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.

      Security Council

The Security Council met this morning in closed consultations to consider its draft programme of work for the month of August.

Immediately afterwards, Joseph Connor, Under-Secretary-General for Management, briefed Council members on his fact-finding investigation relating to the circumstances surrounding the abduction of three Israeli soldiers on 7 October 2000 and related events.

That report in its entirety will be released as an unofficial document.

Mr. Connor will be here shortly to brief you on the report after which I will read a statement on behalf of the Secretary-General, and then Mr. Connor will take your questions.

**International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today announced that it expects the transfer to The Hague in the coming days of three former commanders of the Bosnian Army, who were arrested yesterday by the Bosnian authorities.

The three Bosnian Muslims -- General Enver Hadzihasanovic, General Mehmed Alagic and Colonel Amir Kubara -- were all in positions of command in the Bosnian Army's Third Corps, and were indicted by Prosecutor Carla del Ponte for war crimes and breaches of the Geneva Convention.  In particular, the three are accused of responsibility for massacres, beatings and other abuses, mostly committed against Bosnian Croats, in Central Bosnia between January 1993 and January 1994.

The indictment had been kept confidential until the accused were arrested. Arrest warrants have now been forwarded to the Bosnian authorities, and it is expected that arrangements will be made shortly for the suspects' transfer to The Hague.

**East Timor

The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), after investigating allegations of sexual misconduct by United Nations peacekeepers in East Timor's Oecussi enclave, has found strong grounds for believing that an alleged act of sexual misconduct by United Nations soldiers occurred in Oecussi on the night of May 27 to 28.

As soon as the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was made aware of the allegations in mid-June, a United Nations Board of Inquiry was established to investigate the charges.

The investigation by the Board will be followed up by another one by the East Timor Prosecutor-General's office and with full cooperation and participation of the authorities of the troop-contributing country in question.

The investigation also brought to light other alleged acts of sexual misconduct by United Nations soldiers in Oecussi, and these will also be thoroughly investigated.

We have additional information in today's briefing notes from Dili.

**West Timor

Based on the recommendations of a United Nations inter-agency security assessment mission, the Organization has decided to permit the return of staff members to specific areas of West Timor, in order to conduct emergency or humanitarian relief operations.

The security assessment mission conducted its work in West Timor from July

8 through 14.  The decision to permit United Nations staff to return is subject to the completion of an agreement specifying security responsibilities with the Government of Indonesia.

**Cyprus

For those of you who missed our announcement yesterday afternoon concerning the Secretary-General’s good offices mission in Cyprus, I announced that the Secretary-General will be meeting His Excellency Rauf Denktash on 28 August in Salzburg.

Shortly after that meeting Alvaro de Soto, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, plans to go to Cyprus for consultations with His Excellency Glafcos Clerides and His Excellency Rauf Denktash.

**United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) yesterday delivered two truckloads of aid supplies to families returning to the village of Aracinovo in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.  More than 5,000 villagers have returned there since the Government reopened the village last Sunday, out of an estimated 10,000 who fled when fighting broke out there in June.

We have additional information in a UNHCR press release.

**Sierra Leone

We have two press releases from the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) today.

The first notes that the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji, yesterday launched a programme in the northern town of Makeni to strengthen community awareness of the work of the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The second notes the travels of the United Nations Force Commander, Lieutenant General Daniel Opande, to parts of the Kono district as well as to Makeni to assess the progress made so far in disarmament there.

**International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People will be observed next week with two days’ of activities on 9 and 10 August.

On Thursday, 9 August, the traditional Sacred Pipe Ceremony will take place in the Public Plaza at the Visitor’s Entrance.  It will be carried out by

Dr. Arvol Looking Horse, who is the nineteenth-generation keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe. 

The Mohawk Singers and Dancers will also perform and this event is also open to the public.

The afternoon of 9 August and all day Friday, 10 August, there will be consultations on the recently established Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which will meet for the first time here at Headquarters from 6 to 17 May 2002. 

The consultative sessions will be open to the press. 

The Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu will be here, with many other indigenous leaders and indigenous people from around the world.  Ms. Menchu and Chief Ted Moses of the Cree will give a press conference on Thursday morning in this room. 

**Racism Conference

As we announced yesterday, nine members of the Eminent Persons Group assembled by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, to increase visibility for the upcoming World Conference on Racism (30 August-7 September, Durban, South Africa) held a roundtable discussion in Geneva this morning.

One of the Panel members, Martti Ahtisaari, the former President of Finland, proposed the creation of a North-South forum which through dialogue, analysis and interpretation of the past would enable the future to be faced in a better manner and avoid repetition of mistakes.

We have the opening statements upstairs from four of the group's members as the highlights of their press conference.

**The Week Ahead at the United Nations

We have the week ahead for you which is a rather thin one at this time of the year.  There is nothing specific in it that I would like to highlight.

On Sunday, 5 August, the fourth session of the World Youth Forum of the UN System will be held in Dakar, Senegal, from today through August 12.  The Forum is intended to prepare recommendations, strategies and tools to empower young people.

On Tuesday, 7 August, the United Statistics Division will host a symposium, taking place through Friday, on a global review of the year 2000 round of population and housing censuses.

On Wednesday, 8 August, a group of governmental experts will meet through Friday to prepare a UN study on disarmament and non-proliferation education.

On Thursday, 9 August, the Security Council will hold consultations on Sierra Leone.

This is the International Day of the World's Indigenous People.  At 11 a.m., there will be a press conference by Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu, among other speakers.

I see Mr. Connor is here –- do you have any questions for me on this part of the briefing?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  On the investigation of sexual misconduct in East Timor:  can you give us some idea of how large this problem is there; how many incidents there were and a little more detail on what exactly this is about?

Spokesman:  I don't have any more on it but I am sure the Mission does.  If you check with Farhan Haq in my office after the briefing he might have more details from the Mission area.

Question:  There is also a report today that United Nations security did not want the Secretary-General to stay at his southern cottage in Sweden during his vacation.  Can you confirm whether that is true?

Spokesman:  At the risk of getting into the Secretary-General's family life I would prefer not to comment.  I did check with our security, however, and they did not know anything about that story.

Joseph, do you want to come up now?

**Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

During Mr. Connor's briefing on the internal investigation into the facts surrounding the videotape taken by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNAFIL) after the abduction on 7 October 2000, across the "Blue Line," of three Israeli Defence Force soldiers by Hezbollah, the following statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General was read out.

"The Secretary-General has read the report of Mr. Connor's investigation team with great care.  He accepts its findings and has authorized the release of the report to the press.

“It is clear that serious errors of judgement were made, in particular by those who failed to convey information to the Israelis which would have been helpful in an assessment of the condition of the three abducted soldiers.  The Secretary-General regrets this error.  He repeats his offer to show to the Governments of Israel and Lebanon an edited version of the videotape made on

8 October.  He now extends this offer to cover the videotape of 7 October, which the investigation has uncovered, and is also willing to show these two Governments items recovered from the vehicles which may have a bearing on the condition of the soldiers.

“The report also reveals serious shortcomings in internal communications within the United Nations, and the way procedures for handling sensitive information are applied.  The Secretary-General will now take administrative measures, including measures to tighten up these procedures, with a view to ensuring that such lapses in assessment and communication –- within the United

Nations chain of command and between the United Nations and Member Governments –- do not recur.

“Finally, the Secretary-General wishes once more to express his indignation at the use of United Nations equipment and insignia in the abduction.  He regards this as a very serious matter, which he continues to pursue with the Government of Lebanon."

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