DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000414The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by David Wimhurst, Acting Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**Statement by Secretary-General Welcoming Russia's Ratification of START II
Good afternoon. I have a statement by the Secretary-General on the ratification of START II by the Russian State Duma.
"The Secretary-General welcomes today's ratification of the START II Treaty by the Russian State Duma and commends President Putin for having taken this important initiative.
This long-awaited development is likely to provide a fresh impetus to nuclear disarmament efforts, and will have a positive effect on the forthcoming 2000 NPT Review Conference. The Secretary-General looks forward to the commencement of START III negotiations, which will contribute to further reductions in nuclear weapons."
**Secretary-General Concludes Trip to Cuba
Today is the last day of the Secretary-General's visit to Cuba. He will visit United Nations offices in Havana and meet with staff there before attending the closing session of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China South Summit.
He has no bilateral meetings scheduled for today.
[The Acting Deputy Spokesman later announced that the Secretary-General did have one meeting with the Foreign Minister of Iraq, Mohamed Saeed Al-Sahaf. The delegations talked for 30 minutes and then the Secretary- General and the Foreign Minister had a one-on-one meeting.]
In addition to the bilaterals Marie told you about at Thursday's briefing, the Secretary General also met yesterday with President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, with whom he had an extended conversation during the official lunch hosted by President Fidel Castro.
Later in the afternoon, the Secretary-General also had a meeting with President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Their talks focused on peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Secretary-General and his wife, Nane, are scheduled to arrive back in New York this evening.
**Explosion at Kinshasa Airport
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo there has been a large explosion involving a Boeing 707 aircraft at Kinshasa's main international airport. The cause of the explosion, which took place around midday in the
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 14 April 2000
Democratic Republic of the Congo, was not immediately known. Possibilities include a collision between the aircraft and an ammunition depot or a refuelling accident.
The initial explosion and a subsequent series of explosions that followed could be felt 20 miles away at the United Nations mission headquarters, as well as in Brazzaville across the Congo River.
A significant number of injuries were reported. The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) said that all international mission staff had been accounted for. However, we have not yet been able to account for all of our local staff.
It is feared that cargo aircraft belonging to the mission may have suffered damage. We don't know -- we are investigating that.
The airport is closed and the facility has been surrounded by a heavy police and military presence.
The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has offered assistance to the Kinshasa Government.
**Security Council Holds Open Meeting on Rwanda
The Security Council this morning opened a formal meeting on Rwanda, to discuss the report of the independent three-member panel on the United Nations actions in Rwanda before and during the 1994 genocide, which, you will recall, was issued last December.
The Chairman of the panel, former Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson, addressed the Council and noted that the genocide in Rwanda had unfolded before the eyes of the international community. We hope to have copies of his speech available for you later in the day.
The Council then proceeded to discuss Rwanda, in a debate chaired by Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy. That debate is still going on. The Council is not expected to issue any presidential statement on this topic once the debate is finished.
Yesterday afternoon, the President of the Security Council issued a note to the Secretary-General approving the organizational plan for the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) circulated by its Executive Chairman, Hans Blix.
It also unanimously approved a resolution extending by six months the United Nations Office in Angola. That Office is now extended until 15 October.
**Secretary-General's Report on Prevlaka
The Secretary-General's latest report on the United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP), is out on the racks today. In it, he notes that both the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Croatia have indicated their willingness to resolve their dispute over Prevlaka through bilateral talks, although no talks have been held since last year.
The Secretary-General says in his report: "It is very much hoped that, despite the prevailing political difficulties, the parties will find a way to restart their talks since it is difficult to foresee substantial progress being made otherwise."
The document number is S/2000/305.
**Crime Congress Update
The Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders began its high-level segment in Vienna this morning with an appeal by Congress Secretary-General Pino Arlacchi for rapid completion, signature and ratification of the draft United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols. His speech is available in our office.
Informal negotiations continued today on the text of the draft declaration of the Congress. Once approved by the Congress, the declaration will be forwarded to next week's meeting of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice which will be held in Vienna from 18 to 20 April. It will then be sent to the General Assembly this fall.
Tomorrow, 15 April, the Congress will continue its two-day high-level segment. The Congress will conclude on Monday, 17 April.
**Commission on Human Rights
This morning in Geneva, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, introduced her report on the activities of her Office in Colombia. In her address to the Commission on Human Rights, she said that "despite the efforts for peace, the human rights situation in Colombia has deteriorated significantly". The text of her address is available in our office.
The Commission also received a draft resolution on East Timor welcoming the general progress made by the Indonesian Government to investigate violations of human rights and urging a rapid solution of the East Timorese refugee problem in West Timor.
The complete text of the draft resolution, which was introduced by Portugal, is available in our office.
**Highlights of Week Ahead
And finally I have for you the week ahead. Quite a busy week.
Tomorrow, Saturday, 15 April in London, pop star and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Goodwill Ambassador Geri Halliwell will be the keynote speaker at the opening of the Model United Nations Millennium Summit, which is going to be held at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). We have the full press release available for you upstairs.
Also tomorrow, Catherine Bertini, the United Nations Special Envoy on the drought in the Horn of Africa, will leave Ethiopia to travel to Djibouti, where she will meet with government officials, the United Nations country team and donors. Later in the day, she will travel to Eritrea, where she will meet with government officials and examine the effects of the drought before travelling to Kenya on Monday.
And on Monday, 17 April, the Security Council will have an open debate in the afternoon on general issues relating to sanctions. In addition, Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, George Lopez of the University of Notre-Dame, David Cortright of the Fourth Freedom Forum, and David Malone of the International Peace Academy will hold a press conference at 1:15 p.m. on general sanctions issues.
Also on Monday, the report of the Secretary-General on the return by Iraq of Kuwaiti and third-party nationals is due.
And the guest at Monday's noon briefing will be Dr. Ebrahim Samba, the World Health Organization's Regional Director for Africa, who will talk about "Health in Africa", and there's a panel discussion taking place from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber.
On Tuesday, the Security Council will hold an open meeting on Angola, focusing on the recent recommendations by a Security Council mission, which visited that country in January, on strengthening the sanctions against the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).
On Wednesday, the Security Council will hold an open meeting on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. Following the meeting, Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy and Ambassador Robert Fowler will hold a press conference in room S-226.
And on Thursday, the Security Council will hold an open briefing on Sierra Leone.
Also on Thursday, the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, will be the guest at the noon briefing. He will talk to you about the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, which begins in New York on Monday, 24 April.
On Friday, 21 April, United Nations Headquarters will be closed as it's Good Friday.
I'm sorry. There's one other item that I should inform you about for Monday. And this is that political and business leaders who have made the Internet, e-commerce and the new information technologies (IT) work for developing and transition economies are meeting here at Headquarters next week, Monday, to chart a global information technology action plan.
They will meet in the morning and afternoon in closed sessions from Monday through Thursday next week.
That's all the information I have for you this morning. I'd be happy to answer any questions.
**Questions and Answers
Question: I have two questions on Rwanda. The Carlsson report gave 14 recommendations, for instance -- the Secretary-General to develop an action plan to prevent genocide; early warning capacity; effective flow of information on human rights. Has anything been done to follow up on this
since December? The second question is related. There was supposed to be an in-house report from the Lessons Learned Unit on Rwanda, and I'd like to know what the status of that is.
Acting Deputy Spokesman: OK. I'm going to have to get back to you on both of these questions, I think, for more details. They're both very important questions. I think this afternoon I'll be able to follow up on that. All right? Thank you.
(The Acting Deputy Spokesman passed on a copy of the Lessons Learned report on Rwanda, and informed the correspondent that the Brahimi panel would be looking at many of the recommendations contained in the Carlsson report.)
Question: Is the Secretary-General making a statement on the conclusion of work in Havana at the South Summit? Is there anything now that you have?
Acting Deputy Spokesman: Not that we've been informed of, no. If there is anything coming out, we'll let you know as soon as possible. We'll squawk it.
Question: On this accident in Kinshasa, is there any idea at all what kind of plane was involved, who owned it?
Acting Deputy Spokesman: No. All we know I believe is that it appears to have been a Boeing 707. I think that's what we said. There's no indication as to who owned the aircraft or in which country it was registered.
Question: Next Tuesday at the Human Rights Commission there's the vote on the resolution on Chechnya among others. Any indication whether Russian officials have been meeting with the people who proposed it -- the Portuguese -- on behalf of the European Union to work together on it? There were indications that they were going to work together on the wording of the resolution. I'm just curious whether there will be any change in that initial wording.
Acting Deputy Spokesman: Weve had nothing out of Geneva on this, but certainly we'll check this afternoon to see if there had been any developments in the line that you suggested.
Question: Again, on the 707, do you know if it's a civilian aircraft or not?
Acting Deputy Spokesman: We don't.
Question: So we don't even know if there were injuries, or if we're talking about civilians.
Acting Deputy Spokesman: We don't know. We'll be getting more information, I think, as the day goes on.
Anything else? OK. Have a good afternoon. Thank you.
* *** *