The UN human rights office (OHCHR) expressed major concern on Tuesday following the detention of at least 92 people by the Turkish authorities over the past week, including Istanbul's mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been charged with corruption and removed from office.
"These detentions triggered country-wide demonstrations that were met with unlawful blanket bans on protests in three cities," said OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell.
More than 1,000 people have been detained during the protests, among them at least nine media workers.
Türkiye has reportedly seen its largest street protests in more than a decade following the arrest of current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, Mr. İmamoğlu.
Legitimate right of protest
Ms. Throssell said that all those detained "for the legitimate exercise of their rights must be released immediately and unconditionally."
Those facing charges should be treated with dignity, she added, and their rights to due process while their rights to a fair trial - including access to a lawyer of their own choice - must be fully ensured.
"We urge the authorities to ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are guaranteed, in line with international law, and that credible allegations of unlawful use of force against protesters are promptly and thoroughly investigated," Ms. Throssell underscored.
Ukraine: Dozens injured in Sumy attack; UN welcomes announcement of Black Sea ceasefire
More than 80 civilians - including children - were injured following a Russian missile attack on the city of Sumy on Monday in Ukraine's northeast, UN humanitarians have reported.
Citing local authorities, more than 20 children were injured with two schools, a hospital and multiple homes suffering extensive damage in the attack, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
"Complementing the efforts of the first responders, and immediately after the attack, humanitarian organizations provided first aid and helped transport the wounded to the hospitals. They also distributed shelter materials, blankets and other necessities."
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Mattias Schmale, condemned the attack in Sumy and recent drone strikes in the cities of Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv.
Since the escalation of the war in 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion, the Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has verified more than 2,500 child casualties in that country, Mr. Dujarric maintained.
It also noted an alarming increase in child casualties in 2024, caused by explosive weapons targeting territory inside Ukraine, due to intensified attacks along the frontline in the Donetsk Region and increased use of long-range missiles, drones and aerial bombing.
Black Sea announcements
The White House on Tuesday said that Russia and Ukraine had reached separate agreements following talks in Saudi Arabia with US negotiators, with both agreeing to a maritime ceasefire in the crucial Black Sea shipping corridor.
The US said Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to the principal of safe navigation, eliminating the use of force and preventing the use of commercial vessels for military purposes.
Asked for reaction from the Secretary-General, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told the regular noon briefing that the two announcements were a welcome development.
"These issues, notably, on the freedom of navigation and Black Sea, are issues that the Secretary-General, his team, notably Rebeca Grynspan [head of trade and development body, UNCTAD ] and others, have been working on since almost the start of the conflict. And there continues to be discussions on these issues."
Mr. Dujarric said the UN had played no part in discussions in Riyad but noted Ms. Grynspan had been in Moscow for talks Monday on resuming the Memorandum of Understanding between Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye and the United Nations under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which Moscow pulled out of in July 2023.
He confirmed talks had also taken place recently in Washington.
The UN has been heavily invested in ensuring that Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea can happen safely, along with the transport of Russian food and fertilizer, to halt spiralling food prices worldwide and stave off famine in vulnerable countries.
The UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative was agreed by Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye and the UN in Istanbul in July 2022. It allowed more than 30 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs to leave Ukraine's ports and played an "indispensable role" in global food security, Mr. Guterres said at the time.
Sudanese uprooted by conflict drag themselves across Chad's border
Finally, to the Sudan-Chad border, where UN teams have said that a humanitarian emergency is underway, with the number of people fleeing to eastern Chad expected to surpass one million by the end of the year.
There are already 970,000 refugees in Chad today, the result of almost two years of heavy fighting in Sudan between rival militaries. Many have endured terrible violence and sexual abuse.
The refugees are being housed in 18 refugee camps and other shelters, but this has added to pressures on already neglected communities in eastern Chad, according to the UN Development Programme, UNDP .
To help, the UN agency's Resident Representative in Chad, Francis James, said that a new centre for women should open in Adre next month. It's an initiative of the UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and its purpose is to strengthen ties between host and refugee communities, Mr. James said:
"You have refugees coming over, literally crawling over and stumbling over the border, and you need social protection…but also you need to give them hope."
Other UN projects include supporting women and girls to go back to school.
UNDP's Mr. James explained that it was key that classrooms are built close to the refugee camps so that schoolgoers can avoid walking "for kilometres through dangerous zones" where they risk being assaulted.
Continued attacks in Sudan
Stéphane Dujarric said on Tuesday the UN was "gravely alarmed by continued attacks on civilians" inside Sudan.
Dozens of casualties were reported on Monday night when an air strike hit a market around 40 kilometres north-west of Darfur's main city of El Fasher - which remains besieged by the Rapid Support Forces militia who have been fighting Government troops for nearly two years for control of Sudan.
"Our humanitarian colleagues are also deeply concerned about escalating attacks on populated areas in Khartoum," Mr. Dujarric continued.
There were reports of civilians killed and injured in eastern Khartoum on Monday when artillery struck a mosque during evening prayers. Civilian casualties were also reported on Sunday as a result of heavy shelling in Omdurman - Khartoum's twin city across the Nile.
