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.
**Climate Change
This afternoon, at 1:30 p.m., the Secretary-General will speak to the General Assembly at an event on climate change. The Secretary-General is expected to commend the recent ambitious joint statement by the Presidents of China and France, as well as other efforts, aimed at finding solutions to the difficult issues under negotiation. The Secretary-General will say that the world expects to see a similar positive momentum reflected in the negotiations but despite months of talks, the key issues – including equity, finance and ambition – still remain in play.
The Secretary-General will also stress that ultimate responsibility for success in Paris rests firmly in the hands of Heads of State and Government, with whom he will actively engage to help them unlock these issues. And we will make his remarks available to you.
**Libya
A senior personnel appointment which you may have already seen by email: the Secretary-General announced this morning the appointment of Martin Kobler of Germany as his Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
Mr. Kobler will succeed Bernardino León of Spain, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service and effective leadership of UNSMIL. The leadership transition will take place in the coming days. Mr. Kobler brings to this position more than 30 years of senior United Nations and Foreign Service experience, and a biographical note is available in my office with more details should you want them.
Also on Libya, the Humanitarian Coordinator and Deputy Special Representative, Ali Al-Za’tari, has condemned the continued abduction of two Libyan humanitarian workers affiliated with aid agencies in southern Libya despite repeated calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
Mr. Al-Za’tari warned that the ability to deliver crucial aid to the needy in the South is being affected by threats to aid workers. He has, once again, called for their immediate and unconditional release. The two men, who were abducted on 5 June of this year, work for a non-governmental organization (NGO). They were on their way to deliver humanitarian assistance to areas in southern Libya. More information on the Mission’s website.
**Syria
As you may have seen in the news, Staffan de Mistura, the Special Envoy for Syria, met today in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other officials of the Russian Federation. They discussed the follow-up to the Vienna meeting of 30 October. They focused on issues needed to maintain the momentum for this important process through follow-up action on the agreed specific areas in the Vienna Communiqué. They also discussed preparation for the next meeting, and the urgent need for de-escalation of violence and ceasefires.
**Yemen
Regarding Yemen, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that Cyclone Chapala was downgraded last night to a tropical storm and is expected to weaken to a tropical depression over the next 12 hours. The immediate concern remains the impact of flooding and storm surges on coastal towns in Yemen’s Hadramaut and Shabwah governorates.
The UN and its partners are using all available routes into the affected areas to deliver assistance: from Aden as the principle dispatch hub and Sana’a as an alternate; and from Djibouti by sea and from the east, from Oman by road and sea. The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided some 20,000 litres of diesel fuel to eight hospitals in Mukallah, and 2,500 litres of petrol for 16 ambulances. UNICEF and WHO surveillance rapid response teams are also being deployed, and a WHO shipment by sea with an additional 18.3 metric tonnes of medical supplies and reproductive health kits is also being deployed from Djibouti to Aden.
**Central African Republic
On the Central African Republic, our Mission there [MINUSCA] continues to report ongoing tensions in Bangui. Today, in the capital's eighth district, suspected anti-Balaka combatants attacked a commercial convoy being escorted by the Mission on three separate occasions. A civilian driver and two peacekeepers have been wounded and one of the peacekeepers is reported to be in critical condition.
The Mission also reports that yesterday, anti-Balaka combatants fired shots from near the Fatima Church in Bangui's sixth district, during a visit by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga. Peacekeepers returned fire; no casualties were reported. The Mission strongly condemns all attacks and provocations by armed groups and underlines that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute a war crime. The Mission reiterates its call on all armed groups to end the fighting and abide by their commitments to the peace process.
**South Sudan
Just to give you some information regarding the crash of the Antonov cargo plane that took place in Juba earlier today: the UN Mission on the ground (UNMISS) is in the process of providing assistance, including troops for the recovery and search operation, at the request of the airport authorities. Just to give you the detail that this is not a UN plane or a UN-affiliated plane but of course, the Mission conveys its heartfelt condolences to the Government of South Sudan and to the families of the victims.
**Myanmar
The Secretary-General’s Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and on the Responsibility to Protect today called on the Government of Myanmar to take all possible measures to ensure that the 8 November elections are held in a peaceful environment. Adama Dieng and Jennifer Walsh expressed concern at the politicization of ethnicity and religion during the election campaigning, which they say violates the Constitution. They said that the promotion of a political agenda that is based primarily on the protection of a particular religion or ethnic group is dangerous, particularly in a country as richly diverse as Myanmar. You will also have seen the Secretary-General’s own statement over the weekend on this very issue.
**World Health Organization
Tomorrow, the World Health Organization will start a two-day financing dialogue in order to achieve full funding for its Programme Budget 2016–2017. This financing dialogue is a key element of WHO’s reform process to ensure that the Organization is well-equipped to address the increasingly complex challenges of health in the twenty-first century and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. More information from WHO on its website.
**Special Event
You — the journalists — are all invited to attend the official joint opening of the exhibits “The United Nations at 70: Moments and Milestones” and “UN Headquarters: A Workshop for Peace exhibitions”, which will take place at 6 p.m. in the Visitors' Lobby of the General Assembly Hall.
Organized by DPI [Department of Public Information] and the UN Archives, in collaboration with the International Photographic Council (IPC), Lifetouch, and the Permanent Mission of Italy, the exhibit features a selection of iconic images and historical documents showcasing key moments from the UN’s 70 years of history, as well as an overview of the planning and building of UN Headquarters and photos from the recently renovated compound. The Secretary-General will be there to deliver remarks and it’s quite a beautiful exhibit; I encourage you to go.
**Noon Briefing Guest
After you are done with me, I will be joined by Ivan Šimonović, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, and he will be briefing you and discussing the issue of the death penalty.
**Press Conferences
Tomorrow at 11 a.m., in this very room, there will be a press conference by the Spanish NGO Paz y Cooperacion — which I assume means Peace and Cooperation — on the launch of the 2016 Peace and Cooperation School Award. This briefing is being sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations. Mr. Avni? Since you were denied yesterday, I think.
**Questions and Answers
Question: Denied. And I'll follow up on actually continuing the same vein as my question yesterday on the documents. I'm told that the Department of GA Affairs in the Secretariat administers the Office of the PGA on all administration, human resources, and financial matters. Are the documents of that department available?
Spokesman: I mean, the DGCAM like all Secretariat entities keeps its documents along, following the retention policies, which are outlined in the relevant Secretary-General bulletins, including - and I would underscore - all the issues of financing of the PGA's office through official UN-administered accounts which are registered through the UN treasury.
Question: How far back?
Spokesman: You'll have to look at the retention policy, but obviously, it goes back quite a while. As to exactly what documents were not there from the PGA's office, I would ask you to ask the PGA's office.
Question: But, wait. Since they administer all those affairs; administration, human resources, financial matters…
Spokesman: I'm speaking to you on behalf of the Secretariat.
Correspondent: That is the Secretariat.
Spokesman: Exactly. I would… if you have questions regarding exactly what the PGA meant when he said he couldn't find the files, my assumption is that he was talking about the files of the PGA himself, but I would ask you to further your line of questioning with him. Olga and Matthew. Go ahead, Olga.
Question: Thank you. Stéphane, just to follow up about this South Sudanese plane crash, can you provide details? Can you confirm all of the nationalities of the crew that were aboard?
Spokesman: No, because, as I said, the plane, the cargo plane, I think was an Antonov 12, was not either chartered by the UN or run by the UN. It was just a regular commercial flight taking off from the airport. So we're supporting the airport authorities in the search and rescue. I'm not in a position to confirm the nationalities. We can see if the Mission has any more details, but I don't have any.
Question: But, for the moment, no details from the Mission?
Spokesman: Not… not… no. And, again, it would be up to the national authorities to release the names and nationalities. Matthew and then we'll go to the left.
Question: Sure. Some country‑specific things, but I wanted to ask about these documents as well, because it seems, it was pretty extraordinary yesterday that Mr. Lykketoft said he has no records of Ashe or Kutesa and what you said here. So I wanted to ask you a very specific question, for example, in the charge document by the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] there is extensive emailing between Ng Lap Seng and his affiliates and the PGA. There's also reference to the Chief of Staff and people that are actually UN staff members. And I'm… I've looked at this thing called archives.un.org, which instructs staff to, like, retain records, record‑retention policy. So I wanted you to know or to say maybe later today, would emails from these outside parties to people working in Mr. Ashe's office, such as the Chief of Staff, have been retained?
Spokesman: I think, the office the President of the General Assembly is run by the President of the General Assembly. So I would encourage you to aim your questions in that direction.
Correspondent: We asked yesterday and he said he has nothing…
Spokesman: I can't… I can't speak to the details of how either Mr. Ashe or others have run their offices.
Question: But do you see the problem on this?
Spokesman: I'm not arguing with you about the line of questioning. I just… that's as far as I can go. Sir, and then Evelyn.
Question: Just a little follow‑up on Olga's question on South Sudan. Is there a contact point that we can talk directly with UNMISS?
Spokesman: You can talk to the… we can give you the number of the Mission in South Sudan, but, again, since this is not a UN aircraft, we're really there in a supporting role in the search‑and‑rescue capacity. As the crash of any civilian aircraft, it is under the authority of the national civil aviation authority. But I'm happy to share whatever numbers I have with you.
Question: My question is, in fact, on Syria. Like, Moscow is talking about organizing a meeting between the government and the opposition in Moscow. Is the United Nations involved… getting involved in that…?
Spokesman: I'm sure that this was part of…
Question: … in any way? And the extension of my question is whether… if the United Nations is involved in identifying who is a terrorist group or opposition group in Syria. Who does this kind of technical work, let's say?
Spokesman: You know, the UN is clearly involved in negotiation, in discussions with the Russians on the meeting next week. I have no doubt we will be represented. As to who will sit around the table when the talks actually happen, I think those are discussions that are still, that are still going on.
Question: Is it… is there a date where… for when the… [inaudible]?
Spokesman: No, not that I'm aware of, but I assume the Foreign Ministry in Moscow will announce it.
Question: [inaudible]?
Spokesman: Not that I've seen officially, but I think they… it's supposed to be soon from what I've seen, but I have no date. Evelyn.
Question: Who's the gentleman next to Evelyn?
Correspondent: It's a big secret.
Spokesman: He's about to be kicked out. Yes, go ahead.
Question: Thanks, Steph. Getting back to the John Ashe problem, the PGA's statement and the SG's statement about examinations and so forth still leave one point untouched, the vetting, how these people get chosen. I know Member States have to decide and so forth, but somebody has to take the initiative with a very strong proposal, because, while Denmark may be absolutely clean and never have any corruption anywhere in any of its offices, that doesn't take care of the next PGA or the next five PGAs.
Spokesman: You know, without commenting on the allegation — I mean, on the premise of your question about who's corrupt and who's not corrupt, it is clear that the decision of who the next President of the General Assembly lies with the Member States themselves. Whether or not they decide to put in a, quote‑unquote, vetting process or interviews or panels, that's up to them. The Secretary‑General would expect that anyone who is any, especially in a leadership position, a senior leadership position at the United Nations, acts with the utmost level of ethics and well‑being for the Organisation.
Question: But they haven't been. And is anybody going to make a strong proposal saying…?
Spokesman: I think…
Question: …they've got to change the system?
Spokesman: As the Secretary‑General said, he will be putting forward a number of proposals to the General Assembly, which will be up to the General Assembly to act upon. Masood?
Correspondent: No, but you can't keep saying it's not my job.
Spokesman: Sorry?
Correspondent: I said, they can't keep saying it's not my job; it's the membership…
Spokesman: I think this is a… someone who heads this… the main legislative forum in this Organization, it is up to the members of that body to elect the best possible person to preside over it. Masood.
Question: Yes. What does… India on which the publishers of newspapers and some journalists are being threatened on [the] beef eating thing, that one of the publishers has been told that he will… as a newspaper [inaudible] and so forth. Do you have any reaction to that that's happening now in India?
Spokesman: No, not to those specific reports, because I don't have enough details, but obviously, the Secretary‑General, I think, has always supported the rights of the press and the need for governments to ensure that journalists are able to do their work in full freedom.
Question: Another one. On this Israeli Knesset passing Palestinian‑specific law that Palestinian stone throwers will be subject to rigorous imprisonment if they threw stones. Do you have any reaction on that?
Spokesman: I don't have anything with me on that. Giampaolo?
Question: Stéphane, back to Syria, does the UN have a list — or at least de Mistura — a list of the opposition group? This list can be enlarged or reduced during this negotiation? Do you have a base?
Spokesman: I think, over the past weeks, Mr. de Mistura and his team have been talking to various parties, both the government and not the government, through meetings in Geneva and other places. I think we're still at a time where discussions are ongoing and obviously, when everything is gelled, they'll be able to move forward with the political talks as requested and as outlined in paragraph seven of the Communiqué in Vienna.
Question: Because there was a number of 38. Does that ring any bell to you?
Spokesman: No, not many things ring bells in my head anymore. Matthew and then we'll go to our guest.
Question: [Inaudible] ask them… do them fast. One is on Burundi. Their civil society there has said that a number of them have been put on… on Interpol lists by the Government. The Government has claimed to Interpol that their passports were stolen, making it impossible for them to travel and speak outside of the country, for example, at a conference in South Korea. I wanted to know, is the UN… is the UN aware of a practice in which Governments can ban their opponents from travelling outside of the country by frivolous Interpol filings? And what's the UN's response to this?
Spokesman: You know, I don't know what the mechanics of and the implications of filing with Interpol does, but I can tell you that, overall, the Secretary‑General is, obviously, extremely concerned over the persistent political impasse and the mounting violence that we've seen in Burundi where killings continue to be reported on a regular basis, both in Bujumbura and the provinces of the interior. And, again, he would underline that the only way out of this current crisis in Burundi is to end the violence and begin an inclusive and genuine political dialogue called for by the AU Peace and Security Council, the East African Community, and the UN Security Council. He notes that the Ugandan Defence Minister visited Burundi last week in an effort to restart the dialogue. The Secretary‑General urges Burundian authorities to continue their engagement with the facilitator to find a political solution to this worrying situation. He reiterates the readiness of the UN to support all efforts in that end.
Question: Okay. Thanks. Can I ask… I wanted to ask you something on Yemen. It seems like… I'd heard this, that, that the Houthis won't meet with Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed anymore. They've written a letter to him. They've published in their own newspaper something saying that he's Saudi aligned. This Kenny Gluck, who I guess works with this office, left without a meeting in Muscat. Can you say when was the last time that Ould Cheikh Ahmed spoke with the Houthis?
Spokesman: No. I think the discussions, as the Special Envoy said, are ongoing to try to get the parties back on track. I think in a period before these talks, there will be lots of back‑and‑forth about who is willing to speak to whom and who is not willing to speak to whom. There's a lot of, I think, in response to what I told Giampaolo, to the gelling of the situation. Obviously, the discussions are ongoing, and we're not going to do a play‑by‑play of the results of these discussions until we are ready to announce something firmer.
Question: I'd also heard that he's travelled a number of times on UN dime to Dubai, stating that he's meeting the Houthis there. And since there are no Houthis there, I guess because… is that something that you could check? What's his travel…?
Spokesman: I don't know there are no Houthis there.
Question: Well, UAE [United Arab Emirates] is part of the policy… is part of the coalition…
Spokesman: The Special Envoy is doing the travelling that he needs to do, and I have no reason to question it. Linda and then Evelyn. Sorry.
Question: Thank you, Steph. Just regarding Ukraine, we know there are about 7,000 or 8,000 civilians have been killed. Does the UN have a sense of how that's divided in terms of government and rebel forces?
Spokesman: No, but it sounds like a great question for Ivan Šimonovic, who is overseeing a lot of the UN human rights reporting in Ukraine, so… and he'll be out in two seconds.
Correspondent: Perfect.
Spokesman: …I'm done with Evelyn or Evelyn's done with me.
Question: Okay. Just briefly, the transition on the Libya talks, aren't… isn't the… it's sort of in the middle. Are they going to be there together or…?
Spokesman: No, I mean… there's…
Question: Because he might delay it till next week again the next…?
Spokesman: There's a period of transition, and that will happen over the next few days. So the transition is moving ahead at a clip.
Question: State of emergency in Maldives? Do you have an “if asked” on that?
Spokesman: As far as Maldives, the Secretary‑General is obviously very concerned about the recent political insecurity developments in Maldives. States have legitimate national insecurity concerns, but the Secretary‑General emphasises that the state's emergency should be used only when strictly necessary in proportion to the stated threat and in accordance with the human rights obligations. In this regard, he hopes that all civil and political rights of the Maldivian people will be restored as soon as possible. Last question.
Question: Thanks, Stéph. The outgoing Libya Envoy, Bernardino León, is going to be taking up a post at the Diplomatic Academy of the United Arab Emirates. And I'm just wondering if there's any concern on the UN side that there could be a potential conflict of interest. I mean, he's going to be helping train future diplomats. It's a country that's been specifically on one side of the conflict, apparently it’s going to be a rather sizable financial compensation for this job that he will have for, I believe, two years. Are you worried about this? I mean, what's the UN's position?
Spokesman: No, I think, you know, if you look at the tireless work that Bernardino León has done during his time as SRSG, his incredible efforts to bring the parties together to build a government of national accord and resume transition, I think, speaks for itself. I think he's a person who's never given up. And the Secretary‑General, obviously, is very thankful for the dedicated leadership he's shown. And we wish him luck, and I'm sure he will make a terrific teacher of diplomacy. I will go get our guest.