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 announcing that the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) had issued its eighth report today. The report was transmitted by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly and was issued this morning in New York under the symbol A/52/946. It was simultaneously presented by MINUGUA at a press conference in Guatemala City.

The report covered the human rights situation in Guatemala from 1 July 1997 to 31 March 1998, Mr. Eckhard said. It stressed that one of the factors affecting human rights in Guatemala was criminal violence. While the Mission acknowledged the State's efforts to improve the administration of justice and the deployment of the new national civilian police, it also noted that serious shortcomings persisted with respect to the investigation, prosecution and punishment of offenders.

Also in the report, Mr. Eckhard said, MINUGUA pointed to the frequent practice in Guatemala of "taking justice into one's own hands". It reported frequent lynchings, cases of social cleansing and the possible resurgence of illegal security groups as matters of grave concern. Press material in Spanish summarizing MINUGUA's findings were available in room S-378, and the report was on the racks in both English and Spanish.

The Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA) was also available today, Mr. Eckhard said. In that report, the Secretary-General proposed expanding the mandate of MINURCA until 15 September 1998. The Secretary-General also said that if the necessary preparations for the elections were made before the mandate expired, he would be prepared to submit detailed recommendations to the Security Council on possible United Nations involvement in the electoral process.

The MINURCA had begun its mission on 15 April this year and had helped maintain a secure and stable environment in Bangui, the capital, the Spokesman quoted the Secretary-General as saying in the report. The MINURCA was also actively engaged in supervising and controlling weapons retrieved from the Inter-African Mission to Monitor Implementation of the Bangui Agreement (MISAB), which was the preceding peacekeeping mission in the country. MINURCA's work included monitoring the final disposition of these arms and ammunition, and the Mission also provided support to United Nations humanitarian activities throughout the country.

The Security Council had not expected to meet today, but it decided belatedly to meet at 4:30 p.m. to discuss developments in Eritrea and Ethiopia, the Spokesman said. Kieran Prendergast, the Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs, would first brief the Council on the latest situation

and the mediation efforts. A statement was issued on Eritrea-Ethiopia late Friday evening, available in room S-378.

Also, the Spokesman said, closed consultations among members of the Council and troop contributors on the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) would be held at 3:30 p.m. in Conference Room 4.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) had jointly released today a 1998 Summary of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion, Mr. Eckhard said. The Executive Director of UNEP, Klaus Topfer, had welcomed the report's findings and urged all parties to the Kyoto Protocol on emission control to seize every opportunity to reduce their emissions of ozone depleting chemicals. The report was prepared by over 200 scientists from around the world, and a press release summarizing the findings and observations was available in room S-378.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, in London to address a symposium on children affected by armed conflict, had announced that during his visit to the Sudan, three Ugandan children abducted from northern Uganda by a rebel group there were released and handed over to the United Nations in Khartoum.

Mr. Otunnu had stressed that the Sudanese Government had made an important pledge to assist in obtaining the release of the children, the Spokesman said. The Special Representative had also said he had especially requested the Sudanese Government to use its influence to help trace and secure the release of girls abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda. A press release of Mr. Otunnu's Friday announcement in London was available in room S-378.

The Secretary-General was having one internal meeting in two parts today to conduct a thorough review of critical United Nations missions, Mr. Eckhard said. These were either peacekeeping or good offices missions. He was in the middle of one session, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. He would have a second session this afternoon, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The missions involved were listed on the Web page. Hard copies of the Web print-out, comprising a comprehensive list of both peacekeeping and good offices missions, were also available in room S-378.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Eckhard said, in a press release issued earlier today and available in room S-378, had appealed to a peaceful solution to the conflict in Guinea-Bissau. Sadako Ogata warned that the conflict could generate a major humanitarian crisis. Immediate consequences could be famine, refugee outflow into neighbouring countries, and threats to the safety of the 5,000 refugees from Senegal who had been living in Guinea-Bissau since 1992.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 22 June 1998

A press release from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was also available, Mr. Eckhard said. It announced the appointment of a pre-trial judge in the case of Drgoljub Kunarac. The aim of the new appointment was to speed up the proceedings in order to enforce the right of the accused to an expeditious trial. Details were included in the press release.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mr. Eckhard said, had issued a joint press release in Geneva saying that humanitarian operations in many parts of the world were facing unacceptable risks. The statement, issued after two top officials of the organizations met to discuss how to provide a more secure environment, noted that over the past six years 139 United Nations civilian workers had been killed in the course of duty, and 141 others had been taken hostage.

The upcoming Friday, 26 June, was the first observance of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Spokesman announced. There would be a press conference on Thursday in room S-229 at 11:15 a.m. with Bacré Ndiaye, the new Director of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, joined by Allen Keller of the Bellevue/New York Program for Survivors of Torture. That was one of several programmes in the United States for survivors of torture.

There was also an exhibit in the Public Lobby, Mr. Eckhard said. It was co-sponsored by the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the International Council for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims. The exhibit was open from today until 2 July. It would be officially inaugurated on Friday at 11 a.m. The Department of Public Information (DPI) had released a backgrounder on the Day. It was available on the racks, and questions could be addressed to Ann Marie Erb at extension 5851.

A journalist said some press reports had said the Greek Cypriot administration had made complaints about Turkey to the United Nations. What was the subject of the complaints?

Mr. Eckhard said he was not aware of such complaints. He would check the letter flow to see if any complaints had arrived and had been made an official United Nations document, or if a complaint had arrived by any other means. He would report back.

Had the United Nations been contacted in any way regarding the Belarus housing dispute involving the European Union and the United States, who were pulling out ambassadors in the big fight going on over the plumbing there?

To his knowledge, Mr. Eckhard said, the United Nations had not been contacted about that. His sense was the matter was not one to be brought to the attention of the United Nations, but he would check and report back.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 22 June 1998

Were there any details on a request by a group of Arab countries for the General Assembly to look at the Jerusalem issue?

Not that he was aware, Mr. Eckhard said in answer to the question. On Wednesday, the General Assembly was meeting on the status of Palestine. Whether or not that matter would be brought before it would have to be checked.

What was the latest news on the refugees in Kosovo? another journalist asked. There was nothing new on that, Mr. Eckhard answered. On Friday, it had been announced that the UNHCR had observed the flow of refugees to have stopped. It had also speculated that the border had been sealed. There was no fresh information this morning.

Was there any read-out on the meeting between the Secretary-General and the Armenian Supreme Patriarch? Mr. Eckhard was asked. No, he answered. But the understanding was that the meeting had been arranged at the request of the Armenian Mission. It seemed as one of those meetings in which the Secretary- General tried to keep in touch with the leaders of civil society. If some further read-out was available, the information would be conveyed.

What was the situation between Eritrea and Ethiopia? a journalist asked. The Secretary-General continued to watch the situation very closely, Mr. Eckhard answered. A statement was issued late Friday, after the Organization of African Unity (OAU) effort did not succeed and the group formally announced that on Friday, which triggered the United Nations statement later that day. The Secretary-General hoped that the mediation efforts could be more narrowly focused and that the two parties would refrain from making the situation any worse than it already was, and would allow a political process to go forward.

Did the United Nations have observers there? a journalist asked. No, Mr. Eckhard answered. There was a massive presence in Ethiopia because the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and other United Nations entities were there. In Addis Ababa, there were staff in the hundreds, but in Eritrea, perhaps there was not even a United Nations information centre.

Then what kind of information would Mr. Prendergast use to brief the Security Council later today? the same reporter asked. Mr. Eckhard said the Department of Political Affairs gathered information on the basis of a United Nations presence in a location. In the case of Ethiopia, the presence was substantial, and that would probably be the basis of the briefing.

Was there a plan for the Secretary-General to go to Washington and Capitol Hill to do personal lobbying for the United States debt as had been once planned? If so, when would he go?

No, the Secretary-General had made a trip at the invitation of the Canadian Government to attend a dinner with some leading figures of

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 22 June 1998

Washington-based media, Mr. Eckhard said. He had, at this time, no intention of getting personally involved in securing the United States funding. It was very much a domestic matter that had to be sorted out between the executive and legislative branches of that Government.

It seemed that the divide in managing the Kosovo crisis, between the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance and the Russian Federation, was maybe not getting larger, but it was still pretty firm. Was there any consideration of that issue in the Security Council or any other body?

That would have to be checked, Mr. Eckhard said, in answer to the question, adding he was not aware of it being on the agenda for this week.

Would Richard Butler brief the Security Council on Wednesday and then all day Thursday also? What was his schedule in briefing the Council? a journalist asked.

The indications were that he would brief the Council on Wednesday, ahead of the 60-day periodic review on Thursday, 25 June, of this week, Mr. Eckhard said. Mr. Butler was in the air now, returning to New York from Australia.

"I thought they got rid of the 60-day reviews", the journalist said. "Apparently not", Mr. Eckhard answered, then confirmed the 60-day review was due on Thursday.

"On the Kosovo question", Mr. Eckhard said, the Council was expected to take up the issue on Monday, 29 June. [It was subsequently clarified that the Secretary-General's report on Kosovo was due to be submitted on 29 June.]

A journalist repeated a question posed on Friday regarding the legality of sealing borders. Mr. Eckhard said an answer had not yet been received from legal counsel on that.

Asked by another journalist to clarify the date of the release of the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Eckhard said it was Monday, 29 June. Asked if release had been scheduled yet, Mr. Eckhard said Atsu-Koffi Amega, head of the team, had been asked to come to Headquarters just ahead of the release date, and arrangements were being made for him to be at the briefing on 29 June. On that same day, the Council was expected to get its copy, probably in the morning, and, possibly on the same day, commentary by the Democratic Republic of the Congo would be available, as well as by Rwanda, both of whom had been given advance copies of the report for their advance information. The report would not be changed in any way as a result of their review of it.

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