DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19990422
The following is a near verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Fred Eckhard:
**The Kosovo Crisis
Good afternoon. We just learned from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) team in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) that aid workers who had been trying since Monday to reach more than 6,000 refugees stranded on a wind-swept ridge of Male Malina had gained access to them about 1 hour ago. No details on their condition or needs were immediately known.
In another erratic movement of refugees from Kosovo to FYROM, a train carrying some 2,000 people arrived in Blace, FYROM, this morning. The UNHCR said that only 200 to 300 were allowed to disembark. The fate of the rest of the passengers was not immediately known.
A United Nations non-governmental organization (NGO) task force has been established in Skopje to tackle the problems of overcrowding in the camps, the new influxes of refugees and the delivery of assistance. UNHCR health teams are reporting that the medical situation of the estimated 45,600 refugees in camps appears to be stable, with low levels of mortality and no evidence of major outbreaks of disease. However, sanitation and water systems are operating at maximum capacity due to the overcrowding, and UNHCR fears they may soon be insufficient to meet demands. As of midday today, some 650 new refugees crossed over into northern Albania, where UNHCR is intensifying efforts to transfer refugees from the overcrowded Kukes area to other parts of Albania.
It is estimated that 80 to 100 NGOs of all nationalities and sizes, are now providing assistance to refugees throughout Albania. UNHCR has recently conducted a survey to identify gaps in the provision of assistance and is coordinating efforts to cover these gaps. An NGO information centre is scheduled to open soon, funded by the International Rescue Committee, to help with information sharing.
Tension remained high in and around the municipality of Rozaje in Montenegro. Some local residents of Albanian origin are sending their family members to other areas of Montenegro that are considered safer. The Yugoslav army opened a new checkpoint between Rozaje and Kosovo, and UNHCR is concerned that this may prevent displaced people from moving into Montenegro. Tension is also reported to be on the rise in Ulcinj, which is sheltering around 25,000 displaced Kosovars.
Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the Commission in Geneva that testimonies received by her field staff so far confirmed that in many cases, inhabitants were forced to leave after their towns or villages were shelled or set on fire by Serb military or paramilitary forces, or by police. "Accounts of mass executions and killings persist", she said, and added that "Serbs reportedly have killed those who hesitated to leave their homes or villages when ordered to do so". If you'd like to see the full text of her comments, we have them available in my office.
Meanwhile, Louise Arbour, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), met with the Dutch Defense Minister today and discussed the kind of information that would be helpful to the Tribunal that the Dutch may possess. She has received from the United Kingdom and Germany relevant military intelligence on Kosovo that could lead to possible future indictments.
An addendum to a United Nations appeal for Kosovo was issued today in Geneva. With more than 600,000 people already displaced, United Nations agencies revised their planning figure for the next two months from 650,000 to 950,000. A total of $625 million is being sought. The World Food Programme (WFP) is appealing for an additional six million daily rations to feed the next surge of refugees from Kosovo.
**UNICEF on Other Crises
"The violence and forced movement of Kosovars in recent weeks is an unspeakable tragedy that deserves the world's attention, but it should not eclipse the plight of more than 22 million other people in the world who have been displaced by wars and civil conflicts", the UNICEF said in a press release issued today. UNICEF points to similar conflicts in Angola, Sierra Leone, Eritrea and Ethiopia and other places where thousands of persons are displaced from their homes, tortured and killed every day.
In the first four months of this year, the renewal of the civil war in Angola has displaced 780,000 people, bringing to 1.5 million the estimated number who have been driven from their homes. Some 450,000 refugees have poured out of Sierra Leone into Guinea and Liberia over the course of an eight-year conflict characterized by brutality, rape and mutilation. Some 2.6 million Afghans still languish in neighbouring countries. We have copies of the full text upstairs.
**Debt Relief for Least Developed Countries
The Secretary-General was thrilled by a report out of Japan today about debt forgiveness and so we have this statement attributable to the Spokesman.
"The Secretary-General welcomes the efforts being made by the members of the Group of Seven (G-7) donor countries to alleviate the debt burden of the
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 22 April 1999
poorest countries by converting to grants or cancelling a large part of their official bilateral debt. The announcement that Japan plans to cancel $7.82 billion in debt of the poorest countries is in line with similar proposals made by the other G-7 countries.
"The Secretary-General is gratified by these expressions of international cooperation and he hopes that the donor countries will support additional measures to enable the multilateral financial institutions to alleviate the burden of the multilateral debt of the poorest countries and provide additional resources to reverse the declining trend in Official Development Assistance (ODA)."
**East Timor
The talks on East Timor continue today. At 10:15 the Secretary-General met with the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Ali Alatas. At 10:45 he met with Jaime Gama, the Foreign Minister of Portugal. The Secretary-General then started a meeting with the two delegations at 11:15, which was expected to last until about noon. The two delegations, led by the Ministers, will continue meeting with the United Nations team, headed by Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, through lunch and into the afternoon.
The autonomy proposal, with the Indonesian amendments, the arrangements for the consultation process to ascertain the view of the Timorese on that proposal, and the agreement, reflecting the result of discussions on those matters, will be taken up today, continuing the discussions held yesterday during the senior officials' meeting.
**Security Council
During today's Security Council consultations, Council members are being briefed by the Secretariat. Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahima Fall briefed initially on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in particular on the agreement concerning the Great Lakes region, signed in Serte, Libya on 18 April. The text of that agreement is expected to circulate today as a United Nations document. If you are interested, the document symbol is S/1999/450.
The second briefing will be on Guinea-Bissau. Mr. Fall is providing Council members with an update on the situation in that country. Still on Guinea-Bissau, I would like to bring to your attention that out on the racks today is a letter by the Secretary-General transmitting to the Security Council the first report by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the situation in Guinea-Bissau. ECOWAS says that the situation remains precarious and recommends that all those with any influence on the parties persuade them, among other things, to "refrain from recruiting and training new combatants and from hiding weapons". That document number is S/1999/432.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 22 April 1999
The last item on the agenda is Sierra Leone. Assistant Secretary-General for peacekeeping operations, Hedi Annabi, will brief the Council members on latest developments affecting the country.
**Ethiopia and Eritrea
Mohamed Sahnoun, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Africa, met in Paris today with the current Chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Blaise Campaore, the President of Burkina Faso. He delivered a written message to the Chairman from the Secretary-General concerning the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The next stop on Mr. Sahnoun's trip will be Asmara, Eritrea.
**Cyprus
Since April 1997, Mr. Diego Cordovez has been serving as Special Adviser to the Secretary-General with the primary task of helping him to promote and facilitate negotiations in Cyprus. The Secretary-General would like to place on record his warm appreciation for the dedicated work of Mr. Cordovez over the past two years in carrying out the related functions.
While the Secretary-General has now agreed, at the request of Mr. Cordovez, to relieve him of his responsibilities with regard to Cyprus, Mr. Cordovez will continue to be available to the Secretary-General as Special Adviser, primarily on issues relating to Latin America. Alternative arrangements will be made to support the Secretary-General as necessary in his continuing efforts to help bring about a settlement in Cyprus.
**UNAIDS Press Release
We have a press release from UNAIDS that says that wealthy countries' level of support for the international fight against AIDS is being vastly outpaced by the epidemic, with donor nations providing approximately $350 million a year for an epidemic that has already infected 47 million people and grows by nearly six million new infections annually. That's according to a report issued today and we invite you to pick up the press release if you're interested.
**New Judge for Rwanda Tribunal
In a letter available on the racks today, the Secretary-General informed the Security Council of his decision to appoint Mr. Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardena of Sri Lanka as Judge for the International Criminal Court for Rwanda. He replaces Judge Dionysius Konylis of Greece, who resigned last month. That document number is S/1999/448.
Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 22 April 1999
**Latvia Signs Rome Statute
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Dr. Valdis Birkavs, signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court this morning here at Headquarters.
**Press Conferences
At 5 p.m. today, the Prime Minister of Italy, Massimo D'Alema, will meet with the press here in room 226, and that will be after his 4:30 meeting with the Secretary-General.
And then tomorrow, we have a slight switch in the noon briefing. We will give it at 11:30 instead of at noon, and our guest at that briefing will be the WFP Executive Director, Catherine Bertini, and she will discuss her recent visit to the Kosovo region as well as announce a new North Korea appeal that she will launch here tomorrow. And that will be at 11:30 a.m.
**Question-and-Answer Session
Question: Are the talks on East Timor ending today or tomorrow?
Spokesman: They are scheduled to end tomorrow and my understanding is that there will be some kind of press conference to give you a report on what they have achieved. I don't know who will give that conference, whether Ambassador Marker or the Secretary-General, accompanied by the Foreign Ministers.
Question: Have any idea when that would be?
Spokesman: My impression was that the talks would continue for half a day tomorrow so my guess is it would be around midday, but it's too soon to say for sure.
Question: There's been talk of an oil embargo against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Is there any response to this idea from the Secretary-General? Does he feel this would need authorization?
Spokesman: He has no view for me to share at this time on that idea, but concerning the role of the Security Council, whether it's authorizing some kind of an international military force or taking any other kind of enforcement action, of which a blockade would be one, he feels that, consistent with the Charter, the Security Council should endorse that idea. Thanks very much.
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