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

AND 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.

**CEB Meeting

The Secretary-General is meeting with the Chief Executives Board that includes the heads of all UN agencies, funds and programmes.

Their morning session today, taking place in a conference room downstairs, is focusing on management issues, including the Secretary-General’s proposal to the General Assembly for a $97 million security package.  The CEB members spoke in strong support of this proposal.

After lunch, they will travel outside of New York City to continue their meeting, which will conclude tomorrow.

The CEB meets twice a year, once in New York and once at other duty stations.

**Liberia

The UN Mission in Liberia today issued a strong warning to rioters who attacked innocent civilians and caused extensive destruction of property, including houses of worship, business centres and residences in and around the capital, Monrovia.

Jacques Paul Klein, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia, made repeated appeals for calm.

He also announced that he had given orders to UN police and peacekeepers to be deployed to all affected areas and to react with maximum force to any activities of violence against innocent civilians and property.

Klein said the UN mission will enforce a curfew applicable to all residents of Monrovia, declared by Gyude Bryant, the Chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia.

He appealed to elders of the Liberian society and religious leaders to intervene immediately and join the UN mission to put the violence to an end.

Disturbances first began Thursday night in suburban Monrovia and spread overnight to other areas.  The exact cause of the sporadic violence is yet to be established.

We have a press release with more on that.

**Liberia – Refugee Return

Meanwhile, the return of Liberian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes is gaining momentum with the first convoy of returnees from Guinea scheduled to arrive tomorrow, and the return of IDPs starting on Monday, 1 November.

**United Nations in Contact with Afghan Authorities on Abductions

The United Nations is in touch with the relevant authorities in Afghanistan as it seeks to obtain the immediate and unconditional release of three staff members contracted by the UN Development Programme who were abducted in Kabul yesterday.

At present, UN staff in Afghanistan continue to go about their work, with no change to UN operations.

**U.N. Envoy Briefed on Situation in Fallujah, Iraq

Earlier today in Baghdad, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, met with a delegation of religious, tribal and civil society leaders from Fallujah.

The delegation briefed Qazi on the situation on the ground in the city.

Qazi expressed concern about civilian casualties in Fallujah.  He also expressed the hope that a peaceful settlement of differences will bring about an end to violence and use of force.

He asserted that the UN will do everything it can to contribute to a successful political transition and to a peaceful resolution of differences in Iraq.

**Security Council Extended Mandate of U.N. Mission in Western Sahara

Yesterday afternoon the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara for a further six months.

The Council reiterated its call for the parties and States in the region to cooperate fully with the UN to end the current impasse and reach progress towards a political solution.

The resolution requests the Secretary-General to provide an interim report within three months on the evolution of the situation in Western Sahara and on the mission’s size and concept of operations.

It also calls on Member States to consider making voluntary contributions to fund confidence-building measures, in particular family visits.

Council members also adopted a Presidential Statement on the Central African Republic, in which they welcomed the Secretary-General's decision to extend the UN's political office's mandate until the end of the 2005.

**Security Council - Today

There are no meetings or consultations of the Security Council scheduled for today.

Sunday is the last day of the U.K. presidency.  Starting Monday, 1 November, the United States assumes the Security Council presidency for the month.

**Human Rights Commissioner Calls for Thorough Investigation into Thailand

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, urged that an investigation into the deaths earlier this week of some 87 demonstrators in southern Thailand be swift, independent and thorough.

In a statement issued yesterday, Arbour expressed her grave concern at the deaths, which took place on 25 October, and said that the results of the investigation by the authorities in Thailand should be made public.  She said, “This is crucial in bringing to justice people that may be responsible for violations, as well as in preventing a climate of impunity from taking hold”.

She also urged the Thai authorities to grant a reported 1,300 people, who were taken into custody under martial law after the incident, immediate access to lawyers, relatives and medical care.

And we have copies of her statement available upstairs.

**Haiti

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Haiti, Juan Gabriel Valdés, met with representatives of human rights non-governmental organizations yesterday to discuss the mandate of the UN mission and hear their concerns.

Valdés spoke of the Mission’s mandate to assist the Transitional Government to organize free, fair and democratic elections, to reinforce and modernize the National Police, to consolidate national institutions and to protect human rights.

The representatives of the human rights organizations said that the need for public security, the re-establishment of the rule of law, and the search for truth and transparency were a priority.  They asked for crimes and political violence to be investigated and also called on the media to play its role in calming the climate of violence prevalent in Haiti.

We have a press release on that.

**UNESCO, Italy Sign Pact for Improved Reaction to Heritage Emergencies

UNESCO and the Italian Government have signed an agreement, which will reinforce the Organization’s ability to react quickly to emergency heritage operations.

The agreement will see the formation of an ad hoc group of experts –- named by the Italian Government with UNESCO’s approval -– to respond to specific emergencies.

An example of the kind of emergencies the experts will deal with is the stabilization of the fifth minaret of Herat in Afghanistan –- the minaret would have collapsed within weeks, if it wasn’t for the rapid intervention of UNESCO and Italy.

We have more with a press release on that.

**Press Conference This Afternoon

One press conference to tell you about, it will be this afternoon at 3, the Norwegian Minister of Development, Hilde Frafjord Johnson, will brief you on the UN reform, on the Sudan and the Millennium Development Goals.  That’s 3 o’clock in this room.

**The Week Ahead at the United Nations

And as usual, on Fridays we have the Week Ahead at the United Nations to help you plan your coverage for next week.

That’s all I have for you.  Mohammad?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Fred, two questions, both on Iraq.  What’s your reaction to Mr. Zebari’s criticism about the lack of enthusiasm of the UN regarding the organizing of the elections in the country?  And the second question is about the Johns Hopkins report of killing of 100,000 civilians in Iraq, mainly children and women?

Spokesman:  On the first, I think we’re as eager to get into Iraq to work on the elections, as the Foreign Minister is to see us there.  But the security situation will determine the Secretary-General’s judgment as to when he feels it is safe enough to increase our presence in the country beyond the present limit of 35 international staff.

And I saw the press report this morning about the Johns Hopkins report on civilian casualties in Iraq, but I have no reaction for you at this time.  Peter?

Question:  Fred, following up on Mohammad’s question, the Foreign Minister seems to be saying that the UN is hiding behind this phrase “as circumstances permit it”.  He has said in the past that other places where the UN has sent election helpers have been just as dangerous.  How does the Secretary-General react to that?

Spokesman:  The Secretary-General is going to make his judgment based on the security evaluation of his security coordinator and it’s as simple as that, and he is not going to be rushed or pushed to making a premature decision.

Thank you.  So, Djibril do you want to come up?

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Good afternoon.

Yesterday for the thirteenth straight year, the General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on the perennial necessity of ending the four-decade-old economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed against Cuba.

ECOSOC Voting

In two rounds of voting, the General Assembly yesterday elected 16 new members to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for a term beginning on
1 January 2005.

The Assembly is meeting again this morning, to elect the remaining two new members to the ECOSOC.  And those members will come from Latin American and the Caribbean, on the one hand, and Eastern European, on the other hand.

There were to have been 18 new members elected in the following regional breakdowns:  four from Africa, four from Asia, three from Eastern Europe, three from Latin America and the Caribbean, and four from Western Europe and Other States.  The election of the two new members –- from Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean -- as I mentioned, was deferred when a second round of voting failed to produce a candidate receiving the necessary two-thirds majority.

So the list for 2005, is as follows:  Africa will be represented by Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea and South Africa;

Asia will be represented by China, India, Pakistan and Thailand; Eastern Europe will be represented by Lithuania and the Russian Federation while waiting for the other member to be elected.  Western European and Other States will be represented by Australia, Denmark, Iceland and the United Kingdom.

I’d like also to give you the list of the 18 outgoing members, whose term of office expires on 31 December 2004.  And those members are Australia, Bhutan, Burundi, Chile, China, El Salvador, Finland, Ghana, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Libya, Qatar, Russian Federation, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe.

The General Assembly also is taking up today the fourth report of the General Committee and acting on reports of the Fifth Committee.  As you may recall, the Fifth Committee is the Committee that deals with administrative and budgetary issues, and those reports are mostly on financing of missions of support and operations in East Timor, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire and Haiti.

You may also recall that I had mentioned the recommendation for the addition of three new agenda items.  Those agenda items have been discussed by the General Committee, and now they have been approved for inclusion in the agenda.  Those three items were, as you remember:  the Andean Zone of Peace, the observer status for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation; and election of a member of the International Court of Justice.

On the Committees, this year marks the twenty-sixth anniversary of the first special session of the General Assembly on disarmament where there was an agreement on a final document consisting of a Declaration of Principles, a programme of action and machinery for disarmament.

The First Committee continues its thematic debate on disarmament, and it has acted on no less than 35 draft resolutions this past week.

The Committee, convinced that nuclear weapons posed the greatest threat to mankind and to the survival of civilization, approved a draft resolution that would have the Assembly appeal to all States, especially the nuclear-weapon States, to work actively towards an early agreement on a common approach and, in particular, on a common formula that could be included in an international instrument of a legally binding character.

I move on to the Second Committee.  There, the discussion is on globalization and interdependence, and a series of reports of the Secretary-General:  the report on globalization and interdependence, the report on international migration and development, and the report on preventing and combating corrupt practices and transfer of funds of illicit origin and returning such assets to the countries of origin.

The Third Committee continues its review of human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedom.  In the segment dealing with reports of special rapporteurs and representatives, the Third Committee will hear today from
Mr. Akich Okola, who is the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi; Mr. Paul Hunt, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; Ms. Yakin Erturk, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, including its causes and consequences; and Mr. Ibrahim Salama, Chairperson-Rapporteur, Working Group on the right to development, Commission on Human Rights.  Ms. Sigma Huda, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, particularly women and children, will also address the Committee.  That will be the Third Committee.

I move on to the Forth Committee which is expected to vote today on a procedural resolution on Mine Action.

Just to give you a quick preview of the events for the coming week: 

The General Assembly will take up the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the role of diamonds in fuelling conflict, prevention of armed conflict, the situation in Central America, the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and Security, and, a final item, elimination of unilateral extraterritorial coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic compulsions.

The Second Committee will continue its work on various aspects of Macroeconomic policy questions.

The Third Committee will continue discussions on human rights issues.

And the Fourth Committee will take up the subject of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, otherwise known as UNRWA.

That’s all I have for you.  Any questions?

Yes?

Question:  On the IAEA, could just remind us what the report is?  And is it right that Mr. ElBaradei will be addressing the General Assembly?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  I will have to get back to you on that as soon as possible.  Yes?

Question:  The election of the other members from Latin America is scheduled for today, in the morning?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Yes. The two remaining members, Latin America and the Caribbean, on the one hand, and then Eastern Europe, on the other hand.  Today. 

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