DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961210
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that the Secretary-General had this morning addressed the General Assembly on the occasion of Human Rights Day.
The Secretary-General had stated that "human rights constitute one of the basic pillars of the Charter of the United Nations. They are at the core of the civilized order it enshrines. Such freedoms and rights are universal and must be the birthright of all mankind.
"Countless groups and thousands of individuals have turned to United Nations human rights bodies for support against discrimination, torture, executions, disappearances, and religious and racial intolerance. Public opinion, non-governmental organizations, parliaments and the media guarantee the respect for human rights. I once again invite the international community to fight for all humanity because the fight for the dignity of men, women and children is the only thing that justifies our commitment and determination."
The Secretary-General met at 11:30 a.m. with Sir John Weston, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom. While she had no readout of the meeting, she presumed that it would concern the plans of that Government to withdraw from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
"What happened at 1 minute past midnight?" Ms. Foa asked, regarding the initiation of oil sales by Iraq under the "oil-for-food" agreement. The overseers were on deck, watching the fax machine. Finally, one contract arrived and they were now "actively considering" the one oil sales contract which had been faxed to them. A second contract had also been submitted, but as the contract had not followed all procedures, the overseers had asked that it be re-submitted. "So, one-and-a-half contracts have been submitted", Ms. Foa said.
Ms. Foa said that the Compensation Commission had claims totalling $200 billion. Under the terms of Security Council resolution 986, 30 per cent of the $2 billion in Iraqi oil sales over the next six months would go to that Commission. Funds thus far paid to claimants had come from donations from governments and from seized Iraqi assets. The Commission estimated that it would start receiving funds by the end of February. They expected that at that time they would be able to compensate some 56,000 people with $160 million. So far the Commission had paid only $13.4 million to some 4,000 priority claimants. "It's a drop in the bucket when you consider that the claims out there are for $200 billion", Ms. Foa said.
This morning a new South African Constitution had been signed into law at Sharpeville, South Africa, by President Nelson Mandela. The Secretary-General had stated that it was "fitting that such an important document was signed at a location where, in March 1960, 69 unarmed demonstrators had been killed by the police of the apartheid regime. It was equally fitting that the signing took place on International Human Rights Day. With the signing today, one of the last chapters in South Africa's transition from the abhorrent system of apartheid to a democratic system of government has been written. The Constitution contains a Bill of Rights and other important clauses safeguarding human rights and fundamental freedoms. The country's basic law will help foster the process of forgiveness and healing from the traumas and serious injustices of the past and provide the people of South Africa with a document containing the necessary checks and balances which ensure that the rule of law will prevail in the country. It also restructures Parliament by replacing the Senate with a new body called the Council of Provinces and paves the way for South Africa's second general elections scheduled for 1999."
Ms. Foa then announced that today had seen the opening of the Human Rights Office in Sukhumi, Abkhazia, Georgia. A statement to the press was available in the spokesman's office. The opening of the new office, authorized by Security Council resolution 1077, had been attended by "everyone and their brother". The objectives of the new human rights office are to protect the human rights of the population of Abkhazia, Georgia, to contribute to a safe and dignified return of refugees and internally displaced persons through improvement of the human rights situation and to report on human rights developments in conformity with United Nations practices. The bad news was that the Office was still unmanned, Ms. Foa said. People were being recruited now. One would be a United Nations human rights monitor. The other would come from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The Security Council this morning was discussing Angola and Afghanistan, she said. It was also discussing Georgia under "other matters". The Secretary-General had recommended that the mandate of the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III) be extended through 28 February 1997. Regarding Afghanistan, the Council had discussed a letter from the Secretary-General on the international meeting on Afghanistan which had taken place at Headquarters on 18 November, as well as his report on the United Nations Special Mission on Afghanistan. It was considering a draft letter to the Secretary-General on that topic. This afternoon the Council would undertake consultations of the whole on recommendation for the appointment of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Ms. Foa then said that the issue of the "wayward plane" carrying Tajik opposition leader Syid Abdullo Nuri had been resolved. The meeting between Mr. Nuri and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov had taken place in the village of Khosdekh, in northern Afghanistan. It was expected that talks would continue tomorrow. Today, they had tackled restoration of the cease-fire, and power-sharing arrangements, which meant the possible formation of a coalition government. The talks would hopefully continue in Moscow on 19 December. Gerd Merrem, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Tajikistan, had attended the talks.
The Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) would be out this afternoon, Ms. Foa announced. The Secretary-General stated that the situation in Cyprus had deteriorated over the past six months. There was violence along the cease-fire lines, including the unnecessary and disproportionate use of lethal force by the Turkish Cypriot side, to an extent not seen since 1974.
There had been an increase in the number of incidents in which UNFICYP soldiers had been threatened at gunpoint by the forces of either side; on four occasions, UNFICYP personnel had come under fire. There had been no progress on reciprocal measures to prohibit live ammunition or weapons, other than hand-held weapons, along the cease-fire lines. Nor had there been any progress on extension of the 1989 "unmanning agreement". There were 39 minefields and booby-trapped areas within the buffer zone, and an additional 71 on either side, within 500 metres of the buffer zone. The UNFICYP had requested their removal by the forces of the two sides, but that request had been ignored. The UNFICYP presence on the island remained indispensable, according to the Secretary-General. He recommends that the mandate of UNFICYP be extended for six months, through 30 June 1997. The current mandate expires on 31 December. The UNFICYP comprised 1,197 personnel -- 1,162 troops and 35 civilian police.
A statement attributable to a spokesman for the Secretary-General was available in the spokesman's office regarding Guatemala, Ms. Foa said. On Saturday, 7 December, representatives of the Government and of the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) had signed an "Agreement on Constitutional Reform and Electoral Regime". The agreement contained a series of proposals for constitutional reform including the recognition of the identity and rights of indigenous persons, and the mandate and structure of the country's security forces. On 8 December the delegations had gone to Madrid; from 9 to 12 December, they would be negotiating the penultimate item on the negotiating agenda -- the reintegration of the URNG into the political life of Guatemala. On 29 December, the final peace agreement was scheduled to be signed. The Secretary-General congratulates the parties on their latest agreement and wishes them success in the forthcoming round.
As part of the Human Rights Day observance, Ms. Foa announced that two panel discussions would take place on 12 December in Conference Room 4, moderated by Charlayne Hunter-Gault of the Public Broadcasting Service. The first panel would be entitled "Accountability and Impunity in Civil Strife". Jose Ayala Lasso, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, would deliver a keynote address at 3 p.m., followed by the second panel entitled "The Right to Development: Is Poverty an Abuse of Human Rights?" Panellists would include representatives of Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists and speakers from within the United Nations system.
Ms. Foa then announced the creation of a new Website entitled "The United Nations Human Rights World Wide Web". It was intended to become the most complete source of information on the Internet concerning United Nations actions for the protection and promotion of human rights. The address -- http://www.unhchr.ch.
Tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. at UNICEF House, there would be a press conference with Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and Roger Moore, the UNICEF Special Representative for the Film Arts, to announce publication of the State of the World's Children, 1997. That report exposes hazardous and exploitative child labour situations around the world. The report demands an immediate end to the most intolerable forms of child labour, especially prostitution and bonded labour. The report estimates that there are some 250 million child labourers around the world. That number represents some 25 per cent of the children in the developing world.
The report challenges many myths about child labour, including the notion the child labour would never be eliminated until poverty disappeared. World poverty could not be eliminated by the end of the decade, but hazardous child labour could be. A few copies of the report were available at the third floor documents counter, but its contents were under strict embargo until 10:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow. The UNICEF was inviting everyone to attend a celebration in the General Assembly Hall from 3 to 5 p.m. tomorrow. Attending would be the Secretary-General, Roger Moore, Nana Mouskouri and the Boys Choir of Harlem. Also, there would be a photographic exhibit entitled "Child Rights: A New Era for Children" hosted by Johann Olav Koss in the General Assembly public lobby.
Ms. Foa then announced that at 2 p.m. tomorrow, in room 226, the Permanent Mission of Greece would sponsor a Press Conference with Nana Mouskouri, singer, member of the European Parliament and honorary spokesman for UNICEF.
She then announced that there would be a farewell party for Dag Hammarskjold Scholars at 3 p.m. today in the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Club. The President of the General Assembly would attend to deliver certificates to the fellows.
Who does the Secretary-General like in the Security Council straw poll? a correspondent asked. Did he think that all four candidates for his job were qualified? Ms. Foa said that the candidates' qualifications were up to the Security Council.
Who was the contract for Iraqi oil being offered by? a correspondent said. Ms. Foa said that when asking that question, she had been told that that was "privileged information". But there was a contract and it was being actively considered by the overeers. The overseers were operating under a 24-hour rule. As soon as it was approved, oil would flow.
Had the Secretary-General asked for the right to give a farewell speech in the General Assembly? a correspondent asked. Ms. Foa answered that she did not think that he had to ask permission to give a speech and she didn't understand the gloom and doomsday atmosphere among the journalists.
Television crews were being "harassed daily" by the Department of Public Information, a correspondent said. "The recent two-day television conference put on by Mr. Sanbar was a joke", he said. The Secretary-General talked about openness and transparency, he continued, but the press could not even photograph the President of the Security Council at the stakeout because of so many delegates and "hangers on".
Unfortunately, United Nations Security staff were not allowed to "herd away" representatives of missions who blocked cameras, Ms. Foa said. "But, should there be any question, the press is free to stand anywhere they want and talk to anybody they want. Anybody who wants to quarrel about that should come to my office. Is that a clear message to everybody at the United Nations? The press can do whatever they need to do, to do their jobs".
"Go and do what you will", Ms. Foa then said. "Remember, the Secretary-General has said that you are the sixteenth member of the Security Council, so don't take any flak."
A correspondent then asked whether the Secretary-General was still the official candidate of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Ms. Foa said that he was.
Had the Secretary-General been in touch with any candidates for his post? In the course of his daily work, he regularly spoke to some of those people, especially those who worked at the United Nations, Ms. Foa said. But he had not spoken to them on that subject.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), told correspondents that the President had made a statement to the Assembly in connection with Human Rights Day. He had said that "if universality is the central tenet of human rights, universal application of their principles is the guardian of human dignity for all. Since 1948, global events have demonstrated with increasing clarity that peace, democracy, development and human rights are intrinsically interdependent. We understand that peace and human rights are knitted together, the removal of one strand resulting in the unravelling of the other. We also know that sustained economic and social development, and respect for human rights cannot be achieved without safeguarding the other."
"Individual rights and liberties will be meaningful only if they can bring about fundamental changes to society by transforming values, attitudes and power structures. Ultimately the bottom line is the role of governments and their accountability to those who are governed by them. As things are, there are many that have failed people, promising 'will-o'-the-wisp', doctrinal solutions as panaceas, but cloaking power perpetuation at any cost."
Ms. Abdul-Majid then announced that this morning the plenary had begun considering the first annual report of International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda which reviewed activities of the Tribunal. The Tribunal consists of two trial chambers, one appeals chamber, a prosecutor and registry. Outlining its activities, she said that three accused persons had appeared before the court in May. That had marked the first time that an international criminal tribunal had been seated in Africa. A statement of the President of the Tribunal was available in French. The first trial would take place in January 1997.
Yesterday, she recalled, she had discussed financing of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and for the Former Yugoslavia. A report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) had been issued on that subject, she said. The Committee recommended that $42.3 million should be appropriated for the former Yugoslavia Tribunal, and $41.7 million for the Rwanda Tribunal, pending the receipt of revised estimates. The Secretary-General had recommended slightly higher levels of funding, she said.
Yesterday the plenary had adopted all three draft resolutions before it, she said. The draft on the law of the sea had been adopted by a vote of 138 in favour to 1 against, with 4 abstentions. The other drafts, on large-scale pelagic drift-net fishing and on the agreement for the conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks, had been adopted without a vote.
A performance report on the 1996-1997 programme budget had been issued, she announced. Based upon a number of factors, including adjusted rates of inflation and exchange rates, and additional mandates approved after the approval of the 1996-1997 budget, the level of resources for the two years would be reduced by $5.6 million to $2.603 billion.
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