DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961112
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali, began today's briefing by declaring, "OK Canada. When the going gets tough, the tough get going". The Government of Canada, she said, had decided that if the "circumstances were appropriate", it would lead a multinational force for the provision of humanitarian assistance in eastern Zaire.
Consultations were now under way between the Department of Peace-keeping Operations and a "coalition of the willing". The purpose of the humanitarian mission would be to ensure that more than 1 million cold, hungry and desperately dehydrated persons, scattered over a no-man's-land in eastern Zaire were provided food, water and medical attention. Also, it would seek to begin to create the conditions necessary for the voluntary repatriation of refugees.
The "coalition of the willing" was expected to write to the Security Council, through the Secretary-General, declaring their intentions. No time-frame for action had yet been established, she said. She hoped that action would take place sooner rather than later. "We're feeling a lot better about life than we did yesterday", she said. "Canada, we think you're terrific".
Canada now had 1,058 military and civilian police personnel deployed in 8 United Nations peace-keeping missions. It was presently in seventh place among troop-contributing countries. It had been in the top ten for many years and had a great deal of experience with United Nations peace-keeping operations. Canadians were now serving with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH), United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP), United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP) and the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH). Canada had taken part in 23 other peace-keeping operations since 1949. "Canada is on the top ten list of troop contributors, and it's on our top ten list too."
"It's all good news today", Ms. Foa said. She then announced that a press release was available in the Spokesman's Office stating that the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) had undertaken to conclude the negotiating process and sign a firm and lasting peace agreement at a 29 December ceremony in Guatemala City. That agreement would mark the end of 36 years of armed confrontation. The entry into force of the agreement would begin a new chapter of Guatemalan national reconciliation.
The Secretary-General today was spending the whole day in talks with the Italian Government and Parliament. This morning he met the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Achille Occhetto. He then attended a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Romano Prodi. In the afternoon he met the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Luciano Violante, and with the President of the Senate, Nicola Mancino.
At 5 p.m. Rome time, the Secretary-General met President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. The Secretary-General held a short press briefing today in which he confirmed that Canada was ready to command a multinational force in Zaire. Tomorrow, he would take part in the inaugural ceremony of the World Food Summit.
Ms. Foa said that an advance text of the Secretary-General's remarks before the summit would be available in the Spokesman's Office this afternoon. The Secretary-General would state that as the Summit convened, more than 1 million frightened, starving refugees were wandering helpless in the mountains and forests of eastern Zaire. He would make a solemn appeal to the international community to help those men, women and children who had lost everything and who faced certain death unless they received immediate assistance. The international community must come to the aid of refugees in Zaire. It was imperative that everyone helped -- the great Powers, the African States, international agencies and humanitarian organizations. It was an all-out emergency, and every day counted. (For text of the Secretary-General's statement, see Press Release SG/SM/6107-FAO/3642). Some countries, Ms. Foa added, had answered that appeal.
Ms. Foa then said that she had received a "secret code cable" to the effect that "our dynamo", Norbert Heinrich Holl (Germany), Head of the United Nations Special Mission for Afghanistan, would be in New York. "We'll get our lassoes out", Ms. Foa said. Mr. Holl was scheduled to take part in the 18 November meeting at the Secretariat on Afghanistan.
Today marked the first anniversary of the signing of the Basic Agreement in Erdut, Ms. Foa said. "Five cents to anyone who can tell me where Erdut is", she joked. That Basic Agreement had laid the groundwork for the creation of the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES). A ceremony had taken place at "Yellow House", where the Agreement was signed, she said. In attendance were Thorvald Stoltenberg, former United Nations Co-Chairman of the Steering Committee of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia; Peter Galbraith, United States Ambassador to Croatia; Jaques Paul Klein, Transitional Administrator for UNTAES, the Ambassadors from the Contact Group countries and representatives of the Croatian Government and of the local Serbs. A plaque was unveiled at Yellow House and a ceremonial plum tree was planted.
Ms. Foa then said that the Dutch International Police Task Force monitor who was wounded in Bosnia and Herzegovina yesterday had been injured in an accidental shooting. Evidently, a patrol of the Task Force had given a ride to a Bosnian Serb police officer in uniform, and the latter's pistol had discharged accidentally. The bullet lodged in the hip of the officer, who was subsequently evacuated to the Netherlands for treatment. "Keep your pistols on safety", Ms. Foa said, "especially when you hitchhike".
The Government of Jamaica yesterday signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), Ms. Foa said. The Czech Republic signed this morning, and Thailand was scheduled to sign this afternoon. Not counting Thailand, there were 132 signatories. Fiji was still the only Government to have ratified the Convention. Three of the 44 "core countries" who must sign for the Convention to enter into force had not yet done so -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India and Pakistan.
A new report released today by the International Labour Organization (ILO), "Child Labour: Targeting the Intolerable", had revealed that 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 were working in developing countries -- nearly double previous estimates. A detailed press release was available in the Spokesman's Office.
Of that total, some 120 million were working full-time, and 130 million part-time. Some 61 per cent of child workers, or nearly 153 million, were found in Asia; 32 per cent, or 80 million, were in Africa; and 7 per cent, or 17.5 million, lived in Latin America. The ILO report had also revealed that child labour existed in many industrialized countries and was emerging in many East European and Asian countries in transition to a market economy.
Calling for new focus on endangered children, the ILO was seeking the elaboration of a new convention against the worst forms of child labour, which would advocate specific measures to eradicate them.
Asked when the United Nations expected to see a multinational force on the ground in Zaire, Ms. Foa said that the States concerned would write a letter to the Security Council, transmitted through the Secretary-General. The mission would be authorized by the Security Council, but it would not be a United Nations operation. In their letter, those States were expected to indicate the goals of the mission. Events could happen quickly, Ms. Foa said -- within 48 to 72 hours. "This could move pretty fast. They seem to have their act together", she said. The United Nations was still waiting to hear from several other governments that were possible participants in the mission.
A correspondent then asked whether a formal request for the renewal of the UNSMIH mandate had been received from the Government of Haiti. She responded that she had not yet seen a formal request.
Did the Secretary-General discuss with the Italian Government their position on reform of the Security Council?
Ms. Foa said that while she did not yet have a read-out of those meetings, she believed that the main topic of discussion had been Italy's participation in a multinational humanitarian force for eastern Zaire. The dire problems of that region had been the main topic of discussion.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), told correspondents that the Assembly was this morning discussing its item on the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba. A draft resolution, introduced by Cuba, contained in document A/51/L.15, refers directly in its preamble to the United States' Helms-Burton law. It expresses concern over the promulgation by Member States of laws and regulations which affect the sovereignty of other States, the legitimate interests of entities or persons under their jurisdiction and the freedom of trade and navigation. By the draft, the General Assembly would reiterate its call on all States to refrain from promulgating and applying such laws and measures. States which have and continue to apply such laws and measures would be urged to take necessary steps to invalidate them as soon as possible.
[Subsequent to the briefing, correspondents were informed that the Assembly adopted the draft resolution by a vote of 137 in favour to 3 against (Israel, United States and Uzbekistan), with 25 abstentions.]
Also this morning, the Assembly President announced that he had designated the Permanent Representatives of Cape Verde and Belgium as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively, of the informal working group on An Agenda for Peace.
The Assembly had also completed the election of 34 members of the International Law Commission, she said. The results of the secret ballot had been made available in the Spokesman's office yesterday afternoon. The Assembly had also adopted its draft resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). It recommended that the first general meeting between representatives of the United Nations system and CARICOM be held in 1997.
In other Assembly business, the Assembly's First Committee approved two drafts on bilateral nuclear arms negotiations and nuclear disarmament. The first text, A/C.1/51/L.21, was approved by a vote of 83 in favour to 36 against, with 21 abstentions. The second, A/C.1/51/L.45, was approved by a vote of 129 in favour to none against, with 12 abstentions. A list of 11 drafts approved by the First Committee had been made available to correspondents late yesterday afternoon, she said.
[Draft resolutions approved by the First Committee on 11 November were those on the establishment of a nuclear-free-zone in south Asia (vote: 130-3-8); consolidation of the regime established by the Treaty of Tlatelolco (without a vote); nuclear disarmament with a view to the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons (votes on preambular paragraph 7: 133-1-6; on operative paragraph 1: 138-2-2; on draft as a whole: 132-0-11); Convention on the prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons (vote: 76-26-24); Treaty of Pelindaba (without a vote); conclusion of effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapons States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons (vote: 100-0-43); nuclear disarmament (vote: 87-38-20); Biological Weapons Convention (without a vote); prohibition of dumping of radioactive wastes (without a vote); prohibition of the development and manufacture of new types of weapons of mass destruction (without a vote); and measures to uphold the authority of the 1925 Geneva Protocol (vote: 132-0-10).]
The Second Committee was considering the issue of external debt and development. Also, four draft resolutions were before the Committee. One of them, on the International Conference on Population and Development, would have the Assembly urge all countries to consider their current spending with a view to making additional contributions to the Programme of Action of that Conference. Also, it would decide that the special session to review the implementation of Agenda 21 should give attention to the issue of population.
The Assembly's Third Committee yesterday approved a text by which the Assembly would expand the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) by two, to a total of 53 States.
The Fourth Committee this morning was considering a draft resolution by which the Assembly would adopt an international declaration on international cooperation on the exploration and use of outer space.
* *** *