DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961031
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by telling correspondents that the situation in Goma, Zaire, had deteriorated overnight with machine and mortar fire audible in the Goma area. The offices and warehouses of non-governmental organizations had been looted. Exact numbers were not available, but more than 100 expatriate staff were still in Goma. Evidently, representatives of non-governmental organizations had been located in the outlying area, and their whereabouts were only now becoming known.
The Secretary-General had been in touch with President Mobutu and Prime Minister Kengo wa Dondo of Zaire, both yesterday afternoon and again this morning, Ms Foa said. He had requested their assistance should an evacuation of expatriates become necessary, and had been given assurances that the Government of Zaire would cooperate in that regard.
Yesterday, radio broadcasts had announced that the military could commandeer vehicles and equipment for their use. Some 50 to 60 United Nations and non-governmental organization vehicles had been seized.
Before dawn this morning, Zaire time, some 115,000 Rwandan refugees at the Kahindo camp 50 kilometres north of Goma had taken advantage of a lull in the fighting to leave the camp, she said. They were evidently heading towards Mugunga, where some 400,000 refugees were "packed in like sardines" in a small area of volcanic rock. "I don't know what we'll do with another 115,000 refugees", she said. Fighting had prevented United Nations and non- governmental organization staff from undertaking further food distribution, and forced them to stop digging latrines.
Ms. Foa then said that additional refugee movements had been observed. Some 6,400 Rwandan and Zairian refugees had entered southern Uganda; 1,300 Rwandan refugees had returned to that country; 3,000 Burundian refugees had returned to Burundi; and some 4,500 Zairian refugees had moved to Rwanda.
The United Nations still had no way to reach the 200,000 Rwandan refugees at Katale camp, she said. Fighting had created a "no man's land" in the area, and the 200,000 had not yet received assistance. The 520,000 Burundian and Rwandan refugees in the Uvira and Bukavu regions had also not been helped. The town of Bukavu had been described as "completely out of control", she said. Staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had undertaken to bury bodies that they had found on the streets.
The Spokesman said that yesterday the Secretary-General had met, at his request, the permanent representatives of Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire; the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ibrahima Fall, who recently returned from a mission to the Great Lakes region; his Special Adviser, Ismat Kittani; and his Senior Adviser, Chinmaya Gharekhan. The Secretary-General informed them that he had been in touch with President Mobutu and Prime Minister Kengo wa Dondo to appeal for their help in defusing the tension and a possible evacuation of international staff. He also briefed them on the appointment of Ambassador Raymond Chrétien (Canada) as his Special Envoy to the Great Lakes region and reviewed his mandate with them. The ambassadors welcomed the appointment of Ambassador Chrétien and expressed appreciation for the Secretary-General's efforts towards peace in the region and appealed to the international community to back the Secretary- General's efforts. She announced that Ambassador Chrétien would be available to answer correspondents' questions at the Security Council stake-out area after his 4:30 p.m. appointment with the Secretary-General.
Ms. Foa said that at 10 a.m. the Secretary-General had met with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. They had discussed the situation in the Middle East, relations between Israel and the United Nations, the situation in eastern Zaire and the problems of terrorism and anti-semitism.
Ms. Foa said at noon the Secretary-General was meeting with his Special Envoy for Sierra Leone, Birhanu Dinka; at 12:30 p.m., he would meet with the Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Hazem El-Beblawi; and at 5:15 p.m., with the Permanent Representative of Indonesia and President of the Security Council for November, Nugroho Wisnumurti.
Ms. Foa announced the availability of the new report of the Secretary- General on the situation in Burundi (document S/1996/887). According to the report, the civil war continued to rage in that country; it was estimated that there had been more than 10,000 casualties since the 25 July coup d'état. He said that it was more imperative than ever to get the process of negotiations under way. The international community should continue to exert pressure towards implementation of the programme of action adopted at the Arusha Summit of 12 October this year.
The Secretary-General expressed the conviction that the worst could happen in Burundi "at any moment", Ms. Foa said. As a result, he saw no alternative but to continue with contingency planning. Although there did not yet seem to be sufficient will for resolute preventive action, that did not rule out the possibility of a decision by the international community to act if large-scale ethnic conflict broke out. The Secretary-General remained deeply convinced that the international community would do its utmost to prevent another genocide.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 31 October 1996
Continuing to summarize the Burundi report, Ms. Foa said that the Secretary-General expressed support for the initiative taken recently by the United States to strengthen the capacity of African countries to contribute to peace-keeping activities and to respond promptly to crises in Africa. The current situation in eastern Zaire had served as a reminder that there were now all the ingredients for a conflict that could engulf the entire Great Lakes region. It was now more necessary than ever to convene the regional conference on peace, security and development that had been under discussion for several years.
Tomorrow, 1 November, was All Saints Day, Ms. Foa said. "Our heroes in Eastern Slavonia" had received requests from Catholics in Croatia to visit more than 70 cemeteries in the region. This day was the day that Catholics commemorate their dead. The United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) had been told that those Catholics in Croatia had not been able to visit their cemeteries in more than five years. The UNTAES was undertaking a major security effort so that people could clean up the graves and place flowers for their relatives. It had selected 29 cemeteries for that purpose, in consultation with Croatian and Serb leaders. They expected some 4,000 people to visit the cemeteries. Croatia had agreed to allow reciprocal visits by Orthodox Serbs to graves elsewhere in Croatia. Those visits would be arranged in November.
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Peter Hansen, would be on the World Chronicle television programme at 2:30 p.m. on in-house channels 6, 23 and 38, she said.
Some non-governmental organizations had called for a single humanitarian coordinator in the Great Lakes region, a correspondent said. Did she have any news on that request?
Ms. Foa said that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was the lead agency in the region. As far as she knew, the agencies were working well together. She had not heard of calls for single coordinator. The United Nations had learned a great deal in the last few years; she had heard no complaints regarding coordination in the Great Lakes region. "Since they're all hiding in the same cellar, they are working pretty well together."
Was there a sense of how many people had gone back to Rwanda? the correspondent asked. The question had been raised as to whether the present crisis was in fact putting people back where the UNHCR had wanted them to go all along. Ms. Foa responded said that when the conflict erupted, the humanitarian community had expected large numbers of refugees returning to Rwanda. Humanitarian assistance had been stockpiled and centres had been established to handle some 15,000 returnees per day. But only 1,300 had returned. More
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 31 October 1996
Zairians had taken refuge in Rwanda than Rwandans had returned home. Also, before the fighting around Mugunga and Goma broke out, the UNHCR had placed buses at the camps for those wanting to go home. Refugees had been told that they would be most safe if they returned home, but those buses "were not overloaded".
Regarding Burundi and the Secretary-General's reference to contingency planning, a correspondent asked what exactly was planned.
Ms. Foa said that the Secretary-General had made clear that the necessity of contingency planning remained. In his report, he had explained that the first scenario -- consisting of a multinational force planned, organized and led by a State or group of States with a recognized rapid- response capacity -- had not obtained necessary support. An alternative proposal was put forward for the deployment of a United Nations force mandated by the Security Council, financed by statutory contributions. That option had answered the question as to "who was going to pay for it and who was going to command it". The Secretary-General had stated that the second proposal had been no more successful than the first; only five governments out of 31 contacted by the Secretariat had replied, and four of them had responded negatively. No other response had been received. The Secretary-General was asking governments to be ready with an "international force to go in there to try to calm the situation down".
A correspondent then asked whether the UNHCR had received a response to their request for satellite imagery. Ms. Foa said that the United States State Department had said that it was "looking favourably" at the request. She would ask for more information.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said that the election of 18 members of the Economic and Social Council was still under way. Ballots were still being counted; there were no results as yet. Candidates for the Asian seats had been reduced by one. The current candidates were Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Viet Nam. [Later, the following were elected for three-year terms beginning 1 January 1997: African States -- Cape Verde, Djibouti, Gambia, Mozambique and Zambia; Asian States -- Japan, Republic of Korea (in the second round of balloting) and Sri Lanka (in the fourth round); Eastern European States -- Latvia (in the second round); Latin American and Caribbean States -- Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico; and Western European and Other States -- France, Germany, Iceland, Spain, Turkey.
A draft resolution on the Convention to Combat Desertification was introduced in the Assembly's Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this morning. The draft would have the Assembly welcome the entry into force of the Convention on 26 December, and would decide that the first session of the Conference of States Parties should be held for two weeks in October 1997 in Rome.
Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 31 October 1996
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) concluded its dialogue with Mrs. Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It was expected to take action on a draft dealing with the role of cooperatives. By one of three texts under the item on crime prevention and criminal justice, the Assembly would adopt the international code of conduct for public officials as recommended by the Economic and Social Council. The other two drafts were on the United Nations Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders and on strengthening of the technical assistance capacity of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme. The Committee also was considering a draft on the elaboration of an international convention against organized transnational crime.
The Assembly's Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was considering a draft text on the employment of retirees. By that draft, the Assembly would set a ceiling of $22,000 per calendar year for the employment of retirees, instead of $12,000 that was set by the Assembly in 1992. The resolution would also provide that the employment of retirees should not exceed six months per calendar year.
The Fifth Committee was considering two draft resolutions on Haiti. One would have the Assembly reduce appropriations for the liquidation of the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) to $1.2 million and appropriate $28.7 million for the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH), including $13.5 million which was not used for UNMIH. The Committee was also considering a resolution on commitment authorization for the liquidation of the combined forces in the former Yugoslavia.
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