DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970226
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Juan Carlos Brandt, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by informing correspondents that after reviewing the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Secretary-General discussed its findings with his senior advisers at Headquarters, as well as with the President of the Rwanda Tribunal and the Prosecutor. He also held separate meetings with Honoré Rakotomanana, the Deputy Prosecutor, and Andronico Adede, the Registrar. He concluded from the findings of the investigation that there were serious management and operational deficiencies that required decisive action, Mr. Brandt added.
In view of the high importance the United Nations and the international community attached to the work of the Tribunal, he said, the Secretary-General decided that the continuation of the two officials of the Tribunal in their posts would not be in the interests of the United Nations and of the work of the Tribunal in a case involving human tragedy of incalculable proportion.
Following the discussions with the Secretary-General and accepting that the best interests of the United Nations and the Tribunal were overriding concerns, Mr. Rakotomanana and Mr. Adede submitted their resignations from their respective posts, the latter also resigning from the Organization. The Secretary-General had accepted their resignations and administrative procedures were being taken to separate them from the Organization. It should, however, be noted that the investigation found no evidence of corruption or misuse of funds, he added. The Secretary-General had decided, in consultation with the President of the Tribunal, to appoint Agwu Okali of Nigeria as the new Registrar of the Rwanda Tribunal with immediate effect, Mr. Brandt said. Mr. Okali was currently serving as Director and Deputy to the Assistant Secretary-General at the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) in Nairobi. He had worked in the Office of Legal Affairs and served as Director of the Habitat office in New York. The announcement regarding the replacement of the Department Prosecutor would be made shortly. (The above information is also available in Press Release SG/SM/6172 issued today.)
Mr. Brandt noted that Habitat was the United Nations agency that dealt with human settlements. A profile of Agwu Okali, the new Registrar, was available for correspondents in the Spokesman's Office.
Mohamed Sahnoun, the United Nations/Organization of African Unity (OAU) Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, was currently proceeding
with his consultations with key players from the region, Mr. Brandt said. He would meet the Secretary-General in Paris on 1 March. He would then travel to Headquarters to brief the Security Council before returning to Nairobi to attend a regional summit meeting on the Great Lakes region.
Ambassador Sahnoun was gravely concerned about the escalation of fighting in eastern Zaire, including the air bombings, which was worsening the plight of the civilian population and several thousands of refugees and displaced persons and impeding the delivery of humanitarian assistance. The large dispersion into inhospitable terrain of the inhabitants of eastern Zaire fleeing the fighting and the reported discovery of mass graves benefited no one and discredited all protagonists, no matter how legitimate their cause might be.
Ambassador Sahnoun called, once again, for all the parties to abide by Security Council resolution 1097 (1997) and cease hostilities immediately, Mr. Brandt said. The break in fighting would enable the international community to establish the facts and consider the practical modalities for the withdrawal of all foreign forces, including mercenaries. It would also promote the establishment of a durable peace through dialogue, the electoral process and the international conference.
The Secretary-General had received a communication from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, José Ayala-Lasso, informing him of his decision to resign that post effective 15 March, Mr. Brandt said. The Secretary-General had accepted with regret Mr. Ayala-Lasso's resignation and looked forward to continuing working with him in his new capacity as Foreign Minister of Ecuador. Until a final decision was made regarding Mr. Ayala- Lasso's successor, the Secretary-General had decided to appoint ad interim and with immediate effect Ralph Zacklin, Director and Deputy to the Under- Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, as the Officer-in-Charge during the selection process for the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The Secretary-General and Mrs. Annan had met with Queen Elizabeth II of England this morning in London, Mr. Brandt said. Following that meeting, during a working lunch hosted by the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Sir Nicholas Bonsor, the Secretary-General discussed the issues of peace-keeping and United Nations reform with members of Parliament. Later, the Secretary-General attended the unveiling of a monument to Raoul Wallenberg by the Queen of England and in the presence of the President of Israel, a group of survivors of the Holocaust whose lives had been saved by Mr. Wallenberg, and other dignitaries.
Mr. Brandt highlighted an excerpt of the Secretary-General's remarks delivered during the ceremony: "Raoul's life and achievements have thrust to the fore the vital role of the bystander or the third party amidst conflict and suffering. His kind of intervention gives hope to the victims, encourages them to fight and resist, helps them to hang on and bear witness and hopefully arouses our collective conscience. The mystery remains, though: why were
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there so few Raouls? This monument should not only be a wonderful tribute to Raoul, but an inspiration for others to act. For future generations to act. For all of us to act. Let us remember the wise words of Edmund Burke: 'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.'" (For the full text of the statement, see Press Release SG/SM/6169.)
Later in the day, the Secretary-General was due to meet with Prime Minister John Major and with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Malcolm Rifkind, Mr. Brandt said.
The International Police Task Force (IPTF) had today released the findings of their report on the shooting incident in west Mostar on 10 February in which one Muslim was killed and scores were wounded, Mr. Brandt said. The report clearly identified two west Mostar police officers, one of whom was the deputy chief of police, as well as two plainclothes police officers firing into the Muslim crowds who were visiting a cemetery in the city on the Bajram day. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kai Eide, issued a statement demanding that the police officers must be suspended from their duties and be subjected to criminal investigation and prosecution. The above text was available in the Spokesman's Office.
According to a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report, there were 1.1 million Rwandan and 146,000 Burundi refugees in Zaire's Kivu region at the frontier with Rwanda before civil war broke out in October 1996, Mr. Brandt said. Repatriation figures showed that there were approximately 800,000 refugees in Zaire who had returned to their countries. Those figures also indicated there are nearly 400,000 refugees in eastern Zaire with about 160,000 in the area of Tingi-Tingi.
Mr. Brandt said that the UNHCR report also contained information on killings in the region and the situation in Tingi-Tingi, the only site where aid agencies have direct access to the refugees. The situation in Tingi-Tingi was described as calm.
The board of the Conference of NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, known as CONGO, would meet at Headquarters tomorrow and Friday, Mr. Brandt said. The Secretary-General would be sending a brief message to that meeting, which the Spokesman's Office would make available. The Secretary-General attached great importance to improving relations between the Secretariat and that group, and the non-governmental organization community at large, Mr. Brandt said. In that regard, he had asked the Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations in his Executive Office, Gillian Martin Sorensen, to ensure the connection of the Secretary- General's office to civil society at large, and to non-governmental organizations in particular. Her role would be one of coordinator and catalyst, and she would be chairing the Inter-Departmental Working Group on NGOs which had been meeting for the last 18 months. The ongoing servicing and accreditation of non-governmental organizations, however, would remain the
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responsibility of the existing NGO units in the Department of Public Information (DPI) and the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development.
Mr. Brandt said a copy of the message delivered on behalf of the Secretary-General by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Yasushi Akashi, to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)/Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Conference on Humanitarian Action and Peace-keeping Operations was available to correspondents. (See Press Release SG/SM/6170 issued today.) The meeting was taking place in Singapore from 24 to 26 February.
Mr. Brandt said that also available to correspondents was message of the Secretary-General delivered by Sashi Tharoor, Special Assistant of the Secretary-General, entitled "Message on Peace and Reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina". The message was read out at a reception organized by the Permanent Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina. (See Press Release SG/SM/6168 issued today.)
The United Nations Special Rapporteurs on human rights issues had cancelled a mission to Nigeria, Mr. Brandt indicated. In that connection, a press release issued earlier in Geneva was available in the Spokesman's Office.
The Security Council had consultations today on the Secretary-General's reports on Angola and Somalia, Mr. Brandt said. A draft presidential statement on Somalia and a draft resolution on Angola were being considered.
A conference organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on child labour dealing with the most harmful forms of child labour-slavery, debt bondage, prostitution, as well as work in hazardous industries and occupations, was being held today and tomorrow, 26 and 27 February, in Amsterdam, Mr. Brandt said. There would be two press conferences tomorrow, Thursday, 27 February, Mr. Brandt announced. At 11:15 a.m., Joseph Chamie, Director of the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, would speak on the thirtieth session of the Commission on Population and Development, which was being held at Headquarters this week. A special theme of the conference was international migration and development. At 1 p.m., sponsored by the Mission of Spain, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the NGOs "Airline Ambassadors" and "Paz y Cooperación" would launch an international youth competition with the theme "Food for all". They would present the details about the contest at the press conference.
During the subsequent question-and-answer exchange, a correspondent asked if the future plans of the departing Deputy Prosecutor and Registrar of the Rwanda Tribunal were known and whether any additional disciplinary action
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would be taken against them. Mr. Brandt said that the Deputy Prosecutor and the Registrar were leaving the Organization, but he did not know where they were going or if additional measures were being contemplated.
A correspondent asked if the appointment of Ralph Zacklin to the post of Officer-in-Charge in the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was a promotion. Mr. Brandt said that "although it was not a promotion, it was a very interesting and challenging assignment".
The Office of Legal Affairs came under a lot of criticism in Pashke's report, the correspondent continued, and it seemed peculiar that someone who was heading the work on the Rwanda Tribunal in the Office of Legal Affairs would be appointed to another high-profile position. Mr. Brandt responded that "Mr. Zacklin has had a long and distinguished career in the Office of Legal Affairs at the United Nations and has the full confidence of the Secretary-General. I think this fact is implicit by this assignment".
A correspondent said that the Pashke report had found fault with the performance of the New York office in regards to the Rwanda Tribunal and asked if there was any disciplinary action being considered for the office. Mr. Brandt quoted a portion of the Secretary-General's statement on the acceptance of the resignation of the Deputy Prosecutor and the Registrar: "It should, however, be noted that the investigation found no evidence of corruption or misuse of funds."
Did the resignations of the two Rwanda Tribunal members encourage any statement from the United Nations concerning the creation of the proposed International Criminal Court? a correspondent asked. Mr. Brandt said Member States were currently working on the proposal to create an international criminal court, and the Organization would wait until those deliberations were complete before issuing any statement.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said the President was currently in Washington, D.C., to take part in a panel discussion this evening at the Council on Foreign Relations. The subject of the discussion was "The US and UN: Repairing the Relationship". Other panel members were Sir Brian Urquhart and Congressman James Leach (Republican, Iowa). The President's opening remarks would be made available to correspondents this afternoon and embargoed until 6:30 p.m. (See Press Release GA/9219, issued today.)
Ms. Abdul-Majid said the statement referred to United States leadership, implications of United States position and withholding of payment, United Nations reform, and the need for better communication between the United States and the United Nations. The President would emphasize that comprehensive reforms of the United Nations are an urgent priority for all Member States and the Secretariat. Although the objectives might differ among Member States, the framework for negotiating such changes are commonly understood and accepted. Herein lay the source of tension between the United
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States and the United Nations: "whereas the substance of United States demands for reforms have in most cases been reasonable and even welcomed, the methodology employed so far is flawed, to the point that distrust of United States motives has provoked backlash, and undermined United States leadership and the United Nations reform agenda as a whole".
Ms. Abdul-Majid said the President would point out that many believe that viable and long-term change in the United Nations system was not possible without United States leadership and commitment -- not merely in dollars and cents, but also through a solid and dependable relationship with the United Nations. She said he would appeal for better communication, perseverance in building relationships and preparedness to bury ghosts, for mutual trust and honest attention to problem solving. "The United States has made its point. But now, to negotiate a broad and durable reform package, he and other reform advocates need early, positive and credible evidence that both Congress and the Clinton Administration are able and willing to keep their side of the bargain. Without such evidence as a first step, any effort to reduce the United States assessment and repair the relationship may come to nought."
While in Washington, the President would meet with three senators. By now, he would have met with Senator Joseph Biden, Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. At 3:15 p.m., he would meet with Senator Judd Gregg, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Sub-Committee on Commerce, Justice and State; and at 4:30 p.m., with Senator Ted Stevens, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The President is accompanied by the Permanent Representative of Belgium and by the Chairman of the Assembly's Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe, she said. The purpose of the meetings with the senators was to exchange views, to explain the intergovernmental process currently under way for United Nations reform, and to convey the mood of the membership on reform and on the United States position. "He is not there to negotiate, she said.
She recalled that the President had met with members of other legislative bodies before, including those of the United Kingdom, France and Austria.
Tomorrow, the President would be at Yale to address its twenty-third annual Yale Model United Nations, the spokeswoman said. His statement at that event would be available tomorrow.
The Fifth Committee would begin its resumed three-week session on 10 March, she said. The schedule for the first meeting that day includes an address by the Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management, Joseph Connor, on United Nations financial situation. Also that day, the Committee would discuss the report of the Secretary-General on gratis personnel.
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