DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960524
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that the Secretary-General had sent to the President of the General Assembly and to the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, the report of the fact-finding mission to Nigeria as well as the interim response from that Government. The Secretary-General was encouraged by both the cooperation that his Special Envoy, Lahkdar Brahimi, had received from the Nigerian Government as well as by its interim response. The Secretary-General believed the response provided him with a good basis to pursue his good offices as requested by General Assembly resolution of 11 March.
This morning, she continued, the Secretary-General had spoken with South African President Nelson Mandela and had told him about the progress made in regards to Nigeria's fact-finding mission report. He had also told President Mandela about efforts made to resolve the problems in the Bakassi Peninsula. The Secretary-General had also spoken with the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, regarding the Nigerian willingness to discuss the situation in the Bakassi Peninsula.
In its interim response to the recommendations to the fact-finding report, the Government of Nigeria had made five points, Ms. Foa said. The first was that the Civil Disturbances Act -- under which Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others were tried and convicted -- would have two amendments. The first amendment would exclude members of the armed forces from serving on the Special Civil Disturbances Tribunal. The second said its verdicts and sentences must be subject to judicial review, at the appellate level, before confirmation.
The second point made by the Nigerian Government stated that the Oil and Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission would be directed to look into whether there were peculiar ecological and environmental problems in the Ogoni area, Ms. Foa said. "The Federal Government will, with vigour, join the concerted efforts currently being undertaken to reconcile all parties in the Ogoni region."
The third point said the Head of State had directed the immediate review of the cases of all persons currently being detained without trial under decree No. 2 of 1984, as amended, Ms. Foa said. Very shortly such persons would be released based on an assessment of the individual merit of each case. Point number four made by the Nigerian Government was that decree No. 2 of
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1984 would be amended to allow for the periodic review of each case by a body comprising the Chief of General Staff, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation at an interval of three months. That decree presently permitted the detention of persons, suspected of engaging in acts prejudicial to State security, without trial and for an indefinite period.
Finally, the interim response stated that the 1994 decree which ousted the jurisdiction of courts to issue a writ of habeas corpus to persons detained under decree No. 2 of 1984, would be repealed, Ms. Foa said. The Nigerian Government had also told the Secretary-General that other aspects of the report were currently under serious consideration. The Secretary-General would be closely following the implementation of the undertakings in the interim response, she added.
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General would pay a one-day visit to Ottawa, Ms. Foa announced. He would be meeting with Prime Minister Jean Chretien with whom he would discuss preparations for the "Group of 7" Summit, Canada's peace-keeping contributions, the evolution of the situation in Nigeria, as well as the situation in Burundi.
The ethnic conflict in eastern Zaire was widening, Ms. Foa said. It had engulfed neighbouring towns along its borders with Rwanda and Uganda. Since late March, 10,223 people from that region had fled into Rwanda. Last night, the Secretary-General had decided to send a mission from the Department of Humanitarian Affairs to the region. It was expected to leave on Wednesday and would work together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The mission would hold consultations with the Government of Zaire and carry out an assessment of the humanitarian needs of those affected, she said. In addition, it would also review coordination arrangements among all humanitarian partners, prepare contingency plans for emergency response and mobilize resources from governments. The mission would work closely with a United Nations in-country team, which held a meeting with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Medecins Sans Frontieres today in Kivu to discuss the situation of the 3,000 people caught in the fighting around the villages Kichenga and Wyamitaba.
The mandate of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) would expire on 30 May, Ms. Foa announced. The Secretary-General had sent his recommendations to the Security Council stating that the Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia believed there was a "continued need for UNPREDEP" in order to maintain stability, preserve the gains already achieved, and avoid undermining "the still fragile structure of peace in the Balkans", she said. The Secretary-General had also said that such views were shared by
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the leaders of other political parties and by various ethnic groups in the country. They were further shared by most, though not all, of the governments which had expressed their opinions to the Secretariat in the recent weeks.
While it was impossible to foresee what would happen if UNPREDEP withdrew from the area, the Secretary-General "saw much force in the argument of those who wished the operation to remain", Ms. Foa continued. He had also said that the full implementation of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina was far from being assured. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia -- where much of UNPREDEP was deployed -- was yet to be demarcated. In addition, the dispute between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece had not yet been completely resolved, and internal ethnic tension persisted. For all those reasons, the Secretary-General had recommended to extend the mandate, with its present configuration of 1,180 troops, for a further period of six months, until 30 November.
On 31 May, the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) would expire, Ms. Foa said. The UNDOF had been established on May 1974 in order to supervise the cease-fire and the agreement on disengagement between Israel and Syria. Even though no serious incidents had occurred in the Israel-Syria sector, the situation in the Middle East remained potentially dangerous and was likely to remain that way until a comprehensive settlement was reached. Thus, the Secretary-General considered the continued presence of UNDOF in the region to be essential, and therefore recommended that the Security Council extend the mandate for another six months, until 30 November. The extension had been agreed to by both Israel and Syria. There were currently 1,052 troops, from four countries, serving in UNDOF.
Ms. Foa drew attention to the serious shortfall in the funding of UNDOF. The unpaid assessments for that mission amounted to $60.7 million, about double the annual budget of UNDOF.
Speaking of money, Ms. Foa said her office had received a nice letter from the Radio and Television Broadcast Engineers Union. It was written on behalf of the 70 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1212, who are currently working at the United Nations. Their check was for the amount of $308. "This donation reflects the faith and belief this Union shop has in the future of the United Nations", the letter said.
The military talks between the Angolan Government and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), had achieved an agreement on a timetable for incorporating UNITA soldiers into the new National Army, Ms. Foa announced. The process of incorporation would be completed by 30 July while the quartering process would be completed by 30 June. Once the United Nations
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declared the quartering process complete, UNITA soldiers would be selected and posted to the new National Army. Those not selected, would be de-mobilized. Yesterday, 220 UNITA soldiers had been quartered, far short of the 600 per day pledged by UNITA.
Ms. Foa announced that there was a UNHCR press release on efforts to resolve the refugee crisis in the Great Lakes region was available in her office.
Regarding the General Assembly resolution on "further measures for the restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields", Ms. Foa said the Spokesman to the Assembly's President, Leona Forman, was present to later brief correspondents on the matter. In addition, there was a note by the Secretary-General welcoming the successful completion of negotiations on agenda item 23 (restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields) and the adoption of a comprehensive resolution under that item.
A correspondent asked whether it was true that due to the current United Nations financial problems, the Department of Public Information (DPI) would not cover the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) in Istanbul. Ahmad Fawzi, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, replied that a much smaller team than usual would cover it.
A correspondent asked for clarification on reports that the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq had sent a letter to the Secretary-General this week, which established a link between the implementation of resolution 986 (1995) and the lifting of sanctions. Ms. Foa replied that resolution 986 had been designed to alleviate the humanitarian suffering of the Iraqi people and to allow Iraq to sell some oil in order to buy food, medicines and other humanitarian supplies for its people. That resolution had nothing to do with other issues involved in other resolutions.
The spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly, Leona Forman, said that the General Assembly met in a resumed session this morning. At the outset of the meeting, Assembly President Diogo Freitas do Amaral (Portugal) extended "deep sympathy to the Government and people of Bangladesh for the tragic loss of life and extensive material damage caused by the recent tornado". Ms. Forman said the President had expressed the hope that the international community would demonstrate its solidarity and respond promptly and generously to any request for help. The representative of Bangladesh made a short statement.
The Assembly then approved a recommendation of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) and appointed Evgueni Deineko of the Russian
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Federation as a member of the Committee on Contributions, for a term beginning today and ending on 30 December. The Assembly then considered a draft resolution on the restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields. The draft resolution was introduced by Ambassador Oscar R. de Rojas (Venezuela), who expressed his satisfaction in having, after arduous negotiations since last November, a draft consensus resolution which dealt with highly delicate matters. He acknowledged the constructive role played by the President of the General Assembly at times when negotiations were threatened with virtual collapse. The President's involvement in the consultation process is an example for the future work of the General Assembly, he said. The text of the draft resolution (document A/50/L.73) as well as the text of the presentation by the Venezuelan representative were available on the third floor, Ms. Forman said.
The President of the General Assembly was "extremely pleased with the successful negotiations" which took about 52 meetings to resolve, Ms. Forman said. The President considered that resolution as a first step towards the reform process and that it could also facilitate the initiatives of other working groups, especially the ones on an agenda for development and on the strengthening and revitalization of the United Nations system.
Draft resolution A/50/L.73 was approved this morning by consensus, Ms. Forman said. Costa Rica, Italy, Argentina, Japan, Canada and the United States made statements after the adoption.
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