DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970110
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Fred Eckhard, Acting Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan, began today's noon briefing by reading out the following statement:
"The Secretary-General is concerned with the increase in tensions on Cyprus. The Security Council, most recently in its resolution (1092) of 23 December 1996, has expressed grave concern about the excessive levels of military forces and armaments in the Republic of Cyprus and the rate at which they are being expanded, upgraded and modernized, including the introduction of sophisticated weaponry. The Secretary-General believes that the events of the past week once again underline the inherent instability of the status quo and add urgency to the concerted efforts to achieve an overall political settlement through negotiations."
"The Secretary-General underscores the importance of carefully prepared face-to-face talks between the leaders. He calls upon the parties to avoid risk of confrontation on the island and urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint. The Secretary-General reminds all sides that the United Nations Charter forbids the threat or use of force in situations such as this." (See today's Press Release SG/SM/6141.)
Turning to other matters, Mr. Eckhard said the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Choong-Hyun Paik, was in that country until 15 January to examine the human rights situation in general, and particularly that of women there. Mr. Paik would report to the next session of the Commission which would begin in March.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda had resumed its first trial in Arusha today, Mr. Eckhard continued. The first of 31 prosecution witnesses had been asked detailed questions for four hours, and she had given a detailed description of what she had witnessed involving the accused, Jean Paul Akayesu, a Rwandan Hutu and mayor of the town of Taba. Mr. Akayesu had been accused of genocide and crimes against humanity for inciting the killing of at least 2,000 Tutsis in his district. The defence, who would cross-examine the witness after a few days' break, would provide their own witnesses later on.
Following Security Council consultations on Guatemala, the Ambassador of Guatemala to the United States, Pedro Miguel Lamport, acting in his capacity as Special Envoy of the President of Guatemala, would hold a press conference in room 226 at 4:30 p.m. today, Mr. Eckhard said. Guatemala's Permanent Representative, Julio Armando Martini Herrera, and its Ambassador to Canada, Francisco Villagran, would also be present. (It was later announced that the press conference had been cancelled.) Consultations on Guatemala were the only item on the agenda today, Mr. Eckhard added. The Council was expected to consider the situation in the Prevlaka Peninsula next Tuesday, 14 January.
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 10 January 1997
A correspondent asked if the meeting today between the Secretary-General and the former Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland, was at his initiative or hers. Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General had heard that Mrs. Brundtland was going to be in the United States to participate in a conference in Florida and had invited her to stop by to chat with him. Mr. Eckhard recalled that, as he had mentioned in the past, the Secretary-General had her in mind "as a member of senior group of wise men and women who can advise him on a variety of topics".
Given concerns over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, were there any plans to make public the internal report of the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, Karl Theodor Paschke, into failures at the Tribunal's Registry in Arusha? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said the report would be made public as a matter of routine, the problem would be with the timing.
Mr. Paschke had circulated his report to about five people in the Secretariat and had received comments from all but one of them, Mr. Eckhard continued. Several of those comments were quite extensive, and Mr. Paschke had estimated it would take his office about two weeks to digest them and finalize his report before it went to the Secretary-General, who could take whatever action he wanted. However, the Secretary-General then presented the report to the General Assembly, which could take up to a month to translate it into six languages before releasing it. Mr. Eckhard said that his office would have to see what it could do to get a copy of the report to correspondents sooner than that.
Why had the Secretary-General picked Ms. Brundtland to be one of his advisers? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard replied that the Secretary-General was looking to select people with sufficient seniority, wisdom and experience in multilateral affairs. People who were independent of thought and who could provide him with the kind of counsel he would need as he faced difficult and complex decisions in his administration.
A correspondent asked for comments on a reported lapse in personal security for the Secretary-General at the Waldorf Astoria hotel over the last week. Mr. Eckhard said if the Secretary-General could go without any security at all, he would. He felt his loss of privacy "quite acutely". However, it was not United Nations policy to discuss security matters as a matter of principle, Mr. Eckhard added. Could Mr. Eckhard report on any progress in negotiations on the situation in Cyprus? a correspondent asked. He replied that the situation was too complicated an issue for him to "wade into in a general way and I am not even sure I am competent to at this point". In reply to a question for more details on the Secretary-General's visit to Washington, D.C., on 23 and 24 January and the date for his press conference, Mr. Eckhard said he was not sure a press conference would be scheduled. As he had mentioned at yesterday's briefing, the Secretary-General would probably address the National Press Club at a luncheon on Friday, 24 January. The rest of the programme was still being finalized and correspondents would be notified as soon as it was completed.
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