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 Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon, thank you very much for coming.

**Statement on Terror Attack by Suicide Bomber in Jerusalem

I'll start by putting on the record the statement we issued a few hours earlier this morning:

“The Secretary-General condemns today's terror attack by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem.  He deplores all acts of terror and is deeply disturbed by the terrible loss of life.  He emphasizes that attacks against civilians violate international and human rights law.

“The Secretary-General is alarmed that escalating violence continues to spread death and misery among both Israelis and Palestinians.  He urges all concerned to exercise restraint.  The violence of the recent days demonstrates that there is no alternative to dialogue between the parties to bring an end to the violence and a return to the political process.”

**Security Council

This morning, here in New York, the Security Council is meeting in closed consultations to receive a briefing on the situation in Sierra Leone by Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi.  He noted that since the current disarmament exercise began on 18 May, more than 13,000 combatants have been disarmed through 6 August and more than 1,100 children have been released by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) over the same period.

However, there have been logistical constraints, including challenges in transporting combatants to disarmament centres, which have impeded disarmament efforts in the Kono and Bonthe districts.

The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), meanwhile, has reached a troop strength of 14,378 with the induction of the first Pakistani battalion, which was completed on 25 July.

On the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Annabi noted an appeal from the Secretary-General to donors to disburse pledges for the Court and to propose candidates for a prosecutor.

The discussion of Sierra Leone is going on in the Council now, and a statement to the press from the President, Ambassador Alfonso Valdivieso of Colombia, is expected once the session is over.

**Racism Conference

This morning in Geneva, Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights and Secretary-General of the World Conference against Racism, addressed the Bureau of the third Preparatory Committee of the Conference.

In an effort to encourage committee members to make a final push as the work of the Preparatory Committee nears its end, Mrs. Robinson said that despite the lateness of negotiations, there is still a chance of working through the difficult issues before the Conference opens in 31 August.  “It behoves all of us,” the High Commissioner said, “to persist in this endeavour and to work for success at Durban.”

In her comments to the Bureau, she highlighted an important breakthrough concerning the right of victims of human rights violations to have access to the judicial process.  She also recognized the substantial headway being made in the discussions on recognition of historical injustices.

The High Commissioner told the Bureau that she understands the need for more time to negotiate the difficult issues regarding Israelis and Palestinians.  On that topic, she suggested some principles to assist the ongoing negotiations.  These include the recognition of the equal rights and the right to self-determination of both peoples and an emphasis on solutions achieved through negotiations pursued in good faith by all sides.

She added that she was pleased and encouraged by the fact that everyone involved in the negotiations understood that there can be no return to the Zionism-equals-racism issue, which was settled by the General Assembly in 1991.

In conclusion, she said a successful outcome of the Durban Conference can be reached.  "We cannot set deadlines on particular issues," she told the Bureau, "and everyone must participate in the search for solutions at the highest levels.  I make a strong appeal for this.”

The full text of her speech to the Bureau is available in the Spokesman's Office.

**Press Conference

On this very issue, tomorrow at 9:00 o'clock in the morning, New York time, Mary Robinson will have a press conference in Geneva.  You will be able, if you come here to Room S-226, to watch on a TV screen we'll have here.  That press conference will also be available on in-house channel 3 or channels 31 and 78 on your cable box.  The audio of that press conference will also be available on the MX and dial-in systems.

Immediately following the press conference, the High Commissioner will be available to the New York-based press corps via a teleconference system for questions and answers.  That will also happen here in Room S-226.  That will not be in the in-house system.  If you want to participate you must be here in Room

S-226 because it is a teleconference set-up.

**Indigenous People

Today is the International Day of the World's Indigenous People and the Secretary-General, in a statement, says that the day should be used to pay tribute to the rich cultures and traditions of indigenous peoples and to pledge to protect their interests and rights.

This year, he notes, the Day is observed at a time of intensive preparation for the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which, the Secretary-General says, is a pioneering initiative aimed at giving indigenous peoples the chance to bring their concerns to the attention of the world.  By the end of this year,

16 independent experts -- half to be nominated by indigenous peoples -- will have been elected to the Forum, which will have its first meeting next May.

As we mentioned yesterday, consultations on the Forum will begin this afternoon and go on tomorrow.

The Secretary-General's statement is available as a press release.

**Ethiopia-Eritrea

The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Ethiopia and Eritrea, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, today gave a press conference to the media of both countries at the Mereb River Bridge between Ethiopia and Eritrea in which he renewed his appeal to both Governments to tone down their violent rhetoric.  He said that "words, whether written or spoken, can keep a war alive even after the guns have fallen silent."

He noted that the United Nations Mission patrolling the Temporary Security Zone had investigated allegations that Ethiopian forces were in the Zone and reported that there is no cause for concern and that, by and large, both sides are abiding by their commitment to peace.

United Nations Force Commander Maj. Gen. Patrick Cammaert added that at the meeting of the Military Coordination Commission which he chaired yesterday in Nairobi, he had emphasized the importance of establishing face-to-face contact between Ethiopian and Eritrean officials at the local level. 

He also noted that although both sides had expressed dissatisfaction about elements of the Temporary Security Zone, they had also emphasized the importance of reaching a formal agreement on it.

More information is available in a press release which we have in our office.

**Kosovo

Moving on to another mission area, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that more people are continuing to return to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) from Kosovo over the past three days, although the pace of returns slowed down yesterday.

Following the recent violence in FYROM, some people are thinking twice about returning home from Kosovo.  But at the same time, UNHCR reports that there has been no noticeable increase in new arrivals from FYROM.  Since the beginning of the conflict, more than 78,000 people have arrived in Kosovo from FYROM, while approximately 24,000 of that number have returned, leaving about 54,000 refugees in Kosovo.

Again, more information is available in our office upstairs.

**ICTY

Today in The Hague, three Bosnian Muslims who have been charged with war crimes and violations of the Geneva Conventions pleaded "not guilty" to each of the 19 counts against them in their initial appearance before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 

The three men -- Gen. Enver Hadzihasanovic, Gen. Mehmed Alagic and Col. Amir Kubura -- are accused of killings and other atrocities, committed largely against Bosnian Croats, in central Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993.

**Press Releases

Today, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced that the Government of Italy has pledged $1 million to support UNICEF's programmes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The funds will be used in projects to improve the health network in the country and to support education for 50,000 displaced children.  The Government of Italy has also contributed an additional $2 million to its 2001 contribution to UNICEF's core funding.

The press release is available upstairs.

I have no press conferences to announce since none are scheduled for tomorrow.

**Questions and Answers

      Question:  Does the Secretary-General have any position on the French-German initiative to get a binding convention banning human cloning?

      Deputy Spokesman:  I have not spoken to the Secretary-General on this issue, so I don't know what his particular view would be.  But I'm glad you asked this question.  I had prepared myself for a possible question like this yesterday, so now I'm ready to give you some details on this issue.

Whatever our views -- of course the Secretariat, as you know, takes its marching orders from the Member States -- on this particular matter of cloning, the General Assembly, in 1999, endorsed the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1977.  That Declaration, in its section on research, states that “practices which are contrary to human dignity, such as reproductive cloning of human beings, shall not be permitted”.

But even before that, the World Health Assembly, which as you know is the annual meeting of the Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1997 and 1998, also adopted resolutions on this very issue, where they affirmed that “the use of cloning for the replication of human beings is ethically unacceptable and contrary to human integrity and morality”.

But of course, as you mentioned, the German and French Governments have proposed that for the upcoming 56^th session of the General Assembly, which starts next month, an item on human cloning be included.  I'm sure you'll be seeing much more debate on that in the weeks to come.

As you know, the procedure is that a proposal is made for an item to be included on the agenda, then the General Committee of that General Assembly

session meets at the beginning of the session and makes recommendations to the Plenary regarding which items of the agenda should be kept on the agenda or not.

      Question:  Do you have anything new on the Cyprus proximity talks?  The Cyprus News Agency is saying that a new round of United Nations talks is expected to begin in September.

      Deputy Spokesman:  I don't have any information to confirm that to you.

Thank you very much, have a nice afternoon.

* *** *