Referral of Goldstone report to SecCo – SecGen deputy spokesperson – Press briefing (excerpts)

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 Marie Okabe, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

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**Questions and Answers

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Question:  Thank you, Marie.  Today Mr. Ban Ki-moon had a meeting with some Arab ambassadors on the Goldstone report.  And they requested him over and over to refer the report to the Security Council.  Do you have a readout of this meeting, and why is Mr. Ban Ki-moon not interested enough to get the report to the Security Council?

Deputy Spokesperson:  The readout of the meeting that you refer to… The representatives of the Arab Group, the League of Arab States, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement met with the Secretary-General today, as you said, following the adoption of a resolution on the Goldstone report by the Human Rights Council.  They discussed the consideration of the resolution by the General Assembly.  The Secretary-General reiterated his call for the convening of credible domestic investigations into any allegations of serious human rights violations committed during the conflict.  As for your other question, at the moment, as you know, the matter is being discussed by Member States, as you say, in the General Assembly, and I think that’s all I have to say for the moment. Khaled.

Question:  I was wondering, yesterday the Sudanese Ambassador, said that Mr. Ban Ki-moon is required by Charter to refer this report to the Security Council as long as it represents a threat to security and peace, world security and peace.  So do you have any response to this?

Deputy Spokesperson:  No I do not.  I do not.  Yes.

Question:  Just me again to follow up on the same issue. I mean, we deal here daily with letters which the SG receives from Member States and they ask him to refer reports to the Security Council and he refers them to the Security Council right away.  So now we have a resolution from the Human Rights Council asking him to do that and so, I mean, is it an opinion of the Legal Department that he shouldn’t do that and should wait for the GA first?

Deputy Spokesperson:  At the moment, I really can’t go beyond this procedural answer, in that the resolution is being discussed by the General Assembly.  So please bear with me, I can’t go beyond that for now.

Question:  Just the same question.  Is it the position of yourself and the SG that it has to go to the General Assembly first before it can be referred to the Security Council?

Deputy Spokesperson:  It is currently being discussed in the General Assembly and by Member States.  So I can’t go beyond that for the moment.  Yes, let’s go in the back and then we’ll come to the front.

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For information media • not an official record