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.
**Colombia
Starting off with an announcement of travel by the Secretary-General: The Secretary-General will be travelling on 13 January to Bogotá, Colombia, for an official visit to the country to support peace efforts. On Saturday, his agenda includes meetings with President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón and officials of the Government and Armed Forces, as well as with the leadership of the People’s Alternative Revolutionary Force (FARC) and the Catholic Church. While in Bogotá, the Secretary-General will also meet with civil society representatives and with the United Nations Verification Mission and country team working in Colombia. On Sunday, 14 January, the Secretary-General will travel to the Department of Meta, where his agenda will include, among other activities, a visit to a territorial area for training and reintegration of former FARC combatants. He will give a press conference at the conclusion of his visit on Sunday evening, and will be back at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday. If you want more details on the trip, Mathias [Gillmann] in my office will be accompanying the Secretary-General.
Also on Colombia. Jean Arnault, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, briefed the Security Council this morning. He told Council Members that while the building blocks of stabilization are being put in place, we cannot lose sight of the challenges of the socioeconomic reintegration of the 14,000 former combatants. We must not forget that we are dealing with a large group of former fighters whose level of accumulated frustration with the reintegration process — illustrated by the number of members still in prison — is not easy to overcome, he added. The Government, UN agencies, the international community and civil society will have to be diligent and thorough in our support to their reintegration and the development of the communities in which they are inserted, he said. Regarding the process between the Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), Mr. Arnault stressed that the clamour for the continued suspension of military action has been unanimous, and reiterated the need to preserve the reduction of violence that prevailed during the past three months, while also advocating for a clearer and more reliable ceasefire.
**Libya
In Tripoli, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, met with Faiez Serraj, President of the Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord of Libya. He also met with the Head of the High Council of State, Mr. [Abdulrahman] Sewehli, and the diplomatic corps. As you have seen in the note we issued yesterday, he will be in Libya and Tunisia until Friday. We will have more updates as they come along.
**Central African Republic
From the Central African Republic, an estimated 58,000 people have been displaced to Paoua town in the north-western Ouham-Pendé Prefecture – that is according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). That is up from 25,000 people on 5 January, following fighting between the Revolution Justice and the Mouvement national de la libération de la Centrafrique armed groups. The security situation remains precarious with fighting reported in villages and five locations surrounding Paoua town, which have been looted and burnt. The town itself appears to be calm. Food and the provision of protection, in and around Paoua town, are top priorities. Some 60 tons of cereals provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) are only sufficient for 10,000 people. The municipality has provided land to humanitarian workers for the establishment of a settlement site but the capacity of the site is far lower than the expected influx of people. Meanwhile, insecurity on the roads surrounding Paoua is impeding access to people in need of assistance. A mission led by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will deploy there tomorrow to further assess the situation and reinforce local efforts.
**Syria
Turning to Syria, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, today condemned the upsurge in civilian casualties in Eastern Ghouta in Syria amid the recent escalation in airstrikes and ground-based attacks by Government forces and their allies. He said that all parties are obliged under international law to distinguish between lawful military targets and civilians and civilian infrastructure. Meanwhile, we welcome the exceptional delivery of life‑saving humanitarian assistance to an estimated 50,000 Syrian men, women and children stranded at Rukban, near Jordan’s north-eastern border with Syria, earlier this week. The delivery of humanitarian assistance from Jordan began on Monday, 8 January, and so far, has provided assistance to over 18,000 people. The operation will continue until all 50,000 people have been reached. The humanitarian aid includes food, specialized winterization kits and other forms of assistance.
**Democratic Republic of the Congo
Turning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that heavy rains and flooding may exacerbate the country’s ongoing cholera epidemic, the most severe in over 20 years. The current outbreak, which began last July, is one of the most severe in years. Health experts fear that the situation in Kinshasa might still considerably worsen, due to a combination of overcrowding and the ongoing rainy season. WHO reports people in 24 out of 26 provinces have been infected with the disease. The latest reports find 55,000 cases, including nearly 1,200 deaths, for 2017 alone — double the number of cases from last year. Cholera response is ongoing in Kasai region and other provinces, but it has been affected by severe cuts in humanitarian funding, diminished response capacities, and a breakdown of pipelines in medical supplies at the local level.
**Environment
Today in Nairobi, our colleagues from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and WHO announced a collaboration to curb environmental health risks that cause an estimated 12.6 million deaths a year. The two agencies agreed to collaborate on initiatives to combat air pollution, climate change and antimicrobial resistance, as well as improve coordination on waste and chemicals management, water quality, and food and nutrition issues. More information online.
**Korean Peninsula
Lastly — almost lastly — you will have seen that we issued a statement yesterday late afternoon, welcoming the progress made during the high-level inter‑Korean talks that took place on 9 January, particularly the agreement to work to ease military tensions, hold military-to-military talks, and reopen the inter-Korean military hotline. The Secretary-General also seizes this opportunity to acknowledge other efforts that have contributed to reducing tensions, and he hopes such engagement and efforts will contribute to the resumption of sincere dialogue leading to sustainable peace and denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula.
**Israel
Lastly, I was asked earlier by one of your colleagues for a reaction on the killing of an Israeli rabbi yesterday. And I can say the following: Our position on violence, incitement and terrorism is well known. There is no justification for terror, nor for those who condone, praise or glorify it. Such heinous acts only perpetuate the [cycle] of violence, hindering efforts to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. The perpetrators of yesterday’s attack must be brought to justice. That’s it. Rodrigo?
**Questions and Answers
Question: Thank you, Steph. Prosecutors are seeking charges against two journalists from Reuters in Myanmar. Does the Secretary‑General have a comment on this new development?
Spokesman: I mean, as you know, the Secretary‑General expressed his concern at the situation when he was first asked about it. I know our colleagues in the UN country team are following the case very closely of the two Reuters journalists. I think the Secretary‑General has repeated and will continue to repeat his concern at the erosion of press freedom in Myanmar and calling on the international community to do everything to secure the journalists' release and freedom of the press in Myanmar. Madame?
Question: Stéphane, did the UN Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Process, Mr. [Nickolay] Mladenov, issue any statement since the declaration of Mr. [Donald] Trump… President Trump of moving the embassy to Jerusalem and the killing of 15 Palestinians, most of them… all of them youth and children? Thank you.
Spokesman: I think the Secretary‑General, in his own statement, was very clear on his reaction to the decision announced by the United States, reiterating his call to halt any unilateral actions that would undermine the two‑State solution, reiterating the fact that Jerusalem is… should be considered as a final status issue to be negotiated by the parties. I think Mr. Mladenov has expressed his concern at the number of civilian deaths that we've seen.
Question: But… a follow‑up. But, he didn't issue any statement regarding the killing of Palestinians, where… at the moment where casualties on the other side… like, yesterday, the killing of the rabbi in the settlement, he immediately issued a statement. So, the question is, why doesn't he issue any statement when Palestinians are killed, where he does do this when Israelis are killed?
Spokesman: I think whether it's the Special Coordinator of the UN system, I would refer you back to the monthly briefings, and I think we've been very clear in condemning and expressing our sorrow of the loss of lives of civilians on all sides. Yep?
Question: Is there any sympathy or agreement with President Moon's assertion yesterday that it was the US strategy of max pressure through sanctions that sort of brought the Koreans together to talk?
Spokesman: Well, I think it's not for me to comment on what President Moon [Jae-in] said. I think the Secretary‑General, in his own statement, noted the contribution of other factors to what has led to the discussions. I think I would also remind you of the… I think the very important trip that Under‑Secretary‑General Jeff Feltman took to North Korea not too long ago, bringing messages from the Secretary‑General and encouraging dialogue. And we very much think that that also played a part. Yep. Hold on. Herman, go ahead.
Question: Is there any update on the UN action on… to end the slavery in Libya?
Spokesman: Our colleagues at UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are working on the ground in places where they can access to help find and to help bring back… repatriate voluntarily migrants from various Sub‑Saharan African countries so they can go home in safety. And, obviously, we would want to see those criminal elements who are participating in this heinous trade brought to justice.
Question: Is there any time frame that we can expect when the…?
Spokesman: It's an ongoing operation. I think the fact that we have to see in the twenty-first century this… these types of images and this type of treatment of human beings by other human beings, I think, only underscores the need for the international community to come together and agree on a global migration plan. As you know, the Secretary‑General will address this in the next few days when his report comes out and the need to take the… take away the power of the smugglers and the human traffickers and establish legal pathways and establish protections for humans who are moving and seeking a better life while recognizing their rights and their dignity. Rodrigo and then Evelyn.
Question: Thanks. You mentioned, on the Secretary‑General's visit to Colombia, different people he was going to meet. Is there any plan on maybe reaching out to anything related to the ELN while he's there?
Spokesman: I have no doubt that discussions concerning the… the ELN will come up in discussions. As you know, there have been… the Government has… was in… there were discussions going on in Ecuador between the ELN and the Government. I think we're concerned by the incident that we saw this morning, an attack on an oil pipeline. We're, obviously, following those developments very closely, and we're also keeping the Security Council informed. Evelyn and then we'll go back.
Question: Speaking of Ecuador, the Government would like to have some kind of an agreement to let… to get Julian Assange out of… out of its embassy. And in the BBC wrap‑up of this, they mentioned that a UN committee, a UN panel, which is probably a committee, in 2016, said the man should go free. Do you know which…?
Spokesman: It was… if I'm not mistaken, it's a subsidiary organ of the Human Rights Council, and I think it was a committee on arbitrary detention which operates independently.
Correspondent: In Geneva or here…? Yeah, because that's a pretty stupid statement.
Spokesman: I will let you do the analysis. Madame?
Question: Any updates on Yemen and the blockade and the humanitarian efforts?
Spokesman: No. No good news. Obviously, I mean, some humanitarian aid is going in, but overall, the suffering of the Yemeni people continues unabated.
Question: Where is Mr. [Ismail] Ould Cheikh Ahmed?
Spokesman: He is… if I recall, he's in Amman and continuing his… where he's based and continuing his contacts.
Question: But, I mean, a follow‑up, but which efforts are you… I know you have been trying to talk with the Saudi‑led coalition regarding lifting the blockade. Are you still in contact? And which answers are you getting now, why it's not… I mean, you have been talking about this two months…?
Spokesman: We continue to be in constant contact with the coalition to ensure a greater flow of humanitarian aid, but there remain obstacles, the biggest obstacle, obviously, being the continued fighting. Yes?
Question: On North Korea, at the Winter Olympics, the US and the Olympic Committee have both said we need to make sure that the UN sanctions aren't violated by the participation. Can you give any kind of indication of what sanctions could be relevant?
Spokesman: There are sanctions put in place by the Security Council, including sanctions having to do with the transfer of money and all sorts of financial things. So, whatever it is incumbent for Member States to respect those sanctions and, obviously, work with the relevant Security Council Sanctions Committee to ensure that the sanctions are not violated or that derogations may be granted, but things need to be done in accordance, obviously, with international law.
Question: So does the SG anticipate that it could kind of put a spanner in the works…?
Spokesman: We try not to be in the business of anticipating. Well, we do… we're in the business of being prepared. We don't want to predict. What is… I think the fact that the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] will be sending a delegation to the Winter Olympics is a positive movement that can only be welcome, and we expect that all the details of that visit will be worked out within the relevant international law and the sanctions, which is dealt with directly by the Security Council and the Sanctions Committee. Yes, sir?
Question: Sorry. Will the Special Envoy to Syria be attending the Sochi talks?
Spokesman: A decision has not yet been made. A decision will be made in due time, but I think we very much welcome the statements that we've seen from the Russian representative here that all of this is being done in… I don't want to put words in his mouth, but in terms of in coordination and in preparation for Geneva and not in competition with the Geneva process. Okay. Thank you very much.