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.

**Guests

As we told you yesterday, we will have phoning in from Sana’a Stephen O’Brien, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, and Jamie McGoldrick, the Resident Coordinator in Yemen.

Also, at 2 p.m., just a reminder, Ambassador Matthew Rycroft of the United Kingdom will be here to brief you on the programme of work for the month of March as he is presiding [over] the Security Council.

**Colombia

I just want to start off with an announcement from our colleagues at the UN Mission in Colombia:  in a major milestone, they are starting today the verification of the FARC-EP’s (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Popular Army) laying down of arms.

The process should conclude on 29 May, 180 days after the Final Agreement came into force.

Despite the logistical challenges, the Mission welcomes the parties’ decision to initiate without further delay the weapons laydown process.  

The Mission currently has the 450 women and men observers necessary to identify and register all weapons present in the camps in the 26 zones where the FARC-EP members will be transitioning to civilian life.  A press release with more details is available on the UN Mission’s website in English and Spanish.

**Syria

A report out today by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic says that the brutal tactics used by the parties to the conflict in Aleppo between July and December 2016 resulted in unparalleled suffering for Syrian men, women and children and amount to war crimes.

By using brutal siege tactics reminiscent of medieval warfare to force surrender, Government forces and their allies prevented the civilian population of eastern Aleppo city from having access to food and basic supplies.  Meanwhile, relentless airstrikes pounded the city for months, deliberately targeting hospitals and clinics, killing and maiming civilians, and reducing eastern Aleppo to rubble.

The three-person Commission also notes how armed groups indiscriminately shelled civilian-inhabited areas of western Aleppo city with improvised weapons, causing many civilian casualties.  A number of these attacks were carried out without a clear military target and had no other purpose than to terrorise the civilian population.

In one of the most horrific attacks investigated by the Commission, the Syrian Air Force deliberately targeted a UN/Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian convoy in Orum al-Kubra, in the Aleppo countryside.  The attack killed 14 aid workers, destroyed 17 trucks carrying aid supplies, and led to the suspension of all humanitarian aid in the Syrian Arab Republic, further aggravating the unspeakable suffering of the Syrian civilians.

This is the full report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry mandated by the Human Rights Council.

**Central African Republic

From the CAR, our colleagues at the Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) said yesterday that verified information shows that the coalition led by the FPRC (Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de Centrafrique) is distributing weapons to youth in Ippy, in Ouaka prefecture, to continue its offensive on Bambari, in clear violation of the line set up by UN forces.

The UN Mission firmly condemns such manoeuvres which, if implemented, would seriously endanger the lives of innocent populations and lead to further attacks on peacekeepers.  It urges commanders of the FPRC coalition to immediately stop these acts and stresses that they will bear full responsibility for any violence against the civilian population and UN forces.  The Mission urges the coalition commanders to withdraw from Ippy without delay.

The UN Mission reiterates its previous appeals to all armed groups for an immediate cessation of hostilities and urges them to commit to dialogue.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

According to a new report by the Joint Human Rights Office in the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), defence and security forces used excessive, disproportionate and at times lethal force to prevent and contain demonstrations in December of last year.

At least 40 people, including five women and two children, were killed between 15 and 31 December across several cities in the DRC.

The report indicates that most of the victims were unarmed civilians wounded by live ammunition on upper parts of the body.

The report also condemns the fact that while the police is normally in charge of crowd control operations, during the period under review, soldiers, including those of the Republican Guard and of the [Military] Police, were deployed to control crowds, functions for which they are not adequately equipped or trained.

**South Sudan

Just an update on the humanitarian situation from South Sudan where, as you will recall, a famine was declared in parts of the country: the UN and partners have delivered food to nearly 114,000 people across four locations in Mayendit county and to nearly 25,500 people in two locations in Koch county.

Right now, three mobile response teams are deployed across Leer county to deliver food to nearly 48,500 people, and further food distributions are planned in Koch and Panyiajar in the days ahead.

At the same time as food assistance has been scaling up, teams have been deployed to six key areas to implement vital nutrition, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, and child protection interventions.  Cholera vaccinations are being administered in Leer, Mayendit and Panyiajar.

**Libya

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Martin Kobler, expressed yesterday his concern about continued reports of civilians trapped in the midst of a combat zone in Benghazi without access to food and water.

He urges the parties to provide civilians a safe passage to allow evacuation in a dignified manner to a secure area and to prevent attacks on civilians and the use of civilians as human shields.  Mr. Kobler also called on the parties to urgently facilitate entry for humanitarian [assistance] in the trapped areas.

**Discrimination

Almost last and definitely not least: our colleagues from UNAIDS (Joint UN Programme against HIV/AIDS) today are marking Zero Discrimination Day with a “Make Some Noise” campaign — urging people to speak up against discrimination.

Discrimination takes many forms, and can be based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or age.  For this year’s campaign, UNAIDS is putting particular focus on the need for zero discrimination in health-care settings.

According to UNAIDS, people living with disabilities are nearly three times more likely to be denied health care than others.

**Honour Roll

Our thanks go today to three countries Monaco, Turkmenistan and Viet Nam which brings us up to an even?

Correspondent:  Fifty.

Spokesman:  Fifty.  There you go.  I will take a few questions before we go to Mr. O'Brien and Mr. McGoldrick, if you have any.

**Questions and Answers

Mr. Lee?

Question:  Sure.  I wanted to ask you, it's… Nikki Haley has written a letter to António Guterres nominating David Beasley to be the new head of the World Food Programme (WFP).  And I wanted to know whether… what the pro… what the process is.  Is it… if it is the case that Ertharin Cousin is… contract expires 6 April, then what process will be held to appoint…

Spokesman:  She announced that she was…  We announced publicly her departure, and the regular process for WFP is under way.

Question:  And does… by the "regular process", you mean the Americans submit one name and you take it?

Spokesman:  No, there… I mean the regular process.

Question:  And the… is the same process applied to UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) and on what timeline, given your new… newfound transparency?  Has Mr. [Anthony] Lake announced his departure?

Spokesman:  If he had, we would all know, and I don't.  He has not.

Question:  Okay.  The process will be the same?

Spokesman:  We have to check when his mandate ends.

Question:  Can you check…?

Spokesman:  I think it's publicly available, but we can see what we can find out.  All right.  Yes, you have one more and then… Go ahead.

Question:  Okay.  In this room, at 10:30, Watchlist, the group about Children and Armed Conflict, were pretty critical of the removal of the Saudi‑led Coalition from the Children and Armed Conflict list, basically urging the new Secretary‑General to put them back on and also urging him to take up, for the first time, Burundi as a… as violator of children's rights, including on killing and maiming.  So I wanted to know, are you aware of these calls?

Spokesman:  Well, I'm aware of it because I was listening to it as I was…

Question:  So what do you think of it?

Spokesman:  …preparing for the briefing.  I think it's always important to hear from NGOs (non-governmental organizations) who are heavily involved in these things, and the drafting of the report is under way and should be out not too long.

Question:  Is there any consideration of including the various peacekeepers in the Central African Republic, including the French force and the UN forces…?

Spokesman:  I will urge you to wait for the report.  Yes, sir, and then Evelyn.

Question:  Thank you.  Can you… Stéphane, can you update us on the meetings of the Executive Committee, which the Secretary‑General has set up on any meetings or decisions…?

Spokesman:  There's no update to give, except that it is the structures through which the Secretary‑General is administering the UN, and they go on, on a regular basis.  Evelyn?

Question:  Yes.  Is anybody from Mr. Kobler's team going to look into the… the state of the migrants tossed in jails in Libya and persecuted and starved?

Spokesman:  I mean, the way migrants and refugees who are making the trek are one of concern to us, and I will check with the office.  Yeah, Olga?

Question:  Thank you, Stéphane.  There are a lot of reports about escalation of the fighting around Palmyra to retake the city again.  Just do you have an update on the information and how the new fightings affect the city?

Spokesman:  No, I do not.  I do not.  We can check if we have any information, but I have not received anything here.  Matthew?

Question:  Sure.  I wanted to know, I noticed that the Secretary‑General is meeting with the Right Honourable Tony Blair, I guess, just about as we speak.  Do you know… can you say… is there going to be a readout?  And who… did Tony Blair request the meeting and what do you think…

Spokesman:  I'm not aware of a readout, and I'm not even sure the meeting actually happened.  There may have been a scheduling issue, but I will check.  [He later confirmed that no meeting or phone call happened.]

Question:  And the thing yesterday with CICIG [Commission of Inquiry against Impunity in Guatemala], maybe I… right?  You put out a statement that the Secretary‑General met with him.  Was that on… was it on the schedule?  Maybe I missed it, but is there some… it seems like he's a UN or UN… quasi-UN supported thing.  It's not about quiet diplomacy.  Was that… when did the meeting take place and why wasn't it…

Spokesman:  I'll check.  I'll check, top of my head.