DAILY HIGHLIGHTS FOR: 9 November 1995
Press Release
DH/2019
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS FOR: 9 November 1995
19951109 * Security Council strongly condemns violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in former Yugoslavia.* International Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia charges three Yugoslav Army officers with crimes against humanity.
* Secretary-General meets with President of Poland in Warsaw; has meetings with Iraqi and Libyan officials in Geneva.
* Secretary-General names Aziz Hasbi as his new Special Representative in Burundi.
* Member States owe United Nations $2.85 billion as of 31 October; $660 million owed to regular budget and $2.19 billion owed to peace-keeping and International Tribunals.
* Committee on Relations with Host Country recommends General Assembly adopt set of proposals on diplomatic indebtedness.
* Third States affected by Security Council sanctions could be assisted by international financial institutions, United States tells Legal Committee.
* Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee approves draft resolution on international action to combat drug abuse.
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The Security Council today condemned in the strongest possible terms all violations of international humanitarian law and of human rights in the former Yugoslavia. It demanded that all concerned comply fully with their obligations in that regard. The Council took that action by unanimously adopting resolution 1019 (1995).
The Council reaffirmed its demand that the Bosnian Serbs give international agencies immediate and unimpeded access to persons displaced, detained or reported missing from Srebrenica, Zepa, Banja Luka and Sanski Most. It reaffirmed its demand that they permit representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit and register any persons detained against their will and to have access to any site deemed
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important. The Council also reaffirmed its demand that the Serbs respect fully the rights of all such persons, ensure their safety, and release them immediately.
The resolution demanded that all detention camps throughout the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina be immediately closed. It reaffirmed further the obligation of all parties to ensure the complete freedom of movement of personnel of the United Nations and other relevant international organizations throughout the country.
The Council reaffirmed its demand that the Croatian Government take urgent measures to end violations of international humanitarian law and of human rights, and investigate all reports of such violations so that those responsible be judged and punished. It reiterated its demand that the Government respect fully the rights of the local Serb population, including their right to remain or return in safety.
The resolution demanded that all States, and all parties to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, cooperate fully with the International Tribunal, including by providing access to individuals and sites deemed important. It demanded that all parties, particularly the Bosnian Serbs, refrain from any action intended to destroy, alter, conceal or damage any evidence of violations of international humanitarian law. The Council asked the Secretary-General to report to it as soon as possible on recent violations in the areas of Srebrenica, Zepa, Banja Luka and Sanski Most.
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The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia today charged three senior officers of the Yugoslav People's Army with crimes against humanity. Mile Mrksic, Miroslav Radic and Veselin Sljivancanin commanded the Army's Belgrade-based Guards Brigade when it attacked and occupied the Croatian city of Vukovar in 1991.
The three officers are alleged to have been individually responsible for the mass killing of 261 non-Serb men at Ovcara on 20 November 1991. The men were removed from the Vukovar Hospital, shot and buried in a mass grave. Individual criminal responsibility includes committing, planning, instigating, ordering or otherwise aiding and abetting in the planning, preparation or execution of crimes.
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Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali arrived today in Warsaw, Poland, and was met at the airport by Andrzeg Ananicz, Minister in the Presidency Chancellory, and Eugeniosz Wyzner, Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He later had a meeting with President Lech Walesa.
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Yesterday, the Secretary-General met with Barzan Al Tikriti, Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations Office at Geneva. The meeting dealt with the implementation of Security Council resolution 986 (1991). Mr. Boutros-Ghali transmitted to Ambassador Al Tikriti the same message he had transmitted to Vice-President Taha Marouf of Iraq at Headquarters on 27 October.
Also yesterday, the Secretary-General met with M. Abdal Ati Obeidi, Vice-Minister for European Affairs of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and Special Envoy of the President of Libya.
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The Secretary-General has designated Aziz Hasbi, a Moroccan national, as his new Special Representative in Burundi. The appointment, which is at the level of Assistant Secretary-General, takes effect immediately. Mr. Hasbi replaces Ahmedou Ould Abdallah of Mauritania, who was the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Burundi for two years.
Mr. Hasbi served as the Minister of Administrative Affairs in Morocco from 1992 to March 1995. He was Morocco's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from June 1990 to October 1991, and Secretary-General in the Ministry of Information from 1986 to 1990.
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Member States owed the United Nations a total of $2.85 billion as of 31 October, down from $3.33 billion as of 30 September, according to the latest update on the Organization's financial situation. Some $664 million was owed to the regular budget and $2.186 billion was owed for peace-keeping operations and the International Tribunals.
The United States -- the largest debtor -- owed $432 million to the regular budget and $835 million to peace-keeping and the International Tribunals. The Russian Federation owed the United Nations a total of $474 million.
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The Committee on Relations with the Host Country has recommended that the General Assembly adopt a set of proposals on the problem of diplomatic indebtedness. It further recommended that permanent missions, their personnel and Secretariat staff pay their financial obligations promptly and in full. In adopting its report by consensus yesterday, the Committee also recommended that its working group on indebtedness continue to monitor the problem and develop solutions to it.
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The Committee's report also deals with such matters as the security of missions and the safety of their personnel; issues arising in connection with the implementation of the Agreement between the United Nations and the United States Regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations; and transportation and parking.
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Third States affected by the application of sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter might benefit from the chanelling of special assistance through international financial institutions or through trade preferences, the United States representative told the Sixth Committee (Legal) today. He made that comment as the Committee continued its consideration of the Report of the Special Committee on the Charter.
The representative of France said the European Union would table a draft resolution which sought to facilitate such assistance without altering the political balance of the United Nations. He added that there was no provision in the Charter which granted a right to compensation.
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The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) yesterday approved a draft resolution that would have the General Assembly call on all States to adopt adequate laws to strengthen national judicial systems and to carry out effective drug control activities in cooperation with other States. It would also take note of the Economic and Social Council's proposal to hold a second international conference on combatting illicit drugs and would request the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to discuss the issue at its thirty- ninth session. The Commission would be requested to present its conclusions, through the Council, to the Assembly at its fifty-first session.
The Committee also approved a draft resolution on the follow-up to the International Year of the Family. By its terms, the General Assembly would urge governments to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, so that universal ratification could be achieved by the year 2000. It would also urge governments to take urgent action to achieve universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by 1996.
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