DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General:

Good afternoon: We are going to have my favourite person, Louise Arbour, at the briefing today. She'll be joining us in a few minutes. She's the Prosecutor of the two Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda.

We have the following statement concerning the Brcko decision announced in Washington today:

The Secretary-General strongly endorses the Brcko Arbitration Tribunal's decision to create the Brcko district of Bosnia and Herzegovina to be held in condominium by both entities. For Brcko, no less than for Bosnia itself, there is no alternative to democratic, multi-ethnic government, and the Secretary-General is, therefore, particularly pleased that this vital principle has been upheld by the award.

The award provides a unique opportunity for the three communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to work together to promote economic prosperity, establish the rule of law and demonstrate their commitment to a tolerant and open society.

The Secretary-General strongly urges the leadership in both entities to serve the interests of all Brcko residents, regardless of their ethnicity, by complying fully with the arbitration award.

The United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and its International Police Task Force, will continue to assist the parties and the supervising authority in Brcko to ensure a smooth transition to a unified, multi-ethnic police and judicial system in the newly established Brcko district.

**Security Council:

There will be no Security Council consultations today. So, I hope you'll all be able to go home early today. Council members will have their monthly working luncheon with the Secretary-General, hosted by China, which is in the President's chair this month.

**Report on Cambodia:

The Secretary-General announced in his press conference this week that the experts' report on Cambodia would be published on the 15th of this month,

but he also said that a summary of the recommendations would be put out on the 8th, which is Monday. We're now changing that.

The Secretary-General is now expected to meet with the Foreign Minister of Cambodia on the 12th and, at the Foreign Ministers's request, is deferring the release of the summary until after that meeting.

**Secretary-General's Report on Sierra Leone: The Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) is out today, as scheduled.

In the report, which is available on the Internet through the United Nations Home Page, the Secretary-General "unreservedly" strongly condemned the merciless murders, inhumane mutilations and other appalling human rights violations perpetrated by the rebels on innocent civilians. He also said that in the light of some allegations that members of pro-Government forces may also have been guilty of violations, he hoped that the Government will fulfil its assurances that such allegations will be investigated. He said he intends to deploy an additional human rights officer to Sierra Leone.

He flagged to the Security Council the possible partial withdrawal of Nigerian forces from the Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG), following the elections in that country, and the consequent effects on ECOMOG's military effectiveness in Sierra Leone could require a major reappraisal of the situation.

He praised, as bold and valuable, President Kabbah's decision to allow the leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Foday Sankoh, to meet with rebel leaders in order to develop a coherent set of political demands, which would form the basis of subsequent negotiations with the Government.

Should negotiations between the Government and the rebels take a favourable turn, UNOMSIL -- that is the United Nations peacekeeping force -- should remain in a position where it is capable of rendering further assistance to the peace process. The Secretary-General said that he, therefore, recommends the extension of UNOMSIL's mandate for a further period of three months, until 13 June.

In view of the improvement in the security situation in and around Freetown achieved during the past few days, he said that it was his intention to re-establish UNOMSIL in Freetown as soon as possible. In the meantime, United Nations agencies have also been authorized to re-establish a limited presence in Freetown.

**Guinea-Bissau:

Out on the racks today is a letter from the Security Council President to the Secretary-General welcoming the Secretary-General's proposal to establish a United Nations peace-building support office in Guinea-Bissau.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 5 March 1999

The office, which will be headed by a representative of the Secretary- General, will work with the Government of National Unity, with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its military arm, ECOMOG, to facilitate the implementation of the Abuja Agreement.

The office will help create the environment for the consolidation of peace, democracy and the rule of law, and for the organization of free and transparent elections. It will also seek the adoption of a programme of voluntary arms collection, disposal and destruction.

More details on the Office's mandate and the Secretary-General's proposal are available in the Secretary-General's letter to the Council, which also became available on the racks today. The Secretary-General's report on Guinea-Bissau and the implementation of the Abuja Agreement is due on the 17th of this month.

**Family Support Payments:

There was a lot of interest yesterday in the new policy which the Secretary-General announced regarding family support payments. Staff members from the Office of Human Resources Management here at Headquarters and the Office of Legal Affairs are meeting as we speak to continue work on the issuance of a policy document and on the procedures for implementing it.

Yesterday, I was asked what was meant by the fact that the United Nations is "voluntarily" undertaking to take this initiative. The United Nations as an international organization, of course, is not subject to local laws. But individual staff members must comply with local court orders and with local laws for that matter. So the staff are under compulsory jurisdiction, and the United Nations is voluntarily undertaking to support that compulsory jurisdiction, even though, as an international organization, it cannot be coerced into doing so.

**Pino Arlacchi Due in Colombia for Talks:

Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, is on his way to Colombia at the invitation of President Andreas Pastrana Arango. The main purpose of Mr. Arlacchi's trip is to assist the Government in the process of involving the guerrilla leadership in alternative development projects to eliminate illicit drug crops. The United Nations International Drug Control Programme and the Government have already started work on a model alternative development project in the "demilitarized zone" containing over 10,000 hectares of coca cultivation. Mr. Arlacchi is expected to tour the project area, where he will meet with local officials and farmers. Upon his return to the Colombian capital, he will meet with President Pastrana and other Colombian officials before returning to Vienna.

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**New Human Rights Officer for Indonesia:

It was announced in Geneva today that a human rights programme officer will go to Jakarta, Indonesia, next week to start a technical cooperation programme with that country. The project document was signed yesterday by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Indonesian representative in Geneva.

**New Freshwater Communications Campaign:

An information note from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is available on the racks on a new freshwater communications campaign with the global release on Monday of a half-hour BBC television documentary entitled, "Everybody Lives Downstream". Released in connection with the upcoming World Water Day, 22 March, the film focuses on river basins on four continents and creates a symbolic river, with sequences filmed in the Tibetan plateau, the Colombian highlands, and on the Nile, Euphrates and Rhine Rivers.

"The film highlights the fact that when it comes to using freshwater, human beings, whether they live in a village or a mega-city, cannot isolate themselves from their neighbours", said Klaus Töpfer, UNEP Executive Director. "Rather, there are fundamental linkages and dependencies between water users and uses in a given drainage basin that affect everyone", he said.

**Secretary-General Addresses Lions Clubs:

The Secretary-General this morning spoke to the twenty-first Annual Lions' Day with the United Nations. He stressed that the Lions have become one of the United Nations most valuable friends and allies, and highlighted what both organizations have in common, including their work in the areas of health, drugs, youth and older persons.

The Secretary-General called for more partnerships such as that between the Lions and the United Nations. "Our doors are open as never before to NGOs", he said, "to trade unions, local authorities, youth and women's groups, academic institutions and private sector enterprises." He said that such partnerships of the like-minded are not an option, but a necessity.

The full text of the speech is available in my office.

**Kosovo:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today it is organizing an emergency rescue operation to pick up around 200 displaced people who have been trapped on a mountainside in Kosovo in makeshift plastic shelters for three nights in a row in subfreezing temperatures. The rescue operation is complicated since the group is located in an area which is very difficult to access even in four-wheel drive vehicles.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 5 March 1999

According to the UNHCR's office in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia capital Skopje, an estimated 1,500 people have crossed into the country since fighting broke out near the border on 26 February. The remaining 5,000 people displaced by that fighting are crammed into three towns on the Yugoslav side of the border.

The information is contained in the UNHCR briefing note, and we also have the weekly humanitarian update on Kosovo available upstairs.

**Press Conference on Angola:

We have from Geneva the transcript of a press conference on the humanitarian situation in Angola given by Francesco Strippolli, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Angola. Take a look at that, if you're interested.

**Food Airlift to Mozambique:

The World Food Programme (WFP) announced it has launched an airlift of emergency food rations to 70,000 people in southern Mozambique who have been affected by the country's worst flooding in 40 years.

**Commission on Status of Women:

The first week of the forty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women is coming to an end today. We have available in room S-378 a note summarizing that first week's work.

**OCHA News:

We have copies of the weekly newsletter issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It's called OCHA News.

**Thailand Pays UN Dues:

We have one payment today -- the fiftieth Member State which had paid in full for 1999. It's Thailand, with a payment of over $1.7 million.

**Week Ahead at United Nations:

The "Week Ahead" is available in my office. I'll highlight just four items.

Monday is International Women's Day, and the Secretary-General will take part in a global videoconference linking New York with four other sites -- Mexico City, Nairobi, New Delhi and Strasbourg (that is the home of the European Parliament) -- on the theme: "A World Free of Violence against Women". That will be in the General Assembly Hall from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

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Francis Okelo, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Sierra Leone, is expected to brief the Security Council on Monday and, I think, he'll brief you immediately afterwards. That should be in the morning.

On Tuesday, the East Timor talks will resume. A senior officials' meeting is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. And then a ministerial-level meeting with the Secretary-General attending during at least the first session is expected to take place on Wednesday afternoon and then continue into Thursday.

Also on Wednesday, the Security Council has scheduled consultations on Ethiopia-Eritrea.

Any questions before we go to Louise Arbour.

** Question-and-Answer Session:

Question: I was in Washington yesterday. A resolution was introduced both in the Congress and the Senate in order to bring up the case of Haiti before the Organization of American States (OAS) because of lack of success on the part of the United Nations. Did the Secretary-General discuss the matter with any congressman while he was there, and since the matter is on the wires today, what is the opinion of the United Nations having the case transferred from him (the Secretary-General) to the OAS, the regional organization?

Answer: The United Nations is always ready to work with any regional group on any security matter. I'm not aware that this came up in the Secretary-General's meetings in Washington, but I'll have to review the notes. I can't say that it didn't come up.

Question: On Sierra Leone, do you have any briefing on why the President of Sierra Leone seems to be angry at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other aid groups for not really going back to the country, now that Freetown seems to be quiet? He had made some statements on the matter a couple of days ago. Secondly, has the Secretary-General written to Ethiopia over the past week at all saying they should listen to the Eritreans' acceptance of the ceasefire?

Answer: I don't know that he has written. I'll have to check. He's following that issue very closely. I'll have to check whether he has made any phone calls. On Sierra Leone, we understand their frustration. They will like our people to go back. You heard, I think, what I said in connection with the report that a limited presence has been authorized for Freetown. I don't know the specific reason why the President was critical of the UNDP Resident Representative.

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