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, said at the beginning of today's noon briefing that the Secretary-General had been warmly received at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg today. In his speech to the students there -- made available to correspondents yesterday -- the Secretary- General had made a strong pitch for the International Criminal Court, which, he said, was designed to prevent mass murderers and other arch-criminals from taking shelter behind a State run by themselves or their cronies.

"Some people seem to imagine that this Court will be composed of frivolous or malicious people", the Secretary-General had said, "roaming the world in search of opportunities to undermine a peace process here or prosecute a peacekeeper there."

"Nothing", he had asserted, "could be more improbable."

The Secretary-General had then flown to Durban where, the Spokesman said, he should be on the ground now. In approximately half an hour, he was scheduled to meet with South African President Nelson Mandela to begin a discussion of regional issues -- specifically the situations in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He had told the media before leaving Johannesburg that he expected to have many bilateral meetings in the margins of the twelfth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement that he would be attending in Durban. Other issues might come up, the Secretary-General had said, ranging from Libya to Iraq.

Tomorrow, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda would hand down the first-ever judgement for the crime of genocide by an international court, Mr. Eckhard said. The judgement would concern the case of Jean-Paul Akayesu, former Mayor of Taba in Rwanda, who was charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva Convention. Mr. Akayesu had pleaded not guilty. The judgement was expected to be delivered by the President of the Tribunal [Judge Laity Kama of Senegal] tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Arusha time -- 2:30 a.m. New York time. The Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Legal Counsel Hans Corell, had been asked to come to tomorrow's noon briefing to comment on the judgement.

Mr. Eckhard said that on Friday, 4 September, the Tribunal would pronounce the first-ever sentence for genocide in the case of Jean Kambanda, the former Prime Minister of Rwanda, who had pleaded guilty to the charges against him. A background press release was available on the racks. Preliminary radio coverage was already available in the audio library, and an additional audio feed would be available tomorrow and in the days to come. The Department of Public Information (DPI) had set up in Arusha to cover the event.

The Security Council was not meeting today, as it was the first day of the month, the Spokesman went on to say. Bilateral consultations were going on. Hans Dahlgren (Sweden) was the Council President for the month of September. They would meet tomorrow for additional consultations on their programme of work.

The weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme was out, Mr. Eckhard said. There was one new oil contract -- bringing the total number of oil contracts approved during the current phase to 53 -- for 312 million barrels of oil. On spare parts, the Iraq Sanctions Committee set up under Security Council resolution 661 (1990) had approved seven more contracts, bringing the total number of contracts approved to 16, with a total value of $25 million. A fact sheet prepared by the Office of the Iraq Progamme was available upstairs.

The 90-day report of the 661 Committee had been mentioned yesterday, the Spokesman went on to say. A second 90-day report by the Iraq Programme was expected to be out tomorrow or Thursday. The Security Council was expected to ask Benon Sevan, the Executive Director of the Iraq Programme, to brief it on the report on Friday. The Spokesman's Office would try to get him -- if he had finished his Council briefing -- to come to the noon briefing that day.

Mr. Eckhard said that the preliminary programme of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson for her visit to China from 6 to 15 September was available upstairs. The High Commissioner would meet with various Chinese officials and would address the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was also scheduled to take part in a workshop on the two human rights Covenants. In answer to questions received by the Spokesman's Office, Mrs. Robinson would indeed visit Tibet as a part of her trip to China. She was expected to arrive in Lhasa on 10 September, for a two-day stay. She would meet there with a wide range of representatives of the authorities and of civil society.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Georgia, Liviu Bota, would convene a meeting of the so-called Coordinating Council of the Georgian and Abkhaz sides tomorrow, 2 September, in Sukhumi, Mr. Eckhard said. The purpose of the meeting would be to discuss rising tensions. A press release issued by the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) was available.

Mr. Eckhard went on to say that it had been announced in Geneva this morning that Sergio Paulo Pinheiro, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi, had been involved in a car accident yesterday in Burundi. Mr. Pinheiro's life was not in danger, but he had been obliged to cut short his mission and was returning to Geneva today to receive medical treatment for a broken arm.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 1 September 1998

A press release concerning a report from the Secretary-General on the role of micro-credit in poverty eradication was available today, the Spokesman said. The report analysed strengths and weaknesses in micro-finance programmes and suggested means for improvement. The press release was available in room S-390. Advance copies of the report could be obtained from Tim Wall in the Development and Human Rights Section of the DPI at extension 1887.

As promised yesterday, Mr. Eckhard said a news release issued in New York today by the World Food Programme (WFP) was now available, appealing for emergency food aid for the more than 600,000 Cubans suffering severe shortages caused by the worst drought in decades. WFP Spokesman Trevor Rowe was available through the agency's New York office for more information. Video footage was available upon request.

Also available upstairs was a summary of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) briefing from Geneva, he said. The UNHCR had announced the start of the largest relief convoy to date in Kosovo and had expressed extreme concern about the condition of the tens of thousands of people stranded in the woods as winter approached.

Mr. Eckhard said the UNHCR also reported continuous crossings of Congolese refugees into Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania to escape the fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A news release just issued in New York by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), protesting widespread looting by rebel forces of its offices, warehouses and homes in the eastern part of that country, was also available.

On floods in Bangladesh, the Spokesman said that following the recent appeal by the Government of Bangladesh, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had reported that the international response to assist victims of the floods had increased significantly. Essential relief items, such as plastic sheeting, corrugated iron sheets, water purification tablets, high protein biscuits and sanitation materials, were being provided by UNICEF, the WFP and the World Health Organization (WHO). A UNICEF press release issued today in Dhaka was available upstairs.

Mr. Eckhard then announced that Botswana had acceded to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, becoming the 115th party to it. The Convention had been signed by 165 countries and had entered into force in April 1997.

The Spokesman reminded correspondents that a briefing sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on the state of the world's coral reefs would be held today at 1:15 p.m. in Conference Room 4. As mentioned at yesterday's noon briefing, Stan Bernstein, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) senior research adviser, would brief correspondents at 11 a.m. tomorrow in room S-226 on the State of the World Population report for 1998.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 1 September 1998

A correspondent asked the Spokesman if anyone from Headquarters would be accompanying the High Commissioner for Human Rights on her trip to Lhasa. Mr. Eckhard said the correspondent would have to contact Mrs. Robinson's spokesperson in Geneva.

Was there someone correspondents could interview on the UNHCR programme in Kosovo? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that Marie Okabe in his office could put correspondents in touch with the UNHCR office in New York.

Was there any reaction to the new press release out from the Turkish Mission regarding Cyprus? Mr. Eckhard was asked. He said there was none.

Had it been brought to the Secretary-General's attention that the Chinese had vetoed any press accompanying Mary Robinson? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he was not aware of that and would have to check whether she or anyone on her staff had discussed the matter with the Secretary-General or his staff.

Mr. Eckhard was asked if there was any reaction to a statement by William S. Ritter, former weapons inspector for the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) on the disarmament of Iraq, that he had indeed exchanged information with governments. The Spokesman said, "No. I believe when Richard Butler [the Executive Chairman of UNSCOM] was here to speak to you last week concerning allegations that Scott Ritter had shared information with governments, he said that he would have no comment on that, and that it was a matter between the United States and Scott Ritter."

Were United Nations aid activities in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea being affected by the recent missile experiment? a correspondent asked. The Spokesman said that, while he would have to double check, he rather doubted they would be.

Had the United Nations issued any official comment on the matter? Mr. Eckhard answered "no". He added that while there had been press reports stating that a Japanese official had said the matter could possibly be brought to the Council, he did not know if that was any indication of Japan's indication to do so.

Under international law, from the United Nations perspective, was it legal for a country to shoot a missile across another country? The Spokesman said that while he could not say on this specific case, he believed that it did involve a matter of sovereignty and air rights.

A correspondent asked if yesterday's stock market plunge had affected the gift made by Ted Turner to the United Nations. Mr. Eckhard said that was an interesting question as the gift was measured in stock, and if there was a negative impact on the value of that stock, it could affect the value of the gift. However, as the gift would be dispensed over a 10-year period, the

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 1 September 1998

Spokesman did not think any significant effect could be measured now. He was sure the relevant United Nations personnel were looking at the market.

Was any information available about a request for a United Nations investigation of Mr. Ritter? the Spokesman was asked. He said there had been press reports out of Baghdad yesterday that Iraq had sent a letter to the Security Council requesting something like that. The Council received a letter from Iraq yesterday, which was now in translation. Mr. Eckhard believed that the Secretary-General's office had been sent a copy of the letter, but that letter was also in translation. More might be known over the course of the day.

Wasn't it unusual for a Member State to ask for an investigation of a United Nations official? a correspondent asked. Had that ever been done before? Mr. Eckhard said he could not predict how the Council would react and did not know about precedent.

A correspondent asked if it would be possible for a briefing to be held regarding the fifty-third session of the General Assembly. Mr. Eckhard said he would relay that request today.

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