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.

Before beginning, I would like to welcome our guests from Japan’s MeijiGakuinUniversity.  Welcome.

Our guests, following my briefing, will be Jean-Marie Guehenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, and he will be joined by Pamela De Largy, the Chief of the Humanitarian Response Division of the United Nations Populations Fund.  And they’ll be talking about the Secretary-General’s report on the implementation on the Security Council’s resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.  And, of course, that’s the topic being discussed in the Council today.

We have a statement by the Secretary-General attributable to the spokesman regarding Afghanistan.

**Secretary-General’s Statement on Afghanistan

The Secretary-General today learned with deep regret and dismay that three international staff contracted by the UN Development Programme were abducted from a UN vehicle at approximately 1:00 in the afternoon, local time, in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Very few details are known at the present.  The United Nations is in close contact with the authorities and is hoping for the staff members’ immediate and unconditional release.

**Ramallah

We are following the situation in Ramallah closely.

The UN’s Middle East Envoy Terje Roed Larsen was in that city the whole day where he met with top Palestinian leadership.

He is in close contact with officials inside the Muqata.

**Sudan

The Secretary-General’s Representative for the Sudan, Jan Pronk, is on his way to New York via Washington, D.C. to present his monthly report to the Secretary-General and the Security Council on what progress has made towards restoring security in Darfur and disarming the Janjaweed militia.

In Khartoum yesterday afternoon, Pronk briefed reporters on the status of the Abuja peace talks on Darfur, and the situation on the ground.

According to his Spokesman, Pronk said the situation on the ground had not improved much over the past month, and that much of the recent violence was attributable to rebel groups, which continued to hinder humanitarian access.

Meanwhile, the need for security and access to displaced people's home villages were the key concerns raised by UN Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie as she ended a three-day visit to West Darfur.

In two weeks time, the journal of her mission will be posted on the UNHCR website.

**SECCO:  Women, Peace and Security

This morning the Security Council is holding an open debate on Women, peace and security.  This is to mark the fourth anniversary of landmark resolution 1325, which for the first time highlighted the needs and role of women in conflict situations and in the peace building process.

Speaking at the meeting this morning were Jean-Marie Guehenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the Executive Director of the UN Fund.  They outlined how the UN system is working to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in conflict situations, and how the UN and civil society can further cooperate to strengthen that response.  The meeting is proceeding as we speak, with statements by Member States, and it is expected to continue during the afternoon.  As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Guehenno will be here to speak to you shortly.

At the beginning of the afternoon session, the Council is expected to take up a resolution on Western Sahara.  And also on the Council’s agenda for today is the Central African Republic.

**Northern Uganda

A humanitarian assessment of the oldest camp housing internally displaced persons in northern Uganda, where thousands were left homeless after a severe rain storm, found that more than 5,500 huts were damaged.

Distribution of tarps and other supplies is beginning today in the Pabbo camp, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The World Food Programme will undertake a food distribution in Pabbo within the next few days, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is undertaking a crop damage assessment later this week.

**Globalization

Tomorrow, from 10 a.m. to noon in Conference Room 4, Amartya Sen, the Nobel Laureate in Economics, and Martin Wolf of the Financial Times of London will speak about globalization.

Professor Sen will deliver a keynote address to the General Assembly’s Second Committee on the Millennium Development Goals and globalization.  The event is organized by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

**Press Conferences

Press conference this afternoon at 3. The Independent Expert appointed by the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan will be here to brief you.

The press conference scheduled for this afternoon at 1:30 with Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, has been rescheduled for Monday, the first of November at 10:30 a.m.

**Press Conferences Tomorrow

And press conferences tomorrow, at 11 in the morning, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, will be here to brief you on his work; and at 3 in the afternoon, the Norwegian Minister of Development, Hilde Frafjord Johnson, will talk to you about United Nations reform, the Sudan and the Millennium Development Goals.

Yes, Mark?

Questions and Answers

Question:  I was wondering why the Secretary-General basically left, decided not to take any action against Rudd Lubbers when the OIOS sent a report to him, in quotes, “supporting the allegations and recommending that appropriate action be taken accordingly”.  Why is it that the United Nations put out a different, earlier version without that conclusion, on the racks?  Why is it only publicizing a version, which doesn’t have the OIOS supporting the allegations, when the actual report has the OIOS supporting the allegations against Rudd Lubbers?

Spokesman:  Well, first of all, the Secretary-General has the right to accept or reject such recommendations.  And, at the time, we told you that after carefully reviewing the OIOS report, and the submission by Mr. Lubbers, he found that the allegations against Mr. Lubbers could not be sustained.  He did, however, send letters both to Mr. Lubbers and to the OIOS.  So nothing has changed since then.  And nothing should be read into the wording that you refer to between an earlier draft of the report and the final report after it came out.  That wording, though, is Mr. Nair’s wording.  It’s his report.  It’s perfectly normal for drafts, particularly ones of this length and complexity, to go through many revisions before being finalized.  It was a technical error that an earlier draft, of this report, came out in English.  Any questions that you have about the wording of the earlier draft versus the final draft should be put to Mr. Nair.

Question:  On what basis can Kofi Annan say that there was no evidence of misdeeds when an entire OIOS investigation concluded that there were?

Spokesman:  He did not say there was no evidence.  He said he found the charges unsustainable and...

Question:  What basis did he...

Spokesman:  A legal basis.

Question:  [inaudible]...when the OIOS finds...

Spokesman:  A legal basis, legal basis.  The OIOS provided an analysis.  The Secretary-General read their report carefully.  He sought legal advice, and on the basis of that advice, he concluded that the allegations were not sustainable.  That’s his judgement call to make and he stands by it.

Question:  Is it not a bit bizarre, when the United Nations is discussing today basically the exploitation of women in peace and conflict, that we have this revelation that the United Nations effectively whitewashed a finding that one of their own senior staff was guilty of sexual misconduct?

Spokesman:  You are making a judgement call there.  The Secretary-General reviewed the evidence and he made his decision.  And on the basis of the report of the OIOS, he found the allegations were not sustainable.  Yes?

Question:  On the three kidnappings of international staff in Afghanistan, the Secretary-General is in contact with the authorities?  Which authorities are these?  The Afghan or the Coalition Forces or both? And has he made a specific request?

Spokesman:  He is in touch with the Afghan authorities through the United Nations Mission in that country.

Question:  Any specific request?

Spokesman:  No we’re just trying to establish what happened and where these people might be.  Yes, Lee?

Question:  Are these three Afghanis or are they from other countries?

Spokesman:  These are international.  But we are not giving out any further details at this time.

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Good afternoon.  The General Assembly yesterday adopted, as orally amended, the draft resolution on sport as a means to promote education and development and peace.  The resolution was introduced by Tunisia.  The draft resolution on a Culture of Peace was postponed to a later date.  This afternoon, the General Assembly will elect 18 members of the Economic and Social Council and this morning, the General Assembly discussed, item number 29, or started the discussion of, agenda item 29.  That agenda item, as you know, is entitled “the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba”.  The General Assembly will hear a total of 25 speakers on this issue.  You may recall that this issue had been included in the agenda of the General Assembly in 1991, with the first vote on the draft resolution taking place in 1992.  This year, the draft resolution’s number is A/59/L.2.  That resolution calls on all states to refrain from promulgating and applying laws and measures like the kind referred to in the preamble to the resolution in conformity with the obligations under the Charter and international law.  It urges states that continued to apply such laws and measures to take the necessary steps to invalidate them as soon as possible.  And it requested the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly a report on the implementation of the resolution.  This year’s report by the Secretary-General is on the racks upstairs.  Let me give you the reference to the report, it’s A/59/302 Part I and Part II.

On committee work, I have one item.  That is the Third Committee continuing its discussion on human rights, and it heard this morning John Dugard, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, occupied since 1967; Mr. Cherif Bassiouni, Independent Expert on human rights in Afghanistan; and Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on the situation in Myanmar.

This afternoon the Third Committee will hear Vitit Muntarbhorn, the Special Rapporteur on the situation on human rights in the Democratic Republic of Korea; Titinga Frédéric Pacéré, an Independent Expert on the situation on human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Emmanuel Akwei Addo, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan.  That’s all I have for you.  Any questions? Yes?

Question:  The resolution on peace and development for sports is sponsored by Tunisia.  What does it propose concretely?

Spokesman:  Specifically, it deals with 2005 as the year of sport for development and peace.  It calls on the international community to take all necessary measures to use the convening powers of sport in order, inter alia, to encourage the mobilization on the ground that will accelerate the process of implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.  Also, dealing with such issues as the acceleration of the adoption of a convention on anti-doping where United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has been the lead agency.  All of those are items I am just taking off the top of my head, but I would be happy to share the specific resolution with you.  Other questions? If not, thank you very much.

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