DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970307
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
"Good afternoon and happy International Women's Day", Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said at the outset of the noon press briefing today. (International Women's Day is observed tomorrow, 8 March.) He said the Secretary-General had given a statement this morning to the Group on Equal Rights for Women in the United Nations. The text was available in the Spokesman's Office.
Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General, along with the United Nations/Organization of African Unity (OAU) Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, Mohamed Sahnoun, was in the Security Council now, where they were briefing members on the situation in eastern Zaire and the Great Lakes region generally. Mr. Sahnoun was expected to return to the region shortly for another round of shuttle diplomacy. After visiting Uganda and Ethiopia, he would be attending OAU summit meetings on the situation in the Great Lakes region. The first of those would be held in Nairobi, and the second in Togo.
The Secretary-General noted with regret the 4 March decision by the Government of Zaire to expel from the country those international aid workers who had been relocated from Kisangani to Kinshasa on 1 March as a result of the deteriorating situation there, Mr. Eckhard said. The Secretary-General wished to underscore that the aim of humanitarian assistance was to provide relief to those in need, wherever there was a need, and to do so without jeopardizing the safety and security of relief personnel. It was, therefore, his expectation that, security conditions permitting, those humanitarian aid workers who wished to do so would return to resume their work from Kisangani.
Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General, having communicated his concerns to Prime Minister Kengo wa Dondo, was sanguine that the Government of Zaire would show understanding for the situation of humanitarian workers in a dangerous security environment, and, therefore, refrain from implementing its decision to expel them from Zaire. The text of the Secretary-General's statement was available in the Spokesman's Office.
The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Great Lakes Region, Martin Griffiths, following consultations with Ambassador Sahnoun, had appealed to regional and local sanctions committees to act expediently on requests made by United Nations organizations for exemptions for humanitarian assistance purposes, Mr. Eckhard said. United Nations agencies and non- governmental organizations were hampered by the shortage of much-needed humanitarian goods, while faced with increasing numbers of beneficiaries as a result of ongoing conflict. That conflict was reported to have displaced
hundreds of thousands of people. A press release on the subject, issued in Nairobi, was also available in the Spokesman's Office.
Mr. Eckhard recalled his statement yesterday that outgoing High Commissioner for Human Rights José Ayala-Lasso had expressed concern about still unconfirmed reports of massive killings in eastern Zaire. Today, the High Commissioner had asked Roberto Garretón, Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Zaire, to investigate those allegations and make recommendations for further action to the forthcoming session of the Commission on Human Rights. That was announced this morning in Geneva.
Responding to a question asked yesterday, Mr. Eckhard said the United Nations Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq had provided a schedule for nine shipments under the "oil-for-food" regime. Among them: the SS Mersini, carrying over 25,000 tons of wheat, had left France on 19 February and had been expected in Umm Qasr between 14 and 17 March. However, it developed some mechanical troubles, was undergoing repairs in Spain, and was now estimated to arrive on 30 March. The SS Virtue, carrying roughly 38,000 tons of Australian wheat, and the SS Lima, carrying 35,000 tons, were both expected on 27 March. The SS Adonis, carrying 25,000 tons of French wheat, was expected at the end of March. Complete details were available in the Spokesman's Office.
The second trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, located at The Hague, was to begin on Monday, 10 March, Mr. Eckhard said. It concerns the Celebici detention facility, in which Bosnian Serb civilians were abused. There were four defendants -- three Moslem and one Croat. They were charged with war crimes and grave breaches of the Geneva Convention -- that is, murder, torture, rape and inhuman treatment.
The High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Carl Bildt, today announced the appointment of Bill Farrand as his deputy and the supervisor for Brcko, Mr. Eckhard said. As of now, that was the extent of the information he had on Mr. Farrand. [It was subsequently announced that a biographical note on Robert William Farrand had been provided by the United States Mission and was available in the Spokesman's Office.]
Mr. Eckhard reminded correspondents that the Bosnian elections had been postponed further, from July to September 1997. Two reactions to that were now available: a detailed statement by Carl Bildt, dated yesterday; and another by the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council, dated today.
The Secretary-General this morning had submitted his report on Tajikistan to the Security Council, Mr. Eckhard said. The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Tajikistan, Gerd Merrem, had been holding the Moscow round of the inter-Tajik talks. "I believe a new round began today", he said. Further information was available in the Spokesman's Office.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 7 March 1997
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) had released a report entitled State of the World's Forests - 1997, which addressed the continued high levels of deforestation worldwide, Mr. Eckhard said. The report was issued in advance of a meeting of the Committee on Forestry, to be held at Rome from 10 to 13 March. At that meeting, senior forestry officials from around the world would review progress towards sustainable forestry management. That was also available in the Spokesman's Office.
Mr. Eckhard then made an announcement at the request of Samsiah Abdul- Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia). For correspondents interested in enhancing their understanding of the technical aspects of the scale of assessments, a background briefing would be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, 11 March, in room 226, by the Chief of the Contributions Section of the United Nations, Mark Gilpin. Any questions should be directed to Ms. Abdul-Majid at extension 3-4828.
Mr. Eckhard then welcomed the presence to the briefing of Alex Ivanko, United Nations Spokesman in Sarajevo, who was in New York for a two-day lessons-learned session for field spokesmen and information personnel. The session was aimed at contributing to current efforts to write a "how-to" manual on field information. He also welcomed Marc McEvoy, United Nations Liaison Officer in Zagreb, who was also in New York for the same reason.
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