BRIEFING BY OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

BRIEFING BY 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, and Shirley Brownell, Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly.

Briefing by Spokesman for Secretary-General

Good afternoon.

**UN Technical Survey Team Begins Work Today in Democratic Republic of the Congo

The United Nations technical survey team began its work today in the Democratic Republic of the Congo following two rounds of negotiations between the Secretary-General's Special Envoy, Mustapha Niasse, and President Laurent Kabila. You probably never thought that would happen. [laughter]

An aircraft carrying the 16-member team, which included six crew members, took off from Kinshasa at 9 o’clock this morning for the northern town of Gbadolite -- which, I think, must have been the birthplace of President Mobutu -- in any case, it's a stronghold of the former president, which is now under rebel control.

After a day in Gbadolite, the team is scheduled to travel to Goma, Kisangani, Bukavu and Kananga. All but Kananga are in rebel-held areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The team, which is paving the way for the deployment of the remaining United Nations military liaison officers as authorized by the Security Council, has been dispatched from United Nations Headquarters for the purpose of surveying conditions on the ground throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their findings will form an essential foundation for the planning of the second phase of the United Nations mission. That second phase would involve 500 United Nations military observers.

**UN Offices in Afghanistan Become Targets of Protests against Taliban Sanctions

United Nations offices in at least three cities in Afghanistan have become the targets of demonstrations protesting against the imminent imposition of United Nations sanctions against the Taliban.

The protests began yesterday in the southern town of Kandahar, where a large group of demonstrators led by a “mullah” and assisted by Taliban vehicles equipped with rooftop speakers, hurled stones at the United Nations office, causing considerable damage. There were no casualties reported.

Today, similar demonstrations described as large and vocal but peaceful took place in the western towns of Herat and Farah. Again, no casualties were reported and no other details were immediately available. Staff in a fourth Afghan town of Khowst in the east have been advised to brace for similar demonstrations tomorrow.

Sanctions are set to be imposed by the Security Council on Sunday, if the Taliban does not hand over terrorism suspect Osama bin Laden.

**Relatives of Srebrenica Massacre Demonstrate at UN Offices in Sarajevo; Secretary-General's Report Due Soon

Today in Sarajevo, a group of approximately 100 relatives of the Srebrenica massacre came to the United Nations office in Sarajevo. They were interested in knowing when the Secretary-General’s report on Srebrenica will be made public.

During the demonstration, several rocks were thrown and a windshield was cracked. Jacques Klein, the Special Representative, met with the demonstrators and promised to enquire as to the exact date on which the report will be released -- we would like to know that too.

This is the second time this year that this group has come to the United Nations office in Sarajevo to meet with the Special Representative on that issue. After obtaining more details from mission officials, they left peacefully.

The report is finished. The problem is that it's very long. And it's going to take weeks and weeks to translate into six languages. We are negotiating with the General Assembly to see if we can release, unofficially, just a single language version and we don't yet have that finally approved. So, I think the soonest it could come out in that single language version -- if the Assembly accepts that formula -- would be Monday.

**Secretary-General in Tokyo

The Secretary-General began his official programme in Tokyo this morning with talks with Japanese Parliamentarians. They asked him about Security Council reform, and he replied that he regretted it was taking so long to happen. He acknowledged that there is a widespread belief that it would be useful for Japan to become a permanent member of the Council.

He then had an audience with the Emperor and Empress of Japan and congratulated the Emperor on the tenth anniversary of his accession to the throne.

In his meeting and working luncheon with the Prime Minister, Keizo Obuchi, he discussed East Timor, the safety of United Nations personnel, United Nations reform and the Millennium Summit, among other issues. The Prime Minister offered strong Japanese support for the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET).

This afternoon, the Secretary-General gave a speech at United Nations University, which we made available to you yesterday on an embargoed basis. There was a “Q & A” after that speech and we put the text out about a half-hour ago. You can get that in my office as well.

While at the University, the Secretary-General met with United Nations staff in Tokyo and also with some local high school students.

And this evening, he had first, a meeting, and then a working dinner with Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono, during which a wide range of issues were discussed, including disarmament and the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Seattle scheduled for the end of this month.

**Security Council

The Security Council began its informal consultations today with a briefing by Hédi Annabi, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, to discuss the recent report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Tajikistan.

You will recall that, in that report, the Secretary-General recommends that the Council extend the mandate of the Observer Mission (UNMOT) by another six months, until 15 May 2000. The Council today held discussions on a draft resolution, and is ready to hold a formal vote tomorrow.

The Council then went on to hear from Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Ibrahima Fall, who briefed them on the situation in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

We believe they may also discuss the Democratic Republic of the Congo under "other matters".

After the morning meeting, the Council is scheduled to have a working lunch with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, which is intended to focus on refugee crises in Africa. Ms. Ogata is also scheduled to meet with you, the correspondents, in your club this afternoon at 3 p.m.

**East Timor: Despite Disruptions by Militia, Repatriation Continues

Ross Mountain, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for East Timor, met in Jakarta today with Admiral Widodo, Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces, to discuss the ongoing harassment by militia of those trying to carry out repatriation programmes. The Admiral stressed that action would be taken to see that militia does not hinder the return of refugees.

Meanwhile, Ian Martin, the Acting Special Representative, was again in Ambeno today, finalizing the influx plan for the enclave. The Indonesian authorities say there are 44,000 people on the west side of the enclave border waiting to enter. It is expected that 5,000 to 6,000 will cross over tomorrow, with the rest following in the next few days. Many of those trying to enter Ambeno may merely be using that as a stopover en route to their homes elsewhere in East Timor, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The UNHCR opened a second land route into East Timor from West Timor today and is planning to open a third. Displaced persons continue to stream back into East Timor by air, sea and land.

**Prosecutor Del Ponte to Visit Rwanda Next Week

As you know, Carla Del Ponte, the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, announced yesterday that she intends to travel to Rwanda the week after next. This will be her first visit to Rwanda in her capacity as Prosecutor. She met with the Rwandan Permanent Representative to the United Nations yesterday and she expects to be able to meet with government officials in Kigali. She will also visit her own office and staff in Kigali.

** Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Iraq to Resign

Many of you were inquiring yesterday about a report that we can now confirm: Max Van der Stoel, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Iraq, has resigned from his function, effective 5 November. Mr. Van der Stoel, who is a national of the Netherlands, has been Special Rapporteur on Iraq since 1991. The Bureau of the Commission on Human Rights is scheduled to meet on 17 November to discuss his replacement.

He gave no reason for his resignation, to my knowledge, but I understand that he is 76 years old. He must be tired after nine years on that job. [laughter]

**ICT for Yugoslavia Sentences Tadic

From the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia: Dusko Tadic was sentenced today. The Tribunal handed down nine separate sentences, ranging from six to 25 years. Since they are served concurrently, he would therefore serve no more than 25 years, the length of the longest sentence. And these, of course, are on top of the sentences that were handed down by the Court on 14 July, but none of those was for more than 25 years.

**UNAIDS Director says 'Social Vaccine', Timely Action Could Slow Spread of Epidemic in Caribbean

Timely action could slow the spread of the AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean, according to Dr. Peter Piot, the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). He said that today in the Dominican Republic, speaking at the Tenth National Health Forum in Santo Domingo. He said there is no vaccine for AIDS, but there is a "social vaccine", consisting of increased awareness, the promotion of tolerance, the promotion of safety and protection in sexual matters, sex education and life skills training.

He also congratulated the Dominican Republic for developing a National Strategic Plan on AIDS, calling it "a big window of opportunity" for the people of that country.

The Caribbean now has more than 330,000 people who are HIV-positive, according to UNAIDS.

And you can see a press release on that if you are interested.

**UNCTAD Workshop Begins in Manila Today

Today is the first day of a three-day workshop in Manila, the Philippines, organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), intended to bring together senior government officials from 10 developing countries to discuss trade and environmental issues, including technology transfer and biodiversity.

It is the second in a series of five roundtables and workshops designed to improve policy coordination in those 10 countries. They are: Bangladesh, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, India, Philippines, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.

There is a press release on that if you're interested.

My last item for this afternoon is to tell you that the "World Chronicle" TV programme that's produced by the Information Department and which features Thomas Weiss, the Co-Director of the United Nations History Project, will be shown today on in-house television, channels 3 or 31, at 2:30 p.m.

Are there any questions before we go to Shirley?

Questions and Answers

Question: Can you give us some background on the Srebrenica report?

Spokesman: There was a request by the General Assembly to the Secretary- General to explain the United Nations role in the events of Srebrenica, in which the Serb military and militia slaughtered a large number of the residents of that town. Srebrenica was, as you recall, one of the so-called “safe areas” declared by the Security Council. So we've done a pretty exhaustive description of everything that we know of our role there. It's about a 100-page document -- it was a 200-page manuscript, but I think that printed, it's about 100 pages -- and we'll be releasing it as soon as we can. We will also have a briefing for you by a senior official. I think it will be an on-the-record briefing by a senior official whenever we are able to put it out, either unofficially in the next few days, or officially, in six languages, in several weeks.

Question: When was the request made to the General Assembly?

Spokesman: I don't have that date with me, but if you come up to the office afterwards, we'll give you those details. But it's been months in preparation. And, from our point of view, it was an exhaustive bit of research involving interviews with all the principal actors on the United Nations side -- some of whom were tied up in Kosovo in the summer and that made it more time consuming to set up appointments and so on.

Question: As Congress is dealing with this wonderful problem of the United States arrears to the United Nations, could we get a breakdown of those figures?

Spokesman: When would you like that? Perhaps tomorrow? Its easy enough to give you the number, but we were hoping to give you a briefing once the legislation was adopted, where we could give background on the conditions, but we're waiting to see when it will emerge. I think our best guess now is early next week -- maybe Monday. But the arrears figure we can give you at any time.

Question: Will it be a breakdown by category?

Spokesman: Yes. We keep that on a running basis and could give it to you anytime, even today, if you want.

Question: Joe Connor said that the United Nations was still waiting for a $200 million check from last year. Could you let us know if that check came or if it's in the mail?

Spokesman: Yes, OK.

Question: There are signs that the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could become critical. In addition to the United Nations Mission there and the 500 military observers, are there any discussions taking place between the Special Representative, President Kabila and the opposition leaders to avert the deterioration of the situation?

Spokesman: That's kind of our ongoing mandate there. The Special Envoy, Mr. Niasse, as we reported to you, had three meetings with President Kabila. They went very well, and resulted in the final agreement to allow our team to travel to all parts of the Congo to do the preparatory work that they need to do so that we can go on to the next phase. It isn't just the United Nations people who are pressuring the parties to this conflict. There's really a broad international effort. I think governments are leaning on everyone to keep this under control; its such a big section of a huge continent that is teetering on the brink here, and the peace agreement that was signed is, we hope, the beginning of a solution. It's been very disappointing that it's been slow in being implemented, that there have been questions about some of the parties' commitment to it -- even public statements saying they were renouncing the agreement and then they were pressured to pull back that renouncement, and so on. So it's two steps forward and one step back, but as of today, it looks like its going in the right direction. Let's just hope it continues to do so.

Question: You mentioned Carla Del Ponte's visit to Rwanda. The Rwandan Ambassador has said they wanted a written letter of explanation and apology about the release of this prime suspect in Tanzania. He implied that she was not welcome until they had something in writing from the United Nations. Is her trip set or is it contingent upon anything?

Spokesman: I'd have to ask her that. I know that she had a meeting with him, as we mentioned, and the indications that she got are that her visit is on. I don't know whether any conditions were sought. I know that she said in her briefing to you just yesterday that she would like to explain how this decision was taken -- it isn't the primary reason for her going there, but she was prepared to do that. But you'd have to ask her about the specifics. She's still here, by the way.

Question: Do you know how long the meeting was?

Spokesman: No. We got a call just before the briefing saying that the meeting had taken place and we didn't get many details.

Question: Back to the Congo. Can we assume that President Kabila actually gave security guarantees to the United Nations team as a result of these meetings?

Spokesman: My understanding is that yes, that happened. That was, of course, a precondition of our going ahead with these visits. Not only that the plane could take off and that they could go to all the places in the Congo that the Security Council intended them to go to, but that the Government would provide security. But I'd have to look into what form those guarantees took -- whether they actually signed the agreement or whether it was given in some other way.

OK. Shirley.

Briefing by Spokeswoman for General Assembly President

Good afternoon.

The General Assembly this morning commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, hearing statements by the President of the Assembly, the Deputy Secretary-General, the Chairmen of the five regional groups and the United States as host country.

Addressing the commemorative meeting, Assembly President Theo-Ben Gurirab said that since the adoption of the Convention, children’s interests were now placed higher on public and developmental agendas than ever before -– and significant recognition of their rights was reflected in the initiatives that Member States had undertaken in fields such as public policy, law reform and enforcement as well as social security. He called on States to do more, including supporting UNICEF’s Peace and Security Agenda for Children. He also called on this and future Assemblies to ensure that the rights and well-being of children remained an ever-present responsibility and were placed on the front burner for action.

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette observed that, in a few days, the Convention would be 10 years old. A child itself, it had already become the most widely ratified human rights instrument. “All children are now recognized by a near-universal, legally binding instrument, as individuals with special needs who are entitled to special protection. Maybe more importantly, they are recognized as individuals with dignity who have the rights of full human beings…. To achieve truly universal ratification of the Convention would be a fitting way to enter the new century, a century that will belong to the children of today.” Copies of the two statements are available in room 378.

Immediately following the commemoration, the President chaired a special event in connection with the anniversary of the Convention, which is still going on at the time of the briefing. His introductory remarks are also available in room 378. The other participants in the event are: the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund, Carol Bellamy; the Director of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bacre Waly Ndiaye; the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu; the Acting Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Marilia Sardenberg; and the President of the Economic and Social Council, Paolo Fulci.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) will consider, this afternoon, the question of Antarctica. The related report (document A/54/339) states that the Antarctic Treaty system continues to provide a unique example of international cooperation. Designated as a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science, Antarctica is the scene of successful cooperation in research, in particular in connection with the study of global changes. According to the report, some issues of concern and possible challenges will have to be addressed by the States concerned. These include unreported, unregulated and illegal fishing for toothfish in the Southern Ocean, which also threatens other dependent and related species; the need for a consensus among the Treaty’s Consultative Parties on a liability regime for environmental damage; and the need for continuing efforts to mitigate the environmental impacts of the tourism industry, which present risk to the Antarctic marine and terrestrial environments. A draft resolution on the subject (document A/C.1/54/L.58) is available.

This morning, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up the agenda item on trade and development, and heard introductory statements by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the President-elect of the Trade and Development Board, as well as a briefing by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Thailand on UNCTAD X, which will be held in Bangkok from 12 to 19 February 2000. This afternoon, the Committee will discuss implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries in the 1990s.

There are two reports on this item -- on preparations for the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, to be convened in 2001 (document A/54/271 and Add.1), and on progress in the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (document A/54/269). The latter report states that, although the international community committed itself to urgent action, based on the principle of shared responsibility and strengthened partnership, to arrest and reverse the deterioration in the socio- economic situation in the LDCs and to revitalize their growth and development, the requisite progress had not been made in most of those countries during the 1990s. Their precarious socio-economic situation and the structural weaknesses inherent in their economies continued unabated and relegated them to a weak competitive position in the current global economic setting. The challenges facing the LDCs were beyond their capacity to overcome on their own. They required international support measures, including increased official development assistance and decisive and early debt relief.

Today, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) will conclude its consideration of human rights questions and situations. It will turn its attention tomorrow to its agenda item on refugees, commencing with a dialogue with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata.

I wish to draw attention to a revised draft resolution on the question of the death penalty (document A/C.3/54/L.8/Rev.1), which is available on the racks. The text now has 72 co-sponsors. Action on this draft won’t take place until next week. The Committee will vote on all human rights draft resolutions by 19 November. This afternoon, the Committee will take action on three draft resolutions -– on the girl child (document A/C.3/54/L.46), the rights of the child (document A/C.3/54/L.49) and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (document A/C.3/54/L.53).

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its discussion of the effects of atomic radiation (document A/54/46). A related draft resolution (document A/C.4/54/L.20) would have the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation continue its review of the important problems in the field of radiation and report thereon next year.

At two meetings today, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) is continuing its section-by-section discussion of the proposed programme budget for 2000-2001, taking up the remaining sections.

The Sixth Committee (Legal) heard a statement this morning by the President of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal, Hubert Thierry, as it began its review of the Tribunal’s Statute. A related draft resolution (document A/C.6/54/L.13) would have the Assembly amend the Statute to lengthen to four years the terms of the judges and limit service to two terms.

The Committee will take action on two draft resolutions. A text on the report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) (document A/C.6/54/L.4) would have the Assembly reaffirm the mandate of the Commission, as the core legal body within the United Nations system in the field of international trade law, to coordinate legal activities in this field, and would call on all bodies of the United Nations system and other international organizations to bear in mind the mandate of the Commission and the need to avoid duplication of effort and to promote efficiency, consistency and coherence in the unification and harmonization of international trade law. The draft on strengthening of the International Court of Justice (document A/C.6/54/L.5) would invite the Court to adopt measures aimed at expediting its proceedings, while also inviting States that appear before the Court to consider favourably the guidance offered by the Court on expediting the proceedings.

Regarding the other appointments of the Assembly President, he is holding separate meetings today with the Chairmen of the Latin American and Caribbean States and the African States, in the ongoing discussions of the Millennium Assembly/Summit and Security Council reform. He received a courtesy call this morning from the new Permanent Representative of Nigeria, Chief Arthur Mbanefo, and will attend a luncheon in his honour, hosted by the Permanent Representative of Brazil.

Asked if correspondents could be informed as to the release of the Srebrenica report, the two spokespersons assured them that they would be.

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