DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19990920The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Shirley Brownell, spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly and Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Briefing by Spokeswoman for President of General Assembly
General Assembly Begins General Debate
The General Assembly began its general debate this morning, presided over by the President, Theo-Ben Gurirab. So far today, the heads of State of South Africa and Algeria have spoken. The President of Namibia is now addressing the Assembly, to be followed by the President of Georgia, the Prime Minister of France and the Foreign Minister of Jordan. Brazil, traditionally the first speaker in the debate, was represented by its Foreign Minister.
This afternoon, the Assembly is scheduled to hear addresses by five heads of State -- El Salvador, United Republic of Tanzania, Nicaragua, Colombia and Portugal; five Prime Ministers -- Bangladesh, Norway, Cambodia, Andorra and Fiji -- and the Foreign Ministers of Côte d'Ivoire and the United Kingdom. A total of 19 speakers is expected to address the Assembly on its first day of debate.
Among tomorrow's speakers will be the Presidents of Peru, United States, Zimbabwe and Guatemala, in that order, in the morning, and the Presidents of Venezuela and Argentina in the afternoon.
Altogether, 183 delegations are inscribed to take part in the two-week general debate, which will conclude on Saturday, 2 October. As of today, the list of speakers includes 37 heads of State, 23 heads of government, one Vice-President and one Crown Prince.
Secretary-General Presents Annual Report to Assembly
Prior to the general debate, Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented his Annual Report on the Work of the Organization (document A/54/1). He addressed the prospects for human security and intervention in the twenty-first century. Spokesman for the Secretary-General Fred Eckhard will elaborate on the specifics of the Secretary-General's statement. In an introductory essay to the report, the Secretary-General called for exploring ways of moving from a culture of reaction to a culture of prevention in dealing with humanitarian crises brought about by natural disasters and armed conflict. A press release summarizing the report was issued on 9 September.
President's Schedule
Copies of the President's appointments for today are available in room 378 and on the Internet. They include separate meetings this morning with President Sam Nujoma of Namibia and South African President Thabo Mbeki. This evening, he will attend a reception given in his honour by President Nujoma.
Yesterday, "United Nations Sunday", the President delivered an address at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. The President spoke on what he has defined as the main theme of his presidency, namely, the need to protect children from armed conflict, hunger, poverty and all forms of exploitation and abuse. The time had come, he said, to protect today's children and future generations by implementing all international instruments on the rights of children. For his part, he would use every opportunity at his disposal as President of the General Assembly to sensitize the international community to the plight and needs of children. The President let it be known that he wanted his presidency to be remembered for the focus he brought to the plight of children worldwide. Copies of his statement are available in room 378.
Committees
Three of the Main Committees are holding organizational meetings this week: the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (Third Committee) and the Administrative and Budgetary Committee (Fifth Committee), both at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 21 September; and the Disarmament and International Security Committee (First Committee), at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, 23 September.
In connection with other activities this week, at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, 23 September, there will be a press briefing in room 226 on prospects for the Special Session on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. Present will be Ambassador Tuiloma Neroni Slade of Samoa, Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS); and JoAnne DiSano, Director of the Division for Sustainable Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
Question and Answer Session
Question: There are two reports today on elections of members to the International Court of Justice. Can you tell me when the General Assembly will hold those elections?
Spokeswoman: I have not yet seen a schedule indicating when elections will be held. I'll look into it and get back to you.
Briefing by Spokesman for Secretary-General
I would like to introduce Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala, who has just returned from Albania. We reported last week on his activities there and he will brief you on the weapons collection project in that country.
Secretary-General Addresses General Assembly
The Secretary-General this morning addressed the General Assembly on the prospects for human security and intervention in the next century.
He noted that State sovereignty was being redefined by the forces of globalization, while "individual sovereignty" based on fundamental human rights was gaining new recognition. These twin forces should prompt new thinking about the United Nations, he said, including its willingness to act in some areas of conflict, while taking limited measures in others where the daily death toll "ought to shame us into action".
He said the core challenge facing the Security Council and the United Nations as a whole in the next century is to forge unity behind the principle that massive and systematic human rights violations -- wherever they may occur -- should not be allowed to stand.
The Secretary-General called for a new, more widely conceived definition of national interest, pointing out that increasingly, "the collective interest is the national interest". In the event that forceful intervention became necessary, he said, the Security Council, as the body charged with authorizing force under international law, would have to be able to rise to the challenge.
The Secretary-General said that the Council's prompt action in authorizing a multinational force for East Timor reflected precisely the unity of purpose that he was calling for. He stressed that if the United Nations were given the means "in Kosovo and in Sierra Leone, in East Timor and in Angola", the United Nations would have a real opportunity to break the cycles of violence once and for all.
East Timor
Australian military authorities in Canberra informed us this morning that about 2,300 troops were flown into East Timor today from Australia on Hercules C-130 aircraft. They started at dawn and arrived on a dozen flights spaced 15 minutes apart. Most of the troops were Australian. There was one company of British Gurkhas from Nepal.
The Gurkhas have been assigned to secure the United Nations compound in Dili. The head of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), Ian Martin, visited the compound today and described it as being "in pretty good shape". He had returned to Dili today with 10 additional members of UNAMET, as well as humanitarian staff, all of whom are staying in the Australian Consulate in Dili until they can move back into their compound.
Major General Peter Cosgrove, the Australian Commander of the Multinational Force (MNF), first secured the airport, then the Port of Dili, and is now establishing his headquarters. Five hundred more troops are expected to arrive by Wednesday.
Cosgrove and Martin visited Dili yesterday on an initial visit, and were briefed for more than two hours by the Indonesian military on coordination for the arrival of the MNF.
Ian Martin said today that he saw no evidence of militia in Dili, amid tight security by the Indonesian military, although it was common now to see ordinary people wearing militia-style bandannas on their heads, possibly as a kind of protection.
We cannot confirm press reports of fires in buildings along the coast, but there were still a few fires burning in Dili itself.
We understand from the Australian authorities that a meeting of potential troop contributors has been called today at 4:30 p.m. at the Australian Mission to the United Nations. United Nations Secretariat staff are expected to attend that meeting.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in West Timor
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, who arrived in Jakarta over the weekend and visited West Timor on Sunday, today met with President Habibie. The Indonesian President told Mrs. Ogata that her agency's staff would get access to displaced persons in West Timor. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says the test will be on the ground when a three-person emergency team will be deployed there.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said it was hoping to start "snowdrops" of high-protein biscuits on Tuesday to an estimated 50,000 people living in mountain areas of East Timor. There were no air drops Sunday and today because of congestion of incoming aircraft at the Dili airport due to the deployment of the MNF.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for East Timor, Ross Mountain, flew into Dili today and met with staff to discuss relief plans. Mr. Mountain has organized a mission on Tuesday to take medical supplies to the displaced people in the hills in Dare near Dili.
Humanitarian agencies are trying to access as soon as possible the hundreds of thousands of people believed to be in the mountains in East Timor in dire need of food, water, medical supplies and shelter. Air drops will be the means to deliver the assistance until the relief workers can access the displaced populations by land. At the same time, access to, and protection of, displaced in West Timor remained a priority concern.
Bureau of Commission on Human Rights to Decide on East Timor Special Session
In Geneva, the Bureau of the Commission on Human Rights is expected to meet tonight at 7 p.m., Geneva time, to decide whether to convene a special session to examine urgently the situation in East Timor. We will inform you of their decision as soon as they take it.
Secretary-General Expresses Condolences to Russia
The Secretary-General has sent a letter to Russian President Boris Yeltsin expressing his condolences in the aftermath of bombings that have taken place in Russia in recent weeks.
He said these were "cruel, indiscriminate and indefensible acts of terror against innocent civilians that deserve the condemnation of the entire international community".
A copy of the letter is available in the Spokesman's Office.
Kosovo
In Pristina today, the spokesman for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today reported that the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Bernard Kouchner, had participated in talks that had taken place "all of last night", at the headquarters of NATO-led security force in Kosovo (KFOR), between Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders Hashim Thaci and General Ceku and KFOR Commander Michael Jackson. It was announced at the briefing in Pristina earlier today that, although demilitarization of the KLA had taken place as scheduled, the K+90 deadline, which was at midnight last night, had been extended by 48 hours to accommodate further talks on the transformation of the KLA.
Also today, the UNMIK spokesman announced the start of operations at the second crossing point of United Nations customs service. As of this afternoon in Kosovo, duties were to be collected on goods imported into Kosovo from Albania.
Also out on the racks today is the Secretary-General's report to the Security Council on UNMIK.
The Secretary-General noted important strides made by UNMIK in the past three months, saying that today's Kosovo bears little resemblance to that of mid-June. He reported that most refugees are home, the informal economy is thriving and efforts are under way to restore law and order, as well as security throughout the province. But he warned that Kosovo's future is not yet secured and these gains might be reversed if three pressing challenges were not addressed. These were: the establishment of rule and the authority of UNMIK; the provision of temporary winterized accommodation for the nearly 350,000 people in need; and the demobilization of the KLA and other armed elements.
With regard to the last point, the Secretary-General noted that sufficient funds and resources should be provided to enable former combatants to find opportunities for employment. Without such support, there was a real threat that former fighters might become an obstacle to the implementation of the resolution that established UNMIK by refusing to disarm or by engaging in criminal activities, he said.
The Secretary-General also said he strongly encouraged all ethnic communities to participate constructively in the Kosovo Transitional Council, which brings together on a weekly basis all major political parties and ethnic groups under the leadership of the Special Representative.
Of critical importance to the Mission's success was the provision of voluntary contributions to fund the salaries of local public servants and other public activities, he said, and urgently appealed to all Member States to contribute generously to the United Nations trust fund set up for that purpose.
Statement on Situation Between Guinea and Liberia
The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman on the situation between Guinea and Liberia.
"The Secretary-General has been following with concern the mounting tensions between Guinea and Liberia, following attacks by armed dissidents on towns and villages along their common border, which claimed the lives of many innocent civilians and worsened the humanitarian situation in these two countries.
"The Secretary-General welcomes the prompt action taken by the ad hoc committee of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as reflected in the declaration they adopted in Abuja on 16 September. He particularly welcomes the agreement of the heads of State of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to undertake a number of confidence-building measures to re-establish an environment of peace, security and trust among them.
"The Secretary-General calls on the three leaders to faithfully abide by this agreement and stands ready to assist them in any way possible.
"The Secretary-General joins the ECOWAS heads of State and government who met in Abuja in their appeal to the international community to assist Guinea and Liberia to cope with the continued problems of refugees in these two countries, as well as address the humanitarian crisis resulting from the armed attacks by dissidents along their common border."
Security Council Consultations
There is no Security Council meeting scheduled for today. However, for tomorrow, the Council has planned an open meeting to hear a briefing by President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia on the situation in Africa. Although this is a public meeting, only the Zambian President is expected to speak. No other delegation will take the floor, except for Council members who will be allowed to ask questions of President Chiluba.
Central African Republic Presidential Elections
Voters in the Central African Republic peacefully cast their ballots yesterday for the first round of the presidential elections, with a turnout of over 60 per cent. If no candidate obtains at least 51 per cent of the votes, there will be a second round on 10 October.
United Nations Mission for Referendum in Western Sahara
We have upstairs available in French only a press release put out by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) on the appeals process.
As envisaged in the Secretary-General's latest report to the Security Council, MINURSO has completed the first stage of the appeals process, and closed its appeals centres on 18 September.
Treaties
Madagascar has ratified the Ottawa landmine ban, bringing the number of parties to that treaty to 86.
India became the forty-seventh country to sign the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings.
Also, Bangladesh became the eighty-sixth country to sign the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Payments
There are now 101 Member States paid in full for this year. Full payments were made today by Mauritius and Sierra Leone, for $90,000 and $10,000 respectively. Also, copies of the report on status of contributions as of 15 September are available in the Spokesman's Office.
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