DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961101
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that the situation in eastern Zaire was dominating our lives again today. The Secretary-General had spoken again with President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire this morning and informed him that Ambassador Raymond Chretien of Canada to the United States, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy to the Great Lakes region, would be visiting him in Lausanne. The Secretary-General had also spoken with the Foreign Affairs Minister of Ireland, with Pierre Buyoya of Burundi, and was in touch with other African leaders over the situation in eastern Zaire.
Communications with Goma had been very brief, Ms. Foa said. Radio battery packs were running low, and an effort was being made to keep communications to a minimum of vital functions. "Evidently staff are spending a lot of time with their heads down." There had been intense fighting in the area sporadically during the day, including some artillery fire and lots of mortar fire. So far, all aid community expatriates were safe. As a result of a firefight that had occurred close to one United Nations compound, one room in the compound caught fire and one staff member had been overcome by smoke. That person had recovered. There were also reports of widespread looting in the Goma area. But United Nations staff had not lost their sense of humour, Ms. Foa continued. One staff member had quipped that there was "a full and frank exchange of views taking place on the streets of Goma". That person had probably been with the United Nations too long, Ms. Foa joked.
Relief efforts were continuing, Ms. Foa said. Food distribution and water and medical services evidently could be maintained, because refugees were doing a great deal of the work. It was reported that the Mugunga and Lac Vert refugee camps on the western outskirts of Goma were continuing to set up water and sanitation facilities. There had been no major new arrivals of refugees at those camps. Previously, there had been concern about 115,000 people moving south from the Kahindo camp to the Mugunga area. Those people had not arrived in Mugunga and it was felt they may have turned back towards Kahindo, after encountering some difficulties on the road passing through the Kibumba area. It would be recalled that the Kibumba area had been overrun last Friday night and Saturday morning, and many fighters remained in that area. Evidently the refugees had gotten as far as Kibumba, taken one look, said, "frying pan into the fire", and started moving back towards Kahindo.
There had been news reports that the Katale refugee camp about 60 kilometres north of Goma, with about 202,000 refugees, had emptied. However, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) staff had nothing on that, and they thought Katale was still okay.
There had also been talk of evacuating Goma, Ms. Foa said. United Nations staff there were saying they would like to stay as long as possible. They felt that maintaining radio contact with refugee camps was important to maintain calm among the refugees. Of particular importance was Mugunga, which was the only one with which steady contact had been maintained. Staff were pushing very hard, but they were unable to work. This matter was being re- evaluated hourly.
On new refugee movements, Ms. Foa said 1,757 Rwandan refugees had returned to Rwanda. "That is a tiny drop in the bucket, compared to the 1.1 million Rwandan refugees in eastern Zaire", she added. About 5,526 Burundi refugees had also returned to Burundi, and close to 7,000 had fled into Uganda. There were also reports of Zairian Tutsis moving into the Congo.
On assistance, Ms. Foa said food was distributed again on Thursday in Mugunga. Almost no stocks were left. Medical supplies were running very short and would be exhausted by the end of next week. One of the greatest problems was the lack of plastic sheeting for new arrivals. As was known, it is the rainy season and there are torrential downpours. If any new refugees arrived -- say, if the Kahindo refugees did arrive there -- there would be no new plastic sheeting for them. However, it was reported that the refugees themselves were operating the generator and were now pumping and chlorinating water. That was good news.
The UNHCR had reported that a camp being used by volcanologists on Mount Virunga had taken a directly hit during the shelling of Goma, Ms. Foa said. It was believed there were some casualties. It would be recalled that the Goma area is very volcanic and there is one volcano there that repeatedly gives serious warning signs that it is about to erupt. As a result, a group of volcanologists was constantly keeping an eye on that volcano. "You can imagine what would happen if a volcano went off with about 700,000 refugees in that area", she said.
"On a happier note", Ms. Foa said it was known that yesterday, Hungary had become the sixty-fifth nation to ratify the Chemical Weapons Conventions. "This is really good news. On a day like today, we can use good news", she added.
Reading from a 31 October statement of the Secretary-General, she said,
"The Secretary General received the sixty-fifth instrument of ratification of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, the Chemical Weapons Convention.
"With the deposit of this instrument, the requirements for the entry into force of the Convention are now fulfilled. It will enter into force 180
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 1 November 1996
days from today, 29 April 1997. The Chemical Weapons Convention is the first disarmament agreement negotiated within a multilateral framework that provides for the elimination of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. The world has taken a significant step towards the complete eradication of chemical weapons. The United Nations welcomes the efforts of Member States to outlaw the barbaric and indiscriminate horror of chemical warfare.
"Under the terms of the Convention, each State party will undertake to destroy chemical weapons and production facilities. Specifically, the Convention prohibits State parties from engaging in the development, production or acquisition, stockpiling and retention of chemical weapons. The Convention establishes tough and comprehensive verification system within the framework of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. Full compliance with the Convention will require vigilance, patience and political will."
Ms. Foa said it would be recalled that the Secretary-General was in Paris when the Chemical Weapons Convention was opened for signature on 13 January 1993. "He put in an awful lot of telephone time calling governments and urging them to sign and ratify."
The statement continues:
"The Secretary-General urges all States that have not yet ratified this Convention, and particularly those with significant chemical-weapon stockpiles, to join those that have already done so, and to giver full meaning to this historic agreement." (See Press Release SG/SM/6102 of 31 October.)
Now, Ms. Foa continued, the Secretary-General would begin setting his sights on a convention to ban anti-personnel land-mines. He said that if a convention can be put together that bans chemical weapons, why could that not also be done for anti-personnel land-mines.
Turning to the Security Council, Ms. Foa said the Council was holding consultations of the whole on Iraq, reviewing sanctions pursuant to paragraphs 21 and 28 of resolution 687 (1991) and paragraph 6 of resolution 700 (1991) and other matters.
There was good news from Angola, Ms. Foa said. Yesterday, the Joint Commission composed of representatives of the Angolan Government and National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), and chaired by United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III), approved a timetable for the completion of pending tasks. According to that timetable, UNITA should, by 15 November, hand over all remaining arms and ammunition to UNAVEM III; register all UNITA police and other armed security personnel; and finish the quartering of all UNITA elements remaining in Cabinda.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 1 November 1996
In addition, the selection of 26,300 UNITA soldiers for incorporation into the new national army, as well the selection of 5,500 men for incorporation into the national police, must be finished. The UNITA also needs to dismantle its command posts by 10 November, and both the Government and UNITA must remove all checkpoints by that date. The Government must withdraw all its troops to the nearest barracks and incorporate UNITA generals into the unified national army as soon as UNITA has finished quartering.
"Now we have a real timetable", Ms. Foa said. In addition, UNITA is also scheduled to issue a declaration on 15 November, as requested by the Security Council, indicating the completion of quartering and the handing over of all its weapons and ammunition to UNAVEM. The UNAVEM would verify UNITA action by 17 November.
Returning to the Secretary-General, Ms. Foa said that this morning he had been presented with a work by the painter Robert Rauschenberg created for the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlement (Habitat II). There had been a ceremony with Wally N'Dow, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) and Secretary-General of Habitat II.
At 11, he had met Ahmad Kamal, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan. At 11:30 he had a meeting on eastern Zaire with Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and Yasushi Akashi, Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.
The Secretary-General was currently meeting with Lord Frank Judd, Trustee of International Alert. He would later meet Karas Otmar, Secretary- General of the Peoples Party of Austria. He would also meet with Dame Margaret Anstee.
On follow-up to the cemetery visits by Croatians displaced in eastern Slavonia, Ms. Foa said that 4,000-5,000 displaced people in Croatia had visited the cemeteries in eastern Slavonia, where religious ceremonies were held today on All Saints Day. All had gone well, she said. There had been no incidents or demonstrations. Jacques Klein, United Nations Transitional Administrator for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium, had taken 10 people along with the Catholic Bishop to Ovcara where there are mass graves and laid wreaths. In his later radio address, Mr. Klein expressed his appreciation to all sides for their cooperation.
Ms. Foa said that this evening, at 6 p.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, United States economist Robert Kuttner would deliver the annual Paul Hoffman lecture. His speech was entitled, "Global Competitiveness and Human Development: Allies or Adversaries". The event was sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 1 November 1996
On Monday, at 1 p.m. in room 226, Enrique Iglesias, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, and Fernando Zumbado, Regional Director of Latin American and the Caribbean for UNDP, would present "Dawn in the Andes", a report stressing the need to take regional steps to preserve the eco-system of the Andean mountain range.
Was a special coordinated humanitarian response for eastern Zaire beginning to take shape? a correspondent asked.
Ms. Foa said there had not been a problem of coordination until the fighting started in that area. The United Nations agencies had worked extremely well together. Currently, the only problem was that the staff running the programmes was under fire. They were on the floor. There were plenty of stocks of food and medical supplies in the region, there was no problem with the pipeline. Once there was a cease-fire, "things can start moving again".
Would not new camps have to be constructed for refugees "wandering around" in the region? the correspondent continued.
Ms. Foa said there had been a host of inter-agency meetings during the week. As far as she could tell, the agencies were "all ready to go" once they were able to move safely out of the office.
To a question on the number of refugees that had returned to Burundi and Rwanda, Ms. Foa said the total in eastern Zaire was about 145,000. About 143,000 were in the south Kivu area and another 2,000 in the north Kivu area. Of those, 5,526 had returned to Burundi.
To another question on humanitarian relief, Ms. Foa said the main operators for the United Nations were the UNHCR, The World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and UNDP. There were also dozens of United Nations non-governmental organization partners who did much of the work. Those people had been meeting and they knew the problems. However, even they were unable to find people because of the fighting.
To a question on the staff of the Chemical Weapons Convention, Ms. Foa said she would get further information.
A correspondent asked whether the Secretary-General was concerned about recent breakdown in the consultative process between staff and management. A recent meeting had broken down, the correspondent said. Ms. Foa said she would ask Denis J. Halliday, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, to provide information.
A correspondent asked if there was any force to achieve a cease-fire in the Great Lakes region? Ms. Foa said that was a priority of Ambassador
Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 1 November 1996
Chretien, who was going to the region. Serious efforts were being made through diplomatic channels, and the sending of a Special Envoy to the region was to reinforce that. "There has been a lot of international pressure on everyone to cut it out", she said. It remained a very complex and difficult situation.
The last letter of the Secretary-General, concerning the Special Commission investigating violations against the arms embargo against the former Government of Rwanda, had projected a report by 31 October. Would that be available? a correspondent asked. Ms. Foa said the Secretary-General had received the third report of the Commission of Inquiry. The first two had been published. Because the situation had changed so drastically, it was decided to wait until Ambassador Chretien returned from his mission before issuing that report.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said the Assembly President would meet this afternoon with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata. Yesterday, the President had issued a statement concerning the Great Lakes region. He said, "Today, we as individuals and collectively as Member States of the United Nations should be in mourning, not only for the enormous human catastrophe unfolding in the Great Lakes region of Africa, but for the seeming evaporation of the international community's ability to respond effectively to such tragedies when they occur, and to prevent them from happening". He appealed to all actors of the international community to promote action to provide safe areas for the victims. That statement was issued as Press Release GA/9150.
The plenary yesterday had completed the election of 18 members of the Economic and Social Council in four rounds of balloting, Ms. Abdul-Majid said. The results had been made available to correspondents yesterday. This morning the plenary continued consideration of the Security Council. A draft resolution on the special session relating to Agenda 21 had been introduced in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this morning. Among others, the draft resolution would have the Assembly decide on convening the special session from 23 to 27 June 1997. Also yesterday, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) and the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) had approved all the draft texts mentioned at yesterday's briefing. On reports of special rapporteurs, an interim report of the special rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography was available (document A/51/456). It would be before the Third Committee later this month.
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