DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000829The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**East Timor
Good morning. We'll start with East Timor. Tomorrow, 30 August, marks the first anniversary of the popular consultation in East Timor. One year ago, the East Timorese population voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia.
In a message to the Timorese people, the Secretary-General saluted "the courage of every Timorese citizen and the memory of those brave men and women who perished in the struggle for independence". He also said that helping East Timor become independent "is one of the greatest responsibilities ever given to the United Nations".
The full text of his video message, which is being distributed throughout East Timor, is available in my Office.
Also available upstairs is a booklet being launched today by the Department of Public Information (DPI) which describes the history of the United Nations involvement in East Timor. That's available in English now and will be out in other languages later in the year.
A number of commemorative activities are being held in East Timor tomorrow. We have copies of the programme available in my Office.
In East Timor today, the United Nations mission (UNTAET) dropped leaflets appealing to militia to hand over their weapons and return peacefully to their home villages. You can find more details on this operation, which is taking place primarily in the Same region (south of Dili), in the note from Dili in my Office.
Also available upstairs is a note on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) briefing announcing that humanitarian activities in West Timor resumed today. The suspension happened last week after three UNHCR staff members were severely beaten. The UNHCR is satisfied with the way the Indonesian authorities have dealt with this incident.
Meanwhile, here in New York, the Security Council is holding an open meeting on East Timor today. The Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hédi Annabi, briefed Council members on developments since the end of July. He focused on the security situation, on refugees in West Timor, on governments and public administration and on political activity. After describing the most recent militia-related incidents in East Timor, Mr. Annabi said there was a rise in confirmed reports of militia activity and movements in the central and west sectors of East Timor. It's estimated that there are between 60 and 120 militia organized in at least eight groups.
Though militia objectives are not clear at this time, the assessment is that their intent is to undermine the transition to independence.
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 29 August 2000
Mr. Annabi also reported that the establishment of the new East Timor transition administration is well under way. He noted that while economic and social conditions remain of great concern, there has been noticeable easing of employment pressures and an encouraging rise in economic activity. There are now 3,114 registered private businesses, most of them Timorese. There has been a gradual increase in foreign investment proposals in the areas of tourism, banking, fisheries and animal farming. Law and order remain stable, although civilian police statistics show an upward trend in low-level crime and petty theft, indicating, I suppose, that there's something to steal, and that's a step up. Off the record, yes exactly.
Currently, there are 75 detainees in custody for crimes committed during 1999. The United Nations Mission and the Government of Indonesia are cooperating closely on investigations into the events of last year.
Concluding the briefing to Council members, Mr. Annabi said that there has been continued progress in a number of areas of administration. However, the United Nations Mission has become seriously concerned with the security situation and the continuing plight of refugees in those camps in West Timor.
**World Peace Religious Summit
This morning in the General Assembly Hall, the Secretary-General addressed the World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders.
In welcoming the delegates, the Secretary-General said that religion and faith, whether practised publicly or privately, are among the things that defines us as humans. We are dealing in universal values. To be merciful, to be tolerant, to love thy neighbour; no religion can claim a monopoly on such teachings.
The Secretary-General also said that freedom of religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: There must be no room, he asserted, for religious bigotry and intolerance in the twenty-first century.
In concluding, the Secretary-General, called on the leaders to look within and to consider what they can do to promote justice, equality, reconciliation and peace. He asked them to set an example of interfaith dialogue and cooperation.
The World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders is organized by an independent group of people active in the interfaith NGO community. The proceedings, which opened here yesterday, will continue at the Waldorf Astoria now until the close of the session on Thursday. You can get the full text of the Secretary-General's speech in my Office.
**Statement on Burundi
I have the following statement on Burundi attributable to the Spokesman:
The Secretary-General welcomes the agreement reached on 28 August in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, by the parties to the Burundi peace process and the renewed hope the agreement provides for a better future for Burundi. He regrets that not all parties have signed the agreement and urges those that have not signed to do so as soon as possible.
The Secretary-General underscores the importance for the parties to remain genuinely committed to the implementation of the agreement. In this regard, he calls on all armed groups to agree to a cessation of hostilities not only to facilitate implementation of the agreement, but also to end the suffering of innocent victims of the violence in the country.
The Secretary-General reiterates his support for the objectives of the Arusha agreement and for the efforts by the Facilitator, Nelson Mandela.
**Statement on Myanmar
Another statement attributable to the Spokesman. This is on Myanmar.
The Secretary-General is increasingly concerned about the well-being of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy, who have been denied freedom of movement near a small town on the outskirts of Yangon since last Thursday. The Secretary-General is monitoring the situation closely, and calls on the Government of Myanmar to take the necessary steps to quickly resolve the current standoff in a peaceful manner.
The Secretary-General believes that the latest situation underlines the necessity for national reconciliation and urges the two sides to engage, as soon as possible, in a substantive political dialogue, as called for by a series of resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.
**Sierra Leone
The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) reports that talks have been continuing to secure the release of 11 British soldiers and one Sierra Leone Army soldier from the Benguema Training Centre, who had been seized in the Okra Hills area on 25 August by a band of rebels known as the West Side Boys.
Delegations from the West Side Boys held talks on the detained soldiers yesterday and today, but so far there has been no report of any release of the detainees. The 11 British soldiers were able to communicate briefly with their Government and are all reported to be in good health. The United Nations Mission remains ready to provide any assistance to help secure their release or to ensure that they have sufficient food and medicine, as needed.
Over the weekend, the Mission was also able to establish contact with the newly named leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Issa Sesay. The Mission intends to press the case to retrieve seven armoured personnel carriers that were seized months ago by the RUF, which Sesay claimed might be returned tomorrow.
That promise came after the release last Friday of 171 former RUF combatants who had been held by the Government of Sierra Leone. President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah announced the release of the RUF prisoners last week as a peace gesture.
**Bosnia and Herzegovina
The United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) has informed us of the opening of a reconstructed mosque in the Republika Srpska in a village near Prijedor (about 40 kilometres north-west of Banja Luka).
The mosque, in the village of Kozaruca, had been destroyed during the Bosnian war, and most of the small houses in that area had been destroyed in early 1992. Now, the mosque has been repaired, along with about 700 houses, in a shift which has seen thousands of Bosnian Muslims returning to the largely Serb area.
Approximately 4,000 Bosniaks attended the re-opening of the mosque on Sunday, and the United Nations Mission says that they were provided good security by the Republika Srpska police. The mufti of Banja Luka and the deputy head of Bosnia's Muslim community also attended that service.
**Iraq Programme Weekly Report
We have the weekly report from the Iraq Programme. Last week the Sanctions Committee approved one additional contract -- I think we mentioned that yesterday. This brings the total approved contracts to 98. The total volume is over 384 million barrels. Since the inception of the "oil-for-food" programme on 10 December 1996, Iraq has exported more than 1,986,000,000 barrels with a value of about $32.8 billion.
**Ozone Bulletin
Bad news on the ozone. The latest Antarctic Ozone bulletin issued today by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) shows a significant decrease in the ozone layer. A number of the recording stations reported drops of up to 35 per cent as compared to the period prior to 1976 which was before the ozone hole was observed.
The bulletins are issued regularly during the latter part of the summer when observation of the ozone in Antarctica is possible.
A very detailed bulletin from the WMO is available in my Office.
**Payments
Yemen became the 114th Member State to pay its 2000 dues to the United Nations regular budget in full. That was with payment of about $160,000.
**Democratic Republic of Congo
A reminder. You asked to see General Abubakar, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy dealing with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He will be briefing the Security Council tomorrow morning and he's agreed to come to the noon briefing here tomorrow. It's expected that his briefing of the Council will be completed in time.
And then, also tomorrow, at 10:30 a.m. here in room S-226, there will be a briefing sponsored by the Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We don't have the details. They said they'd give them to us later today. We'll squawk it when we get it.
That's all I have for you.
**Questions and Answers
Question: Does the United Nations have any comment on the announcement by Australia that it's not going to cooperate with any further human rights investigations?
Spokesman: I'm not sure that was exactly the statement issued by Australia. But the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, told us this morning that she shares the desire of the Australian Government for reforms intended to enhance the effectiveness of the treaty body system. In seeking to strengthen this system, she says utmost care should be taken to continue to work towards achieving universality of the accepted human rights standards. Indeed, the goal of universal ratification of human rights treaties is going to be one of the objectives of the upcoming Millenium Summit.
I know a number of governments have been discussing in the General Assembly, as well as in the Human Rights Commission, ways to improve the work of the Committees that were set up to monitor compliance with each of the six human rights covenants.
I think the feeling is there is room for improvement. On the other hand, I think there's overwhelming feeling in the human rights community that we would like to get universal signings up to these six conventions. So, that's the word from the High Commissioner for Human Rights on that issue. You can always call her spokesman if you want more details.
Anything else? O.K. Thank you very much.
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