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

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

Good afternoon.

**Burundi

I want to start by reading into the record the statement that we issued yesterday regarding this terrible massacre in Burundi.

“The Secretary-General is shocked and outraged by the massacre in the Gatumba refugee camp during the night of 13 August in Burundi, where more than 160 innocent civilians, mostly women and children, were brutally murdered, and over 100 others injured.

“The Secretary-General strongly condemns this massacre and stresses that it must be promptly investigated, so that those responsible are identified, apprehended and brought to justice.

“The Secretary-General urges the Transitional Governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, as well as the Government of Rwanda to exercise restraint and to take the steps necessary to prevent a further deterioration of the situation in the region.

“He calls on the Governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda to urgently establish a joint verification mechanism, with the participation of Uganda and Burundi, which will assist in curbing the actions of armed groups operating in the border areas.

“The Secretary-General offers all support to these Governments to help them restore peace and stability and to put an end to the tensions that have caused so much suffering to innocent people in the region.

“The Secretary-General extends his deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy.”

**Security Council and Burundi

After meeting in an emergency session on Sunday evening on Burundi, the Security Council adopted a presidential statement condemning the massacre “with the utmost firmness”, it said.

The Council called for the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to establish the facts and report to them as quickly as possible.  It also called on the authorities of Burundi and the DRC to cooperate actively, so that the perpetrators and those responsible for the crimes may be brought to justice without delay.

In this regard, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva confirmed that human rights observers from the UN Mission in the DRC left for Burundi this morning to assist their UN colleagues in Burundi in the investigation into the Gatumba massacre.

**Humanitarian Reaction

Turning to the humanitarian reaction to this massacre, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that approximately 108 injured people are being treated in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura.  So far, all corpses have been identified and placed in body bags, with a mass burial planned for today in Gatumba.  UN agencies are providing trauma counselling, as well as basic food and living supplies.

In addition, the head of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers, has called the incident “an appalling massacre of innocent civilians”.  UNHCR has been told by Burundian authorities that a secure camp can be set up in the interior for these refugees.  We have more information on that upstairs.

**Sudan

In Khartoum yesterday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan, Jan Pronk, welcomed the steps being taken by the Government to implement the Darfur Plan of Action, including the Government’s final choice of the areas to be made secure by the end of August.

However, he said the crucial phase will be when it can be demonstrated that “these actions have born fruit on the ground, when substantial and verifiable improvement of the security situation of the selected areas is achieved”.

Pronk also stated that he was concerned at the lack of progress registered so far on the ground and at the fact that the Janjaweed militia was still active and continued to be a threat.  He said that members of the Joint Implementation Mechanism would visit the areas designated as secure during the last week of August to assess the progress achieved by the Government.  We have a press release on that in my office.

This morning, Pronk met with the Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha.  They discussed the status of the peace talks between the Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the situation in Darfur, particularly the actions undertaken by the Government to meet its commitments under the Darfur Plan of Action.

In yesterday’s press release, Pronk also expressed concern over the recent killing of an internally displaced person (IDP) who was employed by CARE International, and over the fact that humanitarian workers had been denied access to Kalma camp in South Darfur for three days.  He said this would have serious consequences on the IDPs’ needs for relief and assistance, particularly severely malnourished children who require daily assistance in therapeutic feeding centres inside the camp.

In an update received from Mr. Pronk’s office this morning, we were told that the authorities reopened the Kalma camp to humanitarian workers today.  In addition, it is reported that an IDP staff member of CARE International who was detained by the Sudanese authorities was released on Saturday.

Also from Sudan, we have reports that the UN mission led by the Secretary-General’s Military Adviser, General Patrick Cammaert, which was dispatched at the request of the Security Council, returned to Khartoum last night from Darfur.  The team will proceed to Addis Ababa to brief the African Union Ceasefire Commission on its assessment of the assistance and support needs for the deployment of the envisaged AU observer mission in Darfur.

**Iraq Conference

As you know by now, the National Conference in Iraq got under way yesterday in Baghdad.  In addressing the more than 1,000 delegates, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, said the conference was a milestone on the path towards a goal shared by all Iraqis -- a stable, pluralistic and inclusive democracy.

Turning to the events in Najaf, and other places, Qazi said that instability and strife cannot be dealt with by security measures alone.  A solution, he told the gathering, requires building political consensus and the promotion of the rule of law.  He called on delegates to show tolerance for diversity and difference of opinions.  He stressed that there must be readiness to compromise for the common interest of the country.  While he attended the conference, Qazi was able to hold a number of meetings with various delegates.

We have the full text of his remarks, upstairs.

**Afghanistan

Although voter registration officially closed in Afghanistan yesterday, the Joint Electoral Management body decided to extend the registration process until the 20th of August in parts of the south-east of the country and all five southern provinces.

As of the 14th of August, close to 10 million Afghans have been signed up to voting rolls.  Of those, 48 per cent are women.

[In a correction announced just after the briefing, the Spokesman’s Office said that the number of women registered in the Afghan elections was 41.8 per cent of total registration, and not 48 per cent.]

Meanwhile, technical preparations for the elections continue.  The first of many shipments of polling material, which includes ballot boxes and security seals, arrived yesterday in Kabul.

For more information, please read the briefing notes from the UN in Kabul, which we have in my office.

**Kosovo

From Kosovo, Søren Jessen-Petersen arrived yesterday to take up the leadership of the UN Mission there in his new role as Special Representative of the Secretary-General.  He spoke with the press on his arrival, and said that he accepted the job because he strongly believes that Kosovo is the last piece in the puzzle taking the western Balkans from the conflicts of the ‘90s towards normalization, stabilization and European integration.

He emphasized that he plans to work hard with his colleagues at the UN Mission, with the provisional authorities and with all concerned to take Kosovo forward towards the future that the people of Kosovo so richly deserve and need.

We have more on that upstairs.

**Côte d’Ivoire Radio Launch

In Côte d’Ivoire, the UN Mission’s radio station, ONUCI FM, was launched today.  The radio station is broadcasting on an FM frequency, which covers greater Abidjan, and it’s hoped that it’ll be heard all over the country.

At the launch today, the station’s chief said the station is a partner in the peace process; its first and foremost aim is to provide a platform for open and honest dialogue, and every opinion is welcome on its airwaves as long as they avoid insults and other kinds of acrimonious exchanges.

**UNAIDS Statement

In a statement issued today, UNAIDS says it’s deeply concerned about the recent detention and reported mistreatment of 39 members of the Blue Diamond Society, a Nepalese AIDS non-governmental organization (NGO) working with sexual minorities.  The Nepalese police arrested these people on the 9th of August, and they are still being held today.  UNAIDS has conveyed its concern over these events to the Government of Nepal.  We have more information on that upstairs.

**Correction

Finally, we made a slight error on Thursday, so for the record, last week when we referred to a press conference by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Guatemala, Tom Koenigs, regarding the establishment of a local office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, our report implied that such an office had already been established.  In fact, we stand corrected –- there are plans to establish such an office, and Mr. Koenigs believes this would be a unique opportunity for Guatemala, but the office has not yet opened.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Fred, the Iranian news agency reported that the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mr. Kharrazi, spoke to the Secretary-General and called for UN intervention to stop bloodshed in Iraq.  I wonder whether you have any comment on that.

Spokesman:  The Secretary-General, it turns out, was on the phone most of the weekend, mostly concerning Iraq, but also Sudan and Côte d’Ivoire.  But, I can confirm that he spoke to Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and that the Foreign Minister did ask the Secretary-General to do whatever he could to defuse the situation, particularly in Najaf.

The Secretary-General’s position on that is that he is prepared to play a facilitating role if it can help, and if all sides agree to it.  And that position was repeated by his Special Representative, Mr. Qazi, in Baghdad in a BBC interview this morning, in which Mr. Qazi added “we do not wish to impose ourselves”.  So, I think that’s about all I have to say on that phone call.  Yes?

Question:  Fred, back to Burundi, you talked about a secure camp for refugees.  Could you give us some more details about what the UN is doing on the ground to make it safer for the refugees?

Spokesman:  There’s a limit to what we can do.  We depend on the Government to provide security in these camps.  UNHCR has, for some time, been pressuring the Burundian Government to allow for a camp further away from the unstable border area to be set up so that these people who are currently very vulnerable can be more secure.  So, it was announced yesterday -- I’m not sure when the word came in, but you can look at the UNHCR press release -– that Burundi has agreed to give us a site for a camp further away from the border area.

In the meantime, the massacre has taken place; there’s no way to bring back the lives of those who were killed, but as I mentioned to you, we have a human rights team going in from the Congo to work with the human rights team already in Burundi to investigate, and the Council has asked us to investigate.  So, I’m sure there’ll be other UN elements besides the human rights experts that will be looking into this to report back to the Council.

Question:  Has anything changed operationally with the mission on the ground since this massacre?

Spokesman:  In what sense?

Question:  Have there been any guidelines about protecting civilians, has there been any communication between here and Burundi about the mandate and enforcing the mandate?

Spokesman:  I’m not sure that the guidelines need to be strengthened.  The Government needs to be more vigilant.  But, the underlying problem is political, and unless we can sort out the problem in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger situation of security throughout the region, including in Burundi, is not going to be resolved.

Question:  There have been reports that FNL claimed responsibility, but there’ve been reports on the ground that it was largely outside actors.  Have any UN personnel indicated who might be responsible?

Spokesman:  No, I don’t think I’d like to comment until the investigation has been completed.

Question:  Just a follow-up on Burundi on the “has anything changed operationally” question.  What is it that the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) can do, or there are peacekeeping personnel -- are there people that can be deployed or are being deployed?  Is there a change in that sense?

Spokesman:  I would have to check with the Mission headquarters to see what they might be doing differently, but we don’t have enough personnel in the country to assume responsibility for all the camps.  So, we must rely on the Government, and we do rely on the Government, as the primary provider of security.  Edie?

Question:  Fred, how long had the UN been asking the Burundi Government to move the camp from the border?

Spokesman:  I don’t have that detail.  I suggest you ask UNHCR and maybe even take a look at the press release they issued this morning in case they get more specific in that press release.  [The press release says the UNHCR has been negotiating with the Burundi authorities since the Congolese began arriving in June.]

Question:  Was that the only agency that’s been sort of warning –- we don’t know yet for how long -– warning that something like this is possible, that these camps are vulnerable?

Spokesman:  We probably, I advise you to look into the reports of the Secretary-General to see if this issue was raised in those reports.  Serge?

Question:  Do we have a UN policy on refugee camps?

Spokesman:  What kind of a policy do you mean?  Security?

Question:  It’s been said to me that the problem that we’re having now is because we don’t have a policy.

Spokesman:  We didn’t have sufficient security in this case and, as I already mentioned, there are deep political underlying reasons for the insecurity in the region.  I don’t think it’s a matter of “no policy”.  I think that over the many years that UNHCR has been in existence and refugee law has evolved, I think the issues are clear, the policies are clear.  I don’t think that was at the heart of what went wrong this weekend at this camp in Burundi.

Question:  Is there any reaction or comments from Ambassador Brahimi on the National Conference in Baghdad so far, and where is he at the present time?

Spokesman:  He is in his office on the thirty-eighth floor.  He is an adviser to the Secretary-General.  He is no longer in the lead on Iraq now that Mr. Qazi has been appointed and has taken up residence in Baghdad.  So, I don’t think you’ll see Mr. Brahimi making public statements.  He’s talking quietly to the Secretary-General.

Question:  Does the Secretary-General have any comments on the situation in Venezuela?

Spokesman:  No, I think we’re still waiting to see what the electoral observers say.  We’ve been in touch with CarterCenter people and the Organization of American States, and we’re waiting for them to comment on their view regarding the conduct of the referendum.

Thank you very much.

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