DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000208The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Good Afternoon. Joining us probably at around 12:15 to 12:30 p.m. will be Urban Jonsson, United Nations Children's Fund's (UNICEF) Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa. He's going to discuss the challenges facing women and children in eastern and southern Africa, where UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy will begin an extensive mission this week. We have a press release on her trip upstairs.
Over the past several months, we have briefed on the United Nation's concerns regarding the proposed trial of members of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Just this morning, there were wire service reports from Cambodia on this issue. There are developments from the United Nations side under way at this moment. We can't say more at this briefing but we have asked the Legal Counsel, Hans Corell, to give you a briefing himself, and that will be at 2 p.m. in this room.
**Statement on Bombings in Lebanon
We have a statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
The Secretary-General deplores the Israeli air attacks against civilian targets in Lebanon. He is deeply concerned at the escalation of the hostilities, which resulted in the loss of life during the recent days.
The Secretary-General cannot but note the adverse implications of the hostilities for the Middle East peace process, on which rests the hopes of so many, and which should be given every chance to succeed. He calls on all parties to exercise restraint.
That statement is available upstairs for you.
**Secretary-General Letter on Appointment of Hans Blix
On the racks today, you can find a letter from the Secretary- General to the President of the Security Council regarding the appointment of Hans Blix as Executive Chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission known as UNMOVIC.
Yesterday, in Stockholm, the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, met Mr. Blix for an exchange of views on a wide range of issues, including the composition of the College of Commissioners for the new UNMOVIC. In his letter, the Secretary-General says he expects to be in a position to consult with Security Council members on this issue later this month. As Fred mentioned yesterday, Blix is expected to take up his duties on 1 March.
**Cyprus
In Geneva today, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, has spoken to the media following a total of 14 meetings in Geneva with the parties in a proximity format.
Mr. De Soto says the process that began in December in New York and continued in Geneva is on track. The parties have accepted in principle the Secretary-General's invitation to resume the proximity talks on 23 May in New York. A detailed note of Mr. de Soto's briefing should be available upstairs shortly.
**Security Council
At 3:30 this afternoon, the Security Council will hold closed consultations to discuss arrangements, prior to tomorrow's open debate, on the protection of United Nations, humanitarian and associated personnel in conflict zones.
The Council is expected to work on a draft Presidential Statement, which will be read at the end of tomorrow's debate.
Argentina's Foreign Minister, Adalberto Rodríguez Giavarini, will preside over the debate, and Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette will speak on the need to protect United Nations and associated personnel in conflict zones. Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) will be among the other speakers. As we mentioned yesterday, Catherine Bertini will be taking questions from reporters at the Security Council stakeout.
We will put out the speeches from the Deputy Secretary-General and from Catherine Bertini once they are available. We also have in the Spokesman's Office today an information sheet on civilian deaths of United Nations personnel, including those working for United Nations agencies, since 1992, and that list was prepared by the United Nations Security Coordinators Office. We have the list, it might be useful for tomorrow.
**Report on Social Summit Follow-up
Today is the first day of the new session of the Commission for Social Development, which is to last until 17 February. The session will highlight follow-up to the March 1995 World Summit for Social Development, which brought together 117 governments in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Accordingly, we have out on the racks today a weighty and comprehensive report detailing what governments have done to follow through on the commitments they made in Copenhagen. The report includes information from reports by 74 governments on national implementation of the Social Summit's goals. The report presents a mixed picture, saying that social development has taken on greater importance in the past five years, but that there have also been signs of regression. Although relative poverty has declined, the report says, the absolute number of people living in poverty continues to grow; inequality is rising within and among nations; and resources to strengthen cooperation for social development have actually declined.
There will be a special session of the General Assembly, to be held in Geneva from 26 to 30 June, to review the progress in the five years since the Social Summit.
**New Judge Sworn in at Yugoslav Tribunal
Today, in the Hague, Judge Fausto Pocar (Italy) was sworn in as a Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Judge Pocar was appointed by the Secretary-General to replace Judge Antonio Cassese who's also from Italy, and will serve the remainder of Judge Cassese's term of office until 16 November 2001. There's a press release upstairs.
**UNHCR Briefing Notes
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)reported earlier today in Geneva on a number of topics, including Kosovo and people on the move from Chechyna and Timor.
On Kosovo, UNHCR said that 157 Kosovo Albanians left the predominantly Serb north side of Mitrovica for safety in the southern part of that city. Most of them were taken south in Kosovo Force (KFOR) armored vehicles. These latest displacements bring to 550 the number of Kosovo Albanians who have fled insecurity and intimidation in northern Mitrovica since last Friday.
UNHCR said reports of attacks on occupied apartments by grenades and other explosives seem to have declined, but the pillaging of unoccupied Kosovo Albanian apartments in north Mitrovica is apparently widespread.
**UNEP-HABITAT Press Release
Also on the subject of the Balkans, a joint press release is available on the racks from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) concerning the second phase of the work of the UNEP-Habitat Balkans Task Force (BTF). Beginning 13 February, a group of international scientific experts will start work on detailed environmental clean-up feasibility studies at four hot spots in Serbia.
In its assessment report, presented to the Secretary-General last October, the Task Force concluded that pollution detected at four environmental hot spots poses a serious threat to human health. Projects to address priority needs for humanitarian assistance at the hot spots will be identified during February/March, and next week's studies are required before the actual clean-up can begin. The full assessment report is available on their Web site.
**WFP Reports Rise in Population Displacement in Uganda
The World Food Programme said that it has witnessed a surge in the number of people becoming displaced in Uganda due to an escalation of violent rebel attacks over the past six weeks. We have a note on that available upstairs in the Spokesman's office.
**UNHCR Calls for End to Violence in West Timor
UNHCR also said, in its briefing this morning, that it has called on Indonesian authorities to take immediate measures to stop a surge in violence committed against refugees and aid workers in West Timor. At least four security incidents were reported in camps outside the West Timor capital of Kupang last week. This includes attacks against journalists and the disruption of repatriation operations. UNHCR is particularly concerned, it says, about the fate of two refugees who were yanked out of repatriation buses at Tuapukan camp last week. There were also threats of growing intimidation against aid workers along the border areas of West Timor. Workers are not being allowed inside the camps or are getting veiled threats. You can read more about that in the briefing notes which are available upstairs.
**Law of Sea Tribunal Decides on Panamanian Vessel
Yesterday afternoon, in Hamburg, Germany, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea decided that the Camouco, a fishing vessel sailing under the flag of Panama, should be released from the custody of France, on a bond of 8 million French francs -- that's about $1.2 million. The Tribunal also set out the standards for a reasonable bond.
You'll recall that the vessel was seized by France and detained at Réunion Island since last September. Panama had brought the case to the Tribunal last month, seeking the prompt release of that ship.
**ICJ Elects New President and Vice-President
Yesterday, in The Hague, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) elected Judge Gilbert Guillaume of France to be the President of the Court. It also elected Judge Shi Jiuyong of China to be the Court's Vice President. Both justices are to serve three-year terms. We put out a press release, yesterday afternoon, listing all of the Court's 15 judges, including the CVs of the two judges I just mentioned.
**Pan American Health Organization Director Receives Medal
Among other releases today, the Pan American Health Organization notes that the Director of its Division of Vaccines and Immunization, will receive the Albert Sabin Gold Medal for his role in efforts to eradicate polio and measles in the Western Hemisphere.
**Drug Control Summit Media Advisory
We have upstairs a media advisory and draft agenda for the International Drug Control Summit that began this morning in Washington, D.C.
You'll recall that the summit, which brings together legislators from around the world to discuss international drug control, is co-hosted by Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, and Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. We have copies of Mr. Arlacchi's speech available upstairs.
**Payments
And finally, we have received two more payments to the United Nations regular budget today.
Afghanistan and Belize have become the forty-eighth and forty- ninth Member States to pay their full contribution to the UN regular budget for this year. Afghanistan made a payment of close to $110,000, which covers its full balance for prior years and its payment for this year, and Belize made a payment of just over $10,000.
**Press Conferences
Press conferences tomorrow, that's 9 February -- we will have Ambassador Arthur Mbanefo of Nigeria, who is the current Chairman of the Group of 77. He will be discussing in this room at 11:15 a.m., the Group of 77 South Summit scheduled to take place in Havana, Cuba in April of this year.
And at 3 p.m., we will have the Foreign Minister of Argentina, who I just mentioned will be chairing the Security Council debate earlier in the day.
Any questions?
**Questions and Answers
Question: Apparently the Indonesian President has said he will give Wiranto a pardon no matter what happens in the court, making moot any decision that is rendered by either an international or national court. Is the United Nations concerned about this? Is it going to do anything about it?
Associate Spokesman: I don't have any guidance on that, but we'll look into it and get back to you later. [The correspondent was later told the following:
There are two points here: the first is that the United Nations would not normally comment on a national judicial process - especially one that has not yet taken place. Lets wait and see how this issue plays out. The second point is that the President of Indonesia and the Foreign Minister have both assured the United Nations of their commitment to hold accountable those people found responsible for the violence in East Timor. At this point, there is nothing more the United Nations should say on this matter.]
Question: Regarding Iraq, are there any signs from Baghdad as far as you know, that Blix and his people are welcome or at least accepted, and second, is there any reaction at Headquarters on the interview that Hans von Sponeck, the German coordinator for humanitarian aid, gave yesterday on CNN? He's criticizing the forthgoing embargo, and maybe even more to say, asking to end the sanctions.
Associate Spokesman: I would like to turn the floor on that question to my colleague, [Acting Deputy Spokesman] John Mills, who may be able to comment on those points.
Acting Deputy Spokesman: At the moment, there is no comment. We've received no indication from the authorities in Iraq regarding Dr. Blix and the new UNMOVIC's ability to work in Iraq. But you remember that the process there is that, first of all, the College of Commissioners is to be formed. Dr. Blix will produce a programme of work for the new body and staffing proposals, which will be considered by the Secretary-General and approved by the Security Council, and it would really only be after that, that the question would be put validly to the Government of Iraq about the newly-constituted body being able to begin its work.
On the second issue, of course we're aware of Mr. Von Sponeck's appearance on CNN yesterday and some subsequent reporting, but there is no comment from the Secretariat on what he said.
Question: On Southern Lebanon, any news from UNIFIL? Are there casualties or any concerns about rearranging troop strengths in UNIFIL?
Associate Spokesman: At the moment, the Secretary-General, as you know, just issued a statement, and we have had no further information on what's going on, on the ground. As of midday, we have had no reports of casualties in the UNIFIL area of operation.
Question: On Von Sponeck's remarks, will there be any comments from the Secretary-General? After all, he works for the Secretary- General, he expresses an opinion that is in stark contrast to United Nations policies -- Security Council resolutions.
Acting Deputy Spokesman: As I said, the comments by Mr. Sponeck on CNN were made yesterday. They'll be looked at and, if there is a comment, you'll hear about it. But at the moment, there is no comment from the Secretariat or the Secretary-General on what was said.
Associate Spokesman: Do we have any other questions? Don't go away. We'll have the UNICEF briefing here in a few minutes.
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