DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961014
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 addressed the General Assembly's First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) this morning. He had said that one of the most important accomplishments of the year had been the adoption and signature of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The Secretary-General had said that 123 signatures and one ratification in three weeks represented an important step towards complete nuclear disarmament. He had further stated that the adoption and the signing of the Treaty had demonstrated how the United Nations could serve as "an institutionalized framework for dialogue, negotiation and collaboration on issues of global significance and universal impact".
During his speech, the Secretary-General "went to great length on what more needs to be done", Ms. Foa said. The Chemical Weapons Convention had only 64 ratifications, one more was needed. In addition, as a depositary of the Chemical Weapons Convention, he hoped to be able to announce soon its entry into force, she said. He had also expressed his hope that the two major Powers would ratify it too. "Evidently, the two major Powers are not among the 64 who have ratified it", Ms. Foa added. In addition, the Secretary- General had said that the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II) should be ratified and implemented, and urged the two parties to keep up the momentum on those negotiations. He was also pushing again for a total ban on anti- personnel land-mines and was very happy with the First Committee's efforts to begin negotiations towards a total ban. Furthermore, he supported the creation of regional nuclear-weapon-free zones and called for the establishment of other such zones, including in the Middle East, she said.
"The Secretary-General supports the idea of the convening -- sometime in the next few years -- of a special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament", Ms. Foa said. The special session would assess the security situation in the post-cold war era and set the negotiating agenda for the years to come.
The Secretary-General's statement to the plenary of the Assembly this morning, on the progress report on the 1990 World Summit for Children was available at the Spokesman's office, Ms. Foa announced. At that Summit, participants had pledged to achieve seven major goals by the year 2000. In his speech, the Secretary-General had said that the greatest progress made had been in controlling preventable diseases. Immunization currently reached about 80 per cent of all children before their first birthday, and saved an estimated 3 million lives a year. Incidents of other preventable illness had been reduced, but there were some disappointments. The rate of child mortality was declining but slowly. Maternal mortality was still a major problem. There had been very little improvement in child-malnutrition.
Furthermore, the Secretary-General had said that the quality of basic education had not improved, and millions of children were still dying in "battlefields and streets, in brothels and sweatshops".
At 12.45 p.m. today, the Secretary-General would meet with Ambassador David Peleg of Israel who would come to the United Nations together with the family of Israeli navigator, Captain Ron Arad, Ms. Foa announced. Captain Arad had disappeared on 16 October 1986 and there had been efforts around the world to try to locate him and get him released. "The Secretary-General is fully committed to resolving, on humanitarian grounds, the question of all missing persons in the Middle East", Ms. Foa said. He had been working through quiet diplomacy for the safe release of all "hostages and abducted persons wherever and by whomever they are held as well as those detained without due process of law", she said. The Secretary-General was not only fully concerned with the fate of those missing persons but equally concerned with the plight of their families.
The periodic three-month report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia was out today, Ms. Foa announced (document S/1996/843). In his report, the Secretary-General said that in spite of continuous efforts aimed at achieving a comprehensive political settlement of the Georgian/Abkhaz conflict, no significant progress had yet been achieved. Lawlessness continued to be a problem in the Gali security zone, and cases of murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and assault occurred frequently. Mine- laying and attacks on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peace- keeping force and the Abkhaz militia checkpoints also continued. Both sides continued to violate the Moscow Agreement of 14 May 1994. "Just between 25 June and 9 September, the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) recorded eight violations by the Abkhaz side and 37 by the Georgian side", she said. Some of the violations had been especially serious. For example, the Georgian armed forces had carried out a battalion-level exercise inside the restricted weapons zone. The Abkhaz armed forces had also mounted a smaller scale exercise inside the restricted weapons zone.
The Secretary-General's report on the situation in Abkhazia stated that the peace process continued to be stalled, Ms. Foa said. There had been no progress on the question of the return of refugees and displaced persons to Abkhazia. "Just to remind you, UNOMIG's mandate expires on 31 January 1997", she added.
The Security Council's Committee established by resolution 661 (1990) concerning the situation between Iraq and Kuwait, would meet at 3.30 p.m. today at a closed meeting in Conference Room 7, Ms. Foa announced. After the meeting, the Chairman, Tono Eitel (Germany), would brief interested delegations and would then brief correspondents in room 226.
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Egypt had signed the CTBT today, Ms. Foa announced. Egypt was one of the 44 countries which needed to do so in order for the Treaty to enter into force. "Now there are only five countries left", Ms. Foa said.
Sunday, a fifth person was killed in Cyprus since June, Ms. Foa announced. "The Secretary-General deplores the continuous violence in Cyprus and the additional loss of lives", she added.
There had been an attack at the United Nations offices in Pakelle in northern Uganda this morning, Ms. Foa said. The residential and office compound of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at Pakelle was under attach for about an hour. There had been lots of shooting and the staff had spent most of the hour laying on the ground, terrified. Even though nobody had been injured, 10 trucks, 2 four-wheel-drive vehicles and some radios had been destroyed. The UNHCR, the World Food Programme (WFP) and lots of other non-governmental organizations were present in the region assisting about 100,000 Sudanese refugees. There were a total of 220,000 Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda in camps in local integration areas.
Which country had ratified the CTBT? a correspondent asked. Fiji had ratified it, Ms. Foa said. "On Friday we told you there was no grass growing under Fiji's feet", she said. "It's the first country to wake up in the morning and the first country to ratify", she added. With Egypt, the total number of signatories was now 124.
Did the UNHCR have any idea who had mounted the attack in Pakelle, Uganda? a correspondent asked. Ms. Foa replied they had some suspicions but nothing verified.
A correspondent asked whether the United Nations had an opinion regarding the United States' proposal to establish an African Crisis Response Force in light of President Nelson Mandela's statement that he would not support that force unless it came through the United Nations. Ms. Foa replied that the United Nations had been speaking about a stand-by force in case of a humanitarian disaster, particularly in Burundi, for quite some time. Many countries had offered troops, others money and/or logistics. The problem had always been to find a country that would commit itself to lead such a force. The United Nations was ready to help and to work with a force which would help in case of a humanitarian disaster.
Asked whether Louis Farrakhan would give a press conference at 4 p.m. on 16 October, Ms. Foa answered that he would do so at the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Club. Benjamin Chavis, the head of the march, would be giving a press conference on 15 October at 2 p.m. at the UNCA Club. There would be a demonstration called the World Day of Atonement on 16 October in the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. A traffic jam was expected on First Avenue on that day.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 14 October 1996
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said this morning, the Assembly had elected 18 members to the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC) for a three-year term beginning 1 January 1997. The members were: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cameroon, Congo, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. Of the 18 elected, three -- Poland, Romania and the Ukraine -- had been elected by secret ballot as the number of candidates exceeded the number of seats to be filled. This committee is the main subsidiary organ of the Economic and Social Council and the Assembly and is charged with reviewing the programmes of the United Nations, Ms. Abdul-Majid added.
The Secretary-General had addressed the Assembly on the progress at mid- decade on the implementation of the World Summit for Children, the spokeswoman said. The issue would be discussed tomorrow at the Assembly for which there were about 20 speakers listed. The item would then be taken up by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) on Thursday, 17 October, in the afternoon.
Tomorrow, the President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) would address the Assembly, Ms. Abdul-Majid announced. This afternoon, the Assembly President would hold a luncheon in his honour.
Also tomorrow, "there will be a draft resolution on the observer status for the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)", the spokeswoman announced. Those interested could check document A/51/L.1.
The Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development would address the Second and Third Committees this afternoon, Ms. Abdul-Majid said. The Second Committee would begin its general debate on the world economic situation. Also this afternoon, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) would begin its consideration of social development issues. There were 20 speakers listed for today's debate and 25 for tomorrow's debate.
On 16 and 17 October, the Second Committee would not meet because the Assembly was expected to discuss the outcome of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development. "Some of you may have been surprised to have seen the item on crime prevention in the Journal today", she said. That had been done in order to allow the representative of Poland to speak on the item on the elaboration of an international convention against organized transnational crime, which had been included in the Assembly's agenda following a request by Poland. Crime prevention would be considered by the Third Committee on Friday, 18 October.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) would have a busy day tomorrow, the spokeswoman said. "Yukio Takasu, United Nations Controller, will be speaking on the 1996-1997 programme budget", she said. The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, Dennis Halliday, and the
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Assistant Secretary-General for Conference and Support Services, Benon Sevan, would also address the Committee.
An updated tentative schedule of items to be taken up by the Main Committees and the plenary in the next three weeks was available, Ms. Abdul- Majid said. It covered the meetings until 1 November.
At the time of the briefing, the Assembly President was briefing journalists and broadcasters from developing countries who were at Headquarters for a Department of Public Information (DPI) training programme, Ms. Abdul-Majid said. At 5 p.m. he would brief Member States of the African Group on the work of the Assembly.
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