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.

**Yemen

You will have just heard the Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who just, as you know, briefed the Security Council, and just spoke to you.  So I will not add anything to the words he just spoke.

**Eritrea

Meanwhile, from Geneva, the Commission of Inquiry for Eritrea today informed the Human Rights Council that, with thousands of Eritreans continuing to flee Government repression, the dire human rights situation in that country can no longer be ignored.

The three-member Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea issued a report which describes a State that rules through fear and a vast security network that reaches into every level of society.  The commission called on the Human Rights Council to maintain close scrutiny on violations committed in Eritrea, which it said may constitute crimes against humanity.

That report, as you know, was produced by the Commission of Inquiry for Eritrea, which was created by the Human Rights Council.

**Peacebuilding Fund

The Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, in opening the Annual Peacebuilding Fund Stakeholders Meeting this morning, noted that the Fund is in pressing need of an increase in support.

Mr. Eliasson reminded the participants that it would be short-sighted not to invest in conflict prevention and post-conflict programmes.  He said that it would be tragic and ironic if “just as the Peacebuilding Fund is finding its feet and role, the rug is pulled out from underneath it.”  He suggested considering devoting a small amount of assessed contributions for peacebuilding purposes as an additional way to capitalize the Fund.   

**Security Council

This afternoon, the Security Council will hold its periodic meeting on the Middle East.  Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman will provide the briefing to the Security Council members.

**Central African Republic

The UN Mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA, launched a military operation aimed at restoring freedom of movement and security on the main road of the Nana-Mambéré Prefecture, which supplies the capital city, Bangui.

The peacekeepers recently dismantled a camp of a rebel group perpetrating numerous acts of terror, robberies and hostage-taking in the sector between Baboua and Zokoumbo.  In the abandoned camp, they seized weapons, ammunition, ID cards of different countries, as well as drugs.

A press release is on the Mission’s website.

**Bahrain

Nizar, you have been asking about Bahrain and about Sheikh Ali Salman.  I can say in response to your questions that the Secretary-General is concerned that Sheikh Ali Salman, Secretary General of the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, Bahrain’s largest opposition society, was sentenced to four years in prison on 16 June.  He urges the Bahraini authorities to enable Sheikh Ali Salman to exercise his right to appeal and to guarantee a fair trial.  He also calls on the Bahraini authorities to act in accordance with their obligation to ensure the protection of freedom of expression and assembly.  

The Secretary-General firmly believes that the best way to reduce tensions and ensure peace, stability and prosperity for all Bahrainis is through a genuine and all-inclusive political dialogue between the Government and the opposition.   

**Press Conferences

Tomorrow at 10:45 a.m, in this very room, Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Office, will be joined by Henrik Madsen, CEO of the certification body and classification society DNV GL.  They will discuss a report to be presented at the plenary session of the Global Compact + 15: Business as a Force for Good meeting.

**Questions and Answers

Ms. Nichols?

Question:  Thanks, Steph.  In the Secretary‑General's latest monthly report to the Security Council on aid access in Syria, he calls on the Council to take urgent action in the face of daily atrocities and human rights abuses.  What action does the security — does the Secretary-General want the Security Council to take?

Spokesman:  Well, I think the report which you mention, I don't think is out as of yet, so I haven't — I can't really comment on the report as such.  But obviously, the Secretary-General would expect the Security Council to act with one voice to ensure that aid access to all Syrians is guaranteed and respected and that humanitarian goods are not used as a tool of war.

Question:  Stéphane, a group of political parties of Yemen have submitted a letter to the Secretary-General asking for a meeting with him, since they were denied access to him during the Geneva talks.  Is he going to entertain such request?

Spokesman:  I haven't seen the letter.  We'll ask, and you know, meetings for requests are studied.  Mr. Klein, then Mr. Lee?

Question:  Yes.  This did not come out in the stakeout.  Could you give us, if not now, as soon as possible, an update on the number of civilians estimated to be — have been killed in Yemen to date, and, within that, if it's possible, the number of children?

Spokesman:  Sure.  I think we gave an update last week, but we'll try give you updated numbers.

Question:  Yeah, it was a couple weeks ago.

Spokesman:  Mr. Lee?

Question:  Sure.  Thanks.  I want to ask about a few things, but on Burundi, I wanted to ask, there was — yesterday it was said that the ruling party of Burundi would not take part in these most recent talks with Mr. [Abdoulaye)] Bathily.  Now it's said that the Government is but the ruling party isn't.  What's the status of those talks and the CNDD‑FDD?  And also it was reported that journalists were blocked from going to this Musaga area where a lot of crackdown is taking place.  Is Mr. Bathily aware of that, and does he have any comment on it?

Spokesman:  I don't know if he's aware of that.  We will check.  Mr. Bathily is just starting his work.  He's having discussions with various parties.  I think it's still a very fluid situation, as we all know, but he is continuing — he's continuing his work.

Question:  But, I mean, I'm sure you've seen the — like, yesterday they had — Mr. Parfait [Onanga-Anyanga] said he had spoken — he was at an event, and he said that he spoke with the ambassador here.  So it seems to me that the Secretariat is aware of the ruling party's position to not take part in…

Spokesman:  No, I understand.  But I think those things are being discussed locally.  They're being discussed on the ground, I think on, more than on a daily basis, so I don't want to speak for Mr. Bathily at this point.  Evelyn?

Question:  Yes.  The Special Envoy for Yemen spoke about the need for monitors for any truce or ceasefire.  Have you heard anything about that, what — who's supposed to monitor what?

Spokesman:  Well, I think — I have nothing to add to what the Special Envoy already said.  Obviously, this is something that we're looking into. 

Yes, Abdel Hamid, then Mr. Abbadi.

Question:  Thank you, Stéphane.  We heard that he give seven points to the Security Council.  Can you go on those seven points, point by point, because we need to know.

Spokesman:  I'll see if there's anything more I can get beyond what he's told you.

Question:  But my second question, it's about an epidemic in Aden, and there is reports — I was reading a report by Medecins sans Frontieres.  It's really appalling, the situation in Aden.  And there was…

Spokesman:  I'm sorry.  In where?  In Aden.

Question:  In Aden.  And there is a group of Yemenis who wrote to the WHO [World Health Organization], and they sent me a copy of the letter.  They sent it to WHO, and they didn't receive an answer.  Can you check with WHO to see what — what is their latest data about the situation in Aden, in particular?  Thank you.

Spokesman:  Sure.  Mr. Abbadi?

Question:  Several weeks ago, the Secretary‑General received a report on the death of former Secretary‑General Dag Hammarskjöld.  And he said he would make it available to the public.  To my knowledge, it has not been…

Spokesman:  No, it has not.  What is happening…

Question:  My question is, how long would he hold on to the report and does he intend to make changes into the document?

Spokesman:  No, it's not about making changes to the document.  The report of the panel will be forwarded to the General Assembly, along with the Secretary-General's own recommendations.  So that's what we're working on now.  Once those are ready, the whole — all of it will be transmitted to the General Assembly.

Question:  When?

Spokesman:  We hope soon — we hope sooner rather than later.  I'm sorry.  Mr. Abbadi.  Your microphone, please, sir?

Question:  [off mic]

Spokesman:  No, no, no, we're talking soon, very soon, not the fall.  Yes, sir?

Question:  Yes.  Thank you.  There was a — there's fighting in north of Yemen and anti-Houthi groups have controlled a border crossing.  And now they're saying there's no border crossing that's open to anyone — no humanitarian relief, anything, can pass the borders between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.  Do you have any update about that?  Does that affect the receipt of the UN aid to Yemen after all the crossings have been closed?

Spokesman:  Most of the humanitarian aid that's been coming in has been coming either by air through the Humanitarian Air Service or by sea from Djibouti.  I'm not aware of any UN humanitarian aid that was crossing that border.

Question:  And my second question about Yemen, for the future Yemen peace talks, did the Security Council — the Secretary-General thinks that there should be more coordination with regional powers such as Iran, for example, in order to reach more substantial deal?  Like, in general, what's…

Spokesman:  I think you raised that issue with the Special Envoy.

Question:  Yeah.

Spokesman:  I really have nothing to add to what he said.  He represents the Secretary‑General.  Mr. Lee and then Nizar?

Question:  Yes, I want to ask about South Sudan and Central African Republic.  In South Sudan, it's reported that the UNMISS [United Nations Mission in South Sudan] personnel used tear gas in the protection of civilians based in Malakal.  And I wanted to know if you could confirm that, the people who had protested the closing of a market and they were tear-gassed.  Also, there's this report of the Government — or the Government army — firing near or just outside the protection of civilians based in Juba, the UN house.  And I wanted to know…

Spokesman:  I think we had something on that earlier this week.  On the second — on your first point, I don't have anything, but I will check.

Question:  And on Central African Republic, I wanted to ask, you'd said that Mr. [Hassan Bubacar] Jallow is going to step back from the ICTR [International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda] during the ten weeks.  But it's been — it's — OIOS [Office of Internal Oversight Services] has had — has jurisdiction over ICTR and has during his tenure there and it's my understanding that there were at least two OIOS inquiries into — you know, without casting aspersion on it only, to say to some it's sort of — it's not an independent inquiry.  You have somebody that's worked for a long time for something subject to OIOS and had investigations by OIOS — OIOS now investigating OIOS and so what would you —

Spokesman:  I think…

Question:  In all the world…

[overlapping talking]

Spokesman:  …of all the…

Question:  Yeah.  In all the judges and…

Spokesman:  Exactly.  Let me start again.  I think the panel, taken as a whole, is a first-rate panel.  It has human rights experts.  It has in — the panel member from South Africa served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, who's been an active voice for human rights in Africa.  It has a former Supreme Court Justice of Canada who has led the independent investigation into sexual abuses, into the Canadian Armed Forces, that was done some years ago.  And it has Mr. Jallow, who has knowledge of the UN system, who is an independent prosecutor, who is a first-rate jurist.  And I think, you know, people are free to question the composition of the panel.  And whatever the composition of the panel will be, people would have questioned it.  I think we stand by this panel.  We're very proud of it.  It will do its work independently.  It will choose its own staff.  And it will work under the, I think, fairly broad terms of reference.

Question:  Can you just get a statement on whether in fact Mr. Jallow has had — has been the respondent in OIOS cases, given that OIOS is being investigated by this panel?

Spokesman:  First of all, OIOS is not being investigated by this panel.

Question:  They're not?

Spokesman:  I think they will look — the panel will look how the issues were handled, but I think to say that OIOS will be investigated by the panel is a jump.

Question:  But is it…

Spokesman:  I — you know, if the — you know, the proceedings of any administrative tribunals are public, you're free to look; but, again, I'm not going to go on a witch hunt against Mr. Jallow and we're very proud to have him on the panel.  Nizar?

Question:  Yes.  Stéphane, you mentioned the dire situation in Yemen.  However, a shipment of fuel was delivered to Al Mukalla, a large shipment of fuel was delivered to Al Mukalla Seaport, which is controlled mainly by al‑Qaida from — coming from a GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] country.  How does the United Nations monitor such shipments? And how can…

Spokesman:  I think you're…

[overlapping talking]

Spokesman:  The incident that you state is just — is one I can't confirm but just seems to be yet another example of the dire situation in Yemen and the need for some sort of humanitarian pause to get a political dialogue back on track.  We have a situation on the ground in Yemen, which is extremely difficult to distribute aid, humanitarian aid, and fuel to move that aid around.  I am happy to look into that particular situation, but I really have nothing else to add.

Question:  But delivering fuel to al‑Qaida…

Spokesman:  Listen, it's a statement you're making.  I said I will look into it.

On your question on Burundi, I was just handed an update which says that the political dialogue resumed on 23 June, which, by my calendar, is yesterday, and continued today with the facilitation of the African Union, the East African Community, the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region and the United Nations.  The Special Representative of the Secretary‑General, Mr. Bathily, is representing the UN in the dialogue.  Participants who participate in the dialogue previously facilitated attended the meetings with the exception of the ruling party, the CNDD‑FDD, its allies in the Copa and Sangwe Pader.  Today the Minister of the Interior represented the Government at the meeting.  We encourage all political parties that have yet to join the dialogue to join it and help reach consensus on the way forward.  Mr. Klein?

Question:  The other day, the press conference by the panel on financing for sustainable development was cancelled, sort of at the last minute.  A, I'm wondering whether it's going to be rescheduled, and, B, there have been some reports — unconfirmed but there are some reports that there's been some disagreements on the panel that's holding up, you know, reaching consensus moving forward to next month's conference in…

Spokesman:  Obviously…

Question:  Could you tell us what the status is of that panel?

Spokesman:  No, the discussions are very much still going on.  As you know, it's a Member State‑led process.  We are assisting in any way we can, but it is up to the Member States to reach a consensus, and we hope that they reach a consensus that will pave the way forward for a successful meeting in Addis.

Question:  What about the press — is there going to be a reschedule of that conference?

Spokesman:  We'll have to check.  When they're ready to come out, they will come out. 

Mr. Abbadi and then Edie.  Sorry.

Question:  Thank you, Stéphane.  Just follow up to my question on the report on the death of Dag Hammarskjöld.  You said that the Secretary‑General would forward the report to the General Assembly very soon with his comments.

Spokesman:  His recommendations, yeah.

Question:  Would those comments cover substance or just procedural questions?  Does the Secretary-General have different ideas from those of…

Spokesman:  No, it's not — the Secretary‑General is not reinvestigating the panel's work.  He will make recommendations as to the way forward to the General Assembly on how to handle the report.  It will be up to the General Assembly to then make the decision.  But it is not — the Secretary‑General will not do a critique of the panel's work. 

Ms. Lederer?

Question:  Thanks, Stéphane.  There have been a lot of headlines recently about white supremacy in the United States and neo-Nazism in Europe.  Is this an issue that you expect the Secretary‑General to focus on in September at the summit and the general debate, when world leaders are here?

Spokesman:  You know, I think this is an issue — the issue of intolerance, of racism, of extremism, in all its forms throughout the world, is an issue the Secretary‑General has raised in various different fora, and I would expect that he will continue to raise.  Mr. Lee?

Question:  Sure.  Leaks, bugs, and compensation.  On leaks, I'm sure you've seen this — what are called French leaks by WikiLeaks.  And I'm asking you because one of the documents says then President Jacques Chirac sent Philippe Douste‑Blazy to speak to Ban Ki-moon about keeping [Terje Roed] Larsen in the UN system to cover the Middle East and advising against the splitting of DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations] and DFS [Department of Field Support].  What I want to ask you about, is it the case that Mr. Douste‑Blazy is somewhat of a go‑between between the French Government and Ban Ki‑moon?  And if that's the case, when's the last time he's either performed that function or that Ban Ki‑moon has received the French Government's view through his Special Envoy on financing?

[overlapping talking]

Spokesman:  I think we'd have to look back at the dates, and we'll see what — Mr. Douste‑Blazy may have been Foreign Minister at the time.  Anyway, I'm not going to comment on these leaks.  Mr. Douste‑Blazy's role when he works for the UN is to be an international civil servant.

Question:  On a lighter note, on bed bugs, can I ask?

Spokesman:  Yes.

Question:  Since I asked you yesterday, I saw your e-mail.  I saw what went into the transcript about, yes, they were found and the canine was going to check last night.  Can you confirm that, in fact, the floor is to some degree closed off today and also staff there have said that, in fact, there was fumigation that took place last weekend?  So their stance is that it was found.  There was an attempt to sort of quietly clean it without even telling staff, much less others.  What do you say to that?

Spokesman:  I say we're dealing with bed bugs, rodents, like any other building in New York, and we try to do our best and to keep the staff informed.  I have not heard of any complaint from staff.  Yes, sir?

Question:  Mr. [Staffan] de Mistura is scheduled to visit Tehran, and what do you think the UN envoy wants to achieve on this trip to Iran regarding Syria?

Spokesman:  I think, you know, Iran is one of the regional powers.  They, like other regional powers, have influence at various parts — parties in this conflict.  And I think the regional powers have a key role to play in putting the political dialogue back on track.  So I think it's only normal that the Special Envoy consult with regional powers.  Ann?

Question:  Yes.  Unlike the grounds attack used by Russia in Eastern Ukraine, as reported in The New York Times today, NATO expressed today some kind of cyberstrike or information warfare assault, two of the critical components of hybrid warfare style, could be used by Russia against the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.  What is the UN Secretary‑General's reaction to hackers attacking Government websites, posting false information and hybrid warfare in general?  

Spokesman:  I think the Secretary‑General would want to look for a de‑escalation of the tensions we're seeing around the Ukraine and in the area.  Obviously, the issue of cyberwarfare is one that needs to be dealt with and can cause great damage, whoever commits it.   Abdel Hamid, then Matthew?

Question:  I have two questions.  The first one Syria.  Yesterday there was a barrel bomb landing in a mosque while people are praying, killing 36 civilians.  I wonder if there was a statement on that.  If there was and I missed it, then I apologise.

Spokesman:  I had not seen that report.  We have been obviously regularly, whether it's ourselves, Mr. de Mistura or others, even in the Commission of Inquiry report that came out earlier this week, denouncing very strongly the use of barrel bombs as indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

Question:  And my second question, if you have any comment on that letter or statement issued by a Permanent Representative accusing the UN of being hijacked by terrorists when one week late — earlier, the name of that State had been abolished from the list of shame.

Spokesman:  I think the Member States express themselves.  We are proud of the work that has gone into all of these — into these reports.  And I will leave it at that.  Mr. Lee?

Question:  Sure.  Thanks a lot.  Compensation and Sri Lanka, if you'll allow it.  On compensation after yesterday, you said you'd check.  It seems that the UN is paying compensation in Mali.  So I wanted to — and you said there's a trust — DFS, some kind of compensation fund.  One, I wanted to know, how is it — how is it calculated?  But most importantly, is this under some kind of a claims commission of the type that was asked for in Haiti?  Inevitably, people — the question arises, if you're paying, as you probably should, victims in Mali, why were — was there similar consideration of giving — to actually compensate victims in Haiti?  And is the Mali payment being done under some Status of Forces Agreement, claims commission, or under some other mechanism?

Spokesman:  I will check.  As for Haiti, our position on Haiti is unchanged.

Question:  Sri Lanka.  I wanted to get your comment on this, given the Secretary‑General's historic involvement.  It's been now confirmed by the Foreign Minister there that the promised internal domestic human rights investigation into crimes in the final stages of the conflict is now not going to take place until September, and now this is being laid off on elections, due to the failure to dissolve parliament.  So, I guess, given that the Secretary‑General, it seems, kind of supported the delay, what's the response?

Spokesman:  I don't have any language on that, but I will harvest some for you.

Question:  Great.

Spokesman:  Court adjourned.