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.
Bonjour, let’s start.
**Burundi
I have a statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on Presidential Elections in Burundi, which we issued earlier this morning.
The Secretary-General takes note of the broadly peaceful conduct of polling in the Burundian presidential elections on 21 July. He calls on all parties to continue to remain calm and immediately resume an inclusive political dialogue to resolve their differences and address the challenges facing the country.
The Secretary-General reminds the Burundian authorities of their responsibility to guarantee and protect the safety and security of the civilian population and ensure an end to further acts of violence as well as accountability for any human rights violations committed.
The Secretary-General calls on the Burundian parties to engage in good faith in the political dialogue putting Burundi’s national interests first and fully determined to implement the relevant outstanding provisions of the 6 July East African Community (EAC) summit outcome document, under the high-level facilitation of President Museveni of Uganda. The United Nations remains committed to working closely with the EAC and the African Union to help find a lasting solution in Burundi.
In this regard, the Secretary-General welcomes the deployment of African Union human rights observers and military experts aimed at helping prevent an escalation of violence and facilitating a peaceful resolution of the serious political crisis affecting Burundi.
**Middle East
Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Security Council this morning in its open debate on that region. He warned that support for the two-State solution among both Palestinians and Israelis is fading away. He said that the current situation on the ground is not sustainable as the two-State solution continues to be under threat, including from settlement construction, security incidents, occupation-related violence, and lack of Palestinian unity.
Mr. Mladenov said that unilateral activities in the West Bank, including settlement construction, so-called legalization of outposts, demolitions and evictions, must stop.
He added that Gaza's painstaking emergence from last summer's conflict is undermining belief among the population that genuine progress can be achieved. The activities of Salafi jihadists and other extremist groups are a cause for concern not only in Gaza, but also in neighbouring Sinai, where there are reports of their active support of militants on the Egyptian side of the border.
Mr. Mladenov said that in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the frequency of security incidents decreased compared to last month, but the situation has remained tense. In total, he said, 50 Palestinians were injured in recent weeks, and four were shot and killed by Israeli security forces, including two at checkpoints near Nablus and Ramallah. Two members of the Israeli security forces were stabbed and injured, one seriously. His briefing notes are available in our office.
**Syria
On Syria, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, visited Damascus today. He discussed the preliminary findings of the Geneva Consultations and the preparations for next week’s Security Council debate on Syria with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem and Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad.
The Special Envoy, having concluded his regional tour, is now planning to return to New York to brief the Secretary-General and, based on this, prepare for a discussion at the Security Council on 29 July on the Syrian conflict.
Meanwhile, in a report today, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) say that Syria's food production has increased this year mainly due to favourable rains. However, it remains far below its pre-crisis levels as the conflict continues to push more people into hunger and poverty.
The report says that some 9.8 million people in Syria are estimated to be food insecure, with 6.8 million of these severely food insecure — a level of need that requires external food assistance. That report is available online.
**South Sudan
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Stephen O’Brien, is currently visiting South Sudan on a four-day mission. He is there to assess the humanitarian situation on the ground and review the aid operation.
Today in Juba, he met with President Salva Kiir to discuss the humanitarian crisis. During the meeting, he expressed the need for the violence to end for the sake of the people and the future of the country.
Yesterday, he visited a UN civilian protection site in Juba, where some 20,000 people are sheltering, some for up to 19 months. He spoke with a group of women living in the UN protection site who shared stories of their suffering.
He said that everything should be done to protect civilians from risk and fear of death from violence in South Sudan.
Tomorrow Mr. O’Brien is scheduled to visit Unity State, one of the areas hardest hit by the conflict.
**Senior Personnel Appointment
I have one senior personnel appointment to announce:
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is appointing Paul Ladd of the United Kingdom as Director of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). Mr. Ladd will succeed Sarah Cook of the United Kingdom, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedicated service and able leadership of the Institute.
Mr. Ladd has twenty years of experience in global policy and research on issues such as trade, finance and migration. He is currently Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Team on the Post 2015 Development Agenda.
There is more information on this appointment in our office.
**Nelson Mandela Day
18 July, last Saturday, was Nelson Mandela Day, and the UN will be celebrating that Day tomorrow.
At 10:00 am, in the Trusteeship Council, the General Assembly will mark the Day with an informal meeting, including a ceremony to award the first-ever UN Nelson Mandela Prize.
Then at 12:15 p.m., the new UN Food Garden will be opened by Susana Malcorra, the Secretary-General’s Chef de Cabinet, on behalf of the Secretary-General, and by Penny Abeywardena, the New York City Commissioner for International Affairs. They will be joined by the Nelson Mandela Prize laureates and others to plant seedlings and place commemorative markers in the garden.
On every Nelson Mandela Day, the UN joins a call by the Nelson Mandela Foundation for people to devote 67 minutes of time — one minute for every year of Mr. Mandela’s public service — to helping others.
Tomorrow, UN staff will mark the Day by volunteering in community gardens across Manhattan.
**Press Conference Today
As I mentioned yesterday, there will be today at 1 p.m. a briefing by members of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries.
And then tomorrow, we will have as guests of the Noon Briefing the outgoing President of ECOSOC, Ambassador Martin Sajdik of Austria, as well as the newly-elected President of ECOSOC. It will be Mr. Sajdik’s last press briefing and he will talk to you about his presidency.
**Questions and Answers
And that's what I have for you so far.
I'll take a few questions. Joe, please. You had your hand up first.
Question: Thank you. Actually, two questions. First, Burundi. The Secretary‑General and what you read out expressed his appreciation of the peaceful nature of the elections…
Associate Spokesperson: I'm sorry. He expressed his appreciation?
Question: His appreciation for the fact that the elections were conducted peacefully. Does the Secretary‑General support the legitimacy of the results?
Associate Spokesperson: Actually, actually, he took note of a broadly peaceful election.
Question: Well…
Associate Spokesperson: I think those were the…
Question: Okay. The words "took note". Does he take note…
Associate Spokesperson: Every word has a meaning.
Question: Okay. Does he take note if not be willing to recognize the legitimacy of the election results? That's question number one.
Question number two, you mentioned Mr. Mandela. His name is being associated with an initiative that's going to be submitted to the General Assembly later this year concerning solitary confinement and the limitation of solitary confinement to no more than 15 days. Does the Secretary‑General support that initiative relating to the limit on solitary confinement?
Associate Spokesperson: On your first question on Burundi, the results are not out, as far as I know, and so we'll be waiting for those. As you know, the UN Electoral Mission is, will provide in the coming days its assessment of the election and technical conduct of the election. So we'll be waiting for that. Just like for the parliamentarian elections on the 29th of June, we expect to provide you with that assessment once we get it and once the electoral mission reports back to the Security Council, as it is mandated to do. So on that, that's what I have. On the General Assembly draft resolution, I'm guessing, that you mentioned…
Question: Well, it's a… it's a…
Associate Spokesperson: I don't have a reaction from the Secretary‑General on that. This is, of course, a matter for the General Assembly to take up and for Member States to decide on. Matthew.
Question: I guess a follow‑up on Burundi. Yesterday you'd said you're waiting for an assessment from MENUB, so I'm wondering and I think that you're gonna find there are other people wondering of this statement of… on what basis does the Secretary‑General take note of the broadly peaceful nature of the election? Just media reports? Was it a communication to him from MENUB? Has he heard from the Office of the Human Rights? And what about… what level of death would cause an election to not be seen as peaceful by the Secretary‑General?
Associate Spokesperson: Well, I'm not going to dissect every word in this statement. What I want to remind you of is the clearly stated concerns that the Secretary‑General expressed before the elections and the fact that he highlighted the fragility and the potential possibility of a lot of violence in the country. So right now, in the statement, he took note, again, of a broadly peaceful conduct of the election. This is not about the result of the election. And, more importantly, he's also stressing the importance for all Burundians to engage in an inclusive dialogue, political dialogue, also stressing the responsibility of the Burundian authorities to protect civilian population and for everyone to remain calm, not engage in further acts of violence, and also for the necessity to be accountable for any violation of human rights.
Question: I guess my… just a… just… because there are many people, even in response to the statement that he made, have come out today and said there were people that were either, you know, afraid to be seen not to vote, afraid… or vice versa. There was the… the marking of fingers that's on the UN News Centre story on this is not quite as positive as it's portrayed there. And so I… I guess people are seeing this as… if it's called peaceful election, if people either don't vote…
Associate Spokesperson: It's broadly peaceful. He took note of the broadly peaceful conduct of the election.
Question: Based on what?
Associate Spokesperson: Based from reports we got on the ground.
Question: From whom?
Associate Spokesperson: I think… you know, the next step now, Matthew, is to wait for the assessment from MENUB. And my recollection last time is that it was pretty quick. So let's just wait for that, let’s just wait for that.
Question: I guess my point is he didn't wait. So I'm just asking if you can say, like, what was this statement based on? Where is he? And what did he base the statement on? Do you see what I'm saying?
Associate Spokesperson: I said “from reports from the ground”. Obviously, we have a presence on the ground. And they can make a very large, kind of broad appreciation of the level of, or not, of violence. Nizar, do you want to ask a question?
Question: Yes. [inaudible] Saudi‑led coalition take over parts of Aden. Are you receiving any reports about the situation? There are conflicting reports coming, mentioning that those troops are having clashes with different parties there, including al-Qaida, which controlled more land inside Aden. Are you getting any reports from Aden itself?
Associate Spokesperson: No, I'm sorry, Nizar. I don't have an update on Yemen for you today. If I do, I will certainly let you know.
Question: Another thing, in Sana'a, they say they haven't received any aid whatsoever, in the capital of Yemen. Also, the Saudis yesterday landed an airplane, cargo airplane which carried aid. Who's inspecting this cargo? And some are accusing the Saudis of dropping weapons rather than humanitarian aid in Aden.
Associate Spokesperson: Question or comment?
Question: No, I ask… again, who's inspecting the aid which is coming there? In the past, most of the aid used to go first to Djibouti where it is inspected and then sent to Aden. Do you have any information about who's monitoring such things?
Associate Spokesperson: No, I'm not sure who's doing the, if it's still happening in Djibouti and then goes to Aden. I can check for you on that. What's the other part of the question you wanted answered?
Question: Any aid went to Sana'a?
Associate Spokesperson: I'll check again with our colleagues in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, but, as you know, we've been stressing the urgent need for us to have access all across Yemen and to help alleviate the suffering of the Yemenis. This is something we've been talking about for quite some time and we're very conscious of the fact that, although 4.4 million people did receive assistance, there's still 80 per cent of the population that is in need of assistance. Yes, please.
[The Spokesperson later told the correspondent that the UN is not involved in monitoring bilateral aid and that, regarding aid to Sana'a, the most recent response map indicated that total aid for Sana'a was 1 million people reached, while for the rest of Governorate it was 295,000 people.]
Question: Abdelhamid.
Associate Spokesperson: Yes, Abdelhamid. How are you?
Question: I… there is a Palestinian, Adnan Khader, who was in prison, and he went into hunger strike for 50 days. The Secretary‑General issued a statement expressing concern about his health. He was released. Two days later, he was arrested. I raised the issue here and the Deputy Spokesman said we will check to see the situation, if there is any update on that. Now, I was wondering, first, there was no update on this issue. Second, Mr. Mladenov did not mention him in his briefing this morning, although the Palestinian ambassador did at length. He spoke about his re-arrest and putting him back into detention. So is there any follow‑up from the part of the Secretary‑General on the health condition of Adnan Khader, who was rearrested after his release?
Associate Spokesperson: Okay. I will check for you. I don't have anything here with me, and I remember you asking Farhan this, so maybe I just… I just don't know, but maybe he does have something. I'll check for you. Anybody else? No? Yes, Matthew. Sorry.
Question: I guess I wanted to ask you again about this thing I asked in South Sudan about Malakal. What does the Mission say about that? And, overall, does the… what does the UN say about this new Human Rights Watch report of people being crushed under tanks, et cetera? And what's UNMISS's response to that? Malakal first, if you could. Did this incident take place? Were…
Associate Spokesperson: Can I talk?
Question: Please.
Associate Spokesperson: So on Malakal, we didn't hear back from the Mission and they haven't reported an incident outside of their compound. It's sometimes hard, as you know, the security situation is very hard, and so it doesn't necessarily mean that nothing happened, so we'll follow up some more to see if we can get you more confirmation on that. Your other question was on the Human Rights…
Question: Human Rights Watch report.
Associate Spokesperson: …Watch report. Yes. On that, look, we have ourselves stated and UNMISS has really clearly stated its concern and has been reporting on human rights violations in Unity State. I'm sure you'll remember the UNMISS report on this, which I think came out late, late June, if I'm correct. And that is certainly along the lines of what Human Rights Watch is also reporting. And the UN Mission there, of course, its human rights component continues to monitor human rights violation in the country. Joe.
Question: Yeah. I know this came up yesterday, The Washington Post request for help from the UN. I know particularly the Human Rights Council relating to the jailed reporter in Iran. I'm just wondering if there's any follow‑up or reaction from the Secretary‑General as to that and also the holding of a pastor by Iran as a hostage. And secondly, I believe there was a statement made by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran in the last couple of days that Iran does not feel in any way restricted in terms of import or export of arms from or to whomever it chooses, which would be in violation of the provisions of the JCPOA that the Secretary‑General and the Security Council have endorsed. So is there any reaction to the Secretary‑General to that statement by the Deputy Foreign Minister?
Associate Spokesperson: On The Washington Post's petition, just what I've said yesterday, that we are aware of it and that the petition was filed with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which reports to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. There is no specific reaction by the Secretary‑General. On Iran, I'm not going to comment on the comments of the Deputy Foreign Minister, you said? And simply refer you back to what the Secretary‑General said in the statement where he welcomed the adoption of Resolution 2231 (2015) and also of the readiness of the United Nations to help and assist in any way to give effect to that resolution. The deal was struck between the E3+3 and Iran. You know, the United Nations welcomed it.
Question: But… but…
Associate Spokesperson: Yes?
Question: But he has… the Secretary‑General has repeatedly talked about his concerns of the proliferation of arms both in the context of the small arms treaty and more generally as it's fueling regional conflicts, particularly in the Mideast region. So…
Associate Spokesperson: Yes, and he said he certainly hoped…
[cross talk]
Question: I just want to know if he has a substantive reaction to Iran's declaration that it does not feel bound by any UN restrictions on the import or export of conventional arms right from the get‑go. I mean, wouldn't he have a reaction to that?
Associate Spokesperson: You know, the… No.
Question: Okay.
Associate Spokesperson: Abdelhamid?
Question: If you recall, Mr. Bernardino León had the Libyan parties initiated the peace agreement right before the end of Ramadan, and the National Libyan Congress walked out of that and didn't sign, and he promised to continue the dialogue with them. We don't know what is happening now. Is there any update on the activities of Mr. León in bringing back the General Congress back to the fold?
Associate Spokesperson: I don't have much more than what he said when he briefed the Security Council here last week and the fact that contacts continue and that, obviously, we hope that everyone will initial the agreement. And I believe the formal, formal talks are set to resume in about two weeks. Joe.
Question: I'm sorry.
Associate Spokesperson: That's okay.
Question: You gave me the "no" answer. And that's fine. It was a crisp, very pithy answer to my question. Now I have to ask you why he would not have a reaction to that provocative statement coming out of Iran.
Associate Spokesperson: Because the deal… I feel, Joe, that there's been a lot of statements from Iran, and I'm not going to comment on all of them. Obviously, we support the, we've been very supportive of the deal. We've welcomed the endorsement by the Security Council of Resolution 2231 (2015), and this is first and foremost for the Security Council and — sorry, for the E3+3 and Iran — it's their deal. They've worked out the modalities. We are here to support and assist a deal that we feel is a very positive step for the region. Okay?
Question: I just wanted to ask, on Yemen, yesterday you'd said you would check on Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed, whether, in fact, he is on vacation at this time. Did you?
Associate Spokesperson: Did I…?
Question: Did you…
Associate Spokesperson: No.
Question: You said leave is a good thing. In the transcript, you said, I'll check on his vacation. But yes, people do take… it is a good thing, although there are people in Yemen who say, given that the humanitarian pause failed, it seemed a strange time to do it. So I just wanted to know, factually, is it, in fact, the case?
Associate Spokesperson: Is it the fact…?
Question: That he's on vacation after the failure of the humanitarian pause.
Associate Spokesperson: I don't know specifically for the Special Envoy, but I can tell you that, you know, most people at that level at the UN, all people at that level at the UN continue to work on their portfolios wherever they are and whatever they're doing. These are portfolios that you can't just drop. And I'm sure that's the case also with the Special Envoy. As far as leave goes, you know, I'm not going to get into a “who's on leave when”, blah, blah, blah, with you. I just… I don't want to do that…
[cross talk]
Question: I'm just saying because yesterday, you said, "I'll check".
Associate Spokesperson: Because as you mentioned… as you mentioned yourself, you know, leave is part of working life.
Question: Okay. Was he also on leave when UN staff had to leave Libya and he was the deputy SRSG in Libya? Because that's what I'm told by the people…
Associate Spokesperson: He was also on leave when what…?
Question: On leave when the people were evacuated from Libya that were the staff members of the UNSMIL mission.
Associate Spokesperson: Well, I just said I'm not going to go and check his attendance sheet.
Question: So the final question, at least for today. When, on Ban Ki‑moon's schedule, it says "all appointments are internal" and Farhan said he's away from the office this week.
Associate Spokesperson: He is away from the office.
Question: Okay. So these "all appointments are internal," like, other countries and other political entities, when somebody's on vacation, they just say the person is on vacation. There's no shame to it. But to say "all appointments are internal" implies that he's in the building having internal meetings with people. Is that the case or not?
Associate Spokesperson: He is away this week, and he is continuing his work. He's had phone calls on many different subjects and is doing other meetings. Yeah? I don't…
Question: On Burundi? Before putting out the statement saying that the election was peaceful? I guess that's my question.
[laughter]
Associate Spokesperson: Oui, oui. He took note of the peaceful conduct of… the broadly peaceful conduct of the elections.
Question: Notice taken.
Associate Spokesperson: Thank you. Have a good afternoon.