Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

AND THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

 

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

Good afternoon. Today is really the Djibril show, so I will quickly get through my part and turn it over to him.

**Sudan – Security Council Vote

The Security Council held consultations on the Sudan on Saturday afternoon and went on to adopt a resolution by 11 votes in favour with 4 abstentions.

Among its provisions, the resolution reiterates the call for the Government of the Sudan to end the climate of impunity in Darfur by identifying and bringing to justice all those responsible (including members of the popular defence forces and the Janjaweed militia) for widespread human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.

It also welcomes the intention of the African Union to increase its monitoring presence in Darfur and urges Member States to provide all necessary support both to the African Union, and to ongoing humanitarian efforts.

In addition, the resolution requests the Secretary-General to rapidly establish an international commission of inquiry to investigate reports of violations committed in Darfur, determine whether or not acts of genocide have taken place, and identify the perpetrators.

Finally, the Council says it shall consider taking additional measures, such as actions to affect the Sudan’s petroleum sector, should the Government of the Sudan not comply fully with resolutions.

**Sudan

Also this weekend, a human rights mission was dispatched by the Secretary-General to see what can be done to better protect civilians in Darfur and it arrived in Khartoum.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour and the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Juan Mendez, are currently in North Darfur, where they spent the day visiting camps for internally displaced persons near El Fasher and met with African Union monitors and the UN team.  Tomorrow, they will travel to South Darfur.

The Department of Peacekeeping Operations, meanwhile, sent a team of experts to Addis Ababa, at the request of the African Union, to attend meetings set up this week to strengthen the AU mission in Darfur.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Sudan, Jan Pronk, attended the fifth meeting of the Joint Implementation Mechanism on Friday evening.

The meeting was aimed at moving forward with the implementation of the Sudanese Government’s commitments under the Joint Communiqué.

The issue of the new peacekeepers was discussed, as was the lack of progress in ending impunity, according to the UN mission in Khartoum.

Jan Pronk is visiting Addis Ababa and Asmara this week, during which he will meet with officials of the two countries and the African Union.  Discussions will focus on the Darfur crisis and the Abuja peace talks, as well as on the UN/AU cooperation in Darfur.

**Haiti – Tropical Storm Jeanne

The United Nations Mission in Haiti is reporting high death tolls after 80 per cent of the northern city of Gonaives was flooded over the weekend by tropical storm Jeanne.

Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and UN representatives travelled to the area yesterday, and reported that 54 bodies had been recovered while over 150 people were reported missing.  The UN Mission organized 12 helicopter flights to the area and Argentine peacekeepers treated some 380 injured people.

Today, the Risk and Disaster Management Unit of the UN Development Programme is reporting that more than 250 bodies have been identified in Gonaives and is warning that the death toll may reach higher.

The UN system is rushing emergency supplies to the Gonaives area while assessment missions are under way in Port de Paix and Isle de la Tortue on the north coast.

**Globalization

Just now, in the ECOSOC Chamber, leaders from the North and South, convening as the World Commission, gathered to discuss how to create a fair globalization.

Speaking at the Commission’s meeting, the Secretary-General said that, as the report by the World Commission, issued last February, made clear, too many people feel excluded and threatened by globalization.

He said, “To harness the benefits of globalization, States need to strengthen the rule of law, build democratic political systems, respect human rights, invest in education, health care and infrastructure, and promote social equity”.  We have copies of his speech upstairs.

**Hunger and Poverty Meeting

At 3 this afternoon, the Secretary-General will gather with world leaders for their meeting on Action against Hunger and Poverty, and will tell them that, right now, we are falling short in eradicating extreme poverty and raising living standards.  With creativity and political will, he will say, we could do much better.

The meeting will take place in the ECOSOC Chamber.  It will be followed, at 6:30 in Conference Room 4, by a press conference including President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, President Jacques Chirac of France, President Ricardo Lagos of Chile and Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain.

**UNU/MDG Financing

Global economics experts have analysed seven ideas, which have the potential to cover the estimated $50 billion cost of reaching the Millennium Development Goals.

The seven ideas include global environmental taxes, such as a tax on carbon use; a global lottery and global premium bond; and a tax on currency flows, also known as the “Tobin tax”, designed to discourage excessive currency speculation.

The study was prepared for the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, following a General Assembly resolution in the year 2000 that called for a study on new sources of development funding.  And we have more on that upstairs.

**IAEA

The Secretary-General calls for the early resumption of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s safeguard activities in North Korea and also calls on Iran to cooperate further with the Agency, according to a message issued today.

In a message to the opening session in Vienna of the General Conference of the IAEA, the Secretary-General also expresses his hope that next year’s Review Conference for the nuclear non-proliferation treaty will bring about renewed commitments to all treaty obligations.

**GA-200

As we speak, the Secretary-General and Swiss President Joseph Deiss are inaugurating the renovated GA-200 suite, just near the General Assembly Hall, in time for its use at the general debate that starts here tomorrow.  The Secretary-General saw the renovated suite a few days ago, and says that the new interior is, in many ways, an illustration of Switzerland today:  style, quality and function in perfect harmony.  We have his comments on today’s inauguration upstairs.

**Upcoming Events

I’ll mention just one:  tomorrow morning, 8:30, the Secretary-General, accompanied by Messengers of Peace Muhammad Ali, Anna Cataldi and Jane Goodall, will ring the Peace Bell to mark the International Day of Peace, which coincides with the start of the general debate.

After that, we’ll have the beginning of the general debate, and the Secretary-General will focus, in his speech, on the importance of the rule of law.

**Press Conferences

This afternoon, 3 o’clock, Foreign Minister Biossey Kokou Tozoun of Togo will hold a press conference in this room.

And then at 7 this evening, Mr. Hatsuhisa Takashima, the Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, will be here to brief you.  UNTV will not cover this press conference, so you have to be in this room if you want to follow it.

**Press Conferences Tomorrow

Press conferences tomorrow:  11 a.m., Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain; 3 in the afternoon, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka; 6:45 p.m. tomorrow, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and then 7:30 p.m., Prime Minister Göran Persson of Sweden.

That’s it for me.  No questions?  Okay, they’re eager...a reluctant questioner in the back.  John, yes?

Questions and Answers

Question:   Fred, when the Secretary-General used the word “illegal” about the invasion of Iraq, obviously he had in mind the theory of pre-emptive self-defence.  But, was he also thinking of the theory of humanitarian intervention, especially given his frequent support to the idea of responsibility to protect?

Spokesman:  Well, he was asked specifically about the decision to invade Iraq and, as we said repeatedly last week, there was nothing new in his position that he felt that that action was not in conformity with the Charter and, as I said last week as well, the High-Level Panel that he set up, that is to report on the 1^st of December this year, was asked to take a look at this matter of preventive war.  But, I believe they’re also expected to look at humanitarian intervention.  So, both are examples of pre-emptive action that need to be clarified in terms of the Charter’s provisions for collective security.  And he hopes that there will be some useful ideas coming out of that Panel.

Yes, Lee?

Question:   Fred, doesn’t the press conference of Japan almost coincide with our other press conference, at 6:30, with all the presidents, Chirac and Brazil?  That’s in Conference Room 4 at 6:30.

Spokesman: We’ll have to bring that to the attention, then, of the Japanese, although they say it’s 7.  So, maybe they expect the big press conference to be over in half an hour.

Question:   But you have five presidents, or four presidents speaking.

Spokesman:  Mohammed?

Question:   What is the [inaudible] in the meeting with the General Secretary? [Inaudible.]

Spokesman: I don’t have that, but you can get it from my office. Yes?

Question:   What is the Secretary-General’s position with respect to alternative sources of funding such [inaudible] global taxes?

Spokesman:  I think he’s waiting to see what the ideas are that come out of this group, and see what the reaction of Member States might be to them initially.  Betsy?

Question:   I had a question on Iraq.  In the Secretary-General’s bilaterals this week, is he going to be seeking contribution to the UN-specific force, protection force?

Spokesman:  He may be discussing that issue in a general way to express his security concerns about his staff returning to Baghdad.  Whether he would be making fresh initiatives, fresh requests, for troops, for security personnel, I can’t tell you.  I believe that those kinds of conversations have been taking place bilaterally behind the scenes for some time now.

Question:   Do you have any expectation that there will be contributions announced this week?

Spokesman:  Specifically for security and close protection?

Question:   Something that would enable the UN to go in in a larger fashion than the 35 they have now.

Spokesman:  I don’t know that I could predict that we would be making any announcements this week.  Djibril?

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Thank you, Fred. Good afternoon.

On Friday, the President of the General Assembly, His Excellency Jean Ping, met with the current President of the Security Council.  They reviewed ways of strengthening the partnership between the two organs, and the President recalled that, within the framework of UN reforms, the reform of the Security Council comes to mind as a front item.  The President recalled, at the same time, that in 1945, there were only 11 members of the Security Council, and that today, that number is 15.

You will recall in my previous briefings, I mentioned that increasing the membership of the Security Council has been discussed at length with Member States of the United Nations.  Some Member States have stated that they would like to see an increase in the number of Security Council members.  President Jean Ping emphasized that while the issue of Security Council reform has been talked about extensively, one should not forget that differences still exist about the scope, about the nature of these reforms, the number of permanent and non-permanent members in the future Council, and the use of veto power.

President Jean Ping said that there is still a lot of work to be done, and he brought out again the issue of the revitalization of the General Assembly in this connection.

Today, he met with Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, Under-Secretary-General for Least Developed Countries, and that meeting was followed with his meeting with His Eminence Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who is Secretary of State of the Vatican, and His Excellency President Joseph Kabila, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The President attended the high-level meeting of the ILO on the report of the World Commission on Social Dimension of Globalization and, speaking in that forum, the President said, and I quote, “never has humanity had at its disposal such a remarkable technical and scientific potential, and such a large-scale capacity to put at the disposal of humanity goods and material wealth.  However, it is important to recognize that there is a very serious imbalance between nations and within nations, and that imbalance is without precedent”.

President Jean Ping went on to say that, as mentioned in the report of the Commission, this situation is “morally unacceptable and politically untenable”.

Updates on speakers of the General Assembly. As of today, 62 heads of State, 21 heads of government, two Vice-Presidents, one Crown Prince, 12 Prime Ministers/Foreign Ministers, 91 Foreign Affairs Ministers, one Deputy Foreign Minister, two Chairmen of delegations, and one Chairman of an observer delegation.

Also, this afternoon, the President will meet with His Excellency Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister of Japan, and he will attend the Summit for World Leaders for Action against Hunger and Poverty.

Most of the other points that are covered in the President’s schedule are in line with the points that were mentioned earlier by Fred.  So, I will limit my introduction to these words.  Thank you.

Questions and Answers

Question:   How many heads of State of delegations will we have?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:We’ll get back to you on that.  We don’t have it right now.

Question:   Do we have any [inaudible] on the issue of the expansion of the Security Council?  Are they going to be permanent or [inaudible]?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:I’m sorry.  I didn’t get your question.

Question:   I’m talking about the expansion of the Security Council membership.

Spokesman for General Assembly President:Well, as I mentioned, the President said that this issue has come up again and again.  But, a lot of discussion needs to be done in this connection, so I think we’re far from determining which members are permanent, which are non-permanent.  The permanent and non-permanent nature of the Council, of the future Council, is among the issues which are being discussed right now.

Question:   So nothing firm?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  No, at the level of consultations.

Question:   [inaudible]

Spokesman for General Assembly President:The President feels that the sheer presence, almost unprecedented, of the number of heads of State and heads of government, and delegations to the debate, gives a major opportunity to review the issue of the reform of the Security Council, the revitalization of the General Assembly, to which he has also added the issue of closer working relationships between the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC.

Thank you very much.

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