Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

 

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Secretary-General Trip

The Secretary-General, as you know, is in Toronto, where he spoke at the closing plenary session of the Global Summit in Support of the “Every woman, every child” initiative.  He said that improving the health and well-being of women and children is an issue close to his heart.

The Secretary-General revealed that he has been known as the eldest child in his family his entire life, but that, in fact, he should have been the third child in his family.  He had an elder sister and an elder brother, but was never able to meet them.   He said that today, too many people still live that reality around the world, adding that we cannot accept that it is “normal” to lose any woman, any child, anywhere.

He praised Canada for yesterday’s announcement of an additional $3.5 billion for maternal and child health between 2015 and 2020, calling on others to follow Canada’s example.  The Secretary-General noted progress in recent decades in reducing maternal and under-5 [years old] mortality, but he warned that, despite such progress, some 289,000 women die each year while giving life, while an estimated 18,000 children die each day, mostly from preventable causes.  His remarks are available online.

The Secretary-General will shortly be giving a joint press conference with the Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and the President of Tanzania before returning to New York.  And yesterday, he met separately with those two leaders, and we have readouts available online.

**Deputy Secretary-General Trip Note

The Deputy Secretary-General will depart New York for London on 1 June.  During his visit in London, he will meet with Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Hague, as well as other senior Government officials. He will also be giving remarks at a town hall to staff of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.  While there, Mr. [Jan] Eliasson will also speak at a Conference on Globalization and the World Order at the Chatham House Royal Institute of International Affairs, and on 4 June he will travel to Oxford to give a lecture at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.

On 5 June, he will then travel to Stockholm where he will be the keynote speaker at Sweden’s National Day celebration on 6 June. During his visit, he will also hold bilateral meetings with Swedish Government officials.  The Deputy Secretary-General will be back in New York on 8 June.

**Democratic Republic of Congo

From the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN [Organization Stabilization] Mission in [the Democratic Republic of the Congo] (MONUSCO) announced that, so far, over 100 rebels from the Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda, known by the acronym FDLR, have surrendered in North Kivu.

The Mission has also received reports that the group has expressed its intention to begin the surrender process in South Kivu in 72 hours.  The Mission welcomes this development and calls on the FDLR commanders, as well as the rank and file, to surrender.  It reports that all resources have been mobilised, on a priority basis, for a swift and well-organised transfer of ex-combatants to transit camps and later on to their final destination.

**South Sudan

And from South Sudan, you will have seen today that the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for that country, Hilde Johnson, announced today that she will be departing the country when she completes her three-year term in July.  She noted that it has been an honour to serve in this position.  Ms. Johnson made the announcement after having what she called a very constructive and good meeting with President Salva Kiir, during which they also discussed the new mandate for the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), which passed the Security Council in a resolution earlier this week.

**Burundi

And I know there have been questions regarding Burundi concerning the case of Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, and can say that we are concerned about his case.  As you know, Mr. Mbonimpa is a prominent human rights activist in Burundi, who is currently in pre-trial detention for allegations he made on a Burundian radio station.   We have no information to substantiate the claims made by Mr. Mbonimpa. 

However, the charges of inciting public disobedience and we call on Burundian authorities to observe the right to due process in accordance with the international human rights standards that Burundi has committed to uphold.  And we continue to follow closely the political situation in Burundi.  We are indeed concerned over the continued restrictions on civil liberties for members of opposition political parties and for media and civil society organizations, especially in the run-up to the 2015 elections.

**Syria

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that a 15-truck UN convoy delivered food aid to Syrian Arab Red Crescent warehouses for 30,000 people in opposition-held areas in the rural western parts of the Governorate of Aleppo.  The convoy also delivered medicine for 15,000 people and essential household items for 10,000 people.  This aid is part of the plan, approved last week by the Governor of Aleppo, to help some half a million people, both in opposition- and Government-held areas.

[The Spokesman later added that:

**Occupied Palestinian Territory

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, says that aid agencies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory have voiced concern over pressure being placed by Israeli authorities on Palestinian Bedouin communities to relocate.  This comes on the heels of a wave of demolitions of Bedouin residences.  OCHA says that since the beginning of the year, more than 300 structures owned by Palestinians have been demolished in the West Bank, displacing more than 600 people.  Humanitarian organizations continue to provide emergency assistance, including temporary shelter, but that this aid has increasingly been seized.  These organizations are calling for a halt in demolitions until a fair, participatory and non-discriminatory planning and zoning regime is in place.]

**Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

Turning to the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said today that the Republic of Korea will host a structure to strengthen rights monitoring and documentation concerning the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  This comes following a Human Rights Council resolution in March requesting the Office of the High Commissioner to urgently follow up on the recommendations made by the Commission of Inquiry on the DPRK.

The Office said that it is pleased that the Republic of Korea has agreed to host this new structure, which will provide it with a greatly strengthened capacity to work on human rights issues in the DPRK.  And for more information, I would urge you to go to the High Commissioner’s website.

**Tobacco

Tomorrow is World No Tobacco Day, and on that occasion, the World Health Organization calls on countries to raise taxes on tobacco to encourage users to stop smoking and to prevent people from becoming addicted to tobacco.

And on that topic, the Secretary-General said that taxes on tobacco products discourages young people from taking up smoking and encourages current smokers to reduce use or quit altogether.  Tobacco taxes are a direct route to preventing cancer, stroke and diseases, and to saving lives.

**Travels

A couple of travels by senior officials I also want to flag.  The Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kyung-wha Kang, will be on a four-day visit to Colombia and Panama, starting Sunday.  In Colombia, she is scheduled to visit areas affected by conflict and meet with local indigenous communities and farmers.

And the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Nigeria on the Chibok girls, Mr. Said Djinnit, is scheduled to be in Abuja on Monday, 2 June.  One of the reasons for the visit is to follow up on the implementation of the Integrated Support Package for the North-East and having to do with the girls' abduction.  And we’ll have more information for you on that next week.

**Press Conference Monday

And on Monday, I will be joined by guests, Martin Sajdik, the President of the Economic and Social Council and Ahmad Alhendawi, the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth.  They will be here to discuss the Youth Forum, “#Youth2015:  Realizing the future they want”, which starts at 10 a.m. in the Trusteeship Council.

That’s it.  Nizar?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  I have a question regarding the water shortages in Syria emanating from the blocking of running of water from Euphrates River in Turkey.  Also, we are seeing a pattern here, where in Iraq, Al-Qaida used water to flood areas and villages and towns.  In Aleppo, we see in the opposition groups, including Al-Qaida, of course, blocking water for 2.5 million people.  And now we see Turkey, which is considered a friend of Syria, behaving like an enemy by cutting the water from Euphrates and depriving the Syrians in such a humanitarian crisis.  What does the United Nations have to say…?

Spokesman:  I think on the specific case of Turkey and the Euphrates, we’ve seen the reports, we’re checking with our humanitarian partners and we’re looking into it to see what impact it is having on the people of Syria.  On the issue of water in general, I think we’ve repeatedly said whether it’s having to do with the situation that occurred in Aleppo or in Baghdad, we’ve denounced the use of water and the intentional holding back of water.  Yes, Edie?

Question:  [inaudible]

Spokesman:  We’ve denounced it in those terms in Iraq and in Aleppo.  Yes, Edie?

Question:  Stéphane, is the Secretary-General using his good offices or trying to make any calls to try and get the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), the two sets of monitors who apparently have now been abducted, released?

Spokesman:  We are not directly involved in obtaining their release.  What I can say is that obviously we’re monitoring the situation very closely and the Secretary-General is deeply concerned that international monitors who are involved in international efforts to bring peace to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine are being put in grave danger.  It’s something we’ve repeatedly seen over the last few days and we stress that it is the responsibility of all involved to ensure the security of these monitors, so that they can carry out their mandated function.  The abduction of monitors in this particular instance, of international monitors, is to be deplored and anyone who has influence on the parties that may be holding them should use that influence to get them released.  Yes, ma’am?  Sorry, then Matthew.

Question:  Any update on the Meriam Ibrahim case in Sudan and what’s happening with that?

Spokesman:  No, we are watching it.  I think we’ve expressed our feelings fairly clearly on it, but I have not seen any updates on this case recently.  Yes, Matthew?

Question:  Sure, I want to ask about Central African Republic and also Burundi.  In the CAR (Central African Republic), I mean, I saw the statement but there are… there are, people say that they were unarmed protesters that had gone to meet the Head of the UN Mission and were fired on by the Burundian peacekeepers, and they say that five were killed, as opposed to the two.  And I wondered, what is the, what’s the evidence that the protestors were armed, and what does the UN say about this claim?

Spokesman:  Obviously, I think we’ve been watching the deterioration of the security situation in Bangui with great concern.  The UN Mission is in close contact with the AU (African Union) mission, with MISCA (African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic) as the AU force, is the lead in security for the country and other international and national partners to try to see exactly what happened and to coordinate the best response and to have more information about the incident.

Question:  And also, I wanted to ask on the Burundi readout you gave, thanks for… for that.  I just wanted to ask for, to clarify one thing.  You said that the UN has no way to establish the veracity of what Mr.  Mbonimpa said before being arrested.  And one of the things that he said was simply to read out the UN’s 3 April cable about the arming of the youth wing.  And also on that show, he said he named a place in eastern Congo in which he said the youth gangs are being trained.  So, I wanted to know, in the case of the cable, is the UN then saying the cable is not, is no longer true?  In the case of the camp, why hasn’t MONUSCO gone to actually see it?

Spokesman:  I think on the issue of this leaked cable, we haven’t commented, we won’t comment, on a leaked cable, but we have expressed our feelings fairly clearly on the issue of the arming of youth wings…

Question:  What about MONUSCO going to the camp?

Spokesman:  I have nothing on that.  Yes, Oleg?

Question:  Thank you, Stéphane.  Back to Ukraine, last week you announced that Russia has formally asked the Secretary-General for the investigation into events in Odessa with participation of OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons).  My question is:  what is the status of this request?  I’m asking because yesterday Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov said that Ban Ki-moon could have shown some more perseverance in pursing an investigation into these events.

Spokesman:  You know, I think we’ve shown a lot of perseverance in what’s going in the Ukraine.  On the issue of the investigations, there are a number of concurrent investigations ongoing — national, local and others.  We will, the events in Odessa will be covered in the next human rights report that comes out 17 June.  And we’ve also been in touch with the OPCW on the investigation, as it is alleged that there’s been use of chemical weapons which would be, put the OPCW in the lead.  You know, that being said, I think, looking at the situation in Ukraine in general, the Secretary-General is continuously very distressed by the reports of violence that we’ve seen, and he reiterates his call that only dialogue will bring about a peaceful solution to what’s going on and a reminder to all parties and those who have influence to exercise the utmost restraint.

Question:  But, what was the answer from OPCW?  Will you look, will they look into it?

Spokesman:  I think it’s up… you would have to talk to OPCW.  They are independent from us.  Yes, Iftikhar.

Question:  Thanks, Steph.   By now you must have seen that most… most international observers have questioned the credibility of referendum in Egypt, despite Government efforts to coerce people into voting.  There has been low voter turnout.  Does the UN have any report on the status of the voting in Egypt?

Spokesman:  We were not involved in the monitoring of the elections and I think we think we stated yesterday what our position was.  Yes?

Question:  Thank you.  Earlier this week, in India, in a small town, two minor girls were raped and they were hanged from a tree.  They belonged to a low-caste community.  Do the UN officials know about it or do the human rights officials have any comment on this incident that happened?

Spokesman:  I think we’ve seen, we’ve seen the reports of this, of this horrendous crime, and it only underscores the wave of violence that we’ve seen against women.  You know, whether in Pakistan, whether in India, whether gender-based violence that we’ve seen most recently in California that was clearly targeted at women, and the Secretary-General has spoken out forcefully against violence against women and has encouraged all those who can do something about it to do so.  He has, if you will recall, he had stated a campaign a few years of encouraging men to stand up against violence against women.   I think what we’ve seen, that the incident that you referred to is horrendous.  I mean, there are some incidents I think that are, the words are difficult to choose, but it was clearly a horrendous incident.

Correspondent:  Follow up on that.

Spokesman: Yes, sir?

Question:  What I understand is that this is caste-related also crime, not only is a rape against females, but also it is embedded in the Indian society, which is still a caste system.  Is it not time for India, I mean, to be called on to abolish such a thing?

Spokesman:  I think everyone — every man, every woman — deserves to be protected by the law.  We’ve seen the harm that traditional practices can do against women, and whatever the reason is, we’ve seen the results, and it needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms.  Yes, Erol?

Question:  Stéphane, according to UN diplomats, the previous resolution on the Syrian, delivering aid to Syria is not working and there is at least two, there are at least two drafts that are still circulating at the UN Security Council.  My question is direct, whether the Secretary-General shares that view that the previous resolution doesn’t work, and whether he is in favour of the new resolution?

Spokesman:  Well, obviously, it’s up to the Security Council members to decide whether or not to adopt a new resolution.  As to whether or not aid is getting through to Syria to all Syrians who need it in sufficient numbers, I think clearly the answer is no, and the Secretary-General was very clear on that in his report.

Question:  Thank you, Stéphane.  This is sort of related to the human rights violations by the DPRK, but after the talk between North Korea and Japan, the North Korea Government agreed with the re-investigation of the abductees of Japanese citizens, so do you happen to have any comment on this?  Do you think it’s a new progress?

Spokesman:  Obviously, the issue of the abductees is one that has been a major issue between Japan and the DPRK, and we would hope that these talks would lead to a positive outcome.  Matthew, and then Nizar, sorry.

Question:  I wanted to ask two things about Ukraine.  One is that the Defence Ministry official there has said that if unrest continues in the east, all of the 18 helicopter crews involved in UN peacekeeping missions will have to be withdrawn, and he said that there are discussions with the UN to that effect.  I wanted… can you describe… what would the process be for a troop-contributing country to remove its troops on short notice?  And the other one has to do with, yesterday, you’d said that it was an “if asked” this question of the Secretary-General statement that the elections in Ukraine were generally peaceful, if you… I wanted to just to know, why it wasn’t just read out?  Maybe you can, I don’t know who decides that.  Maybe… and I also noticed that the UN News Centre’s article in the Russian service reversed the order, basically put concern about unrest at Donetsk at the top as opposed to praising the election, and it led me to believe… where’s the consistency?  Is there a concern on your part that the UN could be telling different stories in different languages to different audiences, in a way, to sort of tell the people what they want rather than a single message?

Spokesman:  I think that the UN News Centre and Radio do an excellent job in doing their, in telling their story.  If questions are asked, I have answers.  I mean, you know, I don’t really know how to answer your question.

Correspondent:  I just… I did ask… I asked about the Donetsk thing and you read like the bottom of the “if asked”, but not the top and I just… it just seemed sort of… it was a big thing like…

Spokesman:  I guess, I’m at the podium. It’s my call.  Okay, Nizar?

Question:  What about the helicopters?

Spokesman:  Helicopters, I don’t know if there are any talks.  Obviously, the Ukrainian participation peacekeeping is very important, but I’m not aware of any discussions going on.  Yes, Nizar?

Question:  Revisiting the issue of aid to Syria, even reading through the report of the Secretary-General says that whenever like places like Al Nusra’s controls and other groups control, we see tens of thousands of inhabitants just leave the area, like what happened in Deir ez-Zor, where 100,000 recently just left when the opposition controlled that.  In other areas where the Government controls, we see people are returning.  Given that the recent events about elections in foreign countries and millions of Syrians turning up, showing support to the President and the Government, is there any change in the position of the United Nations, and specifically, the [Secretary-General] with regard to the legitimacy of the Government and of the President of Syria?

Spokesman:  Secretary-General’s position is unchanged.

Correspondent:  [inaudible] still believing…

Spokesman:  It’s unchanged.  There’s been no… Yes?

Question:  Stéphane, we have seen the readout of the Secretary-General meeting with the Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić, although I asked that question, we didn’t clearly understood whether anybody of them… or does it… is there any talk of organizing the donors conference on Balkans on these recent floods?

Spokesman:  I’ll check with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs as soon as I’m done here.

[The Spokesman later noted that $2 million has been allocated from the Central Emergency Response Fund’s Rapid Response window for Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a similar request for funding also being reviewed for Serbia.]

Yes, Matthew?

Question:  I wanted to ask about South Sudan and also this FDLR surrender.  On South Sudan, Riek Marchar of the opposition, SPLA in opposition, has said, and to some degree to the Security Council question, but it’s also an UNMISS question.  He said he opposes UNMISS being, taking on the mandate of protecting oil wells and says this will be taking… taking sides in a conflict would make the UN “complicit”.  And I just wonder, is… is there a concern of the UN… it seems… I’ve never heard of that as part of a mandate, protecting a… you know, a profit-making oil well.  Is that something that UNMISS is going to do?  Who’s going to do it?  And what will they do if people…

Spokesman:  Obviously, UNMISS, we’re in discussions to operationalize the new resolution and a new mandate, and the mandate, the resolution serves as the marching orders for the Organization for peacekeeping operations.

Question:  And on the FDLR surrender, some people there are saying that… that… first, I wanted how does this 100 or 105 people say… 105 with 102 weapons is the number that I’ve seen.  Is… and that some of the people surrendering are underage children, not necessarily child soldiers, just basically, like, not soldiers at all.  So, I wanted to know, how does this surrender compare to the compare to the UN’s estimated size of the FDLR force, and is it viewed as a significant action if in fact many of the people that surrendered weren’t fighters at all?

Spokesman:  I don’t have any further details on it.   You can ask the Mission.  Obviously, if children are involved, they will be taken care of and not treated as combatants.  Thank you.

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For information media • not an official record