TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN AT UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA ON 11 APRIL

Press Release
SG/SM/6205

TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN AT UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA ON 11 APRIL

(Original in English and French.)

FRED ECKHARD, Spokesman for the Secretary-General: It is already 12:50 a.m. and we may not be able to go 30 minutes. It will be something under 30 minutes, so please be economical in your questions which will follow immediately after the opening comments of the Secretary-General.

SECRETARY-GENERAL: Let me first apologize for keeping you waiting, but I was in a trapped situation, I was chairing a meeting and I could not get away. I am very happy to be here again, meeting with you this morning. A lot has happened in the past three months and I think you have had the chance to look at my reform proposals which were put forward on 17 March. I have also been very actively engaged in the Zaire crisis and in fact did attend the Summit Meeting of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Lomé where we initially got the parties to agree in principle to a cease-fire and negotiations and indicated that they would begin talks. Those talks resumed in South Africa on 5 April. They are in recess at the moment but Mohamed Sahnoun, the joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity, indicated that the atmosphere was good and that he expects that they could be called back at an appropriate time to continue the talks. What is important is that both sides are determined to maintain a united Zaire. Nobody is for secession or the break up of Zaire. What they are after is a democratic and duly elected Government, and I would hope that when they come back together in time they will be discussing transition arrangements and eventually national elections for the selection of a leader of the country.

And today we have another good news in Angola, where the Government of National Unity and Reconciliation is being formed. I had the opportunity of going to Angola myself towards the end of last month and met with both President Eduardo dos Santos and Dr. Jonas Savimbi. I was very gratified that after a meeting with Dr. Savimbi on 24 March he agreed to allow the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) parliamentarians to return to the Parliament. You may recall that they left Luanda after the sudden rupture in October 1992 and they did not return to the Parliament. On average only five UNITA parliamentarians out of 70 remained in the Parliament, but the day after he promised he would send them to Luanda he did. I spoke to the joint session and there were 58 UNITA parliamentarians in the room that day. He further agreed that he would send to Luanda those designated as members of the Cabinet, four of whom were ministers and the rest deputy ministers. That he did also, and therefore President dos Santos could fix a date for the formation of the National Unity and Reconciliation Government and I am very excited that it is happening today. It is not the end of the road, it is an important step forward but we still have major tasks ahead: demobilization, formation of a national army, the police, demilitarization of some of the militia and, more importantly, extension of the national administration throughout the territory.

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I have also just come back from the Ministerial Conference of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries in New Delhi, where the Non-Aligned Movement discussed their own role and what role they expect to play in our search for a new international system. Their original goal obviously was to defend themselves against the two power blocs but now they are going to focus on playing a role in the search for a new international system and of course, as you may have read in the paper, the question of Security Council expansion or reform figured very much on the agenda of the Non-Aligned, where they felt that the Non-Aligned and the developing world should be much more effectively represented. They believed that a vital and effective Security Council is essential but felt that a more representative Security Council would even be much more effective. And, of course, there was almost a unanimous rejection of the idea that there would be two types of permanent members -- those with veto powers and those without veto powers.

Here, in Geneva, I have had the chance to have very useful discussions with my colleagues, and to meet the Swiss authorities, and have been able to talk about human rights. And I also had the chance to speak to the Swiss public at a public engagement. I think I will stop here and take your questions. Thank you very much.

Mr. ECKHARD: The first question goes to Luisa Ballin as President of the Correspondents Association, the new President. Congratulations.

LUISA BALLIN, Présidente de l'Association des Correspondants accrédités auprès de l'Office des Nations Unies à Genève: M. le Secrétaire général, permettez_moi tout d'abord de vous souhaiter en français la bienvenue et de vous remercier pour avoir accepté de nous donner cette seconde Conférence de presse lors de votre seconde venue à Genève. Nous espérons que vous allez instaurer ainsi une tradition et que, chaque fois que vous serez parmi nous, nous aurons la possibilité de vous rencontrer. Permettez_moi de vous poser la première question sur un sujet que vous connaissez bien, celui de la Bosnie-Herzégovine, puisque vous avez été chef des opérations de maintien de la paix dans ce pays pendant la guerre. Je voudrais savoir si, à votre avis, le mandat de la police onusienne est encore adéquat aujourd'hui dans une situation qui ne cesse de se détériorer. Je pense notamment au problème à Brcko, à Gorazde, également à Mostar, où le retour des réfugiés s'annonce de plus en plus difficile. Pensez_vous que ce mandat soit encore adéquat ou pensez_vous qu'il faudrait le modifier pour que vos soldats puissent mieux se défendre le cas échéant ? Merci.

SECRETARY-GENERAL: First of all, let me also congratulate you on your election. And I see you are sitting just across the table from your predecessor. And I may also say, thank you for a job well done.

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Let me first start by indicating the role of the United Nations International Police Task Force. Their role is to monitor the performance of the local police. To train them in democratic policing, to train them to be able to respect individual rights and property. We have to admit in the situations that exist in certain countries police are sometimes an instrument of government. So to shift from that role to democratic policing is not an easy one. Our police have no executive functions, they have no power of arrest, they are not on the ground to substitute themselves for the local police. They are not even armed in that situation. They work in tandem with the soldiers of the Stabilization Force (SFOR) who have the responsibility of creating a secure environment, an environment that would also permit the refugees to return, to feel confident to return. When you go through the sort of conflict we have seen in Bosnia, the hatred and the animosities do not die easily. It takes time for wounds to heal and to psychologically get people to forgive. To respect the United Nations police who are there with a very specific mandate, to take on the tasks you have suggested, I think would be unrealistic. It was not their mandate and they do not have the means to do it. What we are trying to do is to strengthen the local police and I think what is important is what the international community had hoped for -- that the combined presence of a large military force with the United Nations monitors monitoring the performance and training the local police would have led to an environment that would permit refugees to come back, would encourage freedom of movement and facilitate the return of not only the refugees but the displaced persons. Obviously that has not happened and we are all searching for solutions and new creative ways of getting it done, but I do not think it is realistic to expect the United Nations police to do that.

Mr. ECKHARD: If you would just try to catch Thérèse Gastaut's eye to for us getting your name on the list. We have two people who were actually left over from the last press conference. I will call on them first.

SECRETARY-GENERAL: You see, his memory works!

QUESTION: I thank you for your memory. My question is, do you have the intention to promote an international conference to find a new identity for the United Nations or will the reforms be limited to furniture, restructuring and staff reduction? And a small question, you have underlined the importance of cooperation with regional organizations in peace-keeping operations including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Wasn't it just an omission on your part not to mention the Commonwealth of Independent States, the CIS, which at the moment is engaged in at least three peace-keeping operations?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: Thank you very much for that question. I think the initial reform proposals I put forward on 17 March make it clear that my reform is not limited to cuts. As to furniture, I have not touched them! And I have also indicated that the proposals that I put forward on 17 March are

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only a step in a much more extensive reform process that we are engaged in. And the report which I will submit to Member States in July, the comprehensive report, will deal with longer term and strategic issues of the mission of the United Nations. What should our business be? What should be our objectives and priorities as we enter into the next millennium and at a time when we are facing diminishing resources. So we will deal with substantive strategic issues, and even in the 17 March proposals there were some very substantive proposals which did not get much publicity. Unfortunately we all tend to focus on what we can count so we focused on the cuts, both in staff and in dollars. However, in that proposal I did indicate that we had created a policy coordination group which is made up of all the heads of departments, funds and programmes of the United Nations who meet periodically to harmonize their activities and projects and that we had created four sectoral groups covering the four main pillars of United Nations work: peace and security, social and economic issues, developmental operations and humanitarian activities, the fifth area being human rights, which also cuts across those areas. And by coming up with that structure, I am requiring the heads of departments and programmes to poll their efforts, to review their budgets, eliminate duplication with a view to having greater impact on the ground and at the country level, indicating that we will enhance the authority of the United Nations resident coordinator and require the United Nations agencies to work as a country team and adopt a team approach, again poll their efforts on the ground, share common premises, work with the Government as a team in coming up with a development plan and each of them implementing their pertinent portion of the plan that they have expertise for rather than going in on an individual basis in a disorganized manner. These initiatives, once implemented, are going to have quite an impact on our economic and social efforts in the countries where we are operating and in July you will see other proposals. Of course there are the recommendations and issues that the Member States themselves are dealing with which I have no direct influence on, but I am working closely with them.

My statement about cooperation with regional organizations was not intended to be exhaustive and I am sorry if I created that impression. You are right. The CIS is playing a very important role. We are cooperating with them in Georgia and in Tajikistan where we are working side-by-side and we are in touch with them as we are with other regional organizations. Thank you.

QUESTION: M. le Secrétaire général, vous avez, devant la Commission des droits de l'homme, déclaré vouloir valoriser son travail et faire en sorte qu'elle bénéficie de l'appui de l'Organisation. Ma question est la suivante : pratiquement, comment vous allez vous y prendre pour sensibiliser New York et le Conseil de sécurité, en particulier, à cette question qui semble là bas être un point de deuxième ordre ?

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SECRETARY-GENERAL: I think what we will need to. Let me first say that I think the members of the Council are quite sensitive to the issue of human rights, and whenever we have approached them they have been quite supportive. They did not hesitate when we indicated that we needed to send in human rights monitors to Rwanda, that we needed to extend to Zaire, that we needed human rights monitors in Bosnia. The question which comes up is: who pays? They say, we would want you to do it, it is a great idea, but there is a tendency to say, raise voluntary contributions to cover these costs. And I think in time, given the importance we all attach to human rights, we should seek to get a larger portion of the cost paid by the regular budget and attempt to raise additional extra-budgetary resources to cope with the human rights issue. I would also hope that once the new leadership has been put into the Human Rights Centre and a High Commissioner has been appointed, they will not only introduce new dynamism and leadership in the area, but they would also have the capacity of mobilizing resources for it. And in our own work in New York, we have recognized the central importance of human rights, and I think in my earlier intervention I indicated that, in the context of the reform, I will ensure that human rights are not overlooked as we move ahead with our work, whether in peace-keeping or humanitarian aid. Thank you.

QUESTION: Monsieur le Secrétaire général, une question sur l'Angola. Est_ce que les Nations Unies vont continuer à être présentes en Angola et sous quel mandat ?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: We have begun our withdrawal from Angola, but we are proceeding at a very slow pace. We shall be withdrawing at the rate of one battalion a month. The withdrawal will not be completed until August, and I think that the situation on the ground may also affect the pace of our withdrawal.

Once we have withdrawn the troops, we will maintain a United Nations presence, a presence that could be made up of human rights monitors, police, political affairs officers, economic development experts and the political representative of the Secretary-General. I would hope that by the time we have fully withdrawn major progress would have been made on other aspects of the Lusaka Protocol, and that the difficulties that I alluded to earlier would have been resolved or overcome.

QUESTION: I have one question about human rights. There is now a battle levied against Denmark which has presented a resolution against China in the Commission on Human Rights. There are two scenarios. Either it is accepted -- in that case a permanent member of the Security Council would be condemned for violating human rights. Would this hurt the prestige of the United Nations, because it would be the first time? Or the Commission would adopt its (China's) motion saying we are not going to discuss this matter here. Would it be a blow for the Commission on Human Rights that such a matter could not be discussed in that forum?

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SECRETARY-GENERAL: Let me say that if the Commission, which is master of its own proceedings and has to make its own decisions, were to decide to condemn or not to condemn, that is a decision that all of us will have to accept.

But let me then go on to say that if the Commission were to condemn China, as it has in cases of other countries, I think it is again a result that we will have to stand by. But the question is whether this will harm the prestige of the Council or not. You imply that if one member of the Council or a Permanent Member does something wrong it affects the entire Council and the 15 members. And I would want to stress here that I can see why you are saying that. But we are dealing with individual States, not the Council collectively, and so we look forward to seeing what comes out. I think that resolution was co-sponsored by several other countries. Thank you.

QUESTION: A non-action motion on China has succeeded in the preceding six years, saying this matter should not be discussed in the Commission on Human Rights. People now say this will be a serious blow to the Commission if such a matter could not be discussed.

SECRETARY-GENERAL: I think if the issue is discussed honestly by the entire membership of the Commission and they come to the conclusion that they should not condemn China, I really do not see why that should be a blow to it. I know there is an expectation in some quarters that China should be condemned. But if the implication here is that if you do not condemn, then they have come under tremendous pressure by the Chinese authorities and the members themselves have no independent judgement, I really would not want to comment on that. I hope that the members of the Commission have independent judgement. They take all the factors into consideration and make their determination.

QUESTION: Hier, il y a un rapport sur le Timor oriental qui est sorti et mentionne 378 personnes disparues. Vous avez un représentant c'est l'Ambassadeur Marker. Vous pouvez me dire quelle est l'évolution de ce problème et aussi s'il y a déjà une date pour les nouvelles négociations entre les parties ?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: Mr. Jamsheed Marker has had a very useful round of discussions, both with the Portuguese authorities and with the Indonesians including at the highest level, President Soeharto. He went to East Timor, saw the leaders and spoke to some of the people, and he is now analysing his findings and will establish a date for consultations to begin. Both parties have assured me that they are anxious to work very closely with me to resolve the issue. I have also indicated to them that I would want us to keep at the problem in a sustained manner, and this is why I have appointed Mr. Marker as a full-time envoy, and this is the first time it has happened. And given the

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indications that I have got from all the parties, and also the enthusiasm from the Timorese side, I hope we will be able to make progress soon. The next date has not been fixed, but it will not be too long before we start, and I think the next talks will take place in New York.

QUESTION: Monsieur le Secrétaire général, au mois d'août de l'année dernière, votre prédécesseur avait annoncé un projet de réforme pour le prochain budget qui était sensiblement plus élevé que ce que vous avez proposé au mois de mars, c'est-à-dire une coupe de 178 millions de dollars au budget biennal et une réduction de postes qui les ramèneraient à 8 500. Malgré cela les Etats-Unis ont été assez favorables à votre projet et en même temps ils n'ont toujours pas annoncé qu'ils allaient payer leur dette. Alors comment estimez-vous le degré réel de support des Etats_Unis pour votre activité? Et puis pourriez-vous nous dire aussi comment se sont déroulées vos réunions avec le Comité administratif de coordination?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: Let me start with the first question. I think in budgetary issues, and in reform procedures, you go through various stages. The first stage is to put forward recommendations. The second is to make sure they are implemented, they are enacted, they are agreed upon. If I come up with a billion dollars proposal for cuts, and it is rejected, I have zero cuts. But I think, what we will have to do, is to work with the Member States and the Governments to make sure that the proposals we have put forward are carried through, and I hope this is going to be done.

With regard to the United States, I suspect that they will pay the money. I have been in Washington, as you know, and I have spoken to the Administration at the highest levels, and I have also been to Congress. I think there is a great deal of support for the United Nations position. The Administration and the President himself is convinced that the United Nations is essential for the United States, and that if the United States expects to lead it has to pay its way. And my own sense is that the money will come. Even in Congress we have good support. But there are important elements in Congress who do not seem to accept the relevance of the United Nations. But I think in the discussions we have had an attempt to clarify the misunderstanding that they will have to come along. And I think some are running out of excuses not to pay. My own view is that we will get the money, how much and when I cannot tell you. But if the mood is changing and there is public debate on this issue, and Americans do not like to be in this situation, I do not think it is dignified for the richest country in the world to be treated as the biggest deadbeat on these issues. And the citizens are embarrassed, and responsible Americans are embarrassed. The debate is going on and I think this issue will be put behind us, so that we can focus on the real issues. And besides we cannot reform and manage an effective programme on a shoestring budget. Part of the reform, as I insist, must be a commitment and rededication by the Member States to the ideals of the Organization. And a commitment from each and every one of them to meet their legal obligations

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and pay their contributions in full and on time. I think it is a very essential part of the reform.

Mr. ECKHARD: We are not going to be able to take everyone who is waiting. We will take two last questions.

QUESTION: You referred in your opening remarks to transitional arrangements in Zaire. Do you have a time-frame in mind? How quickly would you like things to come together for unity?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: I wish I could say yes, but unfortunately elements are not in my hands. Given the military situation on the ground, even though we expect to get them to come back to the table and accept cessation of hostilities and proceed to talks and discuss transitional arrangements, I cannot give you a time-frame. We are also all aware that there is tremendous pressure on President Mobutu to step down. Will he step down, and if so, when? If he does not step down, would he be prepared to continue the negotiations, and negotiations that will also lead to transitional arrangements without him. So the scenario is very fluid and anything can happen, but I think what is important is that we get all interested to the table and discuss cessation of hostilities, transitional arrangements and plan effectively for elections. And I think this programme approach is accepted by all. I am sorry I will not be in a position to give you a time-frame, but I hope -- this is a "guestimate" on my part -- that within the next two to three months we should see some major development in the situation.

QUESTION: Do you personally think that the United States embargo against Cuba and the Helms-Burton law that followed are illegal under international law, and if so, what can you do as Secretary-General to avoid them? These unilateral measures could be taken and imposed by one Member State against the other?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: As you rightly pointed out, the Cuban sanction is not a United Nations sanction. It is a United States sanction against Cuba. It has been in force for quite a long time and is not popular with many countries. But bilateral relations are between States, and whether we like it or not a Government can decide to trade with someone or not to trade. Others have reserved their free right to continue trading. I would personally hope that the situation will not continue for long, because the United States in effect is a natural market for Cuba, only a short boat ride away, and that in time the relationship between the two countries will be normalized. There have been some positive developments now, with the United States television media stations opening offices in Cuba. And it is a situation that I expect will evolve.

SECRETARY-GENERAL: I am sorry I could not take all your questions, but next time.

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QUESTION: I just want to repeat the same question I asked you last time. Security Council resolution 986 (1995) comes up for renewal in June. What is your assessment of the situation? Do you think the amount should be increased? What is going to happen?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: Regarding 986, first of all, let me apologize that there were delays in really getting the scheme off the ground. Food has began flowing into Iraq. My own sense is that the "food-for-oil" scheme was introduced because the Member States realized that the sanctions could be a blunt instrument and they do not want to hurt the population in Iraq particularly the women and children and the vulnerable. It is regrettable that it took about six years for it to get off the ground but my own suspicion is that once the six months is over, since the condition that led to the passage of that resolution will still be relevant and compensation will still have to be paid, the Council would be inclined to extend it for another six months.

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