DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970514
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Juan Carlos Brandt, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by stating that the spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva had indicated in the morning that there had been reports from the Zairian Interior Ministry on killings of Rwandan Hutu refugees by troops of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo/Zaire (ADFL) in the Mbandaka area close to the border with the Congo.
The UNHCR had not been able to verify those reports because it had no presence in what had been so far a very insecure area, Mr. Brandt said. Between 40,000 to 50,000 Rwandan refugees were believed to be in the area. "It goes without saying, that we are very concerned about reports on these large groups of refugees. We are trying to do the best we can to check out the veracity of those reports and on ways to reach them and to start providing them with the necessary assistance", he added.
Mr. Brandt said some 114 Zairians and 228 Rwandans seeking asylum in the Central African Republic had arrived in Bangui on 12 May. Among the Rwandans were 120 members of the former Rwandan Armed Forces (ex-FAR) and two women, the rest were male individuals.
Today, he continued, a total of 1,849 refugees, including 256 children and 55 sick or wounded, had been airlifted from Kisangani to Rwanda in eight flights. The total number of refugees airlifted so far since 27 April was 24,173. He said that 2,000 more refugees were expected to be taken from Biaro to Kisangani by train and trucks today.
San Marino yesterday had became the fifth-sixth Member State to have paid in full its United Nations budget contribution for the current year with a cheque of $106,508, Mr. Brandt said. Today, the Russian Federation paid $37 million out of its $45.47 million outstanding contributions for this year. So far 56 Member States had paid their contributions in full for 1997. Last year at this date, 61 Member States had paid their contributions in full. The outstanding contributions level was now under $2.5 billion out of which over $800 million was for the regular budget and more than $1.6 billion for peace- keeping. Last year at this date, the outstanding contributions level to the United Nations was over $2.8 billion ($1.1 billion for the regular budget and $1.7 billion for peace-keeping).
Mr. Brandt announced that Turkey had on 12 May ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention bringing the total number of States that had done so to 89. A total of 165 countries had signed the Convention, which entered into force on 29 April.
The Security Council was this morning holding consultations on Burundi and Rwanda with a briefing by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahima Fall, Mr. Brandt said. The Security Council Committee monitoring the sanctions against Iraq would meet at 3:30 p.m. today, he added. Countries contributing troops to the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) would meet at 3:30 p.m. followed by the Security Council Committee monitoring the sanctions against Libya.
He further added that yesterday the Council had been briefed on two aspects of the situation in Afghanistan -- humanitarian and human rights. The Council was told that in spite of continued instability, humanitarian activities were being carried out by United Nations agencies and non- governmental organizations throughout the country. The 1997 United Nations Consolidated Appeal for Afghanistan was seeking $133 million, of which $25 million had been contributed so far. Currently, there was increasing concern about food shortages in many areas of the country. In Kabul, for example, wheat flour had been in short supply. With the next wheat harvest not expected until July, Afghanistan officials, notably the Taliban, had called for increased humanitarian food assistance from the international community. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (UNOCHA) was working closely with the World Food Programme (WFP) and other food aid agencies on ways to meet those increased needs.
On the human rights front, the situation was far from normal and the gender question remained unresolved, he said. In some areas, women might work with relative ease in the health sector, as had been reported before. There were some communities where girls had been permitted to attend primary schools. However, in many parts of the country, controlled by the Taliban, the restrictions on women and girls were vigorously enforced. Despite numerous appeals, the Taliban had not stopped the practice of arresting the employees of non-governmental organizations. On 28 April, 25 employees of the French-run Afghanistan Vaccination-Immunization Centre were arrested. Eighteen were freed on 3 May but the rest remained in custody. The United Nations Coordinator, Alfredo Witschi-Cestari, was actively following gender and humanitarian issues in the country.
On Guatemala, Mr. Brandt said that with the hand-over of the weapons collected from the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) to the Guatemalan Government today, the United Nations Military Observer Group in Guatemala would have completed its mission. The repatriation of the 146-strong Group had begun and was expected to be completed by 27 May. The
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Secretary-General's report on the mission was being worked on and would be issued later this month.
Mr.Brandt announced that the Under-Secretary-General for Peace-keeping Operations Bernard Miyet would travel to Guatemala tomorrow, Thursday, 15 May, to attend a ceremony presided over by the President of Guatemala marking the successful completion of the Observer Group's mission. He would meet high- ranking representatives of the Guatemalan Government and visit the regional office of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA). He would return to New York over the weekend.
The Secretary-General had submitted to the Security Council his report on the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) today (document S/1997/365), Mr. Brandt said. Copies of the report would be available on the racks in the afternoon. The Secretary-General recommended that UNPREDEP's mandate be renewed for an additional six months until 30 November. He further recommended that the present strength of the Force be maintained for a period of four months, up to 30 September, with a view to, starting from 1 October and taking into account the conditions prevailing at that time, a two-month phased reduction of the military component foreseen by the Council in resolution 1082 (1996). The current mandate of UNPREDEP would expire on 31 May 1997. The current strength of the mission as of 9 May was 1,114, out of which 1,091 was a military component and 23 were civilian police.
Mr. Brandt said the Ministry of the Interior of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had confirmed that a border patrol had intercepted an Albanian who had crossed the border illegally in the vicinity of Strezimir, near Gostivar. The Albanian allegedly opened fire on the patrol, wounding two soldiers, before escaping. The soldiers were said to be in stable condition at the Military Hospital in Skopje. According to the Ministry, additional measures to increase the security of the border and the soldiers at the border units had been taken. In another incident, a police patrol also intercepted a group of Albanian refugees in the village of Orcuse, also near Gostivar, when the Albanians allegedly fired on the patrol. In the crossfire, an Albanian was wounded and later died on the way to hospital. The police arrested 30 Albanians in the group as well as 50 others who had also crossed the border illegally. Mr. Brandt said the incidents illustrated the wisdom of the decision by the Security Council, based on the recommendations of the Secretary-General, regarding the reduction of the force on the border with Albania.
Mr. Brandt informed correspondents that the joint trial of Clement Kayishema and Obed Ruzindana by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda had adjourned on Thursday, 8 May, after a month-long session. The trial, which was adjourned to allow for the recommencement of the Jean-Paul Akayesu trial, shall resume on a date to be agreed upon later by all parties concerned. For the moment, the Tribunal had only one courtroom for both Trial
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Chambers and three trials under way. He said efforts were being made to arrange for the President of the Tribunal, Justice Louise Arbour, who was in New York, to meet with correspondents tomorrow or Friday.
Yesterday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kai Eide, and the Commissioner of the United Nations International Police Task Force (IPTF), Manfred Seitner, had inaugurated the IPTF station in Brcko, northern Bosnia. One hundred and sixty out of 258 expected IPTF police monitors had already been deployed there. A statement by Ambassador Eide was available in the Spokesman's Office.
Mr. Brandt said the Secretary-General was gratified to learn that senior-level talks between the Israeli Government and Palestinian authorities were being held today in Tel-Aviv under the auspices of the United States Special Envoy Dennis Ross.
Also, he continued, according to a statement attributable to a United Nations spokesman, the Secretary-General was extremely pleased by the announcement that the United Kingdom was to rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He hoped the action would lead to a further rejuvenation of UNESCO. "This is a demonstration of the importance of the multilateral system in an increasingly interdependent world", the statement said. The United Kingdom withdrew from UNESCO in 1986.
Turning to the Secretary-General's travel, Mr. Brandt said he had arrived in Moscow today, 14 May, to begin a state visit at the invitation of the Russian Government. The trip, he said, completed the Secretary-General's round of meetings with all permanent members of the Security Council. Apart from getting to know the world leaders, the meetings gave the Secretary- General a chance to get the necessary support of Member States for his reform agenda, which was due to be unveiled in July. On his arrival at the airport, he answered some questions from journalists -- one of whom asked his opinion on the agreement expected to be signed between the Russian Federation and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Secretary-General said he had not seen the agreement and did not know the details, but anything that reduced tensions was good.
Earlier in the day, Secretary-General had completed his official visit to Japan, he continued. He began the final day of his programme in Japan by meeting with the Governor of Tokyo, Yukio Aoshima. They discussed the International Conference on Cooperation between Cities, which the United Nations and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government would jointly organize in Tokyo in May 1998. Prior to his departure from Tokyo, the Secretary-General was conferred an Honorary Degree by Chuo University, a very prestigious educational institution in Japan.
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In the course of his acceptance remarks, the Secretary-General had said "education brought me half way around the world to the United States and then Europe. There I learned that without education, we cannot see beyond ourselves and our narrow surroundings to the reality of global interdependence. Without education, we cannot realize how peoples of other races and religions share the same dreams, the same hopes. Without education, we cannot recognize the universality of human aims and aspirations. Education about the United Nations is important, too. I often think that if only people really knew our achievements as well as our aims, the United Nations would be viewed rather differently". The full text of the Secretary-General's remarks was available, Mr. Brandt said.
He said the Secretary-General engaged in a question-and-answer session with a large audience drawn from the student body. Among the subjects covered were the environment, non-governmental organizations and the United Nations, and arrears in payment of dues to the United Nations by Member States. Replying to a question on the environment, the Secretary-General said he had discussed at length with Japan's leaders prospects for the special session of the General Assembly on implementation of Agenda 21. He was persuaded that the implementation of decisions reached at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) should be reviewed not once, but periodically. Asked about non-governmental organizations and the United Nations, the Secretary-General underlined the important role of non- governmental organizations, often in difficult circumstances. He paid tribute to their work in the Great Lakes region of Africa, Cambodia and Somalia.
In terms of the Organization's financial crisis and arrears in payment of dues owed to it by Member States, the Secretary-General recalled that an earlier proposal for interest to be charged to Member States for their arrears had not been embraced by the membership, Mr. Brandt continued. Personally, he felt that Member States who might fall under Article 19 of the United Nations Charter ought not to be able to restore their voting capacity in the General Assembly simply by paying, however small, the amount needed to bring their total arrears to below the total of their contributions due in respect of the preceding two years. Finally, the Secretary-General expressed the strong hope that the process of reform of the United Nations would include a recommitment by Member States to pay their dues to the Organization in full and on time.
Mr. Brandt informed correspondents that a press kit from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was available at the Spokesman's Office. It contained information on a new report which examined the role of good governance in promoting economic development and enlarging the choices of peoples to better their living conditions.
He reminded correspondents about the press briefing to be given in room 226 by President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. Also, Mr. Brandt said that a recently taped World Chronicle television programme with the
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Chairman of the Special Committee on decolonization, Utula Utuoc Samana (Papua New Guinea), as guest would be shown today on in-house television channels 6 and 23 or 38 at 2:30 p.m.
Asked whether there were plans for former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was visiting the United States to promote his book, to visit Headquarters and also to meet with his successor, Mr. Brandt said Secretary-General Kofi Annan would return from his trip next week. If Mr. Boutros-Ghali was still in the country and desired to visit Headquarters, he would be welcome. "I don't think the former Secretary-General needs an invitation to the building. I'm sure that if both are in New York, the Secretary-General would be delighted to receive his predecessor."
A correspondent drew attention to an article in the latest issue of The Village Voice and asked whether the Associate Spokesman could confirm alleged cases of sexual harassment mentioned. The correspondent also wanted confirmation about the number of cases being handled and by whom. Mr. Brandt said the Secretary-General viewed questions of sexual harassment very seriously. He had signed off a survey prepared on sexual harassment which had been mentioned in the article. The survey would be sent to all departments and offices at the Secretariat for the purposes of explaining official policies on the subject. The Secretary-General was absolutely determined to ensure that the United Nations, as a whole, was free of that type of harassment.
He also said several incidents had come to the attention of the Office of Human Resources Management, which for one reason or another, and after an investigation, had not reached the point of a case; nevertheless in other instances, cases had been referred to the appropriate panel. He did not know the exact number of those.
A correspondent enquired whether Luiz Gomez, a former Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was still with the Organization as a consultant or was in any way working for the United Nations. She also wanted to know how the sexual harassment case in which he was involved had finally been disposed of. In his reply, Mr. Brandt recalled that one of the elements of the settlement of the case was that there would be no further comment, statement or declaration on the case by the two parties involved, namely the United Nations and the complainant. Secondly, he said Mr. Gomez was no longer a United Nations staff member and he had no knowledge whatsoever that he worked for the Organization directly or indirectly. On another question regarding allegations of sexual harassment against the Chief of Protocol in the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Brandt said he would have to check.
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Asked what impact disruption of cafeteria services would have on United Nations revenue if a labour action would take place, he said he would find out.
A UNDP official, responding to a query about the cost of producing its press kit, said that despite its appearance it was "a rather cheap product". Mr. Brandt added that he was sure that the UNDP would let the Spokesman's Office know the cost of producing the kit.
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