The UN Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, Pablo de Greiff, welcomed the Government’s efforts to implement transitional justice measures over the last two years, especially in the areas of truth and reparations.

“I commend the Tunisian Government for the efforts to create a legal framework that refers to the four elements of transitional justice, namely, truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence,” he said in a news release issued at the end of his first official mission to the country.

“However, the transitional justice process in Tunisia continues to face some serious challenges,” added de Greiff, a human rights expert from Colombia who has worked with different transitional justice bodies around the world.

The Special Rapporteur’s visit took place amid the country’s constitutional drafting process and the work towards the adoption of a law on transitional justice.

Tunisia has been moving towards becoming a society based on the rule of law in the wake of an uprising by its people, in 2010-2011, in which they demanded democracy and freedom, leading to the removal of the long-standing regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Their actions sparked a wave of popular uprisings, known as the Arab Spring, that brought down regimes in Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

de Greiff urged the North African country’s authorities to further their efforts on prosecutions, in the areas of institutional reform of the judiciary and the security sector, including vetting, which are essential to guarantee the non-recurrence of violations.

The Government must put the concept of human rights unambiguously at the centre of all transitional justice efforts, he stated, adding that a gender sensitive approach is also needed.

“Establishing effective measures dealing with past abuses requires deliberately designed mechanisms of institutional coordination,” he emphasized. “I therefore propose that an inter-ministerial coordination body be established to face the important challenges that lie ahead, and that guarantee adequate service delivery to victims.”

Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back, in an unpaid capacity, on specific human rights themes. Mr. de Greiff will report on his mission to Tunisia at a session of the Council in 2013.

Ján Kubiš, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, told a meeting of the Security Council that, as reported by the UN-mandated international military force and the Afghan authorities, both the military campaign and the security transition are “on time and on track.”

Afghan authorities are working with the international community so that by 2014 they can assume full responsibility for security in all of the country’s 34 provinces. They are also working towards taking greater ownership of development in a country where more than one-third of the population lives below the poverty line, and one in every two children under five is chronically malnourished.

In his remarks, the UN envoy noted that on security, as stated in Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report, there has been a decrease in security incidents between May and July as compared to 2011.

“Yet many ordinary citizens and Government officials throughout Afghanistan continue to point out to the continuous fragility of the security situation in Afghanistan, to the fear and insecurity that impedes everyday life,” said Kubiš, who also heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

In his report, Ban noted that improvements in the security situation have been registered against the record high incident levels of 2011.

“These gains have not, however, generated public perceptions of greater security and do not reflect improvements to the institutional structures required for longer-term stability,” wrote the UN chief. “Little has changed in the underlying dynamics to mitigate a deep-seated cycle of conflict.”

Kubiš said that even where there are no armed clashes, an “insidious campaign” of intimidation and targeted killings is claiming lives of government officials, women’s rights activists, tribal elders and community leaders, including those actively working for peace.

“The impact is visible in the curtailed delivery of development programmes and humanitarian aid,” the Special Representative said. “Outreach by Government services and personnel are limited in many part of the country. Internal displacement increases, people move to the relative safety of provincial and regional centres.”

Civilian casualties have also decreased overall through the first eight months of the year compared year on year, he pointed out. “However this trend began reversing during this summer with a greater number of civilian deaths and injuries occurring in July and August than in the same period last year,” Kubiš said.

In fact, he noted, August was the second deadliest month for civilians since UNAMA began recording civilian causalities with 374 civilians killed and 581 injured. Anti-government elements continue to cause the vast majority of civilian casualties, bearing responsibility for over 85 per cent of all civilian deaths and injuries during the summer period.

The envoy also noted that while security transition is important, the ultimate key to future stable Afghanistan is “successful Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political transition.”

The 2014 presidential elections are in the centre of attention, he said, adding that the conduct of credible polls with a mandate for the new country’s leadership is essential to national unity and legitimacy as well as a critical component of ongoing international support.

Yemen has been undergoing a democratic transition, under the leadership of President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi Mansour, who came to power in an election in February. This followed the agreement signed by warring factions in November 2011 on a transitional settlement in the wake of widespread protests similar to those seen across the Middle East and North Africa and the resignation of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

“The transition is on track, but there have been challenges – serious challenges in various areas, including in the political and the security fields,” Jamal Benomar, the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Yemen, told reporters at UN Headquarters.

Benomar, who recently returned from his 14th mission to Yemen, told the Security Council in a closed-door briefing that, for the State to be able to function, it will need to reassert its authority in various parts of the country, especially where armed groups are in control.

Last week a terrorist attack in the capital, Sana’a, resulted in numerous deaths and injuries, including among the security detail of Yemen’s defence minister.

Benomar had strongly condemned the attack, which was the sixth attempt on the minister’s life, in a statement. “This atrocious terrorist attack, which killed a number of innocent Yemenis, civilian and military alike, cannot be justified in any way, and every effort must be made to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” he had stated.

He told the Council that with that terrorist attacks and with the recent attack on the United States Embassy in Sana’a, the re-structuring of the armed forces will need to proceed and the Council will need to support the President in pushing forward this process.

Council members voiced their support for the steps taken by Yemen’s President in reforming and restructuring the security sector, while sharing the concerns by Benomar about ongoing attempts to undermine the transition process.

They also agreed that “comprehensive and inclusive national dialogue should begin without delay in order to lay the foundations for a stable and unified Yemen,” Ambassador Peter Wittig of Germany, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency for this month, told reporters.

Initial preparations have begun for the national dialogue conference, whose outcome will feed into the constitution-making process that is to conclude in late 2013, enabling general elections to take place in February 2014.

Benomar described the national dialogue as a “historic opportunity” for all Yemenis to come together to address important issues and reported that the preparatory committee for the national dialogue has made progress.

“I told the Council that the atmosphere in this committee was very constructive and the national dialogue is really what will make or break this transition, and it is important that we support this process.”

A high-level meeting of the Friends of Yemen is scheduled to take place in New York on 27 September on the margins of the general debate of the General Assembly with the aim of reaffirming the international community’s strong support for the transition process.

Briefing the Security Council, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Ian Martin, noted that the spirit of democracy was displayed during the 7 July National Congress election in a manner which deeply impressed all observers.

“Libyan men and women, young and old, amassed in queues at polling centres to cast their votes, and then displayed their inked fingers with the pride and emotion of people who had so long been denied democratic freedoms, many of whose families had suffered and sacrificed loved ones for the right they were at last able to exercise,” Martin said.

“Where violence threatened the poll, it was the determination and the courage of the voters themselves which successfully resisted it,” he added.

The envoy also noted that the organization of the polls was an “extraordinary accomplishment,” considering the country’s lack of electoral experience and a hugely demanding timetable.

“This will be the first peaceful and democratic transfer of power in Libya,” he said. “Its new political leaders must then reach agreement on the formation of a new government, and on the process for drawing up a new constitution.”

Libya’s interim Government is expected to remain in office until the new government is formed, and is preparing a smooth handover. “New ministers will begin with a better legacy than the institutional void which greeted their predecessors. But there is no underestimating the challenges and the expectations which the new government will face,” said Mr. Martin.

Foremost among these challenges is security, he stated, noting that Libyans want the rule of law to prevail, in a weapons-free environment, where police respond to crimes, and only state authorities arrest and detain suspects.

Closely related to the issue of security is that of justice, where “progress has been disappointing, and a new government must bring stronger efforts,” said the envoy.

He added that, along with security and justice, Libya faces the challenges of developing the institutions of a modern State, diversifying the economy and creating jobs, fighting corruption and respecting human rights.

“The successful election has further enhanced expectations, but these are tasks which will extend far beyond the term of the next government,” Martin stated.

Three months after the Yemeni people elected President Hadi, the EU will, along with the international community, the Council express its support to the process of comprehensive reform and renewal on which the Yemeni government and Yemen’s transitional institutions have now embarked.

The EU welcomed the efforts of President Hadi to implement the provisions of the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative and implementation mechanism. The EU encourages the President to rapidly take forward the national dialogue. It welcomes the appointment of a Liaison Committee and urges him to establish a fully inclusive Preparatory Committee without delay, bringing in representatives from all strands of Yemeni society. The EU calls upon all relevant Yemeni stakeholders to contribute actively to this process. The EU, alongside other international partners, will continue to support the government in this crucial endeavour, as the basis for constitutional reforms and lasting reconciliation.

As stressed in an announcement, the Council is deeply concerned by all attempts to derail Yemen’s transition. It calls on all parties to abide by the undertakings set out in the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative and implementation mechanism, in good faith. President Hadi has demonstrated his determination to implement the initiative. The EU is therefore committed to assist him, exploring all available options to ensure compliance from any individuals who persist in undermining or opposing the political transition in Yemen. In this connection, the EU recalls United Nations Security Council Resolution 2014, which calls on all parties to commit to a political settlement based on the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative and implementation mechanism.

The EU is alarmed by the serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation. In particular food insecurity, notably for women and children, is of major concern. Moreover, the continuing insecurity in all areas of the country has compounded the humanitarian situation and led to a further increase of internally displaced persons. A strong and coordinated humanitarian mobilisation is therefore necessary. The EU is committed to strengthening its humanitarian engagement in Yemen.

The Union condemns the attack in Sana’a on 12 May that injured the Bulgarian Ambassador to Yemen, which represents evidence of the fragile security situation in the country. The EU calls on the Yemeni authorities to do their utmost to investigate the incident.