The Secretary-General condemns the killing of at least seven people, including a United Nations staff member, in a bar in the Kanyosha neighborhoud of Bujumbura on 7 November. Preliminary reports suggest that the attack was conducted by people wearing police uniform. He urges the Government to conduct a swift investigation.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Secretary-General is alarmed by the ongoing escalation of violence in Burundi. He underlined the responsibility of authorities to protect the civilian population, regardless of political affiliation, and to ensure that the widespread impunity for heinous acts is brought to an immediate end.
This morning, the Special Representative for Libya, Bernardino León, told the Security Council that, after a year of negotiations between the Libyan parties during United Nations-facilitated talks, Libya’s leaders now have an opportunity to reach a political settlement that spares further bloodshed and destruction.
The Secretary-General announced this morning the appointment of Martin Kobler of Germany as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to succeed Bernardino León of Spain. The leadership transition will take place in the coming days.
The Secretary-General, urging the General Assembly to draw larger lessons from the allegations against John Ashe, President of its sixty-eighth session, described a number of specific steps, including an internal audit and establishment of an internal task force, to address, head-on, the important issues being raised.
The Secretary-General supported last Friday’s Syrian peace talks in Vienna while his Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, spent the last two days in Damascus discussing with the Syrian Government the conference’s outcomes and the importance of early confidence-building steps to maintain the spirit of the talks.
The Secretary-General and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees condemned the attack yesterday on Camp Hurriya, near the Baghdad International Airport that had left at least 26 residents dead and many more injured, and called on the Iraqi Government to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Today in South Sudan, the 20 United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) peacekeepers who, while transporting a barge of refuelling oil, had been detained by 100 armed men affiliated with the SPLA-in Opposition were extracted by helicopter from Kaka to Malakal. However, 12 contractors have not been released.
Accepting a medal of honour at the Carlos III University of Madrid, the Secretary-General told students he looked to them and youth across Spain to help usher in a new future for the country and the world by putting people first. He also urged them to focus on the potential of a green economy.
The major impact of the recent earthquake in Afghanistan was in the provinces of Kunar, Takhar, Badakshan and Nangarkhar, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Authorities reported that 74 people have been killed, more than 250 people have been injured and some 4,000 houses damaged or destroyed.