DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

** East/West Timor

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today in a statement -- and we have a text upstairs -- that it is "deeply disturbed" by the sentences given to the six men in connection with the West Timor killings last September 6 of three UNHCR staff members.  It noted reports that the accused were given sentences of between 10 and 20 months.

In the statement, UNHCR said, "The sentences make a mockery of the international community's insistence that justice be done in this horrific case." It said it would study the judgments carefully before considering further action.

UNHCR also noted that five of its staff have been murdered in the past eight months, including the three killed and mutilated in West Timor; one killed in September in southern Guinea; and a driver killed in March in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

You can get additional details from today's briefing notes from UNHCR.

Also in East Timor today, a poverty study put out by the National Planning and Development Agency says that more than 67,000 homes were made unlivable as a result of the violence in 1999, but 47 per cent of those homes have been rehabilitated since then.  The report also says that 20 per cent of the country's villages have electricity now -– that is 10 per cent lower than before 1999.

The study was produced in partnership with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the UN Development Programme.

You can find more details on it in today's briefing notes from Dili, which also mentions an agreement between the UN Mission and an Australian shipping company to operate a ferry service for the 12-hour sea journey between Dili and East Timor's Oecussi Enclave, located in the western part of the island.  That service is set to begin on May 21, and will allow for travel by 150 passengers -- about three times what was available on previous trips aboard cargo vessels.

** Statement Attributable to Spokesman

The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman, concerning yesterday’s vote in the Economic and Social Council on membership in the Commission on Human Rights.

The Secretary-General understands the United States' disappointment at not being re-elected to the Human Rights Commission.  The United States has played a leading role over the years in drafting landmark documents such as the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, and has been a key member of the Commission.  The Secretary-General believes that the United States made a major contribution to the work of the United Nations in the field of Human Rights, and he strongly hopes that they will remain engaged in this important area of our work.

** Liberia

The Security Council is meeting in closed consultations this morning on the subject of Liberia, during which members are taking up the Secretary-General’s report on Liberia issued earlier this week.  Also on the agenda is a briefing by Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore, who is Chairman of the Liberia Sanctions Committee and who recently completed a mission to the region in that capacity.

There is a Security Council document dated 30 April, which transmits a letter from Liberian President Charles Taylor regarding his government’s efforts to comply with Resolution 1343.

As you know, that resolution states that unless Liberia complies with Security Council demands within two months of its adoption, additional sanctions measures go into effect one minute past midnight on Monday (Eastern Daylight Time).  Those measures would include a ban on the direct or indirect import of all rough diamonds from Liberia and measures to prevent travel by senior members of the Government of Liberia and their spouses.

** Secretary-General’s Teleconference on AIDS

In his push to put the UN system in high gear for the fight against AIDS, the Secretary-General just finished a teleconference with the heads of UN agencies which have programmes on HIV/AIDS. 

The meeting lasted for over an hour.  The Secretary-General heard the views of Agency heads on different aspects of the AIDS problem.  After reviewing recent developments since his meeting with the pharmaceutical firms in early April, the Secretary-General told the heads of UN agencies that the goal now is to increase the political energy that is progressing so well.  "We must be sure," he said, "that in the remaining seven weeks until the General Assembly Special Session on AIDS we turn this energy into action."

To ensure that, he has appointed the Deputy Secretary-General to lead a UN-system task force that will meet weekly as of next week.  The Secretary-General himself will join this task force from time to time.

He also announced that he had asked Stephen Lewis to work with a core group of African leaders in the follow up to the Abuja Declaration, adopted during the African Summit on AIDS in the Nigerian capital last week.

Stephen Lewis, a former Canadian Permanent Representative here at UN Headquarters, was also the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF until last year. Currently he is Adjunct Professor at York University in Canada and Special Advisor for Africa to Peter Piot, the Executive Director of UNAIDS.  He is also Special Advisor to UNIFEM on HIV/AIDS.

** Sport/OGI

We have a number of sports-related events coming up here next week.

On Monday, the Secretary-General will meet with his Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, former Swiss President Adolf Ogi, in their first meeting since Ogi's appointment.  Ogi is expected, in his capacity as Special Adviser, to identify tasks and programmes in the UN system that might benefit from the involvement of sports organizations.

Then, on Tuesday, the International Olympic Truce Foundation's Board of Directors, including Juan Antonio Samaranch, will meet at the United Nations, and the Secretary-General will address that meeting.  It is expected that a statue will be presented at the meeting that could go on display on occasions when the Olympic Truce is in effect or is being discussed.

Greek Foreign Minister George A. Papandreou will be among the participants at that meeting, and he will hold a press conference following the conclusion of the meeting, at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

** Budget

We haven’t had contributions to report; however, today we have two: Austria has made a payment of more than $9.8 million and the Democratic Republic of the Congo has made a payment of over $100,000, which includes full payment of its arrears and this year’s contribution in full of over $41,000.  So, we now have

71 Member States paid in full for the regular budget for this year.

** Press Releases

A few press releases today.  Highlights: Willem Wijnstekers, the Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), calls on airlines not to boycott shipments of legally-traded wild animals.  He said that a boycott would not be in the best interest of the animals themselves, nor rural communities, which may depend on natural resources, including animals. 

In another press release, the World Health Organization (WHO) announces the release of a report “Tobacco and the Rights of the Child”, urging countries to abide by the terms of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.  The report says children all over the world should be protected from the health risks of tobacco and encourages countries to take legislative and regulatory measures called for by the Convention.  The report also deals with the issue of child labour and says that tobacco companies have been implicated in child labour in some of the major tobacco producing countries.

The report can be found on the WHO website.

We also have an announcement from the UN Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM, of a panel discussion this afternoon on “The Gender Dimensions of the Financing for Development Agenda”.

We have a press release on that, if you want more details.

** Announcement

The Department of Public Information has asked me to announce the showing today of a World Chronicle programme.  It will feature Marcio Barbosa, the Deputy Director General of UNESCO.  That would be shown at 3:30 today on in-house television channel 3. 

And we have The Week Ahead for you that you can pick up in my office.

** Questions and Answers

Question:  First of all, is there any official response to the statement by the spokesman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the vote yesterday in the Economic and Social Council?

Spokesman;  Yes, I read the statement.

Question:  Do you know anything about the 3 o’clock meeting between the US delegation and the Secretary-General?

Spokesman:  We understand it is to review actions on the AIDS agenda since the Abuja Summit –- share views, talk about ways ahead.

Question:  Who is in the delegation?

Spokesman:  We weren’t able to get that information.  We tried with the US Mission.  We will try again after the briefing.

Question:  Will yesterday’s vote (in ECOSOC) further complicate the US arrears issue?  Some one said the Congress may hold up payment even longer, and others said it might pick it up in the House next week.

Spokesman:  We will hope that the Organization itself wouldn’t be blamed for what was really a vote by Member States.  It may take some explanation to Members of Congress on exactly how these things work.  And, of course, in this statement, we just said that we hope the US will stay engaged and the rules of the Human Rights Commission leave a lot of room for that.  Non-members of the Commission can attend meetings, can speak at meetings, and with the support of just one member of the Commission, can co-sponsor resolutions.  So, there’s plenty of room for the US to remain engaged in the work of the Commission.

Of course, this isn’t the first time a Member State has been on the Commission and not been voted for re-election.  This happened to the United Kingdom twice before; it happened to France, once before; and in both those cases, they bounced back a year later.  So, we hope that everyone out there would be understanding of the process, and not place blame where it doesn’t belong.  Keep a positive attitude.  The US has plenty of room to stay engaged in human rights, as it has been in the past.  So we hope that will be the case.

Question:  Same subject.  Can you confirm that the SG spoke to Colin Powell (US Secretary of State) about this, yesterday?

Spokesman:  He told me that he had a call last night about 6 p.m.  I’m not sure whether it was about this subject.  I have to double check with him whether

he wants to go public with what that conversation was about.  [He later said the Secretary-General phoned the Secretary of State, and this was one of the subjects discussed.]

Question:  I wonder whether if you can confirm that the Secretary-General has received his copy of the Mitchell Commission report, and if so, what happens next..?

Spokesman:  As of this morning, he has not yet received it, although we understand that it is in the mail.  As you know, at the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit, it was agreed that he would be given a copy for his review.  So, we will let you know when it arrives.  [He later announced that it had arrived in the course of the morning.]

Question:  This is about East Timor in the light of the sentences handed out to the three militia members for their crimes in West Timor.  Is there talk, still, within the Security Council or other parts of the UN of a possible war crimes tribunal for East Timor?

Spokesman:  You will have to check with the Security Council on that subject.  They have urged Indonesia to prosecute these crimes.  And they have indicated a willingness to see if Indonesia did that in a responsible way, before they consider any international tribunal.  So, you will have to assess the mood in the Council to see whether this decision today had any impact on their thinking.  I can’t speak for them.

Question:  What does the Secretary-General expect will come out of this weekend’s retreat (of the Security Council)?

Spokesman:  The focus, as I think we announced, was the Great Lakes, generally, and Democratic Republic of the Congo specifically.  In the past, Members of the Council have enjoyed getting out of the building, leaving their aides behind, sitting down, just 15 of them, and talking frankly about some of the major issues on their agenda.  So, clearer understanding, perhaps, of the issues at play in the Democratic Republic and the Great Lakes as a whole, and maybe a firmer resolve to take positive action in support of the peace process.

Questioner:  And bonding?

Spokesman:  (Laughter).  That’s what retreat is all about.

Thank you very much.

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