DAILY HIGHLIGHTS FOR: 2 April 1996
Press Release
DH/2114
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS FOR: 2 April 1996
19960402 * Secretary-General in Japan; to meet with Prime Minister and inaugurate UN University's Institute of Advanced Studies in Tokyo.* "Flame of peace" ceremony takes place in Mali; Secretary-General encourages continuation of Africa as continent of dialogue.
* Secretary-General requests additional $100 million to finance operations in former Yugoslavia through May.
* Peace-keeping operations to continue as primary UN activity, Under-Secretary-General for Peace-Keeping Operations tells Special Committee.
* International community should recommit itself to strengthening Convention on Rights of the Child, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director say.
* High Commissioner for Human Rights calls on India to investigate death of human rights activist from Jammu and Kashmir.
* Commission on Human Rights calls for more human rights observers in Burundi.
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Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is now in Japan on the third leg of his Asian mission. Upon his arrival in Tokyo from the Republic of Korea, he was welcomed, among others, by the Permanent Representative of Japan to the UN and the Under Secretary-General of the UN University in Tokyo.
Tomorrow, Dr. Boutros-Ghali will inaugurate the UN University's Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU/IAS), a new research and training centre of the UNU. The inauguration ceremony will take place at the premises of the Institute which is adjacent to the University headquarters building in Shibuya.
The Institute - established by the University Council in December 1995 - will conduct in-house research and postgraduate education.
Later, the Secretary-General will have a dinner-meeting with Japan's Prime Minister, Ryutaro Hashimoto.
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Calling it a "United Nations success story", UN Spokesman Ahmad Fawzi announced today that a pile of military weapons was torched in Tombouctou, Mali.
The action called the "flame of peace ceremony" consisted of a bonfire of weapons which the combatants in the northern part of Mali surrendered to that country's Government as part of their peace agreement, Director of the Centre for Disarmament Affairs, Prvoslav Davinic said today. He called it a courageous event on the part of both, the Government of Mali and the Mouvements et Fronts Unis de l'Azawad, especially because people in Mali believed that bearing arms was their right to freedom.
Mr. Davinic said at a Press Briefing at UN Headquarters today that the ceremony had been a joint effort between the Secretariat and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It represented a symbolic action which made a great impact in the Malian society. The small weapons which were burned included rifles, grenades and machine guns and totalled 2642.
Peace could not be real unless it was also accompanied by lasting development, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said in a message forwarded to the "flame of peace" ceremony in Tombouctou. He also said that the UN will work steadfastly to assist northern Mali through UNDP and through all its agencies. Dr. Boutros-Ghali encouraged the continuation of Africa's actions as a continent of dialogue.
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Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has asked the General Assembly to authorize him to commit an additional $100 million for the period 1 January until 31 May to finance four peace-keeping operations in the territories of the former Yugoslavia. He has also asked $150.7 million be assessed through May for those operations.
Introducing the Secretary-General report to the Assembly's Administrative and Budgetary (Fifth) Committee , UN Controller Yukio Takasu requested approval of the two amounts for the United Nations Peace Forces in the former Yugoslavia (UNPF); the UN Mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina (UNMIBH); the UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES); and the UN Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP).
Mr. Takasu said the immediate request is limited to the minimum requirement to maintain the operations until 31 May.
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The international community was urged to recommit itself to strengthening the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Stephen Lewis, at the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva marking the 50th anniversary of UNICEF. Failing to do so will condemn society to repeating crimes of the past against children, he warned.
Over 100 developing countries - home to more than 90 per cent of the world's children - have made progress towards achieving the year 2000 goals for children, Mr. Lewis said. For that reason, about 2.5 million fewer children would die in 1996 than in 1990. He urged renewed international commitment to halt child labour and child sexual exploitation as well as an
ease of the impact of armed conflicts in children.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jose Ayala Lasso said in his statement to the Commission that the Convention was the reference point and driving force behind international action on behalf of children's rights. He elaborated an "Action Plan", approved by Member States, to reinforce implementation of the Convention and pledged to open a global dialogue to win financial support.
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The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jose Ayala Lasso has called on the Government of India to investigate the death of Jalil Andrabi, a human rights activist from Jammu and Kashmir. In a statement issued in Geneva, he urged that the facts be established and sanctions imposed on those found guilty of the crime. He also reiterated his calls - made during his visit to the area last May - to all parties to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Mr. Ayala Lasso expressed his dismay at the killing of Mr. Andrabi who had recently attended the last session of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in August of 1995. He hoped that all parties in the area would engage in a peaceful dialogue in order to solve their differences.
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The Commission on Human Rights has called for an increase in the number of human rights observers in Burundi to monitor the human rights situation and prevent abuses. By adopting a resolution without a vote, the Commission also condemned all threats to the democratic process in Burundi and demanded an immediate end to violations of human rights and acts of violence and intimidation.
That resolution came at the end of a special meeting held by the Commission, in Geneva, to examine the deteriorating human rights situation in Burundi. The resolution also strongly condemned the massacres of civilians in that country over the past several years and urged the authorities to put an end to the situation of impunity prevailing there.
In a statement to the special meeting, High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala Lasso announced that in the next few days, the first contingent of human rights observers will be arriving in Bujumbura.
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The peace-keeping operations, as a primary activity of the United Nations will not end, Under-Secretary-General for Peace-Keeping Operations, Kofi Annan told the Special Committee on Peace Keeping Operations. As the Committee began its session, Mr. Annan said the recent phase of rapid expansion of peace-keeping operations have halted only for a time.
The Special Committee also adopted its work programme for this session under which it will continue its efforts to review the whole question of peace-keeping operations in all its aspects. It will also review the implementation of its previous proposals and consider new ones in order to enhance the capacity of the United Nations to fulfill its peace-keeping responsibilities.
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