DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000918The following is a near-verbatim transcript of todays noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Susan Markham, Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly.
Briefing by Spokesman for Secretary-General
Good afternoon.
The guest at our briefing today is Nicolas Bwakira, Director of the New York Liaison Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who is here to talk to you about an incident Sunday involving the death of the fourth UNHCR staff member within two weeks. Today, a UNHCR staff member remains missing more than 24 hours after she was abducted by unidentified armed men who killed UNHCRs head of office during a raid on the south-east Guinean town of Macenta.
**Secretary-Generals Statement on Killing of UNHCR Staff
I have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General:
The Secretary-General is shocked by the murder of Mensah Kpognon, the head of the sub-office of the UNHCR in Macenta, Guinea, yesterday.
He is also extremely concerned over the fate of another UNHCR staff member, Sapeu Laurence Djeya, who was abducted by the same unidentified armed elements who murdered Mr. Kpognon.
He strongly condemns this senseless violence against humanitarian workers, and appeals to the West African leaders to do whatever they can to secure the release of Ms. Laurence Djeya.
The Secretary-General conveys his condolences to Mr. Kpognons family as well as to the UNHCR staff who are still mourning the death of three colleagues killed in West Timor only two weeks ago.
The UNHCR is appealing to authorities throughout West Africa and to the international community at large to help locate and secure the release of Sapeu Laurence Djeya. She is a national of Côte dIvoire. Witnesses said that Ms. Djeya was last seen Sunday morning being taken away by armed men who shot and killed the head of the office in Macenta, Mensah Kpognon.
The UNHCR said it was unclear who was responsible for Sundays raid.
In Geneva, the UNHCR Staff Council has called on aid workers worldwide to demonstrate their anger and concern over the attacks on unarmed humanitarians. On Thursday of this week, the UNHCR staff around the world are urged to hold marches or organize other activities on that day.
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 18 September 2000
The death Sunday brings to 198 the number of civilian personnel working for the United Nations killed in the line of duty since 1992, when statistics started to be compiled. We have a breakdown of those figures upstairs.
**Secretary-General to Speak at Meeting of Least Developed Countries
The Secretary-General will speak to the ministerial meeting of the least developed countries at about 3 p.m. today, and is expected to highlight the particular problems of those countries that will need to be addressed at next Mays third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries, which will be held in Brussels. The Secretary-General will stress the need for duty-free and quota-free access for all exports from those countries to the industrialized world. Although the meeting will be closed, we will have embargoed copies of the Secretary-Generals remarks in my office.
**Cyprus Talks Continue
The Cyprus proximity talks continue in this building today. The Secretary-Generals Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, met this morning with His Excellency Glafcos Clerides and he is scheduled to meet His Excellency Rauf Denktash at 3:30 this afternoon.
**Bertini Visits Kenya to Assess Impact of Drought
Catherine Bertini, the United Nations Special Envoy on the Drought in the Greater Horn of Africa and Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), made a field visit to Kajiado, Kenya, today to assess the impact of the drought there. The visit comes as part of her mission to the region, which is to last until 23 September.
She spent the day visiting people affected by the drought, and saw water projects, boreholes, supplementary feeding programmes and livestock initiatives. Ms. Bertini said she was impressed by the progress made so far in dealing with the area's drought, although much remains to be done.
Tomorrow, Ms. Bertini will meet with Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi and representatives of donors and non-governmental organizations in Nairobi.
**East Timor
During a meeting held today in Jakarta, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, received assurances from Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs, that a concrete plan to disarm the militia and improve the security situation in West Timor is being drawn up.
Mr. Yudhoyono is on his way to New York where he is expected to meet with the Security Council tomorrow.
While in Jakarta, Mr. Vieira de Mello met with United States Defense Secretary William Cohen for an exchange of views on the situation in West Timor. Before returning to Dili, he also met with Indonesian Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman to follow up on the ongoing Indonesian investigation into serious crimes committed in East Timor last year.
**Security Council
The Security Council did not schedule any meetings for today. And, as I just mentioned, they are expected to meet tomorrow in a private meeting with the Indonesian Special Envoy. You will hear more on that tomorrow.
**Training of Military Observers Begins
A pre-deployment training programme for military observers serving in the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea began in both Addis Ababa and Asmara today and will continue through 21 September. Topics and issues to be covered in the four-day course include the organization of United Nations peacekeeping missions; the role of United Nations military observers and the code of conduct. They will also go into the history and culture, economy and geography of the Mission area. They will have an overview of the conflict and of the humanitarian situation in the region. They will also touch on mine awareness.
As of this morning, the United Nations Missions military component comprised 50 officers -- 23 in Asmara, 27 in Addis Ababa - and they come from 17 different nations.
**Burundi Party Says It Will Sign Peace Accord
The National Liberation Front or FNL, one of the armed Hutu groups in Burundi, has said they will sign the Arusha peace accords.
The Facilitator, former South African President Nelson Mandela, is to hold a meeting in Nairobi on Wednesday of this week with various parties not signatories to the accords, but whose participation in the peace process is essential.
Mr. Mandela will be the guest at an open meeting of the Security Council here in New York on 29 September, at which he will brief them on developments in the Burundi peace process.
**Rwanda Tribunal Takes Up Two Cases
Today in Arusha, Tanzania, prosecutors read out their opening arguments in one case involving three suspects accused of involvement in massacres in Cyangugu, while another case -- involving three men linked to media outlets that promoted hatred towards Tutsis -- was delayed because of the filing of a defence motion.
In the case of the so-called "Cyangugu group", prosecutors opened their arguments against three suspects. The proceedings then adjourned briefly to consider defence motions and expected to resume on Wednesday.
In the other case, of what has been known as the "media group", proceedings were delayed after the defence attorneys filed a motion asking for two of the judges to be recused. The motion to recuse the judges will be considered tomorrow.
**United Nations Interim Administration Tightens Security at Detention Centre
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo is taking new measures to tighten security at the detention centre in Mitrovica following the escape of 13 detainees earlier this month.
The 32 detainees currently being jailed there are now wearing orange jumpsuits to distinguish them and are subject to searches after they receive visitors. There are more guards, increased surveillance, and checks conducted every quarter of an hour.
The Special Representative for Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, conceded that, at the time of the jailbreak, the centre was suffering from serious problems of mismanagement, and the inmates were not properly monitored. The Mission has conducted an internal investigation into the escape, which is now with its Deputy Commissioner of Police.
We have a press release from Kosovo if you are interested.
Also, today's briefing notes from Pristina include information on the continuing clean-up in Mitrovica following the sulphuric acid leak there that we reported to you last week. The transfer of acid from tanks which are suspected to be leaking is expected to be completed by tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the Mission has also noted a number of attacks, apparently directed against Serbs and Serb property, in the Gnjilane area. One Serb man was killed over the weekend when a grenade was thrown at a Serb church in that area.
**SFOR Update
The Secretary-General late last week forwarded the latest monthly report by NATO of the activities of its Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that report is out on the racks today.
It describes the situation in Bosnia as "calm and stable" but notes the possibility of sporadic low-level violence in connection with the return of displaced persons and refugees to their homes.
**Secretary-General Releases Report on Status of Convention on Rights of the Child
Available on the racks today as well is a report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It summarizes actions taken by agencies throughout the United Nations system over the past year on topics ranging from child prostitution and child labour to the protection of children in armed conflict and child refugees.
Also out today are several reports on disarmament affairs, including reports on a new agenda for a nuclear-free world and on the relationship between disarmament and development.
**Press Conference
Press conferences tomorrow, there are two At 10:15 a.m., Ambassador Vladislav Jovanovic, the Chargé daffaires of the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, who will talk about implementation of Security Council resolution 1244. Prof. Jan Kregel, high-level expert in international finance with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), will launch UNCTADs Trade and Development report at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Both those press conferences are in this room.
Questions and Answers
Any questions before we go to Sue and then we go to Mr. Bwakira? Ronnie.
Question: Can you tell me, Fred, the legal position of the United Nations regarding civilian flights into Iraq in light of the reports I am sure you have seen -- about Russia planning to send civilian commercial flights into Iraq again?
Spokesman: There is no legal position of the United Nations. The Security Council is the only source of an authoritative interpretation of its own resolutions. Concerning the latest flight, of which there has been a number, into Iraq, we are informed by the Councils Iraq Sanctions Committee that the Council was informed last Thursday of the intention to fly into Iraq over the weekend. Under the no-objection procedure, approval was granted on Friday. Yes, Chris?
Question: Just to clarify that. This flight that took place, that was authorized or the Sanctions Committee raised no objections on that flight?
Spokesman: You will really have to talk to the Sanctions Committee, but what the Russian Federation did was to notify. What the Sanctions Committee did was to consider under the no-objection procedure. There were no objections after 24 hours so that is, from the Sanctions Committee point of view, the same as granting approval for the flight to go in. Jerome.
Question: What is happening in the Congo since Laurent Désiré Kabila agreed to allow United Nations peacekeepers to deploy there? What is happening from the United Nations end?
Spokesman: Where did he say he allowed them to deploy? Deployment is just one of the obstacles that have been in the way of the normal deployment of that peacekeeping mission, and I think the Council has been weighing these actions taken by the Government in terms of whether they feel they can go ahead with this mission or not. I am not sure what specifically you are referring to, but even if there were concrete agreement to allow peacekeepers to deploy to all areas of the country, which is one condition, then there is their freedom of movement everywhere in the country, and then a string of smaller issues having to do with things like currency exchange rates in the purchase of supplies and humanitarian goods and so on.
Question: So the assessment here is that the conditions there are not ?
Spokesman: The Council is going to have to make that call. The Secretariat reports to the Council on the latest developments, whether they are positive or negative, and I think the jury is still out. Let me take the gentleman next to you, Ronnie.
Question: Concerning the route of the Russian flight to Baghdad, was it from Moscow to Baghdad or to other places?
Spokesman: This was one notification of the Council of a single flight from Moscow to Baghdad. It arrived there over the weekend. The plane is still in Baghdad. I think they said they will be leaving on Tuesday. So it affects just a single flight.
Question: Fred, you said the Cyprus proximity talks continue today. Do you expect the talks to continue throughout this week? That is one point. And the second point, when does the Secretary-General intend to reply in writing to the letters by Mr. Clerides?
Spokesman: On substance, you know we dont say anything, and Cyprus is always a mystery, so I will hate to even try to predict how long the talks will last. I think, probably from Mr. de Sotos point of view, he would like to see them continue through the week. Ronnie?
Question: The second point, excuse me?
Spokesman: No comments on substance. Ronnie.
Question: Is there any reaction from the Secretary-General to the announcement by the Peruvian President that he will call new elections -- and any concerns on the part of the United Nations?
Spokesman: I have no reaction now.
Question: You said that the Indonesians have now given concrete plans to disarm the militia in West Timor, does that include a timetable when these plans will be put into effect?
Spokesman: I dont know whether there was a timetable. Check with me after the briefing. We will have to see what kind of details were provided. Anything else? Sue [He later announced that Indonesia had not announced any specific timetables.]
Briefing by Spokeswoman for Assembly President
Thank you. The President of the General Assembly, Harri Holkeri, joins the Secretary-General in condemning the violence against the United Nations humanitarian workers and conveys his condolences to the family members.
Tomorrow is the Millennium Peace Day. There will be a public event out on the Plaza at which the President of the General Assembly will receive a petition of some 50 million signatures from children all around the world asking for peace. There is a press release about this if you are interested in some further details (PI/1293). The receiving of this large petition will happen at 12 noon.
The general debate continues today and was also continuing on Saturday.
Last week, all the Main Committees met for their organizational sessions and they have now released their plans of how they will work. They are in documents which I can give you the numbers of, if you are interested. I will put together a calendar, as I promised, so that you can see when the main issues are upcoming at a glance.
On Sunday, the President of the General Assembly spoke at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in the morning and delivered the sermon. This is an annual event for the beginning of the General Assembly. Mr. Holkeri said in his sermon that global problems have to be approached from the community level. He stressed the need for individual responsibility. He also stressed the need for childrens education, especially for girls. This is a theme that he has been consistently emphasizing.
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