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.
All right, good afternoon.
**Haiti
We will be joined in a few minutes by Mourad Wahba, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti, who will brief you on the current UN response to Hurricane Matthew.
Yesterday afternoon, you will have seen that that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Sandra Honoré, told the Security Council that the impact of Hurricane Matthew on the political process and on stability in the country can only serve to reconfirm the recommendation of the Secretary-General for a six-month extension, at the current force and police strength, in Haiti up until 15 April 2017.
**Colombia
I have a statement on Colombia. The Secretary-General welcomes the announcement that the Government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army, ELN, will begin formal negotiations on 27 October, in Quito, in Ecuador, following more than two years of exploratory conversations. This is a source of encouragement to the Colombian people and all those involved in supporting a peaceful and comprehensive end to conflict.
The Secretary-General hopes the Government and the ELN will work with determination to reach a sustainable peace agreement as soon as possible. He commends the governments of Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Norway and Venezuela for accompanying this process.
That statement should be online now.
**Syria
Turning to Syria, I know we’ve been asked a few times about the new Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria. I wanted to let you know that our colleague Ali al-Zaatari arrived in Damascus a few days ago and, as of today, he has now been fully accredited by the Government of Syria as the new Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.
Also on Syria, our colleagues in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that they are appalled by the brutal upsurge in violence and relentless bombardment in eastern Aleppo in recent weeks. Some 275,000 civilians there remain trapped, including more than 100,000 children.
Today, the Office has received reports of an attack on a food market in the Al-Ferdous area of eastern Aleppo, which has resulted in dozens of casualties and injuries.
The Office once again calls for an end to the fighting and for all parties to cease attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in line with international legal obligations.
The UN and its partners are ready to provide urgently needed assistance to the trapped population as soon as the situation allows.
OCHA is also deeply concerned about the recent intensification of hostilities in Khan El Shieh, south of Damascus, which is home to 12,000 people, including Palestine refugees and internally displaced people.
And for its part, UNICEF deplores yesterday’s attack on a primary school in Daraa, which killed five children between the ages of four and 16 and also injured 15 other children. UNICEF says that the conflict in Syria has plummeted to such lows that children are now risking their lives just to attend school.
**South Sudan
And from South Sudan, our colleagues in the UN Mission in that country are extremely concerned over increased reports of violence and armed conflict in various parts of the country in the last few weeks.
The peacekeeping force in Leer town has reported heavy artillery and gunfire exchanges between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the SPLA in Opposition. These reportedly led to several deaths and the continued displacement of the civilian population.
The UN Mission has also received continued reports of clashes in the Equatorias. Attacks by unidentified armed men have been reported on a civilian convoy travelling from Yei to Juba, leading to the death of over 20 people. The Mission is [yet] to be granted access to these areas to verify the reports on the ground.
The peacekeeping mission condemns these acts of violence and attacks against non-combatant civilians, and reiterates its urgent call for an immediate and complete cessation of hostilities. It reminds all parties that such attacks may constitute serious human rights violations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.
**Central African Republic
The UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) today reports serious incidents in Kaga Bandoro, where UN peacekeepers took action to protect civilians, including by exchanging fire with ex-Seleka fighters. This morning, a large number of armed ex-Seleka gathered near the internally displaced persons camp in the town and began firing at civilians and peacekeepers. In support of their protection of civilians mandate, the peacekeepers returned fire, resulting in ex-Seleka retreating from the area. The confrontation follows a series of shootings by ex-Seleka overnight. No peacekeepers were wounded, but an unconfirmed number of ex-Seleka fatalities and casualties are reported, and the UN Mission has also evacuated several injured civilians to local hospitals. The Mission further reports that internally displaced people have taken refuge near the UN camp in Kaga Bandoro. The peacekeeping force has reinforced its presence while maintaining a robust posture in the area.
The peacekeepers also reinforced patrols in Koui after clashes between armed groups yesterday. 200 people have sought refuge in the UN facilities there.
**Afghanistan
And our colleagues at the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) today condemned yesterday’s attack on a Kabul mosque that killed at least 18 civilians and injured more than 50 people, calling it an atrocity.
The Mission stressed that international humanitarian law prohibits deliberate attacks against civilians and civilian property, including places of worship, and places a specific obligation on parties to enable religious personnel to carry out their work.
More information online.
**Chad
And I just wanted to flag a report that caught our eye today on the link between GDP and child malnutrition. It’s a study looking at undernutrition in Chad.
The country is losing 9.5 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product to the effects of child undernutrition.
The study reveals that 56.4 percent of adults suffered from stunting as children, which represents more than 3.4 million people of working age who are not able to achieve their full potential.
The study emphasizes that Africa - and Chad in particular - has the potential to reap a demographic dividend from a young, educated and skilled work force.
But this potential can only be harnessed if the gains of early investment in the health and nutrition of its people, particularly women and children, is maintained.
**United Nations Development Programme
And speaking of reports, the regional Human Development Report for Eastern Europe, Turkey and Central Asia was launched today in Brussels.
It finds that the advantages of the region’s largely post-socialist heritage – which left relatively equal distribution of income and access to social services – are being lost.
The report notes that concerns about inequalities, in terms of income and wealth, but also equality before the law, seem to be on the rise in many countries.
The full report is online.
**Press Briefings
Tomorrow, I will be joined by Under-Secretary-General [for Management] Yukio Takasu, who will speak to you following his briefing to the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee on the UN’s financial situation.
And at 1 p.m., there will be a briefing by Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, who will speak to you following his briefing to the General Assembly’s Third Committee.
And after we are done here, after Mr. Wahba, there will be a briefing on the Africa Week 2016.
**Questions and Answers
Carole.
Question: Stéphane, what can you tell us about these meetings this weekend in Lausanne and in London on Syria? Is Staffan de Mistura attending? And what will be the purpose?
Spokesman: I have no information on Mr. de Mistura’s attendance or non-attendance at these meetings. These are not being organized by the UN. I would encourage you to contact those Member States and organizations that are organizing them.
Sir.
Question: Follow‑up question on that. We will talk to them, but from the UN’s point of view, is this a new initiative, fresh ideas, or is this a last‑ditch effort to try and to rescue the existing plans?
Spokesman: I think it’s an exploration on how to, how to restart conversations that are critical to finding a political solution.
Sir.
Question: Yes. Same… same theme. Mr. Putin is supposed to meet with Mr. Kerry. Has the Secretary‑General had, has had any talks with Mr. Putin about this or John Kerry about this situation?
Spokesman: Not in the last 24 to 48 hours.
Mr. Lee.
Question: Sure. I wanted to ask you about Burundi again. Last couple day… there seems to be sort of a step‑by‑step deterioration in terms of the move on the ICC (International Criminal Court), the move to break relations with the Hu… the Office of the High Commissioner. But I see today that the UN is recruiting a P-5 Head of Office in Bujumbura, it has an ad out for that. So I guess I want to know, what is the UN’s response to these incremental steps, and what’s the plan? And why is a new person being recruited if, in fact, the Government is ousted…
Spokesman: Well, I think, obviously, as we’ve said before, we’re very disappointed to learn of the Government’s decision to cease cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. As we’ve said here, I think their office provides a crucial role, crucial information, on the situation of human rights in the country.
In the meantime, the Office will remain open pending further discussions with the Government. And, in the meantime, the Secretary‑General calls on the Government of Burundi to continue its cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner.
I’ve gotten a number of questions today on this report of the Burundian parliament, I guess voting to withdraw from the ICC and a letter reportedly being sent to the UN. I checked with our friends in the Office of Legal Affairs in the treaty section. No letter has been received as of today indicating their decision.
Obviously, if a letter were received, it would be regrettable, but I think it’s also important to note that, according to the provisions of the Rome Statute, such a decision would become effective one year after notification. And State parties that decide to withdraw are still obligated to cooperate with any criminal investigations or proceedings that were commenced before the effective date of the withdrawal.
Question: Just one more on this.
Spokesman: Yeah, sure.
Question: I wanted to ask, given the issues that have arisen around Burundi deploying what are described as… bad actors to various peacekeeping missions and the role of the Office of the High Commissioner in supposedly vetting them, would the closure or restrictions on the Office’s operations in Burundi make it, restrict the ability to vet, and would this, in turn, have some effect on these deployments?
Spokesman: Listen, I’m not going to speculate. Obviously, a cessation of cooperation would not make things any easier.
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. With regard to the joint review between the United Nations and the Saudi Arabian Government with regard to the report of children and armed conflict, is there any update the Secretary‑General have after there was a delegation that was earlier in the month visited Saudi Arabia?
Spokesman: No. I have no update to what we…
Question: Is there any update supposed to be issued…
Spokesman: No, I have no…
Question: …for this process?
Spokesman: …I have no update. I think, as we said earlier, the Secretary‑General has, the Secretary‑General said himself, calls on, calls on the Human Rights Council to push through this international investigation on the… on what’s happened in Yemen, and, obviously, what resulted from that would also inform the Secretary‑General’s decision.
Question: But definitely the joint review is…
Spokesman: I have nothing to add to what we’ve…
Question: Nothing.
Spokesman: …previously said.
Linda, and then Abdelhamid.
Question: Thank you, Stéph. This is with regard to the GA’s election of the new Secretary‑General. I was wondering if any meetings are planned between Secretary‑General Ban Ki‑moon and [Antonio] Guterres, you know, once he’s elected, and also if he’ll be speaking to the press or having a press conference or just a stakeout.
Spokesman: There will, the Secretary‑General, I expect, will have a meeting with Mr. Guterres tomorrow after the GA vote, which we expect to go, to go smoothly, obviously. And there will be other occasions for them to meet as the transition moves forward.
As for the exact media plans for tomorrow, I can’t really speak for Mr. Guterres. I think you’d have to ask Dan [Thomas] in the GA office as to exactly what the plans are.
Abdelhamid.
Question: Thank you. Mr. Mladenov recently issued a statement condemning killing Israelis. Last night, a young Palestinian was killed in the neighbourhood of Silwan near Jerusalem. Does these lives matter to him? Why he doesn’t issue a statement also?
Spokesman: I think if you look back at the body of what the Secretary‑General has said, what his Special Envoy has said, and others, it’s clear that all lives matter to him, and we have denounced the death of civilians repeatedly. I haven’t seen the particular report that you mentioned, but I’m happy to look, to look into it.
Carla, go ahead.
Question: [inaudible].
Spokesman: I don’t think your microphone is on.
Question: Oh.
Spokesman: Go ahead.
Question: In 2015, Hillary Clinton stated that nobody can deny that much of the extremism in the world today is a direct result of the policies and funding undertaken by the Saudi Government and individuals. And Joe Biden, speaking to the Kennedy School at Harvard, said that the Turks, the Saudis, the Emirates were funding and arming extremists. Many of these arms ultimately ended up in the hands of Al‑Qaida and ISIS.
So what you have the Vice President and the then‑Secretary of State saying is essentially what the Russian Foreign Minister said during his press conference, that the…
Spokesman: Sorry. I’m sorry, Carla. We have a guest waiting. I’m keen to hear your question.
Question: All right. The question is, why is Russia being targeted and demonized when, in fact, according to both our Secretary of State and our Vice President, our so‑called allies — and Biden was questioning what our allies were doing — are, in fact, funding…
Spokesman: I think I know where you’re going with this. I don’t think it’s a question for me to answer. I think the Secretary‑General, from the start of the conflict in Syria, has pushed and called for and spoken out against more weapons being dumped into the country regardless of where they were coming from.
Ann.
Question: Yes. Today there’s a special event on the militarization of the occupied Crimea, a growing threat in the region and beyond. It’s organized by the Permanent Mission of Ukraine in Conference Room 12 at 1:15.
Since the situation continues to deteriorate, has the Secretary‑General issued any statements lately on Ukraine and occupied Crimea?
Spokesman: No statement per se, but, as you know, the Secretary‑General suggested and then put together the Human Rights Monitoring Mission, and they are continuing to come out with their periodic reports.
Matthew, and then Evelyn. Sorry.
Question: Sure…
Correspondent: Thank you, Stéphane.
Spokesman: No, let’s go, I said Matthew first and then Evelyn. Go ahead.
Question: Okay. I have some other stuff, but I want to be sure to ask you this. Yesterday, I asked you about Mr. Baca, and I was hoping to get something back from you.
Spokesman: My understanding is that he resigned before whatever date the new Secretary‑General was announced and that the two are clearly not linked.
Question: He’s still listed in iSeek.
Spokesman: Maybe just give it a day or so.
Question: Okay. And I wanted to ask about a consultant called Rebecca Ralston, who I was told is working for the SEATO, the Chief Information Officer, for $110 an hour for two years and just recently left. And people are saying that this seems…
Spokesman: I obviously, I don’t know. It’s not in my book of answers. If I find anything…
Question: And, finally, I want to know if a UN post actually exists. The current, the recently named Permanent Representative of Guyana says that he was previously the Special Adviser to the Coordinator on Multilingualism, which is Catherine Pollard. And since I’ve searched the…
Spokesman: I’m not aware…
[cross-talk]
I’m not aware of that.
Question: Then how can the UN say that the post, it’s in a UN official document that he had a post.
Spokesman: I don’t know. I can look into it…
Question: Can you look into it? Thank you.
Spokesman: Evelyn.
Question: Is there any further news on Yemen after the United States sort of told Saudi Arabia to cool it?
Spokesman: No, no news.
Abdelhamid, then Masood, then we’ll go to our guest.
Question: Tension is mounting between Turkey and Iraq. I mean, there is a statement by Erdoğan saying, calling on the President of Iraq to know his limits. Is the Secretary‑General trying to inter…
Spokesman: Obviously, we’re looking at these, this exchange with some concern. I think it’s important that the territorial integrity of Iraq be respected.
Masood, then we’ll go to Mr. Wahba.
Question: Yes, Stéphane. Sorry. Dare I ask you about the situation in Kashmir where the [inaudible] goes on and Kashmiris have been killed by Indians, troops? Does the Secretary‑General, do you have any update on the Secretary‑General’s statements since then?
Spokesman: No, I have no update.
All right. We’ll go; Mourad, can you hear us?