PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR TAJIKISTAN
Press Briefing
PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR TAJIKISTAN
19990513
The lack of support of the international donor community towards strengthening the peace process in Tajikistan -- including the demobilization of combatants and the preparations for national elections -- might well complicate its crucial phases, the Special Representative of the Secretary- General for Tajikistan, Jan Kubis, told correspondents today at a Headquarters press briefing.
Concerning the situation in Tajikistan, he drew attention to the recently issued report of the Secretary-General, dated 6 May (document S/1999/514), which contained his recommendations and general assessment of the situation. In the report, the Secretary-General stated that the peace process had made some progress and slow movement forward, although it had not qualitatively reached a new stage.
He said that during his briefing to the Security Council earlier today, he had stressed the visible lack of support of the international donor community towards strengthening the peace process. Council members had asked numerous questions, mainly clustered in four areas. The first related to the recent decision to gradually reopen field offices and resume field operations. Concrete situations in various parts of the country were being explored, and the intention was to reopen at least two offices in two different parts of the country in the coming weeks, and then, without major delay, to reopen two more. That was not necessarily the end of the process, because the reopening of additional offices might be considered as the pre-election period approached.
Council members' questions had focused mainly on security and other conditions in the country, he said, as well as on the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan's (UNMOT) modus operandi, which was to resist a rush into action and operate only with the necessary security arrangements and conditions in place.
He said the second cluster of questions centred on the trial of the three accused of killing four UNMOT staff members last summer, particularly on the Secretary-General's request to the President of Tajikistan to commute the death sentence.
To a question about the status of that request, he had confirmed that during discussions of that matter with the Tajik President just prior to coming to New York, the President had promised to return to the question after the Special Representative's return to Dushanbe. So, the matter was not closed -- the request was under consideration and would hopefully receive a positive response.
Kubis Briefing - 2 - 13 May 1999
Another question of the Council, he said, related to whether the parties -- after almost two years of implementation of the peace agreement -- were still committed, by and large, to its basic requirements, specifically to the agreement regarding constitutional amendments. Progress in that field and on the adoption of constitutional amendments depended on the future progress of the parliamentary elections, due to take place later this year. By and large, both the Government and the United Tajik Opposition were committed to the general agreement and to its basic requirements and parameters.
Another series of questions had focused on cooperation between UNMOT and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) regarding the upcoming elections, he said. According to the general peace agreement, both UNMOT and the OSCE were the lead agencies in control of the pre-election and electoral processes. Negotiations were under way with the OSCE regarding basic parameters and a joint plan of action. There was a principle agreement on that, and the two would soon elaborate the division of tasks. By the end of May, the first joint assessment mission would be sent to Tajikistan to promote preparations for the elections.
He said he had thanked Council members for their very clear support for all of United Nations personnel in Tajikistan. The Council's strong manifestation of support for the Mission and its colleagues had been very encouraging.
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