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 Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Good afternoon.

**Security Council - Sudan

The Security Council met for three hours in closed consultations yesterday afternoon to discuss the United States-introduced draft resolution on Sudan.

Council members agreed to continue discussions on the resolution at the experts level at 10 o’clock this morning.  No date for a vote has yet been scheduled.

**Sudan

Mohamed Sahnoun, the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Africa, visited Kuwait this week as part of mission in the Gulf region to underline the gravity of the current situation in Sudan, to draw attention to the humanitarian challenges facing the international community in Darfur and southern Sudan, and to encourage increased support for Sudan.

By way of background, United Nations agencies have appealed to the donor community to meet humanitarian needs in Darfur, reintegration assistance in south Sudan and other urgent priorities through the end of 2004.

Out of a total requirement of $722 million, only $288 million has been contributed, leaving a gap of $434 million in unmet requirements, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

**Security Council

The Security Council began consultations on Haiti this morning.  Council members received a briefing from Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi on the Secretary-General’s recent report on the deployment of the United Nations Mission in Haiti, as well as on the recent deterioration in security in parts of the country.

The United Nations Mission assumed operational responsibilities from the multinational force at the end of June, and at present has more than 2,700 troops on the ground.  But Annabi said the transitional Government and the United Nations Mission have faced a more challenging security environment in recent days, as members of the former Haitian armed forces have taken over police stations in several areas.

A Presidential Statement may be adopted following today’s consultations.

**OCHA-Burundi

An update now on the refugee situation on the border of Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that currently, there are almost 19,000 Congolese refugees at the three transit sites near the border.

Large numbers of them are reported to have returned to Democratic Republic of the Congo in recent weeks.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has asked for permission to establish a presence at a border crossing, but has thus far been denied by the Burundian military, which says the area remains insecure.

We have more on this upstairs.

**WFP - Beslan

The World Food Programme (WFP) has begun distributing food to the hundreds of children and adults caught up in the Beslan hostage-taking tragedy.

In response to requests from doctors in Beslan, WFP began on Monday an initial one-week distribution of food to three hospitals there and in the regional capital of Vladikavkaz, where many of the victims were taken.  The siege left 338 people dead and more than 700 injured.

WFP has received various donations so that it can continue its work there over the next three weeks.  

Earlier this week, UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, sent two trucks of medical supplies to hospitals in Beslan and Vladikavkaz to help the injured.

We have more on that upstairs.

**Northern Uganda

The World Food Programme says it has started providing food to help resettle more than 260,000 people driven from their homes in north-eastern Uganda by fighting and attacks by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

**World Culture Open

The Secretary-General praised a festival in New York today of artists, musicians, intellectuals and other people from some 50 countries, designed to encourage the sharing of cultural heritage, customs and traditions.

In a message to the World Culture Open, delivered by Special Adviser Maurice Strong, the Secretary-General notes that joint events will take place in the KoreanPeninsula as part of this festival.  He says that those events add a new dimension to international efforts to achieve durable peace and prosperity there.

And we have copies of his message upstairs.

**Hurricane Ivan

Turning to weather, the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team is currently in Jamaica which is expected to be hit by hurricane Ivan later today.  The team is working with the national authorities and the International Federation of Red Crescent and Red Cross Committees to coordinate response to the storm.  The United Nations Children’s Fund has also pre-positioned health kits in Jamaica.

An aerial survey of the country will be conducted immediately after the passage of the hurricane.

Although Haiti is no longer on the hurricane’s direct path, United Nations agencies present in the country, including the peacekeeping mission, have mobilized to deal with the heavy rains and winds expected in the south.

United Nations blue helmets will transport supplies and medical staff to the town of Les Cayes and any other effected areas.

**Press Conference

Following today’s noon briefing, at 12:45 p.m., there will be a press conference here in connection with the Fifty-Seventh Annual DPI/NGO Conference entitled “Millennium Development Goals:  Civil Society Takes Action”.  The participants will be:  Mark Malloch Brown, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator and Chair of the United Nations Development Group; Jacques Attali, President, PlaNet Finance, Founder and former President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; and Shashi Tharoor, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.

**The Week Ahead

It’s Friday, and we have the Week Ahead for you to help you plan your coverage of the United Nations next week. 

On Monday in this room, Julian Hunte, the outgoing General Assembly President, will be holding a wrap-up press conference in this room at 11 a.m.  As you know, the General Assembly’s fifty-eighth session ends on Monday and the fifty-ninth session begins on Tuesday.

**Dogs

Finally, as we get ready for the usual security nightmare of the General Assembly, we wanted to introduce you to three new members of our security staff.

Over the past couple of years the bomb-sniffing dogs used at the United Nations were contracted out from a private company at considerable expense.  In fact, they became know as Assistant Secretary-General dogs in light of their high salaries.

Now, thanks to the efforts of the United States Mission and the generosity of the New York State Police, the United Nations Safety and Security service will eventually have six of its own bomb-sniffing dogs.

The State police donated the dogs and hosted the United Nations security officers at their canine training facilities in Cooperstown, in upstate New York.

In terms of cost, for much less than half of the $360,000 we were paying yearly to a private contractor to provide two dogs and handlers, we will now be able to operate up to eight canine teams.

It’s now my pleasure to introduce to you Scout, and his handler Sgt. Najera, Jet and Senior Security Officer Mascioli, and Candy and Senior Security Officer Kennedy.

Please take a seat, gentleman.  There we go.  This is Scout, that’s Candy in the middle.  Candy -- take a seat. 

This is the first installment -- the first three dogs contributed by the New York State Police and their trainers, trained by the New York State Police as well.  The trainers adopt the dogs.  The dogs go home with the trainers at night and are now members of their households.  So, thank you very much, gentlemen.  Thanks you, doggies. 

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Well, two questions.  Will Kofi Annan be in the United Nations on Monday morning? 

Spokesman: Yes, he will.

Question:  And the other question, from Richard Roth, Senior United Nations correspondent, the burning question he wants to know is if you know if the cigarette smoke in the United Nations will interfere with the bomb sniffing efforts.

Spokesman:  I think the dogs are trained to sense explosive materials.  As you know, we have discouraged all people working in this building from smoking.  As you also know, we cannot forbid diplomats from smoking.  They are our bosses, but United Nations staff may not smoke. 

I don’t believe that smoke would interfere with the dogs’ sensory abilities on explosives and I see a wag of the head there -- no. 

Anything else?  Yes, Peter.

Question:  Fred, yesterday, you helped us understand a little about how the Genocide Convention might apply to Sudan.  Could you tell -- first, does the United Nations need a formal request to put that into effect, and what is the status of it now?

Spokesman:  The initiative was taken yesterday by the United States with the administration announcing a finding of genocide, and also announcing that they would approach the Security Council with a draft resolution, which they did yesterday.  And as I already told you, those discussions on the draft are continuing today.  So the matter is now in the hands of the Security Council. 

The United States has other options, as I mentioned to you yesterday.  They could bring the matter to the attention of the Secretary-General, although I think now that you’ve seen the draft resolution you see there is a request in the draft resolution for the Secretary-General to conduct a study. 

They can ask the World Court for a legal determination on whether genocide is taking place in Sudan.  And they have the option of taking unilateral action through national legislation, to impose national sanctions, for example.  So, those are the options open under the Genocide Convention.

Question:  Can the Secretariat take action independent of the Security Council authorization?

Spokesman:  No, this is a matter for parties to the Convention to, once they determine that genocide has taken place, to take action through United Nationsbodies, and the competent organs are the ones -- some of competent organs I’ve mentioned to you.

Question:  Is the Secretary-General simply awaiting at this point or is any action being taken now?

Spokesman:  Well, it’s in the hands of the Council, so we’ll see what the Council decides.  If this resolution is adopted, calling on the Secretary-General to conduct an inquiry, he certainly will do that. 

Question:  What United Nations bodies would they speak to -- you said they would go through United Nations bodies if they have signed the Convention?

Spokesman:  Well, the Convention says in Article 8 that a party to the Convention may bring an allegation of genocide before a competent United Nations body, and I’ve mentioned which ones those are:  Security Council, World Court, Secretariat, etc. 

Question:  We’ve seen the notion expressed in print occasionally that if it is genocide, then the international community has an obligation, apparently a legal obligation, to do something.  Where does that idea come from?  Is there anything to it?

Spokesman:  I don’t have an answer for you on that.  I would have to check with our legal experts to find out the binding nature -- what would kick in in the way of an obligation to act on the part of those who have ratified the Convention. 

Question:  You hear it said that if Rwanda had been designated as genocide then something would have had to been done. 

Spokesman:  Let me a precise answer to that question for you after the briefing.  [He later said that the Genocide Convention, once invoked by a party, does not confer any general obligation on the international community, beyond those incumbent on all States under the UN Charter.]

Thank you very much.

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