”, they stressed.

Minorities in crosshairs

This situation has also put at further risk the already vulnerable ethnic and religious minorities, including the Rohingya, which has long suffered horrific violence at the hands of the Myanmar military with impunity, as documented by the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar established by the Human Rights Council.  

“We are deeply concerned about the impact that the current situation may have on these populations and are closely monitoring developments. The rights of minority groups, including the Rohingya population must be fully respected”, the two UN officials stated.

They also noted the diversity of the protest movement and encouraged the newfound sense of unity across ethnic and religious divides.

India Blooms News Service