DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961206
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by announcing that the Secretary-General yesterday called United States Permanent Representative and Secretary of State-designate Madeleine K. Albright to congratulate her and to tell her how happy he was at her appointment. Ms. Albright was a very passionate supporter of the Organization, Ms. Foa said. "This is a good thing for us. We're very happy for her and for the United Nations. She is a real advocate."
"I know what you all want to hear about", Ms. Foa then said. The United Nations was still awaiting a final report from Saybolt, the Dutch company which had been contracted to provide oil inspectors in connection with the sale of Iraqi oil under Security Council resolution 986 (1995). Saybolt technicians were now working on metering equipment in the town of Zakho, checking final calibrations. Meanwhile, oil inspectors from Saybolt would be arriving in Iraq over the weekend. The four "overseers" -- officials charged with approving oil sales contracts -- had been asked by the Secretariat to come back to New York at the beginning of next week.
"We're getting closer to the magic moment for the implementation of 986", Ms. Foa said. There was no firm time when the Secretary-General would deliver his final report to the Security Council as he was awaiting the Saybolt report. He had issued an interim report last week. What was now needed was a "go". Under the terms of resolution 986, at 0001 on the day after the President of the Security Council had informed the Council that he had received the final report of the Secretary-General to the Council, the clock would "start ticking". That did not mean that at that moment oil exports would begin to flow. The overseers would still have to approve oil sales contracts, a procedure which could take up to 24 hours. All time references under resolution 986 referred to eastern standard time (EST), she said.
For security reasons, the United Nations today had relocated 74 dependants of its staff in the Central African Republic, Ms. Foa announced. All 100 United Nations staff members remained on the job.
The Secretary-General had addressed the General Assembly this morning on the occasion of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, Ms. Foa said. "Who thought we'd be talking about slavery in 1996?" Ms. Foa asked. The Secretary-General stated that slavery was an evil that the world had rightly outlawed and condemned. It was a shameful, inhumane and degrading exploitation of human beings by other human beings. On the eve of the twenty-first century, slavery was far from dead. Tens of millions of people were living in slavery. In some countries traditional forms of slavery had still not disappeared. In others, new forms of the practice, such as debt bondage and forced labour, had become commonplace. The trafficking of human beings was a serious challenge to the international community. The traffic in persons was a highly organized international trade with links to organized crime. It was a trade chiefly involving young women and girls, often leading to forced domestic service, prostitution and pornography. "In the late twentieth century, this situation was simply unacceptable" the Secretary-General said. He urged Member States to address the problem with urgency and a renewed sense of outrage.
The Security Council was today being briefed by the Executive Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission monitoring the disarmament of Iraq, Rolf Ekeus, Ms. Foa said. It was also beginning consideration of the progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III). At 3:30 p.m., it would undertake consultations of the whole on recommendations for the appointment of the Secretary-General under the "one-plus-two" formula (one representative and two aides per delegation of members of the Council).
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had begun broadcasting a message in its camps in the United Republic of Tanzania that all refugees should try to go home before the end of the year, the Spokesman said. "It really is time to go home", she said. Tanzania was now sheltering some 730,000 refugees, including 535,000 Rwandans. The UNHCR messages were being read out over loudspeakers. Rwanda had given assurances that they would receive returning refugees; the UNHCR had been assured by that Government that repatriation would be carried out in an orderly and humane manner.
The UNHCR was constructing two way stations on the 30-kilometre road between the camps and the Tanzania/Rwanda border, she said. It was also establishing four water points. Once in their villages of origin, refugees would be given repatriation packages of food and non-food items.
Some 790 Rwandan refugees had registered to go home today, she said. By way of comparison, 94 had returned in September; 250 in October and 548 in November. But things were not all "hunky dory", Ms. Foa said. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, stated that the UNHCR had counted some 1.2 million refugees in the Great Lakes region. Studies of Rwandan returnees had revealed that although people were returning to their villages from the North Goma camp, those who had been in the Bukavu and Uvira camps had not returned. There had been no significant returns reported in Cyangugu, Gikongoro and Kibuye prefectures in southwestern Rwanda. That was where most of the refugees in the Bukavu and Uvira camps had come from.
The UNHCR had received information from aerial photographs regarding the location of 250,000 refugees in three large groups some 75/100 kilometres west of Lake Kivu, Ms. Foa continued. The agency was still worried about the location of some 350,000 others.
Ms. Foa then announced that Canada had submitted its first report on the multinational force for eastern Zaire as requested by Security Council resolution 1080 (1996). The Secretary-General had transmitted that report to the Council. The report notes improvements in the situation on the ground in eastern Zaire, but states that it is possible that there might be an appreciable number of refugees in eastern Zaire who still required assistance. Aerial and ground reconnaissance had been undertaken to ascertain the location, number, needs and intentions of remaining refugees and displaced persons. At present, the multinational force comprised some 345 personnel in Rwanda and Uganda and 32 military planning staff located in Stuttgart, Germany. The decision to deploy the force was taken on 29 November; more than 20 countries had agreed to contribute to it.
Due to the deteriorating security situation in Tajikistan, the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) had withdrawn all its teams from outposts to the capital of Dushanbe, she said. The civilian office in Talogan would continue to function. The civil affairs officer for Gdrno-Badakshan would remain in Khorog for the time being. There had been some "terrible harassment" of the UNMOT, she said. There were 44 UNMOT military observers in Tajikistan.
Ms. Foa then announced that the monthly summary of troop contributions was available in the Spokesman's office. The United Nations was now fielding 25,649 peace-keepers in 16 missions. Also available was a chart dated 30 November on the status of contributions. That chart would not reflect a 2 December payment by the United States of $151 million, she noted.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said the Assembly this morning had adopted three resolutions. By one of those, the Assembly had proclaimed 7 December to be International Civil Aviation Day. The two other resolutions were on United Nations support for the efforts of governments to promote or consolidate new or restored democracies; and on the mid-term review of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s. All three were adopted without a vote.
The Assembly President had also spoken at the plenary meeting on trafficking in human persons, especially women and children, in observance of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, Ms. Abdul-Majid said. In his statement, copies of which had been made available to correspondents, the President said the persistence and apparent growth of traffic in women and children served as a reproach to the age. "It is nothing short of modern slavery and an affront to humanity." As such, it should be treated with abhorrence and moral outrage. All members of society must share in the
responsibility to eliminate the exploitation of women and children in that manner. Only through such collective mobilization would the local, national, regional and international criminal trafficking networks be dismantled.
The President went on to say that of primary importance were actions aimed to eliminate the gender discrimination and persistent poverty that drove the trafficking in the first place, Ms. Abdul-Majid said. The international legal framework was in place and should be implemented and utilized. Law enforcement authorities and social service providers must increase their coordination and emphasize preventive measures, such as better health and education. "Perhaps more than all these, are efforts needed to extinguish the shame of victims which enable the trafficker to hide behind the cloak of secrecy and security."
Yesterday afternoon, the President had informed the Assembly of the status of the work of its fifty-first session. He said that the Main Committees, except the Fifth Committee, had generally concluded their work on schedule.
The President said punctuality, time limits on statements and adherence to deadlines helped the Committees accomplish their objectives. The Second Committee had reduced its resolutions from 43 last year to 28 this year, she continued. The President had also highlighted the difficulties arising from the late submission of documents. Deadlines for the submission of documents should be tightened and enforced. He also appealed to all delegates to help him conclude the Assembly's remaining work by 17 December. He informed the Assembly of actions he had taken relating to items on the appointment of the Secretary-General, on election of the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and on appointment of members of the Committee on Conferences. Copies of his statement had been made available to correspondents.
This morning, the President had announced the schedule for the consideration of the reports of the Main Committees as follows: First Committee, Tuesday afternoon, 10 December; Second Committee, Monday afternoon, 16 December; Third Committee, Thursday afternoon, 12 December; Fourth Committee, Friday morning, 13 December; and Sixth Committee, Monday morning, 16 December.
The Fifth Committee had a number of drafts to be considered today, she said, including drafts on the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP), the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) and the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES).
* *** *