UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
26 November, 2014
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EBOLA: UN CRISIS RESPONSE MISSION OPENS NEW OFFICE IN MALI
The newest outpost of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) became operational today, while a new head of its Guinea office was named and the World Health Organization reported that the number of cases had stabilized in Guinea, had stabilized or declined in Liberia but may still be on rise in Sierra Leone.
The World Bank Group's Board of Executive Directors, meanwhile, approved a $70 million project for Côte d'Ivoire to promote the West African country's pro-active measures to prevent the spread of Ebola.
"So far, the Ivorian Ebola response plan has been working efficiently, with no recorded case. However, continuous support to Côte d'Ivoire remains essential to help the country respond effectively in case of necessity" said Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Country Director for Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin and Guinea. There is over 800 miles of border between Côte d'Ivoire and both Guinea and Liberia, and the epicentre of the epidemic is in the eastern part of these countries – near Cote d'Ivoire's western border, the World Bank reported.
The World Health organization (WHO), in in its lates update issued today, said there have been 15,935 reported cases of Ebola virus disease with 5,689 reported deaths as of November 23, and that "case incidence is stable in Guinea, stable or declining in Liberia, but may still be increasing in Sierra Leone."
In other news, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of Abdou Dieng of Senegal as the Ebola Crisis Manager for Guinea, as part of UNMEER, succeeding Marcel Rudasingwa. In this role Mr. Dieng will continue the Mission's work with the Government of Guinea, along with key stakeholders, in ensuring a rapid and effective international response to the Ebola crisis in the country.
Also today, the WHO representative in Mali, Ibrahima Soce Fall, formally started work as the head of the UNMEER office in Mali.
In Liberia, UNMEER welcomed the opening of a 100-bed Ebola treatment facility in Monrovia, which will be staffed by Chinese army medics. The facility will start accepting patients next week.
Meanwhile, UNMEER in Sierra Leone transported blood samples by helicopter for the first time today, and, three flights per week are planned, transporting blood samples from remote locations to laboratories.
Also in Liberia, UNMEER notes that traditional practices remain a significant obstacle in countering the epidemic, especially in relation to burial practices. UNMEER Field Crisis Managers reported several instances of non-compliance related to burial permits, as well as violent reactions towards burial teams.
In Guinea, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its partners in the education cluster have trained thousands of teachers in Guinea on prevention, safe and protected learning, and psycho-social support.
"This training aims to sensitize teachers on how to prevent stigmatization of school children orphaned by the epidemic," UNMEER reported. "Because of the epidemic, the opening of the school year has been postponed indefinitely."
WHO elaborated today on the uncertainties in date that preclude firm conclusions about progress towards UNMEER goals for December 1, saying over 70 per cent of Ebola patients in Guinea are isolated, while over 80 per cent of required safe and dignified burial teams are in place.
Liberia and Sierra Leone report that fewer than 70 per cent of patients are isolated, though there is wide variation among districts, WHO said. Approximately 25 per cent of the required safe burial teams are in place in both countries.
The targets are part of the so-called "70-70-60 plan" which aims to try to get 70 per cent of the cases isolated and treated, and 70 per cent of the deceased safely buried within 60 days from the beginning of October to 1 December.
WHO also warned that the evolving Ebola outbreak highlights the considerable risk of cases being imported into unaffected countries. "With adequate levels of preparation, however, such introductions of the disease can be contained before they develop into large outbreaks," the UN health agency said, referring to the success of Nigeria and Senegal in halting Ebola transmission.
"Key factors in preventing the spread of [the virus] in both countries included strong political leadership, early detection and response, public awareness campaigns, and strong support from partner organizations," it said.
Fifteen countries that neighbour those with widespread and intense transmission that have been prioritized for technical assistance on preparedness from specialist WHO teams and partners are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote D'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, and Togo.
As of 26 November, WHO teams have visited Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Mauritania, and Togo. Visits to the Central African Republic, Niger, and Ethiopia are planned for the week beginning 1 December.
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OBESITY-RELATED CANCERS ON THE RISE, ESPECIALLY IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES – UN REPORT
Being overweight or obese have become major risk factors for developing cancer, particularly among women and in more developed countries, the specialized cancer agency of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported today.
Overweight and obesity are responsible for an estimated 481,000 – or 3.6 per cent – of all new cancer cases in 2012, and reducing such health issues at the population level could have significant health benefits, according to a new study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
The study, which was published in The Lancet Oncology today, also shows that one quarter of all cancers attributable to overweight and obesity worldwide – 118,00 cases – could have been prevented if populations had simply maintained their average body-mass index of 30 years ago.
"The number of cancers linked to obesity and overweight is expected to rise globally along with economic development," Dr. Christopher Wild, Director of IARC, said in a press release today.
"This study stresses the importance of putting in place efficient weight control measures, to curb the high number of cancers associated with excess body weight and to avoid the problems faced by rich countries being repeated in those now undergoing rapid development," he added.
Cancer due to overweight and obesity is currently far more common in more developed countries – which reported 393,000 cases, or 5.2 per cent of all new cancer cases – than in less developed countries – which reported 88,000 cases, or 1.5 per cent of all new cancer cases.
North America remains the most affected, with an estimated 111,000 obesity-related cancers in 2012, accounting for 23 per cent of the total global cancer burden linked to high body-mass index, the agency said.
In Europe, the proportion of cancers due to overweight and obesity is also large, particularly in eastern Europe – which reported 65,000 cases, or 6.5 per cent of all new cancer cases in the region, according to the study.
Overall, the countries with the highest cancer burden attributable to overweight and obesity in men are the Czech Republic (5.5 per cent of the country's new cancer cases); Jordan (4.5 per cent); the United Kingdom (4.4 per cent); and Malta (4.4 per cent).
Among women, Barbados (12.7 per cent), the Czech Republic (12.0 per cent) and Puerto Rico (11.6 per cent) are most affected. In the United States – one of the largest contributors of global cancers associated with high body-mass index – 3.5 per cent and 9.5 per cent of the country's new cancer cases are linked to excess body weight in men and women, respectively.
Although in most Asian countries the proportion of cancers associated with overweight and obesity is not large, it still translates into a considerable absolute number of cases due to the large population size, the study noted.
For example, in China, about 50,000 cancer cases in women and men are associated with overweight and obesity, accounting for 1.6 per cent of the country's new cancer cases, according to the study.
In contrast, the contribution of overweight and obesity to cancer burden remains low in Africa – which had 7,300 cases, or 1.5 per cent of all new cancer cases in the continent.
"Overall, we see that while the number of cancer cases associated with overweight and obesity remains highest in richer countries, similar effects are already visible in parts of the developing world," said Dr. Isabelle Soerjomataram, one of the study's lead authors and the project's principal investigator.
A high body-mass index is a known risk factor for cancers of the oesophagus, colon, rectum, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, postmenopausal breast, ovary and endometrium, as well as for other non-communicable diseases, notably cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
A body-mass index is a measure of body fat that is calculated by dividing the weight in kilograms by the square of the height in metres.
The study also highlights that the proportion of cancers related to obesity is higher in women than in men, with population-attributable fractions of 5.3 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively.
"Women are disproportionately affected by obesity-related cancers," said IARC's Dr. Melina Arnold, one of the study's lead authors.
"For example, for postmenopausal breast cancer, the most common cancer in women worldwide, the study suggests that 10 per cent of these cancers could have been prevented by having a healthy body weight."
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RITUAL DANCING, BREAD-MAKING AMONG CULTURAL PRACTICES ADDED TO UN HERITAGE LIST
Brazil's martial art of Capoeira, Burundi's ritual dance of the royal drum and the preparation of Lavash – a popular flatbread integral to Armenian cuisine – are among the eight elements added today to the United Nations-endorsed list of the world's intangible cultural heritage – part of the world body's ongoing efforts to highlight global diversity and raise awareness of its importance.
The traditions recognized by the UN – which also include the ritual and ceremonies of Sebeïba of Algeria; the traditional art of Azerbaijan's Kelaghavi silk headscarves; the Pujillay and Ayarichi music and dances of Bolivia's Yampara culture; Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zmijanje embroidery and Bulgaria's Chiprovski kilimi carpet-making tradition – were inscribed on the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, after being chosen by a UNESCO committee that is meeting at the agency's headquarters in Paris this week.
According to UNESCO, the importance of intangible cultural heritage is not the cultural manifestation itself but "rather the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted through it from one generation to the next."
The agency adds that as older generations pass away and younger generations adapt to a more globalized and modern world, ancient traditions – and the know-how necessary to maintain them – often vanish from the collective memory of a people, their only trace left in anthologies and history books.
In a press release issued on Monday and marking the opening of the 24-member Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, commended the body's role in preserving cultural elements at risk and projecting the importance of culture as an instrument for developmental progress.
"Many countries now recognize intangible heritage as a tool that can ensure sustainable development and that they integrate ever more fully its safeguarding in their development and planning programmes," she said.
The ritual and ceremonies of Sebeïba in the oasis of Djanet, Algeria, for instance, bring together male and female dancers in a nine-day contest aimed at symbolically warding off potential inter-communal violence. Armenia's Lavash similarly functions as a cultural glue, bringing together men and women for the preparation of this bread commonly used in weddings, while Azerbaijan's Kelaghavi headscarf-making tradition helps to 'reinforce the role of women and strengthens the cultural unity of Azerbaijani society."
For its part, Capoeira – a martial art which unites fight and dance – promotes the mutual respect and social cohesion of its members.
During the course of its week-long gathering, the Committee, chaired by José Manuel Rodríguez Cuadros of Peru, also inscribed three traditions on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding aimed at preserving endangered practices from fading into extinction.
The practices include the Isukuti dance of Isukha and Idakho communities of Western Kenya, the male-child cleansing ceremony of the Lango of central northern Uganda, and the oral tradition of Venezuela's Mapoyo people and its symbolic reference points within their ancestral territory.
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DR CONGO: SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS MASSACRES OF CIVILIANS, ATTACKS ON PEACEKEEPERS
The United Nations Security Council has condemned in the strongest terms the massacres perpetrated against civilians on 20 November near the city of Beni in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as well as the ongoing attacks targeting peacekeepers.
"These attacks have increased to more than 200 the number of civilians killed since mid-October in this region," said a statement released by the 15-member Council Tuesday evening.
Members of the Council expressed their deepest condolences to the families of the victims and also condemned attacks against peacekeepers of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
They emphasized that any effort to undermine MONUSCO's ability to implement its mandate "will not be tolerated and that those responsible for threats or attacks against peacekeepers must be held accountable."
Members also urged that the DRC government along with MONUSCO to "permanently reduce threats against civilians, immediately redouble efforts to provide proactive protection of civilians and neutralize armed groups still operating in eastern DRC."
Those responsible for these attacks must be held to account, the Council stressed.
In addition to the Allied Defence Forces (ADF), the Council reiterated their call for the neutralization of the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) in line with relevant Security Council resolutions and its presidential statement of 5 November 2014.
Lastly, members reiterated their support for MONUSCO and called on all parties to cooperate with the mission and to remain committed to the full implementation of its mandate.
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UN CHIEF APPOINTS PANEL ON CREATING 'TECHNOLOGY BANK' FOR WORLD'S POOREST NATIONS
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the formation of a High-Level Panel to study the scope and functions of a proposed new "technology bank" and dedicated to helping the world's least developed countries (LDCs) advance out of poverty, the Organization's spokesperson confirmed today.
The High-Level Panel – which is to advise on the organizational and operational aspects of the planned "Technology Bank and Science, Technology and Innovation Supporting Mechanism" – will be chaired by Rwanda's Romain Murenzi, currently Executive Director of the World Academy of Sciences in Trieste, Italy, and includes five women and five men from LDCs and their development partners from the Global North and South.
Other panel members include, Mohamed Hassan of Sudan, Bruce Lehman of the United States, Tebello Nyokong of South Africa, Dorte Olesen of Denmark, Posh Raj Pandey of Nepal, Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis of Haiti, Firdausi Qadri of Bangladesh, Fang Xin of China, Hakan Karatas of Turkey, and the UN Under Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, Gyan Chandra Acharya.
"The Secretary-General has asked the High-Level Panel to prepare practical recommendations on this important matter, which can provide a strong impetus to accelerating structural transformation and sustainable development of the LDCs," Mr. Ban's spokesperson said in a note to correspondents.
Constituted in response to a request to the Secretary-General by the UN General Assembly, during its 68th session, the Panel was established "to examine the scope and functions of the proposed Technology Bank, its organizational aspects and its institutional linkages with the UN," the spokesperson added.
The Panel will hold its first meeting in February 2015 and is expected to submit its report to the Secretary- General during the summer of next year.
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INTERVIEW: FORMER UN OFFICIAL URGES MORE TRANSPARENT PROCESS TO SELECT SECRETARY-GENERAL
Edward Mortimer is an ardent believer in the need to change the way in which the Secretary-General of the United Nations is selected, and he is hopeful that this can happen.
"I think there has got to be a more transparent and more inclusive process," said Mr. Mortimer, who served as Secretary-General Kofi Annan's speechwriter, policy advisor and Director of Communications from 1998 to 2006.
"I think there's something for everybody to do here to change this process and ensure that we really look for the best person – whatever their gender, whatever their nationality – who will do the best job for the world. This is a unique job and it's an enormous responsibility. And the world needs to find the best person to do that job."
Recently, Mr. Mortimer helped to compile a selection of Mr. Annan's speeches entitled, "We the Peoples." The two worked together during some of the most tumultuous years for the UN, as it grappled with challenges such as the Iraq invasion and the oil-for-food crisis.
As the UN prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary, the former journalist and academic sat down with the UN News Centre to reflect on his years with the Organization and the need for change as well as share his thoughts on the art of speechwriting. Following are excerpts from the interview.
UN News Centre: You covered the UN from the outside as a prominent journalist and writer. How did you settle into the role of being an international civil servant?
Edward Mortimer: I don't think I have any particular strategy for it. I applied for the job out of curiosity, really. I guess that's a feature of journalists that they are curious. And I wanted to see what the world looked like from this particular vantage point. I was obviously very pleased to be offered the job, but I sort of felt well, they should take me as they find me.
You know [Annan] brought in a number of people from outside into the Secretariat, including at a much higher level than me… And he always said to them, 'don't lose that quality of being an outsider'. Because the biggest danger in a way for people working in the Secretariat is that they become part of a bubble and they don't connect sufficiently with what, for better or worse, is often called 'the real world'.
So I tried to be myself and obviously there are some constraints involved with being an international civil servant. But I think I wore them fairly lightly, and on the whole, I said what I thought, particularly in internal meetings. And I think that, generally speaking, that was appreciated as being useful.
UN News Centre: How does one become a good speechwriter for the head of the UN?
Edward Mortimer: Well, again, I'm not sure I had a particular formula for that. Although, I would say that if you're writing speeches for anybody, you need to have an ear. You need to have some sense of how they naturally express themselves. And it's no good writing something which doesn't sound right coming from them. And, I think perhaps especially for me, with a sort of partially academic background, and having written sort of relatively high-brow pieces in the Financial Times, I had to simplify my style and pare it down somewhat – long sentences with subordinate clauses don't work well in speeches.
It's partly that, the nature of the spoken word, and partly the personality of the person delivering the speech. Kofi Annan is an extremely intelligent man. I wouldn't say he's exactly an intellectual. I think one of his virtues, in a way, is that he likes to express things in a reasonably simple way. So it was important to write short sentences and not too many long words.
UN News Centre: Many of us only experienced Kofi as a measured, soft-spoken person. What kind of man was he behind the calm demeanour? What about humour? What about things that made him angry?
Edward Mortimer: Well I think humour he does have. Perhaps the difference with his predecessor was that his humour is of a benign sort. I think that possibly [Boutros] Boutros-Ghali is the wittier of the two, but there was often a sort of barb to his humour which made him enemies. I think Kofi Annan's humour is of an inclusive type, it probably made him more friends.
I never heard him raise his voice I think in all the time I was working with him. To a large extent with him, what you see is what you get. I mean, he is a very calm, very centred, careful, considerate person. He expresses irritation more by closing up and saying less. You can tell sometimes that he's not pleased, but I can't imagine him shouting at anyone.
UN News Centre: There's a famous speech from 2003, when Mr. Annan rejected the doctrine that States have the right to use force pre-emptively without the Security Council's endorsement. Tell us about this so-called 'fork in the road'.
Edward Mortimer: Well, 2003 was of course the year of the Iraq war, which was probably the most damaging and traumatic thing that the UN went through during those 10 years because you had two permanent members of the Security Council using force, taking military action without the approval of their colleagues in the Council. A massive invasion of a Member State. I think it did great damage to the whole framework of international law and to the credibility of the United Nations. So I think there was a general expectation from other Member States and within the Secretariat that when he came to address the General Assembly that year, the Secretary-General would take some kind of position about this.
I think it was Sir Kieran Prendergast, who was the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs at the time, who probably suggested the phrase that we'd come to a 'fork in the road' – meaning that if one went down one track, we would be going towards the sort of anarchic, pre-United Nations world, a world of all against all. And it was important to remind people of the principles of multilateralism so that they took the other route and strengthened international institutions, and particularly the UN, and accepted there are some rules and norms.
And it was in that same speech that he announced the creation of the High-high Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which the following year produced a very important report called A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility. It was very much putting across that idea and then making positive suggestions for how the UN could be strengthened, many of which were taken up by Kofi Annan in his In Larger Freedom report in March 2005, and some found their way into the outcome document of the World Summit in September of that year.
UN News Centre: Mr. Annan also delivered a now famous speech on intervention. Can you tell us a little bit about how this came about?
Edward Mortimer: Well, he delivered more than one. I think the first speech that I wrote for him actually, shortly before I took up my position in New York, was for the Ditchley Foundation in the United Kingdom. And he chose the theme of intervention for that. Of course this was not very long after the tragedies in Bosnia and in Rwanda. It was an opportunity for him to reflect on those and to really suggest that there are some limits to the sovereignty of States, or at least that sovereignty is not a kind of blank check which entitles you to massacre your fellow citizens.
There was after all a history of humanitarian intervention going back to the 1970s: India's intervention in East Pakistan which gave rise to the creation of Bangladesh; Viet Nam's intervention in Cambodia which put an end to the tyranny of the Khmer Rouge; and about the same time, Tanzania's intervention in Uganda which deposed Idi Amin. Even though I think there were always sort of qualms about the legality of these actions, there was a general feeling afterwards that it had been necessary and right and that somebody had to do that. So although the phrase 'responsibility to protect' was only coined a few years after that, I think the germ of the idea was very much in that speech.
UN News Centre: If you were to handle the oil-for-food crisis today as communications director, would you do anything differently?
Edward Mortimer: Well, it was very difficult. I mean I think that our handling of it perhaps did improve and we did learn some things in the course of that really rather stressful period. I think the most important insight really, and advice, we got was from Mark Malloch Brown, who at the beginning of that was the Administrator of UNDP [UN Development Programme]. I remember him coming to a meeting on the 38th floor – and of course he had experience of political consultancy and public relations in the private sector before he joined the UN system. And he said there's one very important recipe in a situation like this which is that you have to change the conversation.
In other words, although of course we had to answer the specific charges against us, we also had to have something positive to say. And I mean I think we did have something positive to say anyway because there was the process which we just alluded to of the High-level Panel and its report which was about to come out and the plans for a summit to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals which was going to happen in 2005.
But I think Mark encouraged us to see that as our main talking point, and not let ourselves get completely bogged down in the oil-for-food issue. At the beginning of 2005, he came across the street and actually became the Chef de Cabinet for the Secretary-General. So then he sort of took charge of this operation. But the idea was already there before that.
UN News Centre: It's been said that Kofi Annan was an excellent diplomat and a public speaker but a poor manager. Do you think he did enough to reform the UN and what do you consider to be his most significant legacy?
Edward Mortimer: Well, I think in some respects he's quite a good manager. I mean he has great mastery of detail. He had an unrivalled knowledge of the UN machine and how it worked because he'd held so many management jobs in different parts of it before he became Secretary-General. And that's an advantage which I think is unique among Secretaries-General of having had that. So he was quite good at getting things done, knowing who to task with a specific assignment.
He was a very good diplomat because he was very good at putting people at their ease and making them feel that he understood them and that he was, in some sense, on their side. He hated confrontation. And of course sometimes, in a management situation, you have to take tough decisions and tell people things that they really don't want to hear. Sometimes you even have to fire people – I'm not saying you should do that all the time, but occasionally it is necessary. I think he shrank from that. And that was another point where it was very important when Mark Malloch Brown came on board as Chef de Cabinet because he didn't shrink from that at all, and I think often it is the role of the Chef de Cabinet to sort of take the flak for the more unpopular decisions that a Secretary-General sometimes has to make. So, he certainly wasn't a perfect manager. I think he had strengths and weaknesses.
Reform, you know, is a kind of never-ending story. I think people started talking about reform of the UN very few years after its creation. And they probably will be talking about reform of the UN in a hundred years' time if there's any human society left and any UN left, which I hope there will be. One of the phrases I remember that was around when I arrived in 1998 was that "reform is a process not an event'. It was a phrase I remember being warned not to put in the Secretary-General's speeches because it was unpopular with many of the membership. But unfortunately, the reason why it's unpopular is that many of the membership don't want reform. They're comfortable with the way things are happening. So I think it's a big challenge for every Secretary-General.
I think it's always possible to improve, and the improvements will usually be incremental rather than spectacular. And new people who come into a job almost always are the victim of exaggerated expectations. They have a brief honeymoon, particularly with the media, but sometimes also with the membership, and then after a bit – either because they're reforming too much or because they're reforming too little – people get fed up and start to carp and criticize, and that will be the same I suspect for every Secretary-General.
I think the important legacy, which of course is not entirely personal to him but I think he understood it and articulated it, is that the international system is no longer simply a system of States. That's why the Millennium Report was called We the Peoples and that's why this book is called We the Peoples. Because what Kofi Annan was really about was trying to remind everybody that this Organization doesn't just belong to the governments. It belongs to the peoples of the world and only if they are engaged – not simply represented by States, but actively engaged and caring about what it does and how it works… that can give a very important dimension to the UN, which I think governments alone can never do. So I would say that that understanding, which was something that was in a way there already, but which he really put the spotlight on, is probably his most important legacy.
UN News Centre: The process of selecting the Secretary-General is critical, but pretty much shrouded in secrecy. Member States are the ones who choose the world's top diplomat. Any one of the five permanent members of the Security Council has the ability to block a candidate. What do you think needs to change in how a Secretary-General is chosen?
Edward Mortimer: I think there has got to be a more transparent and more inclusive process. I see the possibility for change in this area as being considerable, and it's actually a lot easier than it is for example to reform the composition of the Security Council, which is another thing that many people would like to do. But with the Security Council, it's very difficult to change it without amending the [UN] Charter and amending the Charter is a very complicated and difficult process.
With the Secretary-General, the Charter is actually remarkably laconic. It simply says that the Secretary-General should be appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. The General Assembly itself decided in 1946 that it only wanted one name from the Security Council. I don't see that there's anything to stop it from saying to the Security Council, as the Secretary-General often says to Member States when they are proposing candidates for jobs in the Secretariat or to head a fund or programme of the United Nations, please give me a choice.
I think also it doesn't say in the Charter that the Secretary-General should serve any particular term of years, or whether he or she should be re-eligible. I think there's a lot to be said for, instead of having a renewable five-year term, a non-renewable seven-year term so that the Secretary-General can then get on with the job without the constant suspicion that he's currying favour with the great powers in order to try to ensure his re-election.
I think there should be hearings in the General Assembly, but open to the public, where the candidates could be interviewed and asked about their programme. I think that all the members taking part in this process, and including the five permanent members [of the Security Council], should state clearly what their criteria are, what they think is the desirable set of qualifications for somebody doing this very important job. There should probably be a search committee. It's not necessarily the person who proposed himself for this job who will be the best choice.
So I think there are many ways in which this process can be improved and even the non-permanent members of the Security Council, given that you need nine votes, if they got together, they could also lay down some conditions and criteria, rather than letting the permanent five call the shots. So I think there's something for everybody to do here to change this process and ensure that we really look for the best person – whatever their gender, whatever their nationality – who will do the best job for the world. This is a unique job and it's an enormous responsibility. And the world needs to find the best person to do that job.
UN News Centre: Is a book about the United Nations among your future plans?
Edward Mortimer: Well, it was among my plans and I'm ashamed to say that I haven't done it. I can't say I got much encouragement from publishers who seem to believe that there is no market for books about the UN. But maybe I'll come back to it. There are things, good stories from my time at the UN, which maybe now one could tell without upsetting too many people. So I hope I will come back to it.
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UN RIGHTS EXPERTS URGE US PRESIDENT OBAMA TO RELEASE REPORT ON CIA TORTURE ALLEGATIONS
The United States must rise to meet the high human rights standards it has set for itself and others around the world, a group of United Nations human rights experts urged today, as they called on President Obama to support "the fullest possible release" of a report detailing Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) interrogation practices.
In an open letter addressed to Mr. Obama, the six UN rights experts said that much depended on how the President would handle the stalemated issue of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's CIA report, stressing that the stakes were "very high" as his decision would have "far-reaching consequences for victims of human rights violations everywhere and for the credibility of the United States."
"As a nation that has publicly affirmed its belief that respect for truth advances respect for the rule of law, and as a nation that frequently calls for transparency and accountability in other countries, the United States must rise to meet the standards it has set both for itself and for others," the experts declared.
"Victims of torture and human rights defenders around the world will be emboldened if you take a strong stand in support of transparency. On the contrary, if you yield to the CIA's demands for continued secrecy on this issue, those resisting accountability will surely misuse this decision to bolster their own agenda in their countries."
Launched in early 2009, the Senate Committee's investigation lasted four years during which millions of pages of CIA documents and emails centring on the agency's interrogation techniques were examined. The report was eventually approved in late 2012 with an official release date set for April 2014. However, it has yet to be released, purportedly due to demands by the CIA that material be redacted from the document, the Geneva-based UN rights experts said in a press release.
"The CIA is reportedly demanding that pseudonyms created by the Committee for specific CIA officials be deleted in favour of even more generic and vague language, which beyond obscuring names, obscure patterns that are a crucial element of the system of violations that needs to be fully understood and redressed," they added.
As a result, the UN experts have urged Mr. Obama to release the report in what they say would be "meaningful form," allowing the public to understand the facts and promoting the right to truth for victims and their families.
While they commended Mr. Obama on his wish to "look forward" on the torture issue and for his decision to shutter a CIA interrogation programme accused of torturing detainees, they recommended the US leader also push for the recognition of and redress for other violations that took place under the same CIA programmes, including secret and arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearances, among others.
In addition, they reminded Mr. Obama that every party to the UN Convention against Torture has an obligation to thoroughly and promptly investigate credible reports of torture, ensure accountability and provide adequate remedies to victims.
"Lasting security can only be achieved on the basis of truth and not secrecy," the experts continued. "We hope that as President of a nation that helped draft the Convention Against Torture – and as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate – you will recognize the historic nature of your decision and side with those in the United States and around the world who are struggling to reveal the truth and to bring an end to the use of torture."
The group of independent experts – part of what is known as Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system – is composed of Mads Andenas, Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; Pablo de Greiff, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence; Ariel Dulitzky, Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; Christof Heyns, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Gabriela Knaul, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; and Juan E. Méndez, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
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'PROFOUNDLY CONCERNED' OVER VIOLENCE IN LIBYA, SECURITY COUNCIL WARNS OF POSSIBLE SANCTIONS
The Security Council today expressed its "profound concern" over the deteriorating situation in Libya and its impact on regional peace and stability, warning of the possibility of sanctions.
In a press statement issued this morning, the Council, recalling resolution 2174 – which it adopted in August and condemns the use of violence against civilians and civilian institutions – emphasized that the Sanctions Committee is prepared to sanction "those who threaten Libya's peace, stability or security or that obstruct or undermine the successful completion of its political transition."
Reaffirming its strong commitment to the "sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity" of Libya, the Council also underlined that there can be no military solution to the current crisis.
Echoing a statement yesterday from the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Council also strongly condemned the escalation in violence and noted with concern the recent attacks on public and civilian infrastructure.
Expressing full support to Bernardino León, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), the Council urged all parties to "engage constructively with his efforts to resume an inclusive political process aimed at addressing the political and security challenges facing the country."
In addition, the Council strongly condemned ongoing human rights violations and abuses in the country, as well as the use of violence against civilians and civilian institutions, and of public intimidation, including of UN personnel.
It also condemned attempts to intimidate and obstruct the proper functioning of Libya's financial institutions.
Yesterday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced deep concern over the uptick in violence across Libya and urged all parties to recommit to the values of the revolution that inspired the North African country's break towards democracy.
Since the 2011 uprising that ousted former leader Muammar al-Qadhafi, violence among armed groups has spread throughout the North African country, causing a humanitarian crisis.
According to numbers provided by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), a total of 393,400 people have been displaced since May.
Earlier in the summer, there seemed to be steps in the right direction with the election on 25 June of a national Parliament, a move UNSMIL hoped would thrust Libya towards political resolution. However, earlier this month, Libya's Supreme Court declared the national Parliament unconstitutional.
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KYRGYZSTAN: UN RIGHTS EXPERTS URGE PARLIAMENT TO WITHDRAW ANTI-GAY BILL
A group of United Nations human rights experts have urged the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan to reject a bill that would introduce criminal and administrative sanctions for acts aimed at forming "a positive attitude towards non-traditional sexual orientation," warning that the proposed law would go against the country's human rights obligations and commitments.
The draft law, which passed its first reading in the Parliament this past month, must be voted on twice more before going to the President for signature, the experts noted in a press release issued by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
"Instead of adopting legislation which de facto condemns lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities to silence, the authorities should be fighting against all forms of violence and discrimination in Kyrgyzstan," the experts said.
"The UN has already documented violence and discrimination against LGBT people in Kyrgyzstan and shown how similar laws in other countries have led to targeted abuse and violence against LGBT persons," they added.
The experts include the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom or opinion and expression, David Kaye; the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst; and the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Dainius Puras.
The explanatory note accompanying the bill defines non-traditional sexual relations as "sodomy, lesbianism, and other forms of non-traditional sexual behaviour." It bans the dissemination of information in the media and on the Internet, as well as the organization and participation in peaceful assemblies on these issues.
Punishment includes fines up to between 3,000 and 6,000 Som (between $36 and $91) and between six months to one year of imprisonment. The average worker's salary in Kyrgyzstan is about $140 per month, the experts noted.
"Limiting freedom of expression is only acceptable in very exceptional circumstances and based on objective criteria – this is clearly not the case here," Mr. Kaye stressed. "Imposing limits to the dissemination of information on 'non-traditional sexual relations' simply means silencing those who identify as LGBT and, indeed, any discussion of the situation of the LGBT community in the country," he added.
Along those lines, Mr. Kiai emphasized that the freedom of assembly protects demonstrations promoting ideas that may be seen as "annoying or offensive by others." "Rejecting one's right to organize a public assembly on the basis of its content is one of the most serious interferences with the freedom of peaceful assembly," Mr. Kiai declared.
For his part, Mr. Forst warned that "the draft law not only discriminates against a specific subset of the population, but would also chill the legitimate work of human rights defenders advocating for the human rights of the LGBT community."
In the view of Mr. Puras, the bill would infringe on the overall enjoyment of the right to health in Kyrgyzstan, in addition to targeting the LGBT community.
"The full enjoyment of the right to health is impossible without access to information and open discussion on sexual and reproductive rights," Mr. Puras said, adding that the bill as it stands would inhibit such access, as well as the possibility of open discussion on sexual and reproductive health and rights.
The group of independent experts recalled two recent Human Rights Council resolutions condemning acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. As such, adopting new laws banning any expression on LGBT issues "is certainly not the response needed to ensure better support and protection for the human rights of this group, which is often stigmatized and at risk," according to the experts.
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