DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961205
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
There had been much confusion at the conclusion of yesterday's Security Council meeting, Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at today's noon briefing. "My phone was ringing off the hook, and I will bet yours were, also", she said. "I want to be very, very clear. The Secretary-General remains a candidate for a second term as Secretary- General of the United Nations. He is the candidate of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). However, until members of the Security Council have had a chance to review other candidates, he has asked that his name not be submitted for another vote. He has spoken to the President of the Security Council, who is completely on board with this clarification."
The Secretary-General would be attending the Security Council luncheon today, to be hosted by Francesco Fulci of Italy, President of the Security Council, she said. He would otherwise spend the day catching up on his paperwork.
The Security Council began meeting at 11 a.m. today, on Haiti, Ms. Foa said. At last count, there would be 18 speakers. The Council was set to renew the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH). The resolution before the Council stipulated that the mandate would be renewed for six months, until 31 May 1997. Although that was termed a "final renewal", if the Secretary-General were to report to the Council by 31 March 1997 that UNSMIH could make a further contribution, it could then be considered for extension for another two months, until 31 July 1997.
In his report of 14 November 1996, the Secretary-General had requested an extension of the mandate until 30 June 1997, at its current strength, Ms. Foa said. Currently, there were 599 troops out of an allowed 600, plus 698 out of the 700 troops funded by the Canadian Trust Fund and 300 civilian police. The grand total "on deck" at present was at 1,597. Under the new mandate being discussed by the Council, the Mission would have 500 soldiers, plus 300 international police and, presumably, the 700 Canadian-funded troops.
Ms. Foa added, "the draft resolution notes that the security situation in Haiti, and the Haitian police's capacity to confront existing challenges, has improved in recent months".
Today, the General Assembly was discussing the Secretary-General's Report on Assistance in Mine Clearance, Ms. Foa continued. During the past year, the United Nations had coordinated mine clearance in a total of nine countries -- Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Croatia, Georgia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mozambique, and Yemen. It was
likely that such assistance would also be requested for Tajikistan and northern Iraq in the near future.
The Secretary-General pointed out in the Report that there were an estimated 110 million mines buried in more than 70 countries, Ms. Foa said. According to the Report, those mines would continue to kill for decades to come. An estimated 25,000 mine-related casualties occurred worldwide each year.
In his report, the Secretary-General said, "This is a battle against time, because new mines are being laid every day. The proliferation and use of land-mines is a deadly and eminently preventable humanitarian disaster that has lasting social and economic consequences. Immediate steps must be taken to stop the production, stockpiling, marketing, and use of land-mines, and to convince those countries that allow these activities to stop doing so. The use of land-mines is an intolerable blemish on civilization. Humanitarian organizations and non-governmental organizations throughout the world are campaigning for a total ban on land-mines. An increasing number of governments are actively supporting this initiative." Ms. Foa said that the Secretary-General believed that the ban was becoming an achievable objective for the near future, adding, "Let us hope so".
Turning to Tajikistan, Ms. Foa said the security situation in that country was deteriorating. Armed hostilities continued to be reported in the Karategin Valley, in violation of the cease-fire agreement. Fighting was also reported around Garm Airport, in Chorsoda and Sichalog. Meanwhile, preparations continued for a preliminary meeting between Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmonov and the opposition leader, Dr. Nuri. It was expected that that meeting would be held "sometime around 9 December in northern Afghanistan". It was important that both sides made every effort to reverse the deteriorating situation, to allow the political dialogue to continue at the highest level.
A press release was issued by the United Nations Mission of Observers to Tajikistan (UNMOT), on incidents that occurred yesterday, Ms. Foa said. There had been a serious harassment incident of two UNMOT military observers and their local interpreter on Tuesday, 3 December. They were physically assaulted with weapons, kicked and punched by soldiers near the Chorsoda government post. They were lined up and threatened with execution. One was also taken to the edge of a mountain ridge and told that he was going to be pushed off. A search team that was sent to look for them was also harassed by government soldiers. The Mission had branded the behaviour as "totally unacceptable", and a press release on the matter was available in the Spokesman's Office.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 5 December 1996
Ms. Foa then announced the following:
-- At 1:30 p.m., in the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Club, the World Wildlife Fund would hold a briefing on the Law of the Sea; and
-- At 5:30 p.m., also in the UNCA Club, the Beaujolais Nouveau was being tasted.
A correspondent asked if contingency planning was occurring to prepare for the possibility that there might not be anyone in the Secretary-General's position on 1 January 1997. Ms. Foa said she would check on that matter.
A correspondent then asked for the Secretary-General's reaction to the possible selection of Madeleine K. Albright as the next United States Secretary of State. Ms. Foa responded that the Secretary-General had said he was delighted for his dear friend Madeleine Albright, with whom he has always had very warm and cordial relations. Asked if Ms. Albright's going to Washington would affect the Secretary-General's candidacy, Ms. Foa said it would not.
Asked to respond to news reports of a United States offer to the Secretary General of a position as Director of a foundation and Emeritus Secretary-General title, Ms. Foa said he had very firmly told her that he was not willing to discuss any approaches made by the United States Government.
What did it mean to suspend his candidacy? a correspondent asked. Ms. Foa said "it is a question of semantics". What the Secretary-General had asked was that his name not be tabled for another vote at this time. That was clearly because the situation had not been clarified, Council members had not considered other candidates, and on 19 November his name had already been voted on 14 to one. What had changed that would call for another vote at this time? she asked. "So the Secretary-General had said, Hey, no reason to just keep shoving my name out there on the table. Let's get on with it", she said.
Was the Secretary-General saying that the Council should look for someone else? a correspondent inquired. Ms. Foa said he wanted the Council to have the opportunity to review other candidates. That was obvious. "The Secretary-General believes that this process should be an open process", she added.
Asked by a correspondent to describe a situation in which the Secretary- General would issue a statement indicating that he was not a candidate, Ms. Foa said she did not want to respond to a hypothetical situation. "We are nowhere near that kind of a situation, yet", she said.
What would the Secretary-General feel if one of his Under-Secretaries- General were a candidate against him? a correspondent asked. The Secretary- General had no concerns about that whatsoever, Ms. Foa said. The selection process was an open process. If countries felt they had a qualified candidate, countries should submit those candidates. If anyone wished to submit their own name, that was also allowed. It should be an open process, and the Secretary-General had said that from the beginning.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 5 December 1996
Asked for information regarding the involvement of United Nations military personnel and child prostitution, Ms. Foa said that in the report of Graca Machel on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, there was a paragraph on Blue Helmets and Child Prostitution. That was contained in paragraph 98 of the Graca Machel report, which said that children might become victims of prostitution following the arrival of peace-keeping forces. In Mozambique, after the signing of the peace treaty in 1992, soldiers of the United Nations operation recruited girls between twelve and eighteen years of age into prostitution. A Commission of Inquiry was formed and, after the allegations were confirmed, the implicated soldiers were sent home. In six out of 12 country studies on sexual exploitation of children in situations of armed conflict prepared for the present report, the arrival of peace-keeping troops had been associated with a rapid rise in child prostitution.
Ms. Foa said that Graca Machel had presented that report to the Secretary-General, and therefore he was very aware of it. "We have some problems here", she said. "When we get a report of misconduct by the United Nations peace-keeping, we investigate. If we find the allegations are true, we immediately repatriate those troops. This has happened in Bosnia, for example, where there were charges of black-marketeering and prostitution. However, it is up to the national authorities to take disciplinary action. The United Nations has no capacity to take disciplinary action, beyond sending them home in disgrace. So, they take that action". The Secretary-General was working with the Department of Peace-keeping Operations (DPKO) to find out if the problem was widespread.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said this morning the President had chaired the meeting for the pledging of contributions for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Copies of his statement had been made available to correspondents this morning. (See Press Release GA/9186.) The President urged governments to respond generously to the appeal to help UNRWA, which, according to its Commissioner-General, was at a "breaking point". The President lauded the Agency's commitment to improve the economic and social situation of the Palestinian people on the ground. The Agency, the oldest United Nations programme devoted to a single constituency, planned, implemented and administered its own programmes and projects, which included the provision of direct services in education, health, and relief and social services to the Palestinian refugees.
The President said that he was saddened by the fact that, despite the working relationship that existed between UNRWA and the host Governments of
Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 5 December 1996
Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, the closure and other related security measures by the occupying Power had affected the living conditions of the Palestinian refugees, she went on.
Ms. Abdul-Majid said, as had been mentioned, the plenary was now considering the item on assistance in mine clearance. The report referred to by Ms. Foa also had valuable information on the countries in which the United Nations had programmes. Twenty-seven speakers were now scheduled on that item, which would go into the afternoon session.
Also this afternoon the Assembly would take up the item on the strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian assistance of the United Nations, for which there were a number of draft resolutions.
By one of the drafts, the Assembly would renew its appeals for assistance to the affected States in the period following the lifting of sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Among the measures cited were the promotion of exports, investments and development of private enterprises in the affected States.
By the draft on assistance for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Liberia, the Assembly would reiterate its appeal to all States to contribute generously to the Trust Fund for Liberia established by the Secretary-General, Ms. Abdul-Majid said. It urges the factions and their leaders to establish conditions essential to the social and economic development of that country. On Lebanon, the Assembly would appeal to all Member States and all organizations of the United Nations to intensify their efforts to consider an increase of all forms of support, including financial grants and soft loans. On Mozambique, it would urge all States, intergovernmental and non- governmental organizations to continue to provide the needed assistance in order to help the Government of Mozambique to develop its national mine- clearance capacity. By another draft, the Assembly would request the donor community to participate actively and generously in the roundtable on Djibouti, which was to be organized in February 1997.
In observance of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, the plenary meeting tomorrow would be devoted to the discussion of the problem of trafficking in human persons, and especially women and children, Ms. Abdul- Majid said.
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