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, and Jan Fischer, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Briefing by the Secretary-General’s Spokesman, Fred Eckhard

**International Criminal Court

Good afternoon.  Earlier today, the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court not only received the 60 ratifications it needed in order to enter into force, but went well beyond that threshold, with 10 nations depositing their instruments of ratification to the Statute to UN Legal Counsel Hans Corell.  The treaty now has 66 States Parties and it will take effect on 1 July.

Speaking via videoconference from Rome, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, “The long-held dream of a permanent international criminal court will now be realized.  Impunity has been dealt a decisive blow.”  Now, he added, those who commit war crimes, genocide or other crimes against humanity will no longer be beyond the reach of justice.  He congratulated the 66 countries that had ratified the Rome Statute, and urged those who had not yet done so, to follow their example.  Earlier, upon receiving the 10 ratifications that made the Criminal Court a reality, Hans Corell said, “A page in the history of humankind is being turned.  May all this serve our society well in the years to come!”

We have both speeches upstairs, as well as statements from Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights; Kenzo Oshima, the head of the Humanitarian Affairs Department; and other UN officials.  We also have transcribed the question-and-answer session that took place from Rome when the Secretary-General took questions from reporters.

**Secretary General in Rome

You just saw the Secretary-General and Italian President Carlo Ciampi, who spoke via videoconference about the International Criminal Court.  In addition to meeting President Ciampi this afternoon in Rome, the Secretary-General also met separately with the President of the Italian Senate, Marcello Pera, and the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Pier Fernando Casini.

Earlier today, the Secretary-General chaired the second day of the twice-annual meeting of the heads of UN agencies, funds and programmes, now known as the Chief Executives Board (CEB).  He spent half of the working day Wednesday attending a CEB retreat at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization, which is based in Rome.  The morning and afternoon sessions of the retreat focused on the “Campaign for the Millennium Development Goals,” to discuss how the UN system can implement those goals, which were agreed to by world leaders at the Millennium Summit two years ago.  The guest briefers were Mark Malloch-Brown, Administrator of the UN Development Program (UNDP), and two senior advisers of the Secretary-General, Michael Doyle and Jeffrey Sachs.  In the early evening, the Secretary-General is scheduled to depart for Geneva.

**Secretary-General on Middle East

In addition to talking about the International Criminal Court in his videoconference from Rome, the Secretary-General also was asked about the situation in the Middle East.  He said that he is awaiting the visit to the region of US Secretary of State Colin Powell, which he said would not be an easy one.  The Security Council's decisions are clear, the Secretary-General said, but they have not been implemented.  He added that it was important, as the meeting of the "Quartet" of US, UN, European Union and Russian officials in Madrid yesterday showed, that "the international community has finally come together, and we are speaking with one voice."  What is needed now, he said, is international involvement, since the parties left to themselves cannot solve this conflict.  We have his remarks available upstairs.

**Security Council on Middle East

On the same subject, last night after meeting in closed consultations, the Security Council adopted a presidential statement that expresses its support for the Madrid joint statement on the Middle East issued by the “Quartet” on Wednesday morning.  In addition, the Council also insists on the immediate implementation of resolutions 1402 and 1403.  There are no Council meetings scheduled for today.

**Middle East -- Humanitarian

Yesterday evening, the Israeli military agreed to allow representatives of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross into Jenin refugee camp.  The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) assured the UN that a team, including humanitarian and medical personnel, would be given access to the camp to bring in food and medical supplies, evacuate dead bodies as well as the wounded, and assess the most immediate emergency needs of the population.  This morning the IDF did facilitate the entry of the team into Jenin town.  However, after waiting over four hours, the team was informed by Israeli military authorities that they would not be given access to the camp on security grounds.

The UN calls on the Israeli Government to permit this access immediately.  The UN and ICRC remain in Jenin town, available to enter the camp as soon as access is granted.

A team from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was able to get a truck load of food supplies, tents, and powdered milk into Jenin town and hospital.  The UN has been extremely worried about the steady stream of unconfirmed reports of widespread suffering and destruction, yet we have been prevented from reaching those in need.  According to our information, water and electricity supplies have been cut off since the camp was sealed off by the Israeli authorities nine days ago, and the UN has been unable to bring in food supplies since then.  The camp has been under round-the-clock curfew during this entire period.

For the last few days we’ve told you about the arrests at an UNRWA school in Ramallah of more than 100 students, along with their Dean.  Today, UNRWA has received unconfirmed reports that the students were released.  These reports are being verified and we will give you an update later on today.

**Afghanistan Incident

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, was deeply saddened by the death of Shah Sayed of the Food and Agricultural Organization, who was shot by gunmen early yesterday morning in his home in Mazar-i-Sharif, in northern Afghanistan.  Three people entered Mr. Sayed’s house, dragging him out of his bedroom and shooting him dead in the house.  This is the third such incident against national staff members in Mazar-i-Sharif, and is part of a disturbing pattern of attacks on civilians, including humanitarian personnel, in northern Afghanistan in recent months.  Mr. Brahimi will be meeting authorities in Kabul to discuss measures to ensure the protection of aid workers, a priority in light of this tragic event and the chain of security incidents in recent months.

**Afghanistan Mass Graves

A team of United Nations and Afghan officials, including forensic specialists, will be dispatched to investigate claims of mass graves in Bamiyan.  An initial report, following a brief visit to the sites by a UN team last Sunday, recommends that the sites be secured until follow-up investigations are concluded.  The first team was sent after the UN was informed by the local community of the discovery of three suspected mass graves.  In the initial findings, the remains of at least four persons have been distinguished, and there are strong indications that some others have yet to be uncovered.  There are also indications of similar sites elsewhere in the region.  The UN report recommends a broader survey to identify such sites.

**Angola

The UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser for Africa, Ibrahim Gambari, met today in Luanda with a delegation from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, better known as UNITA.  The group was led by General Paulo Lukamba "Gato".  Speaking to the media after the meeting, General "Gato" said that his delegation had discussed with Professor Gambari the lifting of sanctions and said that the possibility of traveling is presently "essential", for UNITA needs the help of members of its External Mission.  "The UN bureaucracy has been delaying the solution of these problems," he said.

Mr. Gambari told the media that his mission to Luanda had four main objectives:  to deliver a message from the UN Secretary-General to President dos Santos; to witness the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding; to consult all parties involved in the peace process and clarify the role of the UN; and to encourage all positive developments and make peace irreversible.  We expect to have the complete transcript of the press conference available later today.

**Ethiopia-Eritrea Decision Expected

We have available upstairs an editorial, jointly written by the Secretary-General and Amara Essy, Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity.  It notes that this Saturday, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission will announce its decision on the delimitation of the border between those two countries.  Once the Commission’s decision is known, the two Secretaries-General write, it is imperative that the two countries implement it without delay, a message which was underscored earlier this year by a Security Council mission that visited both countries.  If the delimitation of the border results in the transfer of territory, they said, they hope that any movement of population and civil administration will be orderly and peaceful.

The two add:  “The consolidation of peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea has made great strides, but this is a work in progress.”  The assistance of other countries, they say, is required to help these two countries overcome the hostility and bitterness that has divided them in the past.  The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Ethiopia and Eritrea, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, intends to be present at The Hague when the Boundary Commission announces its decision to the two Governments on Saturday in a closed session.  The text of the decision will be available to the public the following Monday, on the Web site of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (www.pca-cpa.org).

**Yugoslavia Tribunal

Today in The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia released from its detention unit a Bosnian suspect, Nenad Banovic, one day after the Tribunal decided to withdraw the indictment against him.  The Tribunal said at this time there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the trial against him.  We have a press release on that.

**Assembly on Ageing

In Madrid, Spain, today, significant progress was achieved in the two working groups that are negotiating the outcome document for the World Assembly on Ageing.  Last night, delegates agreed on language referring to armed conflict and foreign occupation.  As of this morning, some 10 per cent of the text of the draft Plan of Action still awaited agreement.  That’s 12 paragraphs out of 117.  The working groups are racing through informal consultations all day long, so that they can complete their work in time for the end of the plenary tomorrow.

**Press Conference

A press conference to mention today.  In this room at 12:45, Arthur Robinson, the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, will be joined by Hans Corell, the UN Legal Counsel, and Cherif Bassiouni, the President of the International Human Rights Institute of De Paul University.  They, of course, will be speaking about the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.  Emma Bonino, a Member of the European Parliament, will join them by video link from Rome.

That’s all I have.  If we have no questions, we’ll go right to Jan.

Briefing by the General Assembly President’s Spokesman, Jan Fischer

Thank you, Fred.  The General Assembly President, Han Seung-soo (Republic of Korea) is in Africa but has issued a statement on the ratifications of the Rome Statute.  It says, among other things, that “since 1948, following the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals after the Second World War, the establishment of a permanent international criminal court has remained one of the most important goals of the General Assembly of the United Nations.  The scope, scale and nature of atrocities that have been committed in many parts of the world during the last 20 years reminded us of the urgency of creating a permanent mechanism to bring to justice the perpetrators of such inhuman crimes.”

The President also commends those Member States who have become party to the Treaty for their decision, and urges all Member States to join in the efforts of the international community to make this historic treaty successful.  The full text of his message is out as Press Release GA/SM/282.  You can also find some of the most important documents related to the ICC on the UN Web site under international law.

After participating in the Madrid Assembly on Ageing, the President arrived in Accra this morning on the start of a visit to four African nations.  Today, he will meet with Ghanaian ministers and with UN officials.  Tomorrow he travels to Sierra Leone, where over the next two days he will meet with the leadership of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), UN officials and the Foreign Minister.  To learn more about the UN’s peacekeeping operations he will also visit UNAMSIL’s Sector IV in the country’s interior.  On Sunday he’ll travel to the Gambia, where he’ll visit a UN project site and again meet with Government and UN officials.  On Tuesday he travels to Senegal, where he’ll address the NEPAD Summit, NEPAD being the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.  He will also meet with Senegalese leaders, UN officials and with President Obasanjo of Nigeria.  His visit to Africa will end on Thursday evening.  That’s what I have for you. 

* *** *