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 Vannina Maestracci, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Welcome to the noon briefing.  Bonjour.

** Gaza

In a statement we issued yesterday, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the killing earlier in the day of at least 10 Palestinian civilians in shelling outside of a school in Rafah, run by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that was providing shelter to thousands of civilians.

The attack is yet another gross violation of international humanitarian law, which clearly requires protection by both parties of Palestinian civilians, UN staff and UN premises, among other civilian facilities.

The Secretary-General made clear that United Nations shelters must be safe zones, not combat zones.  He said that this attack, along with other breaches of international law, must be swiftly investigated and those responsible held accountable.

Pierre Krähenbühl, the Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency, said that the incident in Rafah is a further tragic and unacceptable reminder that there is nowhere safe in Gaza for people to take refuge.  No one feels secure and given that Gaza is enclosed by a barrier, there is also nowhere safe for them to run.  He reminded the parties that they must respect the sanctity of civilian life, the inviolability of UN property and that they must abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and humanitarian workers.

Over the weekend, the senior UN humanitarian officials in Gaza warned that a health disaster of widespread proportions is rapidly unfolding there as a direct result of the conflict.  After more than three weeks of intense conflict, Gaza’s medical services and facilities are on the verge of collapse.  One third of hospitals, 14 primary health-care clinics and 29 Palestinian Red Crescent and Ministry of Health ambulances have been damaged in the fighting.  At least 40 per cent of medical staff are unable to get to their places of work, such as clinics and hospitals, due to widespread violence and at least half of all public health primary care clinics are closed.  There are more details available on the website of the UN Special Coordinator’s office.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that, according to preliminary data, at least 1,777 Palestinians have been killed.  Of that number, 1,242 people — that’s about 85 per cent of those whose identity has been verified — are civilians, including 393 children and 208 women.  More than 8,000 Palestinians have been injured.  Also, a total of 66 Israelis have been killed, including two civilians and 64 soldiers, and one foreign national has also been killed in Israel.

** Iraq

We also issued a statement on Iraq yesterday in which the Secretary-General expressed his alarm that the Islamic State forces had taken over the districts of Sinjar and Tal Afar in Ninewa Province.  The Secretary-General continues to remind parties that any systematic attack on civilians or segments of the civilian population because of their ethnic background, religious beliefs or faith may constitute a crime against humanity.  And those responsible must be held accountable.

He once more called upon the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government to put their differences aside and work closely together in addressing the urgent security needs of the country.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, called the situation in Sinjar a humanitarian tragedy.  The violence has displaced some 200,000 civilians so far.  Displaced families are urgently in need of basic items, including food, water and shelter.

The UN Mission in Iraq, UNAMI, says that it is likely that displaced people from Sinjar, which is located near the Syrian border, are surrounded by the Islamic State forces due to reported armed clashes north of Sinjar.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is working with the UN Mission and humanitarian partners to obtain more information on the situation in the area and determine how best to facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance.  UN agencies have dispatched aid supplies including food, bottled water, tents and hygiene kits.  More information is available online.

** Afghanistan

On Afghanistan, as the audit process continues for the results of Afghanistan’s presidential election run-off, the UN in Afghanistan has urged the full commitment by the parties to complete that process without any further delays and interruption.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ján Kubiš, said that the world body was jointly requested by the two presidential candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, and also separately by the authorities of Afghanistan, to carry out its current role of coordinating international supervision of the audit of the 14 June presidential run-off.

A round-the-clock airlift operation was jointly launched by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the United Nations to retrieve all of the approximately 23,000 ballot boxes to Kabul so that they can be audited under the full scrutiny of domestic and international observers, candidate agents, UN advisers and the media.  And there is also more information on this available online.

** Lebanon

Ross Mountain, the Acting UN Special Coordinator in Lebanon, strongly condemned the attacks on Lebanese Armed Forces positions and the violence in and around the town of Arsal yesterday.  Those attacks led to the deaths, injury and abduction of soldiers and members of the security forces, and caused civilian fatalities and injuries.  The United Nations is committed to the stability and security of Lebanon.  The Acting Special Coordinator reiterates the UN’s strong support for the Lebanese Armed Forces and the security forces of Lebanon in their efforts to achieve this goal.

** Libya

On Libya, the UN Support Mission there (UNSMIL) has welcomed the convening of the Council of Representatives.  It calls this a step that reflects the genuine will of the Libyan people to see that the democratic process and its outcomes are respected.  The Mission hopes that the elected Council will lead the efforts to safeguard the security, safety, unity and sovereignty of Libya, and help to create an environment that fosters an inclusive political dialogue.  The Mission also continues to condemn the violence in Tripoli and Benghazi, and the devastating impact on the lives of civilians.  It has called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire.

** India and Nepal

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, says that more than 100 people reportedly have been killed in a landslide in western India.  Some 60 people are still missing and feared dead.  The Indian Government is leading the response, and OCHA’s regional office in Bangkok has been in close contact with authorities.

The annual South Asian rains have triggered a separate landslide in north-east Nepal, where at least 10 deaths have been confirmed.  Authorities fear the death toll could climb above 150 people.  The Government of Nepal is in the lead to respond to the situation, with support from India and OCHA.  The UN Resident Coordinator is working with aid agencies to respond to Nepalese authorities’ request for support in areas including food, shelter and water.

**Press Conferences

Following this briefing, at 12:30 p.m., Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant of the United Kingdom, will be here to brief you.  He is of course the President of the Security Council for August, and the Security Council just adopted its programme of work for the month a little bit earlier.

And then at 4 p.m., there will be a press conference on the Globe Theatre organized also by the United Kingdom Permanent Mission here.

That’s what I have for you.  I’ll take a few questions.  I’m a little bit blind so I can’t see very well.  Evelyn, please go ahead.  Please use the mic.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Is the conflict on the border with Iraq and Syria preventing the humanitarian aid to Syria that was supposed to go through there?

Associate Spokesperson:  In Sinjar?  The latest displacement?  I mean, right now, OCHA is trying to assess the situation.  There are difficulties and we are of course calling on everyone in Iraq, whether it’s the authorities, civil society, to make sure that we can assess and our partners can assess those areas and make sure we can get the lifesaving assistance that is needed by those displaced into that area.  Sure, go ahead.

Question:  Thank you very much.  With regard to the Secretary-General statement on the ongoing, repeated bombardment of UN facilities of the UNRWA in Gaza, and his harsh words used in his statement, does the Secretary-General intend at any point to exercise his authority under Article 99 of the UN Charter by referring the whole incidents to the Security Council, with the view for further referral to the ICC [International Criminal Court] for any party that might or parties that might be responsible for violating international humanitarian law and conducting war crimes?  Thank you.

Associate Spokesperson:  Look, right now I think the Secretary-General’s statement over the weekend was very strong.  He was very clear.  You know, he’s also dismayed by the continued escalation of violence in Gaza.  And you will have seen as well what UNRWA has been saying when it comes to its schools and the safety of its schools that are sheltering civilians.  So hopefully, those schools will not be hit anymore, and I think we have stressed repeatedly from this podium — and different UN officials — the importance of respecting the inviolability of human premises — and those zones and those schools are, of course, UN premises.

Question:  Excuse me, my question is, will the Secretary-General couple his words with tangible action or it will just limit to harsh words?  Business as usual.

Associate Spokesperson:  The Secretary-General is coupling his words with tangible action by being in touch with everyone in the region and making sure that we, at one point, have a ceasefire which is what we need in the region.  That’s the first thing we need.  We need to stop the killing and stop the violence and that’s what’s he is doing and he’s engaging with everyone to make sure that we can get to that point.  Erol, please?

Question:  Thank you, Vannina.  Here’s my question.  Does the Secretary-General, by using words “madness”, “this madness has to stop”, is confessing that he is desperate of the situation in Gaza and that actually he is limited or he feels that he cannot do more than those harsh and strongly worded statements?

Associate Spokesperson:  I’m not going to go over every word that is used in a statement.  You know, I think the Secretary-General himself has expressed his frustration at seeing civilians killed over the past three weeks and more, and I do not think helpless is the right word.  As I said, he remains engaged.  He remained hopeful that the parties will want to go back to a point where there can be a sustainable ceasefire and that we can finally get to the root causes of that conflict.

Question:  What are the root causes?

Associate Spokesperson:  Well, right now, the important thing is to stop the killing again, and to get a ceasefire, and then we can go step by step.  Yes?  Matthew?

Question:  Thanks.  I wanted to ask about another Secretary-General statement, the one on 1 August where he said that two IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers were killed and one taken captive and that this called into the credibility of Hamas’ assur… calls into question the credibility of Hamas’ assurances to the UN.  Since now, the IDF said that the soldier was not taken captive, was killed in battle, is there any either correction or…?  It seems like it was a major factual issue late last week who violated the ceasefire, whether this soldier was taken captive…

Associate Spokesperson:  Right.  I’m going to stop you right there.  I mean, there’s… you know, there hasn’t been a correction of this and what I can tell you is obviously I think you can see that the situation is very fast-moving.  We are trying to get the best information we possibly can when we write those statements and also when we inform you and we continue to do that.  We go with the best information available at that moment…

Question:  Follow-up on that please?

Associate Spokesperson:  Okay.

Question:  When you are briefing, you mention all of the disasters happening in Gaza, so what’s wrong with condemning the party who causing all this disaster, coming forward and really condemning them, rather than just vaguely saying “yes, I know, I know,” and all these things?

Associate Spokesperson:  I’m not sure, you know…  We have issued condemnations of attacks on our schools.  We have many times said that we want the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza to stop.  And we are also condemning rockets that are fired into Israel.

Question:  What’s wrong with naming the names?  I mean, you know who attacked the school, 1,700 civilians death, so what’s wrong with just naming…?

Associate Spokesperson:  I think we have and I think a measure of the fact that we have is that we, you know, people on both sides are not happy with us and I think that happens in a conflict when, you know, we’re always going to get criticism.  What we want is not to exacerbate tension.  What we want is to get them back to a point where there will be a ceasefire and then negotiations.  Andre?

Question:  Yes, I have a question on the Western Sahara if we are finished with Gaza.  There are persistent rumours that Christopher Ross is no longer trusted by both parties in the conflict and is about to resign or is thinking about resigning.  Could you comment about that and tell us also if Mr. Ross is about to go to the region at a given point?

Associate Spokesperson:  We’ve seen those media reports about the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara.  Those reports have no foundation.  Mr. Ross, Ambassador Ross, is continuing his consultation with the parties, both on their concerns obviously, but also on the timing of his next visit to the region.  Asma, yes?

Question:  There is a representative from Hamas in Egypt now.  They are making a decision and Israel refused to go to Cairo to be part of these negotiations.  I wanted to know the position of the United Nations on that and if you talked to the Israelis to tell them they should go, that the Israelis should be involved with negotiations.  Thank you.

Associate Spokesperson:  I think Mr. Feltman was very clear on this on Friday, the fact that we do talk to everyone, and of course we want get them there.  We’re not going to get into the specifics of who is talking to who.  At this point the Cairo negotiations are at the invitation of the Egyptian Government, of course — and we would of course like those negotiations to unfold and we, you know, we were certainly hoping that some kind ceasefire would provide the calm that is necessary for those negotiations to take place.

Question:  I’m sorry, I want to follow up.  So, did you talk to the Israeli authority and they refused and they…?

Associate Spokesperson:  I said I’m not going to give specifics — just, you know, we are talking, we have representatives on the ground and we are talking, of course, to as many people as we can that can be helpful in resolving this crisis.  Nizar, go ahead.

Question:  Yes, revisiting the question of Matthew’s about the condemnation.  The Secretary-General was not hesitant to condemn Hamas on two occasions — one, the three Israelis were abducted and then proved to be not to be abducted by Hamas, but by another group, and the other one is one, the missing officer turned out to be dead in the battle, so I mean there’s an obligation here of the United Nations to be as close to the truth as possible.  There should be some statement about this incident telling us what are the facts and why use condemnations.  Another issue is the human rights report of 2008-2009 led by Richard Goldstone has been totally ignored.  Do you believe that by ignoring that report, you encouraged Israel to perpetrate further crimes similar to those perpetrated in 2009?

Associate Spokesperson:  Nizar, I want to be clear.  I think the Secretary-General has been very strong in his condemnation when it was needed and I will ask you to go back to the statements that we have issued, the many statements that we have issues and you will see what’s in them.

Question:  [inaudible]

Associate Spokesperson:  Edie, please.

Correspondent:  You did not answer my question.  Sorry.

Associate Spokesperson:  The first part of the question — let me finish, Nizar — is actually a comment, so…

Correspondent:  No, it’s not a comment.

Associate Spokesperson:  Yes, it is.

Correspondent:  Excuse me.  It is not a comment.  I said clearly.  The Secretary-General condemned Hamas on two occasions and then these two occasions turned out to be true.  Shouldn’t there be an apology for that or just revocation of those statements?

Associate Spokesperson:  Edie?

Question:  Vannina, two follow-up questions on this.  First, does the Secretary-General believe that there is any possibility of renewing negotiations in Cairo under the current circumstances where Israel is refusing to participate, and in line with that, does he have any plans perhaps to return to the region?  And, just as a comment, in the past we certainly have gotten the names of people he has talked to on the phone and I don’t know why we are not getting that today.  Thank you.

Associate Spokesperson:  Okay, so on the last part, not today, sometimes we give them, sometimes I don’t have them for you.  If you want more details, we certainly try to get them for you.  On the return to the region, you know, again, in these types of travels, when we have something to announce, we do.  I don’t have anything to announce on that front right now.  And on the negotiations going on in Cairo, I do believe it would be the hope of the Secretary-General that these negotiations happen and that they unfold.  It is, certainly, as Mr. Feltman said on Friday, it is certainly hard at this time for those negotiations to happen, but we are, the United Nations is hopeful that we will get the parties back to Cairo so that they can talk.  Yes, sorry, go ahead.  No, you.

Correspondent:  Thank you.

Associate Spokesperson:  No.

Question:  Thank you.  What is the UN’s response to news reports coming out of Nigeria that the kidnapped Chibok girls are being used unwittingly as human bombs…?

Associate Spokesperson:  That the what?

Correspondent:  The Chibok girls, the kidnapped Chibok girls?  Reports are stating that they’re being remotely blown up inside Boko Haram enemy camps?  While the UN is concentrating on the situation in Gaza, what efforts are being made to bring back the missing, the kidnapped Chibok girls?

Associate Spokesperson:  I haven’t seen those reports, but, you know, yes, there are efforts concentrating on Gaza, but we are also the United Nations and we are also working on many other fronts and that would include the concerns with Boko Haram and Nigeria.  I think, I’ll check for you if Mr. Djinnit is, has been there or is about to go there and I’ll see what I can get for you on that.  Yes, right next to you.

Question:  Hi.  Is this on?

Associate Spokesperson:  Try talking.  I’ll tell you.

Question:  There were reports in a couple of Israeli papers last week that Hamas had executed a couple of dozen Palestinians and I was wondering if you had heard those reports and if you know if they’re true.

Associate Spokesperson:  No, I haven’t.  But I can check.  Okay, Matthew, yes?

Question:  Sure.  I had asked last week about this report on Bloomberg that the UN in Geneva is soliciting funds from Swiss banks to repair the Palace and I did get this e-mail from you all saying that, yes, it’s under the GA’s [General Assembly] outreaching.  But the part that I really asked about is what system is in place to disclose what money comes in and what safeguards may be in place that the financial institutions that do business with the UN don’t, while they’re bidding on a contract, give a contribution, so I’m still… I want to reiterate that and I also again about maybe taking a different approach at it.  This issue of gifted travel, you know, travel gifted or in-kind to the Secretary-General, what’s the… what would be the problem with the UN just disclosing it?  Having a website where it said “these were…”?  If you think there’s no conflict of interest, what’s the problem with disclosing it or am I missing it?  Are these disclosed somewhere?  Absent repeated questioning, you know, having to be directed at the Spokesperson’s Office to know who paid for the travel?  That’s the question.

Associate Spokesperson:  That’s two questions.  Do you want Geneva first?

Correspondent:  Yes.

Associate Spokesperson:  Okay.  So in addition to what we sent you, my understanding right now is that there haven’t been talks with Swiss private banks so far — so we can address it and I can give you the procedure, if that happens, but right now that’s not the case.  Your second question is why there’s… there is… — this particular incident that you’re not naming but referring to, we… you have been told multiple times that it was, we told OIOS [the Associate Spokesperson later corrected this to “Ethics Office”], they have been told.  They were okay with it.  They understand the rational and in-kind contributions, which is the case here, not gifts — in-kind contributions are, you know, they happen at the United Nations and, again, the United Nations, you know, everything here is paid by Member States, is a contribution of some sort by Member States.  So, you’ve got to keep that in mind.

Correspondent:  I’m asking about public disclosure.  Not disclosure to the Ethics Office, to OIOS, and also there is a general budget and then there’s specific ones…

Associate Spokesperson:  Public disclosure?  We’ve been talking about it for like two weeks.

Correspondent:  Right… because…

Associate Spokesperson:  How is that not public?  Erol?

Question:  So, could you consider yourself asked in advance for all future travel because this time I asked?  I waited about four days until he appeared on the TV screen and asked again, so I wanted to know, in the future, will these be routinely disclosed, either in your office or on a website or just consider yourself asked in advance, when Ban Ki-moon…?

Associate Spokesperson:  We might forget.  You might have to ask again.  I’m sorry.  Erol, go ahead.

Question:  Thank you, Vannina.  Just a, I would say, technical question.  Are you are aware or can you confirm that the changing of the guard at the European Commission, United Nations European Commission, has taken place today with Mr. Alkalaj leaving and the…?

Associate Spokesperson:  I haven’t seen an appointment.  So, once we have it, we’ll e-mail it around, as we always do.

Question:  Okay, and follow-up to that?  Is Secretary-General offered something else to Mr. Alkalaj since he spent only — I’m putting that in parenthesises — only two years as the head of that Commission?

Associate Spokesperson:  Since we don’t have that appointment, I’m, you know, I’m not sure what to tell you.  We don’t have an appointment right now on that position.  So, let’s just leave it at that and once we do, we can figure it out.  Okay, thank you very much everybody and Mark Lyall Grant will be here shortly.  Have a good afternoon.

[The Associate Spokesperson later clarified that Christian Friis Bach of Denmark had been appointed as the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and that no appointment concerning his predecessor, Sven Alkalaj, had been made.]

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For information media • not an official record