DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Juan-Carlos Brandt, Acting Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by announcing that the Security Council met this morning to take up the situations in the Central African Republic and Sierra Leone.

On the Central African Republic, the Council unanimously authorized the continued operation of the Inter-African Mission to Monitor the Implementation of the Bangui Agreement (MISAB) in that country until 27 March, he said. The Council would decide on that date whether or not to establish a United Nations peacekeeping operation there on the basis of the Secretary-General's report on 23 February.

On Sierra Leone, the Council unanimously decided to terminate with immediate effect the oil embargo imposed on that country, Mr. Brandt told correspondents. It would also review the other provisions of Security Council resolution 1132 of 8 October 1997 in the light of recent developments, as well as further discussions with the Government of that country.

Mr. Brandt said the Council was expected to take up the situation in Angola tomorrow. He drew attention to the release of the Secretary-General's latest report on Angola, copies of which would be available at the documents counter later in the afternoon. Advance copies for correspondents were currently available at the Spokesman's Office.

The Acting Deputy Spokesman said the report provided the latest update on the Angolan peace process and the Secretary-General's recommendations on the reconfiguration of the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) before 30 April, as well as his preliminary recommendations on the United Nations presence in Angola after that date.

Mr. Brandt said that the Secretary-General, in his report, expressed the hope that the major advance made on 6 March with the adoption of an adjusted timetable would reinvigorate the peace process in Angola. He urged both the Government and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to abide strictly by the new understanding to complete the outstanding tasks under the Lusaka Protocol by the end of March.

Two sanctions committees of the Security Council were meeting this afternoon, Mr. Brandt went on to say. The Iraq Sanctions Committee would be meeting at 3 p.m. in Conference Room 7 to continue its discussion of financial arrangements for Iraq pilgrims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Libya Sanctions Committee would be meeting at 3.30 p.m., also in Conference Room 7. The Chairman of the Iraq Committee, Antonio Monteiro (Portugal), would brief the press afterwards in room S-226.

Mr. Brandt also read out a statement attributable to the Spokesman on the Secretary-General's appointment of Toshiyuki Niwa of Japan at the level of Assistant Secretary-General, as Acting Assistant Secretary-General for Central Support Services. In that position, Mr. Niwa would succeed Benon Sevan, who was now devoting his full attention to his responsibilities as Executive Director of the Iraq Programme, with additional duties as Security Coordinator.

Mr. Niwa had been the Executive Coordinator for Common Services at the Secretariat since September 1997, and would continue to be responsible for Common Services, the Acting Deputy Spokesman said. Between 1990 and 1997, he served as Assistant Secretary-General in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), holding the position of Assistant Administrator and Director, Bureau for Finance and Administration. In 1994, he was Acting Associate Administrator of the UNDP.

The Secretary-General was currently in Geneva and had been greeted with a "hero's welcome" by a large gathering of staff on his arrival at the Palais des Nations, Mr. Brandt said. A text of the Secretary-General's remarks there was available for correspondents in the Spokesman's Office.

This morning, the Secretary-General addressed the annual meeting of the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Mr. Brandt said. He called on individuals everywhere to speak out in the face of intolerance and inhumanity. Now was the time to ask not only how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights could protect those rights, but how the Declaration itself could be protected in its fiftieth year of existence. The Declaration should once again be the common standard of humanity for all of humanity, the Secretary-General said.

Prior to addressing the Commission, the Secretary-General had met Czech President Vaclav Havel, Mr. Brandt said. They discussed the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as well as the situations in Kosovo and Iraq.

Mr. Brandt said the Secretary-General had earlier on met with Robert Badinter, who was responsible for human rights activities in France. They discussed coordination of the many activities being planned to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration throughout the year.

After attending a luncheon hosted by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, the Secretary-General joined President Havel and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Elie Wiesel in addressing an inter-agency forum on "Mainstreaming Human Rights in the United Nations". A text of his address was available.

The senior management meeting which the Secretary-General was due to chair on Wednesday had been cancelled because of the meetings of the Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Brand went on to say. The Secretary-General would, this evening, attend a reception hosted by the Republic, Canton and

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City of Geneva in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration. Yesterday, he was the guest of honour at an opera performance which was also hosted by the Republic, Canton and City of Geneva on the same occasion.

Prior to that, Yvan Pictet, of the Foundation "Un Avenir pour Genève", and Gerard Ramseyer, the President of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, paid tribute to the Secretary-General and the United Nations for the success in Baghdad and for the activities of the Organization for the promotion and protection of human rights. The Secretary-General had expressed his gratitude for all the support received, as well as the hope that recent events would give a new momentum to United Nations action for human rights.

Mr. Brandt also announced that the Commission on Human Rights had, today in Geneva, elected Jacob Selebi of South Africa as its new Chairman. In his speech, Mr. Selebi noted the significance of a South African chairing the Commission in view of the long history of apartheid in his country.

The Spokesman's Office would today begin to give the appointments of the Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frèchette, Mr. Brandt told correspondents. He reminded them that Ms. Frèchette was in charge in the absence of the Secretary-General. She met this morning with the Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations, Mohammad Abulhasan. It was a courtesy call. She would meet at 3 p.m. with the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the United Nations, Jaap Ramaker, and with his deputy, Jan Berteling. She would meet at 4 p.m. with Burundi's Foreign Minister, Luc Rukingama.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Iran had informed the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hit several Iranian provinces on 14 March, Mr. Brandt announced. A situation report from that Office was available.

He said the World Food Programme (WFP) had, today in Nairobi, expressed deep concern that a 50 per cent cut in food rations for thousands of refugees in Kenya would have to continue until the end of the month. That could lead to a deterioration in the health of the refugees, the WFP explained.

He then announced that after two years of negotiations, 95 countries had reached agreement in Brussels on Friday on a legally binding Convention on International Trade in Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides, according to a joint press release from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Convention, which replaced an existing voluntary procedure, addressed the problem of chemicals and pesticides which were banned or restricted in industrialized countries still exported to other countries, very often in the developing world. Mr. Brandt advised correspondents to get copies of the release from the Spokesman's Office.

The Acting Deputy Spokesman also announced that a study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a unit of the World Health

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Organization (WHO), had shown that hepatitis vaccine could prevent 80 per cent of liver cancer -- the number one cause of cancer deaths of men in Africa. The study was conducted in the Gambia.

He said the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was opened for signature this morning at Headquarters. The Kyoto Protocol contained legally binding targets for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. So far, Maldives, Samoa, and Antigua and Barbuda had signed the Protocol, and Switzerland might sign today. This afternoon at 3:30, the Executive Secretary of the Convention, Michael Zammit Cutajar, would address a press conference on the issue.

Mr. Brandt said economic experts from several industrialized countries would hold a press briefing tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. on the short- and medium- term prospects for the world economy under "Project LINK". Project LINK was a cooperative, non-governmental research activity supported by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The briefing would feature seven experts, led by Nobel Laureate Professor Lawrence Klein, who initiated Project LINK. Mr. Brandt advised correspondents to contact Saleem Fahmawi at 212-963-1887 for more information.

Mr. Brandt said that at 11:15 a.m., Antonio Carlos de Oliveira of Brazil, who would be bicycling alone from Bahia, Brazil, in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, would meet with the press. He was being sponsored by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

On Wednesday, 18 March, an economist in the Office of the Secretary- General, Georg Kell, would disclose the results of a joint United Nations/ International Chamber of Commerce survey of the investment plans for East and South-East Asia of 500 the world's largest companies. Relevant material would be available at the time of the briefing, Mr. Brandt said.

He also announced that the Director of the Freedom of Expression and Democracy Unit of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Alain Modoux, would present the World Communication Report to the press during the noon briefing on Wednesday.

Mr. Brandt read out the text of a letter sent Thursday by the Secretary- General to the editor and publisher of The Earth Times, Pranay Gupte, on the death of its former correspondent at the United Nations, Richard Shepard, as follows:

"I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Richard Shepard. He was an extraordinary journalist, whose writings showed rare insight into the United Nations. While meticulous and hard-headed in his coverage of diplomatic stories, he nevertheless managed to bring compassion and a marvellous sense of humour to his work.

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"Mr. Shepard will be greatly missed by the entire United Nations community. I would like to convey my personal and heartfelt condolences to his wife, Trudy, and the rest of his family."

A correspondent asked when the Secretary-General's report on a possible extension of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (UNPREDEP) would be going to the Security Council. Mr. Brandt said that the Secretary-General had the opportunity to discuss the issue during his recent visit to Washington, D.C., particularly at the Pentagon with United States Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen. He indicated his intention to send a representative from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to the region to assess the situation. The outcome of that assessment would help the Secretary-General in his report to the Council, which would request an extension of UNPREDEP beyond its present mandate. The Secretary-General believed that would be an appropriate course of action because of the situation in the region right now, as well as the signals he had been receiving from several Council members.

Asked when the official from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations would be going to the region and when he would return, Mr. Brandt said he did not have further information on that at present.

Was there anything new from the human rights team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Mr. Brandt said he did not have anything new right now. He added, however, that the Permanent Representative of that country had returned to New York today or was due to do so very soon. He would look into this matter and inform the correspondent.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for General Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), announced that Mr. Udovenko had returned today to New York -- jet-lagged but ready for business -- following his official visit to Japan and Malaysia. He said Mr. Udovenko had met this morning with the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, Sir John Weston, in his capacity as the President of the European Union. They had discussed the resumption of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly. Later in the day, he was also scheduled to meet the representatives of Syria and Israel, and the Permanent Observers for Switzerland and Palestine, on the same matter.

Mr. Taukatch reminded correspondents that the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly would resume tomorrow, 17 March, at 10:30 a.m. The session would have before it a draft resolution (document A/ES-10/L.4), which had just been released. He recalled that resumption of the session was requested last week by Syria, on behalf of the League of Arab States. A letter from Colombia, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, was expected to be released today in support of that request.

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Noting that he had been getting questions about the historical background of the forthcoming meeting, Mr. Taukatch said that the tenth emergency special session had been called under the 1950 General Assembly resolution 377 (V), entitled "Uniting for peace". Under that resolution, the Assembly resolved that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, failed to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security "in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression", the Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to the Members for collective measures. Mr. Taukatch said that the tenth emergency session had opened on 24 April, last year, and met also in July and November. So far, it had adopted three resolutions.

Regarding tomorrow's meeting, he said that 10 speakers were on the list as at the time of the briefing, but he expected the list to grow.

On another matter, Mr. Taukatch recalled the Secretary-General's comment last week on the "missing link" in the international legal system. That missing link, of course, was an international criminal court, and a United Nations body began work today to help eliminate that gap.

Mr. Taukatch announced that the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court had begun its sixth and final session at Headquarters. It would meet from 16 March to 3 April. During the session, it would continue to consider the legal provisions and political implications involved in the creation of a permanent tribunal to deal with war crimes. The outcome of the session would go to the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiary on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, which would be held in Rome from 15 June to 17 July.

He said the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was meeting today to consider the report of the Secretary-General on the reduction and refocusing of non-programme costs, as well as the report on office accommodation at the Palais Wilson in Geneva.

Mr. Taukatch said the General Assembly President would be meeting today with the Bureau of the Open-ended Working Group on reform of the Security Council. The Bureau was expected to brief him on the Group's work during his absence from Headquarters.

Asked by what power the General Assembly had convened the emergency session, Mr. Taukatch reiterated that the session was being requested under resolution 377 (V), "Uniting for peace". He said the session, which had been requested by the Arab Group and was supported by a majority of Member States, was being convened following a series of Council and Assembly meetings concerning Israel's decision to build Har Homa -- a 6,500 unit housing project, in the Jabal Abu Ghneim area of East Jerusalem. On two occasions, the Council failed to adopt a draft resolution that would have expressed deep concern about the decision and would have called on Israel to refrain from such settlement activities, Mr. Taukatch added.

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