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.

**Cambodia

Today, the Secretary-General wrote to Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, on the issue of the trial of the Khmer Rouge leaders.  The letter was in response to a letter from the Prime Minister to the Secretary-General.

Following the Secretary-General’s decision of 8 February to end the negotiations on this matter, the Government of Cambodia has made statements indicating that the Government is prepared, in order to meet the concerns of the United Nations, to amend the Law on the Extraordinary Chambers to try Leaders of the Khmer Rouge. 

It must be noted that following the Secretary-General’s decision of 8 February to end the negotiations, certain Member States have engaged in a dialogue with the Government of Cambodia with a view to finding a solution that would put the United Nations in a position to be able to contribute to bringing the leaders of the Khmer Rouge to justice.  In late June, the Secretary-General received a telephone call from Hun Sen, after which he also received and responded to a letter from the Prime Minister.  Subsequently, the Secretary-General received a second letter from the Prime Minister, to which he responded today.

In these communications, the Secretary-General made it clear that in order for him to engage in further negotiations, he needs a clear mandate from either the General Assembly or the Security Council.  It is the Secretary-General’s view that it is now for Cambodia and interested Member States to pursue this matter in the General Assembly or the Security Council with a view to obtaining the appropriate mandate.  If such a mandate were given, the Secretary-General would be prepared to engage in further talks with the Government in order to fulfil the mandate.

As a sovereign State, Cambodia has the responsibility for the trial while the international community, through the United Nations or otherwise, can help, provided that the Government demonstrates its preparedness to ensure the observance of international standards of justice.

**Afghanistan

The UN Mission in Afghanistan today issued a statement responding to recent media reports about a suspected mass grave site in northern Afghanistan, in which it noted that the Mission and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights jointly undertook a preliminary forensic investigation in that area last May.  At the time, the Mission made public that the investigation had confirmed the existence of a large gravesite of recent origin, at Dasht-e-Leili, near Shebergan.

The absence of any blunt or sharp force injuries, or firearms injuries, to the bodies at that site led the forensics team to conclude that the cause of death was consistent with death due to suffocation.

The Mission and the High Commissioner for Human Rights jointly endorsed the team’s findings that any further activity on the site be initiated only after an effective witness protection programme was put in place.

In the meantime, the UN Mission intends to visit the site periodically to ensure that it is protected from alteration.  In mid-July, a team from the UN Mission returned to one of the sites, at Dasht-e-Leili, to confirm that the suspected gravesite had not been altered by human activity.  It had not.

The UN Mission also raised concerns regarding the need for a witness protection programme before any more thorough investigation into what happened in those northern Afghanistan areas can be carried out.

The UN Mission will continue to work with all Afghans, including the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, to enhance respect for human rights and justice and fight impunity.  The Human Rights Commission has been considering a strategy for transitional justice, to address the abuses and human rights violations of the past.

We have the statement, as it was issued from Kabul a few hours ago, in my office.

**UNHCR—Afghanistan/Cambodia

Also on Afghanistan, Sunday saw the highest number of refugee returns from Iran into Afghanistan as some 5,700 persons crossed the border, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.  The number of Afghans repatriating from Iran continues to rise.  Since 9 April -- the start of the UNHCR-assisted voluntary repatriation programme there -- close to 150,000 people have returned to Afghanistan, one third of them in the last month.

Also, UNHCR reports that it has formally expressed grave concern to the Cambodian authorities over the reported deportation of two Chinese Falun Gong practitioners earlier this month and a disappearance last month from Cambodia of a Vietnamese Buddhist monk -- all three persons deemed to be in need of international protection by UNHCR.

You can get the UNHCR briefing notes upstairs with more details.

**Missing Kuwaitis

Out on the racks is the Secretary-General’s latest report on Iraq’s compliance regarding the repatriation of Kuwaiti and third country nationals.

In it, the Secretary-General notes that during his recent working luncheon with members of the Security Council, he reiterated that there had not been much progress on this issue “as Iraq refused to cooperate with the Tripartite Commission.”

In his observations, the Secretary-General adds the High-Level Coordinator for this issue, Ambassador Yuli Vorontsov, remains ready, at short notice, to meet once again with Iraqi officials, at any time and at any place.

“It is my strong conviction”, he writes, “that a dialogue between the Government of Iraq and the Coordinator would bring positive results in the search for a solution to the exclusively humanitarian issue.”

Despite the statements of good faith expressed by Iraq during the recent Arab League Summit in Beirut, words have yet to be matched by tangible actions, the Secretary-General says.

In conclusion, he encourages Iraq to use this opportunity to restore its credibility on the outstanding humanitarian issues.

The report is to be taken up during tomorrow’s closed consultations of the Security Council.  Ambassador Vorontsov will be there to provide the briefing.  At that time the Council will also discuss Burundi.

And as you know, there are no meetings of the Council scheduled for today.

**Office of Iraq Programme

Figures released by the Office of the Iraq Programme in their weekly update show that while still well below recorded average rates, the level of Iraqi oil exports was up from the previous week’s total of 4.4 million barrels to 7.2 million barrels in the week ending 16 August.

The week’s exports netted approximately $181 million.

A cumulative revenue shortfall since phase 8 of the programme has left 1,116 approved humanitarian supply contracts, worth about $2.26 billion, without available funds.

**Kosovo

The UN Mission in Kosovo today noted the appointment of Francesco Batagli of Italy as the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative in Kosovo in charge of civil administration.  Mr. Batagli, who began work in Pristina yesterday, succeeds Tom Koenigs, who has been appointed the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Guatemala.

We have more details in the briefing notes from Pristina upstairs.

**Human Rights-Democratic Republic of Congo

Iulia Motoc, the Special Rapporteur dealing with human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, today issued an appeal to the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups and to armed groups operating in the province of Ituri, in the north-east, to protect the civilian population in that area.  She condemned the massacres of civilians and other human rights violations that have occurred in that area, which includes the town of Bunia.

She also called on the Kinshasa Government to take a more active role in the search for a durable and acceptable solution to the ethnic conflict in the area.

We have more in a press release upstairs.

**Secretary-General’s Progress Report on Peace and Development in Africa

Out on the racks today is the latest report of the Secretary-General on implementation of his 1998 report on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa. 

The report notes progress made towards restoring peace and stability, notably the consolidation of the peace process in Ethiopia and Eritrea, and welcome signs in the Great Lakes region.  At the same time, the situation in Liberia is worrying as the crisis is spreading to Guinea, thus causing concern for the fragile peace achieved recently in neighbouring Sierra Leone.

In addition, aid to Africa is declining despite the efforts of African governments towards better economic growth and poverty-reduction programmes.  Nowhere is the need for enhanced financial resources more evident than in Africa, where the scourges of poverty and HIV/AIDS were two of the critical challenges facing the region.

**FAO Agriculture Report

Globally there will be enough food for a growing world population by the year 2030, but hundreds of millions of people in developing countries will remain hungry and many of the environmental problems caused by agriculture will remain serious, according to the summary report “World agriculture: towards 2015/2030”, a study launched today by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

The report, a shorter version of a technical study to be published at a later stage, also notes that while globalization has generally led to progress in reducing poverty in some parts of the world, it has led to the rise of multinational food companies with the potential to disempower farmers in many countries.  Developing countries need the legal and administrative framework to ward off the threats while reaping the benefits.

You can visit FAO’s Web site for more on that report. 

**Brazil Sugar

Finally, in our new series of features on sustainability in connection with the Johannesburg Summit, we want to move from water, which we highlighted yesterday, to another priority area -- energy.

Today we focus on the world's largest sugar producer -- Brazil -- and how it generates energy, using a mixture of fossil fuel and sugarcane residue.

UNDP Brazil teamed up with the private company Bioenergia Cogerdora to refine the fuel mixture to allow a greater percentage of waste and a smaller percentage of fossil fuel to be used.

The result is less fossil fuel consumed and more sugarcane waste disposed of to make energy.  The project could eventually save 250 million tonnes of oil and reduce greenhouse gases in the process.

That's a sweet deal for the environment as well as for business.  And, it's sustainable.

Please see the UNDP-Brazil Web site for more information or pick up, in my office, some factsheets on the project.

That’s all I have for you.  Yes, Evelyn?

Questions and Answers

Question:   Cambodia today is the first topic.  You spoke of the Secretary-General wanting a mandate.  It seems that Cambodia had already released that story a month ago, or several weeks ago, and I wondered if he had written this previously or what was new in the letter.  Did he go into details of what disturbs him about the Cambodian proposals, or just referred to the last time he said what disturbed him?

Spokesman:  The bottom line of the letter is that the Secretary-General’s position has not changed.  He has made clear from the beginning where he feels would be necessary for international justice standards to be met in any such trial carried out in Cambodia.  The Government, on the one hand, has not met these concerns, clearly laid out by the United Nations, and on the other, says that they still want United Nations involvement.  But if the United Nations isn’t willing to go ahead, they can go it alone.  So, this is really a re-statement of principles.  Why it took two months -- which I think is not a few weeks -- why it took two months to formulate this position I can’t say.  We have to check with the Legal Department.

Question:   So in fact, he seems to be saying he’s willing to negotiate if he gets a mandate, right?

Spokesman:  If the Security Council or the (General) Assembly specifies what conditions they would like to see met, he will negotiate with Cambodia according to what the Council or the Assembly specify.  Until now, it has just been his guidelines, his standards as defined with the help of his Legal Counsel, that have been the guiding parameters for his negotiations with the Cambodians.  The Cambodians have not met those parameters.  He now says, “if the Council or the Assembly wants to establish those parameters, that’s fine.  I am willing to go back to the negotiating table”.

Question:   So he doesn’t just want a mandate, he wants the conditions listed by the Council?  The mandate to say what the guidelines are?

Spokesman:  He’s looking for support from Member States for the continuation of this dialogue with Cambodia in the form of clear guidelines of what is minimally acceptable.  Yes, Bill?

Question:   I am just trying to understand one thing.  If he, as I recall, broke off the negotiations or talks back in February without any request, guidelines made by the Security Council or the General Assembly, why does he need one to resume?

Spokesman:  Well, I mean, if you listened to what I said: since he cut off negotiations, which had been carried out for a number of years with Cambodia, because he felt Cambodia was not willing to meet the standards that he set down, a number of Member States have engaged Cambodia in dialogue and tried to revive the dialogue between the United Nations and Cambodia.  And he’s now saying, “fine, if you would like this, then let’s hear it from the Security Council or the General Assembly.  Define the criteria and I will resume negotiations”.

Question:   So does that mean that those moves by the Security Council or the General Assembly would be necessary or he would under no circumstances resume the negotiations without that?

Spokesman:  He is now saying that should the Council or the Assembly wish to give him a mandate, he will resume.  Without that, he does not intend to resume negotiations with Cambodia.  He sticks to his earlier decision to cut off the negotiations because they could not reach common ground.

Question:   And also -- I apologize, I came in a little bit late -- are any of these letters going to be made public or have been?

Spokesman:  No, I don’t believe so.  This letter was handed over this morning to the Permanent Representative of Cambodia and the statement gives the substance of the letter.  But I don’t think it’s their intention to go public with the letter itself.  But the substance is here in the statement. 

Well, let’s take the lady here.

Question:   Has there been any reaction from the Secretary-General or a statement about the situation in the Berlin Embassy at the moment, at the Iraqi Embassy?

Spokesman:  No.

Question:   No?

Spokesman:  No.  Bill?

Question:   Concerning the statement put out relating to the graves, mass graves in Afghanistan, who is going to, or what has been done, towards creating an effective witness protection scheme?

Spokesman:  Again you’re asking a question that could be better put in Kabul.  But it’s my understanding that there is now a Government and the Government has a human rights programme, a human rights commission.  So, the Government and the commission both come into play.  We would be advising the Government at this stage, and our strong advice is that a witness protection programme be set up before an investigation is carried out by the Government. 

Yeah?

Question:   Is there also, is there any reaction to the reports that a terrorist in Baghdad committed suicide by the United Nations and, that he was involved in a plot against the Government of Iraq?  Is there any reaction or is there going to be a reaction?

Spokesman:  I am not sure what you’re referring to.

Question:   Abu Nidal?  His suicide.

Spokesman:  I mean, we would have no way of knowing what happened there.  I don’t even think that anybody knows.  So, we would not have a comment.

Okay, thanks very much.

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