DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by stating that, as had been announced to correspondents late last Friday, the Secretary-General was the keynote speaker at the Brooklyn Academy of Music this morning in a programme dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. The text of his speech had been made available on an embargoed basis.

Mr. Eckhard said that in his speech, the Secretary-General quoted Martin Luther King, Jr. from 1957, when he said: "... our world is geographically one. Now we are faced with the challenge of making it spiritually one. Through our scientific genius, we have made of the world a neighbourhood; now through moral and spiritual genius, we must make of it a brotherhood."

The Secretary-General had then linked those ideas to 1998 as the fiftieth anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Towards the end of his speech, he said: "Nobody spoke more clearly, more consistently, or more convincingly than Dr. King of the idea of the ideals of peace, dignity and justice, and when we hear such a voice, it not only speaks to us; it speaks for us."

Ambassador Richard Butler, Executive Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) monitoring the disposal of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, would be meeting with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, Mr. Eckhard said. In fact, he had left his hotel for the meeting just moments before this briefing. The main item on his agenda would be the question of access. Mr. Butler had also indicated that he would be seeking clarification from the Deputy Prime Minister on Iraq's statement over the weekend that they intended to set a deadline for the work of UNSCOM by which the sanctions must be lifted.

A large group, of some 1,500 Iraqis, had demonstrated in front of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad this morning local time, calling for an immediate end to sanctions on Iraq, Mr. Eckhard said. The hotel housed a number of United Nations offices, including those of the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNSCOM itself. It was the first time an organized demonstration of that kind had taken place at the hotel. The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Denis J. Halliday, met with a small delegation of the protestors to listen to their grievances.

Mr. Eckhard said that there had been a bit of slippage in the relationship between the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) and the Government of Tajikistan under the peace agreement they had signed. He then read out the following statement, attributable to the Spokesman:

"The Secretary-General views with concern the current political stalemate between the Government of Tajikistan and the United Tajik Opposition, which appears to have deepened in recent days. He urges both sides to discuss their differences in an open and constructive manner with a view to overcoming the stalemate and moving forward with the peace process." (See today's Press Release SG/SM/6442.)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, would travel to Cambodia this week, from 22 to 25 January, Mr. Eckhard said. She was expected to have meetings with the Second Prime Minister, Hun Sen, other government officials, and members of her own office in Cambodia, as well as with non-governmental organizations and representatives of United Nations agencies working in Cambodia. The High Commissioner's Office in Cambodia was established in 1994, and currently comprised some 20 international and 30 local staff.

The High Commissioner met in Geneva on Thursday of last week with Prince Ranariddh of Cambodia, Mr. Eckhard said. The meeting had been part of the preparations for her visit to Cambodia. It had also been a chance for Prince Ranariddh to present his concerns on a range of human rights issues in his country.

Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, Personal Representative of the Secretary- General for East Timor, was now visiting Portugal as part of his ongoing consultations on East Timor, Mr. Eckhard said. He arrived in Lisbon yesterday and was scheduled to stay there until 21 January. Ambassador Marker had met with Portugal's Foreign Minister, Jaime Gama, and was due to meet with Prime Minister Antonio Guterres later today. After the morning talks, he reported some substantial progress in the ongoing contacts between Indonesia and Portugal. Ambassador Marker was also planning to meet with representatives of the East Timorese community in Portugal.

On 1 December of last year, the Secretary-General sent a letter to all Member States encouraging governments to sign and ratify outstanding human rights treaties and to develop national plans of action to promote greater respect for human rights, Mr. Eckhard went on to say. The Secretary-General had received about 20 responses so far. Two of them -- one signed by Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Federation, and one from Jiang Zemin, President of China -- had been made available by the Spokesman's Office. His Office would try to make available the text of all of those letters, with the permission of the Governments that had sent them.

As was announced on Friday, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this morning opened its eighteenth session, Mr. Eckhard said. That was the only United Nations human rights treaty body dealing exclusively with women's rights. The Committee heard a report by its Chairperson, Salman Khan of Bangladesh, on activities undertaken since its previous session, as well as a report by the Special Adviser to the Secretary- General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Assistant Secretary-General Angela King.

This year was the seventh year since the entry into force of the Convention, the Spokesman went on to say. Ratification and accession were continuing at a steady pace, with 161 States now party to it. During the current session, the Committee would review the reports of eight States parties to the Convention, including initial reports by Azerbaijan, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Zimbabwe.

The 101st session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board opened today in Geneva, Mr. Eckhard said. A press release was available in

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the Spokesman's Office. The main item on that body's agenda was the selection of its next Director-General.

An inter-agency humanitarian mission on Friday began visiting the southern provinces of the Congo-Brazzaville, in order to assess the current humanitarian situation and identify needs, Mr. Eckhard said. The mission was scheduled to end on 30 January. A report produced by that team would probably be included in an annex to the consolidated inter-agency appeal for the Great Lakes, which was scheduled to be launched at the beginning of February. The previous appeal -- for $17.8 million covering the period from November 1997 to January 1998 -- had only received a 5.2 per cent response, which was quite disappointing.

The trial of Vukovar's former Mayor Slavko Dokmanovic began today at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Mr. Eckhard said.

Mr. Eckhard informed correspondents that a document relating to the establishment of an international criminal court had now been released (document A/AC.249/1998/L.10). That was in anticipation of a preparatory commission meeting to be held in March. There would then be what was hoped would be a final meeting in June to establish the court. A background paper on the subject by the Office of Legal Affairs was included in the document.

The twelfth monthly report of the Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina was available on the racks this morning, Mr. Eckhard said. In its "outlook" section, the report states that in both the Federation and the Republika Srpska, issues of media and the police, as well as the implementation of municipal election results, were likely to continue to strain inter-ethnic relations, especially in Mostar. Acts of intimidation and violence might occur in conjunction with the return of displaced persons, and a low risk from criminal elements remained.

Mr. Eckhard said that yesterday, Milorad Dodik, a moderate, had been voted to head a new government of the Republika Srpska as its Prime Minister. A group of 42 parliamentary deputies had voted unanimously for Mr. Dodik and the 20-member government he proposed to set up. Hard-line deputies had

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boycotted the vote. The United Nations High Representative for Bosnia, Carlos Westerndorp, hailed the election of a moderate Bosnian Serb government as a step forward for peacemaking efforts in the region.

Mr. Eckhard then announced that there would be a press conference tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. in room S-226. Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), would announce the launching of an international advocacy campaign for human rights, gender equality and reproductive choice. Actress Linda Gray, the UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, would head the advocacy campaign and would also attend the press conference.

A correspondent asked Mr. Eckhard when Ambassador Marker was due back from Portugal and when his trip had been arranged. Mr. Eckhard said he did not know and would have to find out.

Did the Secretary-General have anything to say about Saddam Hussein's recent announcement in Iraq that a six-month limit would be placed on UNSCOM's mission? a correspondent asked. "We are waiting to hear what Ambassador Butler gets from Mr. Tariq Aziz on that subject", Mr. Eckhard said. "I don't know at what point the Secretary-General would choose to respond."

Citing a piece on the Deputy Administrator of the WHO, which aired recently on the television programme "60 Minutes", a correspondent asked if there was any plan at the moment for a United Nations statement. Mr. Eckhard said that, while he knew of the piece in question, there was no plan at the moment for a statement.

Is Lee Hamilton here to talk money? another correspondent asked. "I don't have the topic of his meeting. We'll try to get a read-out for you after it's over", Mr. Eckhard said.

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