DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19990819The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Good afternoon. We are struggling here to put together a briefing for you, I hope it is going to be useful. Let me start with the following statement.
**Statement Attributable to Spokesman for Secretary-General on Burundi
The Secretary-General was briefed on the various incidents of violence committed recently by both rebel forces and Government troops in Burundi.
The Secretary-General was particularly shocked by the attacks that occurred in Kanyosha and Ruziba, located in the province of Bujumbura rural, respectively on 10 and 12 August, and which resulted in the killing of innocent civilians by both rebel forces and Government troops. He strongly condemns such acts.
The Secretary-General calls upon the Government and the rebel forces to put an end to all attacks on the civilian population and urges all parties involved to abide by international humanitarian law and humane principles.
The Secretary-General reiterates his support for the peace process in its internal and external dimensions and calls on all parties to cooperate with the Facilitator to ensure progress towards the conclusion of the peace agreement.
**Security Council
The Security Council met this morning in consultations on Tajikistan, and following that it went into a formal meeting where it has just adopted a presidential statement on Tajikistan. The Council welcomed recent significant progress in the implementation of the peace agreement, and encouraged the parties to take further measures towards this end, especially with respect to the reintegration of former opposition fighters.
**East Timor
During a press briefing this morning in Dili, Special Representative of the Secretary-General Ian Martin said that there are serious security concerns at the moment in East Timor. That is certainly the case in Maliana, Suai and Viqueque -- the three places he visited yesterday with the Chairman of the Indonesian Task Force and other senior Indonesian officials. You might recall, I told you about this visit in yesterday's briefing. Unfortunately, they are far from being the only places where we have very serious security concerns, he said. In Viqueque, for instance, as a result of disorder and violence some days ago in which two young people were killed, a large number of people have fled again and have again become internally displaced after many of the internally displaced persons in Viqueque had returned to the town. Similarly in Suai, the continued activity of the pro-autonomy militia has led to an increase in the number of internally displaced persons. These situations need to be addressed urgently.
The problem in the Bobonaro regency, where the town of Maliana is located, is that district officials have refused to recognize their obligation to allow political space for pro- independence activity in the district.
We believe there are two types of action needed, which will clearly indicate that Jakarta's policy is being applied on the ground. The first one is that the police arrest anybody who is found with weapons outside the designated cantonment areas. The second would be the removal of members of the Indonesian Army who have been most closely and obviously associated with militia activities. We have available at the Spokesman's office the full transcript of Mr. Martin's statement.
On a more positive note, still on East Timor, I would like to inform you that we have available a press release issued today in Dili which says that following discussions in Jakarta on 11 August between the East Timorese leaders, an agreement has been reached to form an East Timorese Consultative Commission. The Commission, to be inaugurated on 31 August, the day after the ballot, will be responsible for fostering reconciliation and cooperation until the result of the vote is implemented. The Commission will be made up of 25 members. In the press release you will have details of the appointment of these members, as well as other details concerning this Commission.
**Democratic Republic of Congo
On the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we are now in the last stages of preparation to deploy the first group of the 90 military liaison officers and the civilian staff who will be deployed with them. The plan is to deploy them first in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo; in Rwanda; and Kampala, Uganda, followed soon after by other capitals of the region. Another team will work with the Joint Military Commission and will be based wherever the Commission establishes its headquarters.
At this stage we are not yet planning to deploy further within the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo until the ceasefire is signed by the parties who have not yet done so, and we are given the necessary security assurances. You recall that last Monday, the Secretary-General invited the rebel leaders to take urgent steps to sign the ceasefire agreement for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tomorrow, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations is scheduled to brief the Security Council on the status of deployment.
**Turkey Earthquake
The death toll in the Turkish earthquake is rising. Our coordinator in Geneva just spoke with the Government, which estimates that there are 6,350 people dead, 27,000 wounded and possibly 35,000 still buried under the rubble. There is still hope for rescuing some of those buried, because weather conditions are favourable.
There are currently 10 United Nations disaster assistance experts in Istanbul, but we are planning to send more to help with the round-the-clock work. In addition to the $50,000 which we announced that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is providing to Turkey for relief aid, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has announced a $200,000 grant, while the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will be providing an additional $50,000 for the aid effort. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is providing tents, blankets and plastic sheeting. The World Health Organization (WHO) and OCHA have sent medical kits to Turkey.
Today in Geneva, an inter-agency task force met to see how the United Nations can help Turkey in the post-search and rescue phase. Specifically, the agencies are looking into how to help the Government deal with a prolonged emergency, when we can expect tens of thousands of homeless people in need of assistance.
I would also like to add that at the outset of the Security Council meeting this morning, the Council President made a brief statement on the earthquake in Turkey, expressing condolences for the families of the victims.
**Balkans Task Force
The UNEP/HABITAT Balkans Task Force mission to assess the environmental impact of the Balkans conflict on the Danube River will start its work on 23 August. They will depart from Budapest and follow the Danube River for a week to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
A previous mission from the Balkans Task Force was in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia last month to assess the environmental damages at selected industrial sites. Soil and water samples were sent to laboratories for analysis. The Habitat segment of the Balkans Task Force is still in Pristina and is looking into such issues as urban management, rehabilitation, housing, property laws and other issues related to human settlements.
We have a press release on the Danube mission available at our office. **Bolivia Fires
Still on environmental issues, we have here a note that massive fires broke out last Friday in Bolivia, about 300 kilometres north from Santa Cruz city and 867 kilometres of the capital city of La Paz. The fire quickly expanded through the forest and continued to expand in several directions, affecting a number of small towns in its way. Preliminary estimates indicate that more than 600 families lost their homes and belongings, counting close to 3,000 affected. Three casualties have been reported.
An inter-institutional commission with support from USAID and the Pan-American Health Organization and World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is carrying out an assessment in the most affected province, particularly of the rural areas, since the information available for these areas is very scarce. So far, there has been no request for international assistance from the Bolivian Government.
**Payments
We received a payment from Romania today of over $690,000. Romania thus becomes the ninety-second Member State to have paid in full for 1999.
**Press Conferences
And just another announcement for you, since tomorrow is the beginning of the weekend for some of you and you are making plans: we'll have a special guest at the noon briefing tomorrow, and also for Monday we are working on trying to get special guests related to the consultations on Angola. We'll see if we succeed in doing that.
Tomorrow we'll be making a special announcement at the noon briefing, and the guest will be cartoonist Ranan Lurie of Cartoon News.
**Statement by President of Security Council
I am also told that the President of the Security Council has just made a statement outside the Chamber, and the text is available there, on the table next to you.
Any questions?
**Question-and-Answer Session
Question: Going back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, when you say that the military liaisons are in the final stages of deployment, when does that actually mean that the first ones might get off the ground and arrive? Deputy Spokesman: I do not have the date as of today. Let us hope that tomorrow we'll have something clearer as the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) briefs the Council.
Question: Has Ian Martin met with anyone in the Indonesian Government on the removal of Army officers?
Deputy Spokesman: Yes, that has been a topic that is not new, and he has also given the authorities names of the people who have been closely linked to the militia activities.
Question: Did the announcement made yesterday that an arrangement has been made between Rwanda and Uganda by the two Heads of State change the situation on the ground?
Deputy Spokesman: For us it is extremely important, as I mentioned today, that the rebels sign the ceasefire. The Secretary-General has already said that in his statement earlier this week, and that continues to be essential.
Thank you so much.
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Note:In the fourteenth paragraph of the 17 August Press Briefing on Arrangements for Elections in East Timor, the address of the UNAMET website was printed incorrectly. It should have read: www.unamet.org.