Tag: Guterres

Stop detaining and imprisoning journalists for doing their jobs: Antonio Guterres

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United Nations:UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged the international community to “speak with one voice” and call for stopping the detention and imprisonment of journalists for doing their jobs, as he sounded an alarm that freedom of the press is under attack in every corner of the world.
Guterres underscored that “all our freedom” depends on press freedom.
“Freedom of the press is the foundation of democracy and justice,” he said in his video message ahead of World Press Freedom Day 2023.

World Press Freedom Day is observed annually on May 3.
“On this and every World Press Freedom Day, the world must speak with one voice – Stop the threats and attacks. Stop detaining and imprisoning journalists for doing their jobs. Stop the lies and disinformation. Stop targeting truth and truth-tellers,” Guterres said in the message telecast in the UN General Assembly Hall here at a special event organised by UNESCO.
Guterres voiced concern that in every corner of the world, freedom of the press is under attack.
“Truth is threatened by disinformation and hate speech, seeking to blur the lines between fact and fiction, between science and conspiracy,” he said.
He noted that at least 67 media workers were killed in 2022, an “unbelievable” 50 per cent increase over the previous years and nearly three-quarters of women journalists have experienced violence online and one in four have been threatened physically.

“Journalists and media workers are directly targeted on and offline as they carry out their vital work. They are routinely harassed, intimidated, detained and imprisoned,” he said.
The UN chief also added that the increased concentration of the media industry into the hands of a few, the financial collapse of scores of independent news organisations and the increase of national laws and regulations that stifle journalists are further expanding censorship and threatening freedom of expression.
The event organised by UNESCO marks 30 years since the UN General Assembly’s decision proclaiming an international day for press freedom. This year’s theme for the Day is Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights’.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said hundreds of journalists globally have been attacked and imprisoned “just because they are doing their work. It is unacceptable.”
She added that the level of impunity of crimes against journalists sends a “frightening” message and stressed that the security of journalists is a matter for society as a whole.
Delivering the keynote address, Chairman and Publisher of The New York Times A.G. Sulzberger said that when the free press erodes in a society, “democratic erosion almost always follows.”
He said all over the world, autocrats and those who aspire to join their ranks have used censorship, media repression and attacks on journalists to consolidate power.
“That’s because gaining control of information is essential to gaining control of everything else.”
He added that in countries where press freedoms were strong, including the United States, journalists now face systematic campaigns to undermine their credibility, followed by attacks on the legal protections that safeguard their work.
In countries where press freedoms were already weak, journalists now face surging levels of violence, detention and harassment, he said adding that more journalists are being killed today for their work and the number of imprisoned journalists has reached a grim new record.
“Spin a globe and you’ll find examples of these trends. In China, journalists are surveilled, intimidated and jailed In Egypt, the government has used security services to buy up outlets and block uncooperative news sites In India, authorities have raided newsrooms and treated journalists essentially as terrorists,” Sulzberger said.
Referring to the situation in Russia, he said journalists who “dare to even acknowledge the war in Ukraine face long prison terms.”
He called for the release of The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, “who remains in Russian custody for sham charges.”
Gershkovich was detained in March this year by Russian security services and is being held on an allegation of espionage.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 3, 2023
EAM Jaishankar discusses Sudan situation with UN chief Guterres

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United Nations: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday discussed the worsening situation in Sudan with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and said the focus is really on how to get the diplomatic processes to yield the desired result of a workable, on-the-ground observed ceasefire.
Jaishankar met Guterres and also discussed a range of issues, including India’s presidency of the G20 and the Ukraine conflict.
Jaishankar said the focus is really on how to get the diplomatic processes to yield the desired result of a workable, on-the-ground observed ceasefire.

He is headed on a nine-day trip to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic beginning on Friday, his first visit as the external affairs minister to these Latin American countries and the Caribbean.
Before his travel to Latin America, he arrived in New York and met the UN chief at the UN headquarters here on Thursday afternoon.
Noting that he had a “very good meeting” with Guterres, Jaishankar said once the fighting in Sudan started out, “I felt that it was very important” that he met the UN Secretary-General Guterres.
“Most of our meeting was on the Sudan situation. We also of course discussed the G20 and we also spend some time on the Ukraine conflict. But essentially it was about the Sudan” situation, he said.
Jaishankar said that in Sudan, the UN is at “the heart of the efforts” to establish a ceasefire.

“And that is really key because at the moment, unless there is a ceasefire and unless there are corridors, it is not safe for people to really come out,” he said.
“The UN is doing its bit talking to everybody. We of course have obviously very strong interest in the matter because so many Indians are there,” Jaishankar added.
Around 300 people, including an Indian, have been killed, and more than 3,000 injured in clashes in Sudan, according to the World Health Organisation. The violence between forces from Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on Saturday.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 21, 2023
UN chief Guterres visits Iraq to show solidarity

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United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met senior Iraqi leaders here on Wednesday during a visit aimed at showing the UN solidarity with Iraq.
“I am here on a visit of solidarity and confirmation of the commitment of the United Nations to support Iraq in consolidating its democratic institutions and promoting peace, development, and human rights for all Iraqis,” Guterres said at a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier on Wednesday, the UN chief held a meeting with al-Sudani to discuss the UN-Iraqi relations, the climate challenges and Iraq’s need for international assistance in this regard, said the Iraqi premier’s media office in a statement.
They also discussed Iraq’s efforts in promoting human rights and sustainable development, as well as its “pioneer role” in reducing regional tensions, said the statement.
At the press conference, Guterres called on the international community to support Iraq in addressing environmental challenges and diversifying the economy, as Iraq is among the countries most affected by climate change.
For his part, al-Sudani said that, although his government has improved political and security stability in Iraq, the country still faces climate and environmental challenges such as desertification and low precipitation.
These problems “coincided with the water policies of the riparian countries, whether by reducing water flows or changing the course of the rivers, which constitutes a challenge to life in general,” he said.
Guterres arrived in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday and he has also met Iraq President Abdul Latif Rashid, Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.

Guterres was scheduled to visit Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, to meet with the Kurdish leaders.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 2, 2023
Guterres appeals for aid to Syria, Turkey, depoliticising relief

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United Nations: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday appealed for international aid to earthquake-devastated Syria and Turkey and said relief operations should be depoliticised.
“Now is the hour to stand up for the people of Turkey and Syria,” he said speaking to reporters.
Recalling the welcome refugees have received from both the countries, he said: “I strongly appeal to the international community to show the people of Turkey and Syria the same kind of support and generosity with which they received, protected and assisted millions of refugees.”
While Turkey has been receiving aid, including from India which has sent personnel relief material on at least six flights, Guterres focused on Syria which is isolated.
Relief operations there face political obstructions because the government of President Bashar al Assad is under western sanctions and most of the quake-hit areas are under rebel control with limited international access.
“It’s not the moment to politicise or to divide, but it is obvious that we need massive support,” Guterres said.
“The Syria humanitarian fund and the Syria cross-border fund need an urgent injection of support,” he said.
He said that he will be launching a “flash appeal” for assistance to Syria.

With the Syrian government under sanctions from several countries, notably the US, Guterres said: “This is a moment in which everybody must make very clear that no sanctions of any kind interfere with relief to the population of Syria.”
Most of the areas in northwest Syria hit by the quake are held by rebels, with only one border crossing into the area from Turkey allowed under Security Council resolutions.
Russia, which supports the Assad government, has been the main obstacle to adding more lines to the Bab al-Hawa crossing in the rebel-held territory, permitting only that crossing in a compromise with the western countries on the Security Council.
“I will be of course very happy if the Security Council could reach a consensus to allow for more crossings to be used, as we need also to increase our capacity to deliver on cross-line operations into Idlib,” Guterres said referring to the rebel-held area.
He said that $25 million has been released from the UN emergency relief fund for operations in Syria.
A UN convoy carrying relief supplies crossed into northern Syria through the Bab al-Hawa crossing on Thursday morning, he said.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 9, 2023
Guterres calls on G20 to come up with relief package for Global South

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United Nations: Warning that poverty and hunger are rising around the world, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked the G20 nations led by India to come up with a package offering investments and debt relief to nations of the Global South to help achieve the UN’s development goals.
Unveiling his proposal for a ‘New Agenda for Peace’ during a briefing on his priorities for this year, Guterres told the General Assembly on Monday that by the time of the summit on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September, “I urge the G20 to agree on the global SDG Stimulus that I proposed at last November’s G20 Summit to support the countries of the Global South”.
His New Agenda proposals covered a gamut of issues that included preventing a nuclear holocaust, reforms of the economic infrastructure, new technologies, social media and bigotry.
Guterres projected a gloomy picture of the world “staring down the barrel of a confluence of challenges unlike any other in our lifetimes” with wars, economic inequalities, Aclimate change and “epic geopolitical divisions”.
His most serious warning was about the threat of a nuclear war, pointing out that the “Doomsday Clock” of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists that purports to show the likelihood of a nuclear holocaust was at 90 seconds to midnight.
“We are at the highest risk in decades of a nuclear war that could start by accident or design” from “the 13,000 nuclear weapons held in arsenals around the world,” he said.
“Nuclear-armed countries must renounce the first use of these unconscionable weapons,” he said.
India has declared that it will not use nuclear weapons first, as has China, but others with atomic weapons have not adopted the policy.

Guterres also called attention to “the dangers posed by new technologies”.
He said that the New Agenda should include “international bans on cyberattacks on civilian infrastructure, and internationally agreed limits on lethal autonomous weapons systems”, a reference to robots and drones.
He suggested a new type of counterterrorist operations by regional force under Security Council mandates as he unveiled his proposal for a New Agenda for Peace with a warning that humanity is facing its “darkest hour”.
He said, “The New Agenda for Peace must recognize the need for a new generation of peace enforcement missions and counter-terrorist operations, led by regional forces, with a Security Council mandate under Chapter VII” of the UN Charter that provides for action on threats to peace.
The prospect for peace is diminishing in the Russian invasion of Ukraine while “the chances of further escalation and bloodshed keep growing”, he said
“I fear the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war. I fear it is doing so with its eyes wide open,” Guterres said.
In dealing with poverty and inequalities, he said “the global financial architecture does not need a simple evolution; it needs a radical transformation”.
“A new determination to ensure developing countries have a far greater voice in global financial institutions” and “a new commitment to place the dramatic needs of developing countries at the centre of every decision and mechanism of the global financial system, were needed”.
Focusing on the Abrahamic faiths, Guterres said, “antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry, the persecution of Christians, racism and white supremacist ideology are on the march” but left out the attacks on and threats faced by minorities belonging to religions like Hinduism, Sikhism and Bahaism.
More broadly, he said, “Ethnic and religious minorities, refugees, migrants, indigenous people and the LGBTQI-plus (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and other) community are increasingly targeted for hate, online and off”.
He said that many in positions of power profit by sowing division and hatred and “weaponise cultural differences”.
“Social media platforms use algorithms that amplify toxic ideas and funnel extremist views into the mainstream” and “advertisers finance this business model while “some platforms tolerate hate speech – the first step towards hate crime”, Guterres said.
He said that all stakeholders should agree to a Code of Conduct for information integrity on digital platforms.
The UN chief said that “everyone with influence on the spread of mis- and disinformation on the internet – governments, regulators, policymakers, technology companies, the media, civil society -” should act.
(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 7, 2023
Guterres condoles death of Musharraf

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United Nations: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is saddened to hear about the death of former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, according to his Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
“The Secretary-General conveys his deepest condolences to the family of the former President and the people of Pakistan,” he said on Sunday.
Dujarric added, “Former president Musharraf led Pakistan at a critical time, during which the country witnessed steady economic growth.”
Musharraf, an Army general who seized power in a 1999 coup overthrowing the democratically elected government of Nawaz Sharif, died in exile in Dubai on Sunday.
He lost power in 2008, and facing charges of treason, he went into exile.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 6, 2023