DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

22 November 1996

Press Briefing

19961122 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

Ahmad Fawzi began today's noon briefing by announcing that Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, was absent today because of a personal matter she was attending to in Washington.

Mr. Fawzi went on to say that the Secretary-General had received the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations, Ambassador Hassan Ali Hussain Al-Nimah, for a farewell call this morning. He later was involved in a photo opportunity with a French non-governmental organization called Association Vacances Voyages Loisirs. At 12:30 p.m., he would attend part of a speech by Ted Turner, Vice-Chairman of Time Warner Incorporated, in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, for the second and last day of the United Nations World Television Forum. The Forum had brought together hundreds of television executives from around the world, and "you are all most welcome to attend", Mr. Fawzi said.

At lunchtime, the Secretary-General would receive His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, the Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Holy See of St. Mark, Mr. Fawzi said. Pope Shenouda was perhaps one of the longest serving patriarchs, having been in office for a quarter of a century. For his Silver Jubilee, he was touring the United States and the world, visiting churches here and in Canada. The Coptic Church was one of the earliest Christian churches in the world, with congregations in Egypt, Ethiopia, the Sudan and Libya, as well as the United States and Canada.

"Incidentally, I'm told that Pope Shenouda has supported the re-election of the Secretary-General for a second term of office", and had written to the United States Administration in that regard, Mr. Fawzi said. The most senior Islamic cleric, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr. Sayed Tantawi, had also expressed his support for the Secretary-General.

Mr. Fawzi said the Secretary-General had accepted an invitation by the Government of Bolivia to attend the second summit of the Americas, scheduled for 7 and 8 December in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It would be attended by the leaders of the western hemisphere, from Canada to Chile, including the Caribbean. The first such summit was held in 1994 in Miami.

The Secretary-General was invited to but could not attend the Bosnia and Herzegovina "Peace Implementation Conference", scheduled for 4 and 5 December in London, Mr. Fawzi said. The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Marrack Goulding, would represent him at the Conference, along with

Daily Press Briefing - - 22 November 1996

Iqbal Riza, Assistant Secretary-General and Coordinator of the United Nations Operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The countries which were involved in the Dayton peace process had also been invited.

The Security Council would have no meetings today, he said. It met yesterday and would meet again on Monday. On the agenda for Monday was Angola, the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP), Somalia and Western Sahara, as well as other matters.

The Secretary-General was following the developing crisis in Zaire with "the utmost of attention", Mr. Fawzi said. He was in contact with his Special Envoy to the Great Lakes region, Raymond Chretien (Canada), who

today was in Kinshasa. Ambassador Chretien had met with the Prime Minister of Zaire, Kengo wa Dondo. During the next few days, he would be meeting with the President of Kenya, Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, in Nairobi; the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Salim Salim, in Addis Ababa; Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi; President Paul Biya of Cameroon; and President Nelson Mandela, in South Africa.

He said Mr. Chretien was working on a number of aspects of the problem of refugees in eastern Zaire, including efforts to generate a political dialogue among the countries of the region, possibly leading to a conference. Mr. Chretien would advise the Secretary-General on the viability of convening a conference, which would be regional or international. The Ambassador's second mission was to explore the possibilities, under various scenarios, for the multinational force. He was in constant contact with his Government (Canada) which was leading the force. He was also looking into the role of a special representative for the Secretary-General, who would be dispatched to the region following the end of Mr. Chretien's mission.

Mr. Fawzi said there had been a few conflicting reports about numbers of refugees, which he would like to clear up "once and for all". The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had ascertained that some 500,000 refugees had returned. It was hoped there would be a repatriation of all the remaining 700,000 refugees in eastern Zaire. (Copies of a situation map of 18 November were available in the Spokesman's office.)

The UNHCR estimated that there were some 100,000 refugees in Goma and the area west of Goma, Mr.Fawzi said. Further to the west, west of Sake, there were some 50,000 refugees. Those figures did not represent Rwandans alone. Further south, there were thousands of Zairians who had been displaced by the fighting. In the region further south of Sake were some 200,000 people. South-west of Bukavu were some 250,000 refugees and displaced persons, originally from Bukavu or Uvira. No information was available on their condition. Further south were 100,000 refugees believed to be from Burundi. Again, no information was available on their condition. Those estimates, based on aerial photographs, food rationing cards and birth certificates, underlined the importance of sending in the military. The only confirmed information dated back to 26 October, before the hostilities, Mr. Fawzi said. There were then 1.2 million refugees in the Kivu region, as follows: 750,000 in five camps in the northern region; 308,000 in and around Bukavu (two groups of Rwandans); and 220,000 in the Uvira region, some of whom were also Burundians. Since then, it had been learned that 500,000 had returned to Rwanda and that all the camps were now empty. In addition, some 100,000 Zairians had been displaced by the fighting.

Sadly, there had been "a rather atrocious development" at the end of last month, Mr. Fawzi said. Another massacre had occurred in Burundi, which was discovered by members of the United Nations human rights field operation there. Following their visit to the Cibitoke province, their reports indicated that 300 refugees had been killed at a church in Murambi commune in Cibitoke, in north-western Burundi. Slaughtered on 27 October, allegedly by armed men in uniforms, they were among 400 Hutu returnees who

had planned to sleep overnight in the church before setting out to their communes. The massacre took place after the assassination of the Governor of Cibitoke on the same day. (A press release on the massacre was available in the Spokesman's office.)

Mr. Fawzi said the inter-agency team in eastern Zaire composed of the UNHCR, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) went into Bukavu yesterday and found the town half empty. Local authorities said only the men had come back, and that the women and children were still in the woods. In Rwanda, there were still some 100,000 Rwandan returnees on the road, but the flow of refugees across the border had slowed considerably.

Mr. Fawzi said a number of meetings on that situation were taking place, including one in Brussels to discuss the humanitarian situation, another in Stuttgart to discuss the military situation, and a third to be held in Geneva tomorrow. The latter, requested by Canada, for major donor countries for assistance to the Great Lakes region, would be attended on behalf of the Secretary-General by Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It would also be attended by representatives of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNICEF and the WFP.

There was some news from Liberia, Mr. Fawzi went on to say. The longawaited process of disarmament and demobilization had begun today. Reports from United Nations field officers indicated that some fighters had shown up at the designated disarmament and demobilization sites. The Economic Community of West African States' Military Observer Group (ECOMOG) had approved nine sites in Monrovia, as well as nine additional sites in other parts of the country, for the disarmament and demobilization process that was expected to continue until 31 January 1997.

Mr. Fawzi said there had been some good news today in the form of a payment by the Russian Federation of $41 million for peace-keeping. It also promised another instalment this year towards its United Nations debt. The Russian Federation was fully paid up on the regular budget and owed some $256 million to the peace-keeping budget. Today's payment brought the overall debt to the United Nations to just under $2.5 billion, of which $0.7 billion was owed the regular budget, with more than $1.7 billion pertaining to peacekeeping. In addition, Swaziland had now ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, Mr. Fawzi said. A press release was available on that action. What was the status of a report requested of the Secretary-General on the concept of operations for the multinational force in Zaire? a correspondent asked. Mr. Fawzi said the situation on the ground had been moving so rapidly that every time the Secretary-General finished the report, another development would occur, requiring a revision. It was almost ready but was still being worked on, with the various departments feeding their own elements into the Secretary-General's report. Citing a report yesterday which indicated that Indians and other indigenous peoples in Canada were in a terrible situation, the same correspondent asked if there was any concern about that. Mr. Fawzi said there was always concern for the suffering of people everywhere. In that particular instance, he did not believe there was going to be any change in the Secretary-General's report until developments on the ground were reviewed. Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said that the plenary was not meeting today, but would be consulting on several draft resolutions relating to the strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations. The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) was considering the item on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Ms. Abdul-Majid said that the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was considering a number of drafts, including one on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It would urge parties to comply strictly with the obligations under the related Convention. It appealed to all governments, organizations and individuals to respond favourably to requests for contributions to the United Nations voluntary fund for the victims of torture. Another draft resolution before that Committee, on the Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, regretted the lack of interest, support and financial resources for the Decade and its related programme, she said. It would have the Assembly appeal to all governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals to contribute to the trust fund relating to that Decade's programme. There

was also a draft on the situation of human rights in Iran, which expressed the Assembly's concern at the continuing violation of human rights there, and urged the Government as a State party to the International Covenants on Human Rights to abide by its freely undertaken obligations under those Covenants.

* *** *