Diva International

Photos: Action Press/P-M. Virot
Geneva, 19 June 2015

Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed (SE): Today, we put an important basis for the political process for Yemen. The personal presence of the Secretary-General is an indication of the primary importance attached by the United Nations, and in particular the Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, to the Yemeni case. Indeed, he is keen to help Yemen come out of the crisis that it is currently facing. In spite of the challenges faced and huge difficulties, however, and the battle continues, the Yemenis were able to respond to the invitation of the Secretary-General to meet here in Geneva.

The holding of the Geneva Consultations, and I stress once again that they were preliminary consultations, is in itself a great achievement in light of the extreme violence in Yemen and the related humanitarian tragedy.

The Government was here to implement Security Council Resolution 2216 and I felt a positive response from all sides during the talks, for which I am grateful. I am convinced that it is possible to build upon this positive spirit in the forthcoming consultations. There is no doubt that there is ground ready to declare a ceasefire accompanied by a withdrawal.

What matters is for us all to recall that there is a humanitarian situation that is dramatic in Yemen. Personally, it is painful to see the humanitarian suffering of the Yemenis, and the disastrous humanitarian situation. Therefore, as the Secretary-General said more than once, it is important to achieve as quickly as possible a humanitarian truce, especially during the Holy month of Ramadan, the month of forgiveness and mercy. I will make every effort, indeed I will double my efforts in the next few days, to achieve that.

We should all realise that the Geneva Consultations are not the end in itself, but the launch of a long and arduous path to get Yemen back to the transitional political phase that was prepared for in the previous dialogue by the Yemenis. The door is open for the Yemenis to continue consultations and the dialogue. This is what we felt from all the participants in the Geneva Consultations.

From this forum I would like to express my thanks to the international community that has always supported the efforts of the United Nations and given it assistance in its good endeavours aimed at bringing Yemen out of this terrible war and the division in the country. I would also like to seize this occasion to thank the Government and people of Switzerland for warmly hosting these Consultations over the past few days. I would also like to thank you, the media, for the attention that you continue to pay to the Yemeni situation in these difficult times.

I would like to inform you that I am heading to New York in order to brief the Security Council. They have been united in supporting our efforts. I will inform them of the results of these preliminary consultations and the next steps.

Thank you for your attention.

Q: Sir, you just said that there is ground to declare a ceasefire with a withdrawal. Could you be more precise about that, thank you.

SE: Thank you very much. What we have perceived during these discussions with the two parties on separate premises, by shuttling – and it’s not only because of the consultations themselves, but also because of our preliminary discussions – is that we believe that with further consultations we can reach this possibility of a ceasefire accompanied by a withdrawal. There is in principle no disagreement on this basic element. We feel simply that it requires some further consultation and that we can achieve it pretty soon. I remain optimistic on this one.

Q: What are the main challenges and obstacles that you face truly, in order to achieve a ceasefire or a humanitarian truce? Who is behind those obstacles? And did you agree a different path for the consultations, or negotiations?

SE: Thank you. You must know that wars are always accompanied by great tragedies and much pain. This leads to more difficult positions and that is why things need a lot of time. We didn’t expect that a single meeting would allow us to overcome all these obstacles given the positions that, as you know, have been so strong in view of so many lives having been lost and where a Government that is internationally recognized is outside of the country. A lot of things did not make it easy for us. Nevertheless, as I said, we have seen certain positive signs, especially in the responsiveness to certain things like the Security Council resolution. I spoke of a ceasefire accompanied by a withdrawal on the ground. I think if we continue these consultations we can reach an agreement on that.

As to your second question, do we have a specific date for the next consultations? No. We need to talk a bit more. I think that after New York I could come back to the region and make more visits in order to see where this will go. This will be decided by the Yemenis. As I said, the UN is only a facilitator, and it is important for the decision to be Yemeni-led. Ultimately these are Yemeni consultations.

Q: How did you deal with certain questions? We are talking about consultations: until the last minute the Government delegation has said that it did not receive the names of the persons with whom consultations are being made - the other side was left anonymous. How did you deal with the question of numbers and the status of the representatives from the Houthi side and the other political parties represented in that delegation? That’s my basic point.

SE: Thank you. In fact the invitation was clear from the very beginning. We talked with all parties from the very beginning to clarify that the number was seven plus three. I think that was clear from the beginning and the UN had insisted not to make statements except on the basis of the invitation launched by the Secretary-General. However, as there was a delegation here, on the ground, we tried to overcome the question of numbers and concentrate on the essential matters. What matters essentially today is the humanitarian situation because the Yemeni people want a ceasefire. It is not possible for the Yemeni political elite to just stay stuck on a question of numbers. I am grateful to the Government for that because it did accept to stay until the end to give a chance to these consultations. Although we did not get to an agreement signed on paper, I am very positive about these first days of consultation. It was possible to agree on certain points, certain principles upon which we can build on in the future, and this will be announced later on.

Q: Good afternoon. Could you elaborate, Sir; you mentioned that you hope in the next few days to make some headway on the humanitarian pause. Given that so much preparatory work was done ahead of the Geneva meeting on this issue, what went wrong?

SE: Thank you very much. What I would like to say is simply that, as you know, the Secretary-General himself made it clear that he called for a 15-day humanitarian pause independent of any other requirement. What we know today, and I was the Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen only two years ago and I know the situation, when I left Yemen, seven million Yemeni were in need of humanitarian assistance. Today, over 21 million Yemeni need humanitarian assistance. Today 20 million Yemeni cannot have access to safe drinking water. Today we have over one million internally and externally displaced people from Yemen who have had to leave their houses because of the violence. We have so many issues around protection of civilians; we have so many issues regarding access to emergency situations. What I am saying is that we have to convince all parties that we should not give up on this situation. It is a moral obligation and part of our obligation vis à vis international humanitarian law, particularly during this period of Ramadan, to have this pause as soon as possible. But it has to be a pause that can be respected and that cannot be subject to violations. This will be the objective of my next consultations.

Q: Right now we heard [inaudible] in his own words say that the Houthis did not allow for success in the talks, but you talked of a positive spirit. What is it, in your view, that is preventing this ceasefire from being achieved?

SE: Thank you. I think I have addressed this situation earlier. As I said, you know, we are coming from a very complex situation in which we have already unfortunately seen much drama, including population dying, displaced populations, etcetera. In this situation, as you can imagine, it is never very easy to get the positions pretty close. But I believe, and what I have seen over these past few days, including in my discussions with the Government and the Houthis, is that there is a certain willingness from all the parties to discuss issues around the ceasefire accompanied by a withdrawal as part of the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2216. So I believe that it is a matter of time. It will require a bit more consultation, but I personally have come out from these few days with a degree of optimism that we can achieve this in the coming days.

Q: Two quick questions. First, how do you see Saudi Arabia’s role in these talks? The Houthi delegation has openly said that it was Saudi Arabia that basically prevented a ceasefire agreement. Also, on a personal note, you will be walking out of this room but the Saudi bombing will continue. Do you feel personally that you have let down the Yemeni people? Thank you.

SE: As you know, as a UN Envoy, I am guided by the various Security Council resolutions, including Security Council Resolution 2216. And in Security Council Resolution 2216 we had a number of points that were outlined on which we have outlined the discussion. And we were, of course several times, asking ourselves if we can achieve a ceasefire, which is part of your question. Can we make sure that all the regional actors will be able to play around that positively? And our conviction was that if the Yemeni were able to find a discussion, if the Government of Yemen in Riyadh was able to accept a condition of a ceasefire that would be respected by the coalition, which as you know came upon the request of the Government of President Hadi. So I don’t think there was any issue on that if we were able to achieve it. Unfortunately, we were not able to achieve that agreement, but we are going to work on it in the coming days.

Q: Are there technical points that both parties to the crisis have agreed on, at least one or two points of agreement? Have you communicated with regional actors who have influence over both parties? Have you contacted Iran, for example, during this round of negotiations here in Geneva?

SE: First of all, about the technical questions. There was no agreement, let’s be clear about that. I will not beat around the bush. There was no kind of agreement reached. Both parties had divergent views. But I believe through my consultations and through the points raised that there were negotiations on certain points and both parties were open to some points of the Resolution 2216 about the ceasefire and the withdrawal. We also managed to get suggestions from both sides upon which we can build upon in the coming days in order to reach a permanent agreement. That was for the first question.

For the other question, the consultations did not just start this week. I visited Tehran before and I also visited many other countries surrounding Yemen: Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates. I have to say that in some situations we have to consult with others and to get the opinions of all. But we were concerned with the main thing, which is that this is a Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue and it must be led by the Yemenis. And that is what we have tried to do over the past few days. On a daily basis I would communicate with the international community, especially the concerned diplomats, about the developments that took place in our consultations, because we had a lot of assistance from the different diplomatic agencies here in Geneva.

Q: Mr. Special Envoy, if the Yemeni sides are not able to reach a ceasefire today, or even an agreement on a specific truce, then what is the role of the United Nations in the aerial bombardments that are taking place, which really prevent the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Yemenis?

SE: As I said, the humanitarian issue is our top priority. If I may say, it is our most urgent and pressing issue. The humanitarian issue is very important for us as you have seen. I have known that there was an agreement today about the delivery of commercial supplies and humanitarian assistance in a smaller way. There was a humanitarian team working today in Riyadh and they communicated that to me. But you have to bear in mind the past humanitarian pause, which lasted for five days, despite the fact that there were a number of violations. That was why we are still calling for another humanitarian pause to deliver humanitarian assistance more properly. The second point is that the humanitarian pause took place while the war was still raging. However, there is a United Nations humanitarian team of 17 members, from UNICEF, WHO, WFP and OCHA. All humanitarian agencies are there, on the ground, and we also have local Yemeni personnel working with us. So they are trying to deliver humanitarian assistance and we commend the role they are undertaking. They are working miracles as a matter of fact, at such a difficult time.

Q: You talked about a common ground to achieve a ceasefire accompanied by a withdrawal. Does this mean that the Houthis and the other side have agreed to make compromises to achieve a ceasefire or a humanitarian pause? Like, for example, by clear recognition of Resolution 2216 and the legitimacy of President Hadi, as well as withdrawal from certain cities like Taiz and Aden?

SE: As I said quite frankly, we did not have any permanent or final agreement. And we have to be transparent about that. As I said, we talked about the reference point, which was 2216. We found that the Houthis responded positively along with the other parties, like the Yemeni parties. So the proposal they put forward yesterday to us indicated that they can positively respond to 2216 because they believe it doesn’t contradict their aspirations. As for a ceasefire accompanied by a withdrawal, I can say that with the consultations we have had over the past few days, we are pretty close to this point but we have not achieved such an agreement.

Q: You spoke about a positive atmosphere so why not continue the negotiations with the two parties present here in Geneva until you reach a genuine and a real humanitarian pause and a ceasefire? The situation in Yemen is catastrophic so why not keep both parties here for consultations for a longer time until you reach a final agreement?

SE: Yes perhaps I should clarify this. I said this when challenges were mentioned. In spite of the positive response to these efforts, there are major challenges. When there is war, anybody who has gone through wars knows that people are entrenched in their positions, and it is difficult to get a rapprochement, it is difficult to quickly get common ground in one or two meetings, even in a third meeting. This is something that has been witnessed in numerous other conflicts. But there has been positivity in responding to the invitation, coming to Geneva, accepting a dialogue, which two weeks ago we didn’t think would happen. There is positivity in responding to the UN Security Council Resolution and in responding to the idea of a ceasefire accompanied by a withdrawal. So there are things on which we can build. However, I do think positions are still different and this requires more consultations and intensifying our efforts. We don’t want to hold another meeting. We felt it would be better now to get back to shuttle diplomacy. And that is to try to bring positions closer together as much as possible. But the humanitarian situation cannot wait anymore. It must be dealt with urgently. And that’s why we need a humanitarian pause if we can’t get a ceasefire: that’s the priority now.

Q: I’d like to clarify one thing, but also I have a question. The clarification is, do we need to wait for another round of talks before there is a ceasefire? And secondly, can you tell us about the process or the plans you have for monitoring and verifying a ceasefire once it happens?

SE: I would like to clarify first the plans for a ceasefire or a pause. We are definitely hoping to have that before any next round of talks. For us, the achievement of a humanitarian pause or a ceasefire should be by itself part of the confidence-building for any future talks. So that would be our top priority. As I said, I will intensify my efforts to make sure that we can achieve that one. It should definitely, in my view, not wait for any future round of talks.

SE: With regard to your second question we did indeed have some preliminary ideas. But we also came here. This is part of the importance of these sorts of consultations; we did not want to have a fixed idea, because every situation has its own specificity. In this particular case what we have been able to do, and we have experts – I have in my team a number of former military experts who have dealt with several issues of ceasefires and withdrawals in central Africa and in various conflicts around the world, Uganda and others. These colleagues came with some ideas that we have been able to present to the parties. The idea that we see today is definitely not a form of peacekeeping but rather a form of observers, civilians, but with a military background, who would ensure that if there is a ceasefire or a humanitarian pause or a withdrawal that is respected. We don’t see their number as very big. As you can imagine, these are details we need to work out with the Security Council. I don’t want to elaborate on it too much, but I can say we have it well framed, we have a plan, and it requires their agreement.

Q: We have heard that the principle of the presence of observers is not very realistic for the Riyadh delegation because in practice this would not be applicable. So, are there alternative mechanisms, other solutions that are envisaged? Secondly, based on what you said here, should we expect that the humanitarian pause, if it was agreed on or declared, come out of the UN after consultations in the Security Council?

SE: Yes, in response to your first question, the question of observers, as I said, we do have a mechanism, we do have proposals, we have a working document, we have a mechanism and this mechanism has benefitted from the experience of the UN in numerous other countries. But, in fact, we did not deal with this matter in as much depth as it requires, especially with the Government delegation from Riyadh, because we had not agreed on the two initial points which were the ceasefire and withdrawal. We did talk about this with both sides, and I did not see any definitive objections. So I think there is a possibility to get that going and everybody sees that the question of a ceasefire requires monitors, observers. In view, particularly, of the violations that happened before. I don’t think that is a major obstacle. If the question of observers is not possible, there are other mechanisms and the UN has much experience in that field.

SE: As to your second question, no humanitarian pause can come out of the Security Council or the Office of the Secretary-General. This is what we call for. But ultimately we need a humanitarian pause to be applied and that means that the two sides on the ground need to agree to it. Those who are fighting can stop the fighting or continue the fighting. As for the humanitarian workers, if they are convinced that the security conditions would allow them to access certain areas, it’s not enough for them to have a decision from the Security Council. It needs to be enforced and I have asked for that. We need basically the agreement of the concerned parties.