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 reading the following statement: "The Secretary-General wishes to express his deepest sympathy for the people of Papua New Guinea as they struggled to cope with the tragedy that had befallen them. He had been profoundly distressed to learn of the terrible damage wrought by last week's tidal wave and especially by the tragic loss of so many lives, including those of hundreds, if not thousands, of children.

"He hopes the international community would give generous and timely assistance to the government and people of Papua New Guinea in their hour of need. The United Nations stands ready to help in assessing the damage, and in mobilizing the necessary international relief effort." (See Press Release SG/SM/6644.) The text of that statement was available in the Spokesman's Office. It was understood that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva was leading the coordinating effort, Mr. Eckhard noted.

The Spokesman said that, as had been announced late on Friday, 17 July, the Secretary-General had interrupted his Latin American tour to fly overnight to Rome to attend the ceremony commemorating the adoption of the Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Statute of the Court had been adopted on Friday by a non-recorded vote of 120 votes in favour to 7 against, with 21 abstentions. Because it had been an unrecorded vote, it was not possible to clarify conflicting press reports about who had cast the seven negative votes. In fact, it was not clear if it would ever be possible to give an official clarification.

Mr. Eckhard went on to say that the ceremony had taken place at the Campidoglio, or City Hall, in Rome on Saturday afternoon. The Secretary- General had made a statement following opening remarks by the Mayor of Rome. The text of the Secretary-General's statement was available in the Spokesman's Office.

He added that the Secretary-General then handed the final act and the Statute to the Italian Foreign Minister, Lamberto Dini, who had signed the documents on behalf of his country. Following the Foreign Minister's invitation to other Member States to sign, five others did so. With 10 governments having signed the night before, the grand total of signatories was currently 26. A list of those signatories was available in room S-378. Sixty nations must sign and ratify the Statute for it to come into effect, he continued. The International Criminal Court would then come into effect one month after the sixtieth ratification. A press release from Rome was available in room S-378. (See Press Release L/2890.)

Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General had spent much of yesterday on the phone and resting. One of the phone calls he had made was to President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, to congratulate him on his eightieth birthday, as well as on his wedding to Graça Machel, the widow of former President Samora Machel of Mozambique.

The Secretary-General was now on a 16-hour flight to Guatemala, he added. He would resume his programme there this evening and was expected to arrive at 2 p.m. local time (4 p.m. New York time). He would meet with President Alvaro Arzú Irigoyen of Guatemala at 5:30 p.m. local time. At 6:15 p.m., the President would decorate the Secretary-General with the medal of the Queztal Order, the highest honour the Government could bestow on a civilian.

Turning to Security Council matters, the Spokesman said that the Council had adopted a resolution on Western Sahara this morning, extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for two months until 21 September. The Council called on the parties to cooperate with the United Nations to complete the identification of voters phase of the settlement plan and the agreements reached for its implementation.

Mr. Eckhard added that prior to the formal meeting, the Council had also held informal consultations the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The Council had discussed a draft resolution which it might act on tomorrow. The Council was also expected to be briefed by Sergio Vieira de Mello, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, on the humanitarian situation in Tajikistan.

On Afghanistan, the Spokesman said that in a press release issued in Geneva and Rome today, the High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, and the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Catherine Bertini, had jointly condemned the killing of two aid workers.

The Afghan aid workers had been kidnapped a week ago in front of Jalalabad University while waiting for a United Nations vehicle to take them to work, he added. Their bodies were found over the weekend. They had both worked on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) programme for reintegration of refugees returning from Pakistan to the Jalalabad area.

Also on Afghanistan, the Spokesman said that Bronek Szynalski, head of the WFP programme in Afghanistan and leader of the United Nations delegation to the most recent talks with the Taliban, and Maurice Dewulf, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), were at Headquarters this week for discussions following the pull-out of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from Kabul. A meeting with United Nations agencies was scheduled for tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 20 July 1998

Mr. Eckhard then said that the Secretary-General's high-level panel on Algeria had started its consultations and preparatory meetings in Lisbon about an hour ago. Members of the panel were scheduled to go to Algeria on Wednesday, 22 July.

He added that in Geneva, the Commission on Human Rights had begun consideration of the second periodic report on the status of civil and political rights in Algeria. In it, Algeria had listed the measures undertaken by the Government to comply with the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights since the last report they had submitted in 1992. A press release on that subject was available in room S-378.

The Spokesman then reported that Jamsheed Marker, the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for East Timor, had visited East Timor yesterday. He had met with a number of East Timorese officials and leaders, including those of the Roman Catholic Church, in the town of Baucau. Back in Jakarta, Mr. Marker had met with the Indonesian Defence Minister, General Wiranto, today. He was scheduled to stay in Indonesia until 22 July.

From Luanda, it had been learnt that the mediating body, known as the Joint Commission, had met this morning for a follow-up session, Mr. Eckhard said. Discussions had focused again on the extension of State administration into four contested areas. The meeting had been chaired by Major-General Kofi Obeng, Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA). [The General had mistakenly been identified as the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General last week.]

The Spokesman went on to say that the ambassadors of the Troika of observer States -- Portugal, Russian Federation, United States -- were present throughout those talks. The Government and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) had so far not been able to agree on dates for the extension of State administration, and a further meeting of the Joint Commission had been scheduled for later this week. "We are still engaged in a dialogue," General Obeng told reporters after the meeting. "This dialogue is a long process. I cannot tell you how long it will take. But I can tell you that we have to be patient."

Mr. Eckhard added that there was a continual flow of reports from the regions of low-level hostilities, including ambushes, attacks, mine detonations, and so on. The number of displaced persons had increased by 91,000 since the beginning of the year, and there were now some 350,000 people receiving humanitarian assistance.

Mr. Eckhard then said that there were two reports of the Secretary- General available today -- one on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) (document S/1998/652), and another on the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) (document S/1998/647). Both were scheduled to be discussed by the Security Council on Thursday, 23 July.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 20 July 1998

In the UNIFIL report, the Secretary-General said that continued fighting in southern Lebanon during the last six months had given cause for "serious concern", Mr. Eckhard continued. The Secretary-General also expressed concern over harassment of United Nations personnel. Citing his visit to UNIFIL headquarters in March -- which he said reinforced his view of the importance of the mission's contribution to stability and the protection it provided to the population of the area -- the Secretary-General recommended that the Security Council respond positively to the request of the Government of Lebanon and extend the mandate of UNIFIL for another six months until 31 January 1999.

Mr. Eckhard added that the Secretary-General also drew attention to the serious shortfall in funding for the 4,480-member Force. Unpaid assessments amounted to $103.5 million, he said, appealing to all Member States to pay their assessments promptly.

In the report on UNOMIG, the Secretary-General described the situation on the ground as tense and the risk of new confrontation high, Mr. Eckhard went on to say. He said his Special Representative, Liviu Bota, as well as the Russian Federation, acting as facilitator, had been forced to address one crisis after another.

He reported the burning and looting of some 1,400 private homes, including those recently rebuilt with international assistance at a cost of $2 million, and the plight of some 40,000 people forced by the hostilities to leave their homes for a second time. "I deplore such reprehensible acts whose motive appears to be to expel people from their home areas", the Secretary- General said. He also condemned attacks against United Nations peacekeepers and reminded the parties that protection of unarmed United Nations military observers rested with the parties, Mr. Eckhard continued.

Citing UNOMIG as having proven its presence was essential, the Secretary- General recommended that the Security Council extend the Mission's mandate for a further six-month period until 31 January 1999, the Spokesman said.

He then announced that, following the establishment of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL), the Secretary-General had decided to appoint Brigadier-General Subhash C. Joshi of India as Chief Military Observer. General Joshi had been serving as team leader of a military liaison cell deployed in that country before the Mission was created.

Mr. Eckhard concluded the briefing by announcing that internationally acclaimed actor and human rights activist Danny Glover was completing his first mission as Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today. He would meet the press at 11:15 a.m. on Thursday in room S-226 to talk about his mission. A UNDP press release containing details was available in the Spokesman's Office.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 20 July 1998

A correspondent asked whether the NGO pull-out in Afghanistan was complete and if the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Lakhdar Brahimi, planned to return to the region. Mr. Eckhard replied that he did not know when Mr. Brahimi would be going back to the region. Information was still being collected on the NGOs, some of which were in the process of leaving and some of which were not leaving. This week, the United Nations was assessing the impact of the NGOs' departure -- those that were leaving -- on the Organization's programmes and asking what the future policy should be.

Another correspondent then referred to Security Council resolution 1161 (1998) on reactivating the International Commission of Inquiry to investigate sale and supply of arms and related matériel to former Rwandan government forces and militia, by which the Council requested that the Secretary-General report in three months about a preliminary report. Was that three months from the date the resolution was passed (19 April 1998), or three months from when the team was officially reorganized? The Spokesman said he did not know the answer to that question. He would have to find out and get back to the correspondent immediately after the briefing. [He later informed the correspondent that the Commission was expected to submit a report to the Council by the end of this month.]

Another correspondent asked which court would have jurisdiction over genocide, the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court. Mr. Eckhard said that the World Court did not hear cases against individuals, just governments. Secondly, there were two international criminal courts, one on Yugoslavia and one on Rwanda, each of which dealt with cases against individuals, including genocide and crimes against humanity. The new International Criminal Court would not come into effect for a while and its jurisdiction was not retroactive, so there was not expected to be any conflict between the International Criminal Court and the two existing criminal courts on Rwanda and Yugoslavia.

The correspondent then said if there had been a convention on genocide in 1948 which had given the International Court of Justice jurisdiction on genocide. The Spokesman reiterated that the World Court did not try cases against individuals.

On the subject of United Nations volunteers, the correspondent cited a General Assembly ruling forbidding the Secretary-General from hiring volunteers. Last week, he had learnt that the Secretary-General was hiring about 24 volunteers to staff the Organization. Mr. Eckhard said he did not know about that General Assembly ruling and would have to look into it.

He added that he was aware of the Assembly's concern about gratis personnel, who were gradually being phased out in response to the Assembly's wishes. He did not know that the Assembly had taken a position on volunteers and would look into the relevant resolution and into any possibility that volunteers might have been hired contrary to the General Assembly's wishes.

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 20 July 1998

However, he doubted whether that would be the case. [He later confirmed that the Assembly resolution in question referred to gratis personnel and not to United Nations volunteers.]

Referring to weekend news reports of armed military units crossing into Kosovo from Albania and clashing with the army of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), another correspondent asked whether that represented aggression by United Nations standards. The Spokesman replied that he did not have any guidance on that issue and would, therefore, not give a legal opinion.

What was aggression by World Court standards? she asked. Mr. Eckhard said he would have to ask the lawyers if there was any such definition. How could aggression be prevented if there was no definition? the correspondent asked. The Spokesman responded by saying that United Nations work in Kosovo was human rights-related and humanitarian, which the correspondent had been told repeatedly. She kept asking political questions about Kosovo that he had no basis to answer. He was happy to look into the more abstract question about a definition of aggression by the World Court or any other United Nations body.

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