PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR DISARMAMENT

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR DISARMAMENT

The Secretary-General today appointed 16 Commissioners to the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), the Under-Secretary- General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, announced at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

He said the Commissioners, who were suitably qualified, are as follows: Adigun Ade Abiodun (Nigeria); Reinhard Bohm (Germany); Ronald Cleminson (Canada); Cong Guang (China); Thérèse Delpech (France); Robert Einhorn (United States); Yuriy V. Fedotov (Russian Federation); Kostyantyn Gryshchenko (Ukraine); Gunterio G. Heineken (Argentina); Hannelore Hoppe (United Nations Department of Disarmament Affairs); Takanori Kazuhara (Japan); Roque Monteleone-Neto (Brazil); Annaswamy Narayana Prasad (India); Marjatta Rautio (Finland); Paul Schulte (United Kingdom); and Cheikh Sylla (Senegal).

The curricula vitae of the Commissioners were available in the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Mr. Dhanapala said. Hans Blix, in his capacity as Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC, would chair meetings of the UNMOVIC College of Commissioners.

He also said the appointments were made in accordance with paragraph 5 of Security Council resolution 1284 (1999) of 17 December 1999, by which the Secretary-General was requested to do so after consulting the Executive Chairman and Council members.

The criteria that governed the appointment of the Commissioners had already been laid down in Security Council resolution 1284, which said the Commissioners should be suitably qualified experts with expertise in the field of disarmament, Mr. Dhanapala said. Some of them had expertise as diplomats working on disarmament issues, either in their countries’ foreign office or elsewhere. Others had technical expertise in the various areas of weaponry that they had been dealing with -- nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and missiles.

Not all the appointees were government nominees, he said, adding that in nine instances, the Secretariat reached out to individual experts to have them appointed. "We, therefore, have every confidence that this expertise in the Commissioners is well established".

The second criterion that was utilized was that of geographical distribution, he continued. Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Rio Group, Asia and Africa were all represented in the College of Commissioners, he said. Women were also represented -- Thérèse Delpech of France, Marjatta Rautio of Finland and Hannelore Hoppe of the Department of Disarmament Affairs. The next step would be up to Mr. Blix, who would summon the College as and when he required their advice.

Asked whether the Security Council members "just signed on” on the appointments, or whether there was a debate on their qualifications, Mr. Dhanapala said they unanimously endorsed the choices of the Secretary-General.

Dhanapala Briefing - 2 - 10 March 2000

Would the Commissioners serve in their private capacity or as government representatives taking instructions, and how long would they serve? a correspondent asked. Mr. Dhanapala said they would be expected, as they had been identified as suitably qualified experts, to serve in their individual capacity, in the same way as the experts on the Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Disarmament. The duration of their appointments had not been specified. They were expected to continue in the job until further notice.

Did he think the appointments, despite the geographical and general representation, reflected a political drive in the Council to have a wider sphere than western or North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries? a correspondent asked. Did he feel they were political, or more political than the members of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM)?

He replied, "If you look at the curriculum vitae of the Commissioners, you'll find that their expertise in the area of disarmament cannot be disputed. They would not be any less expert than the Commissioners in UNSCOM were. So there's no reduction in the level of expertise".

A correspondent noted the mixture of government experts who had dealt with disarmament issues and technical experts in similar appointments in the past. She commented that the weight in the present appointments seemed to have shifted totally to government officials, with the exception of two persons on the list. Was there a reason for that?

Mr. Dhanapala said the correspondent's basic premise was not accurate, since 8 of the 16 Commissioners were technically qualified. He could identify a number of persons who might not have official titles, but could be identified as experts in their own right. The Nigerian expert, Mr. Abiodun, for instance, was with the United Nations until last year, when he retired. Mr. Abiodun happened to have the title now of a Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria. It was a part-time function that he performed. He lived in New York and, therefore, was not technically a government official.

The expert from Canada, Mr. Cleminson, likewise was a retired member of the Canadian Government, and had headed the verification research programme of Canada. He was a member of UNSCOM, and had a great experience in verification matters. The same was true of several others of the College, such as Mr. Prasad of India, a retired official, who was identified by the Secretariat. The Government of India did not nominate him. Nine of the Commissioners were identified by the Secretariat and not by their governments. That, in fact, disputed the correspondent's basic premise, Mr. Dhanapala said.

Asked if any government nominee was rejected, he said the question had not arisen, as there were none. Asked whether an independent Arab expert was considered, he said none were, partly for the reason that initial inquiries indicated that there might not be any available to serve. Second, there were some proposals from some governments that were not accepted because the Secretariat wanted to have a balanced group of Commissioners, which accorded with the Secretariat's criteria.

Dhanapala Briefing -3 - 10 March 2000

What was the reasoning behind the inclusion of three former members of UNSCOM on the College of Commissioners? a correspondent asked. Mr. Dhanapala said they were in their own right experts who were highly qualified and there was no objection to their reappointment.

Asked about the progress in the selection of the staff of UNMOVIC and whether some members of the erstwhile UNSCOM would be re-engaged, Mr. Dhanapala said that was the prerogative of the new Executive Chairman, Hans Blix, who might be looking at various lists he might have received. He asked that the question be directed to Mr. Blix.

Replying to a question about the functions of the Commissioners in terms of their field work, he said their only guidance at present was what the Security Council resolution stated. They were to meet regularly to review the implementation of the reports of the resolution and others and to provide professional advice and guidance to the Executive Chairman, including on significant policy decisions and on written reports to be submitted to the Security Council and to the Secretary-General.

The Executive Chairman was also expected to submit reports every three months. There was, therefore, the expectation that the College would meet more regularly than in the past and would provide advice to the Executive Chairman. The precise way they would be used by the Executive Chairman was a matter for the latter to decide.

Responding to a question, he said there was a need to distinguish between the College of Commissioners and the actual regular staff of UNMOVIC. The Secretary-General was asked to appoint members of the College, and that he had now done. They would only attend meetings organized by Mr. Blix. The appointment of regular UNMOVIC staff, whether deployed in the field or at Headquarters, was a matter for Mr. Blix, Mr. Dhanapala said.

He told another correspondent that, the Secretary-General, in exercising his functions under the Security Council resolution, would look to the Department of Disarmament Affairs for advice and assistance, as it was the lead department for disarmament issues. That was what the Department intended to do, he added.

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