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

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

Good afternoon.  We are going to start today with a statement attributable to the Spokesman concerning events in Pakistan.

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

The Secretary-General is appalled by the news of yet another attack in a place of worship, this time in a mosque in the city of Karachi in Pakistan, which has reportedly killed about a dozen innocent worshippers and wounded about 100 more.

He condemns in the strongest terms this terrorist act and calls for action to bring the perpetrators to justice.  He reiterates his position that no political or other cause can justify brutal acts of indiscriminate violence against civilians.  The Secretary-General extends his sincere condolences to the families of the victims of this attack.

**Security Council

The Security Council began its work this morning with a briefing by the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy.  In consultations following that open meeting, Council members were scheduled to hear briefings on the two concluded United Nations missions to the Darfur region of the Sudan.

James Morris, Executive Director of the World Food Programme, briefed on the high-level humanitarian mission that he led.  He said he had never visited people as terrified as the people he met in Darfur.  His briefing notes are available in my office.

Bertrand Ramcharan, the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, is briefing on the human rights situation there.  The human rights report is available, too.

The Secretary-General, on his way to the consultations, told reporters that James Morris had some very concrete ideas as to what we can do.  The Secretary-General also said he had been on the phone fairly regularly with the Sudanese President on Sudan’s obligations and responsibilities.  He also said that he would inform the Council that the African Union monitors, who are going to monitor the ceasefire in Darfur, will begin to arrive shortly.

James Morris and Bertie Ramcharan are expected at the stakeout following consultations.

**Sudan

Sudan’s Government should unequivocally condemn all actions and crimes committed by the Janjaweed militia and ensure that all militias are immediately disarmed and disbanded, the acting High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a report today.

The report of the United Nations human rights team -– which visited Chad and Darfur, in western Sudan, in April and May -– says that, in its response to a rebellion in Darfur, the Sudanese Government appears to have sponsored the Janjaweeed militia, composed of fighters of apparently Arab background.  In its interviews with refugees and displaced persons from Darfur, the team received frequent reports, often eyewitness accounts, of killings, and of sexual violence –- particularly rape.  The mission added that it is clear from its findings that a climate of impunity has prevailed, and continues today to prevail, in Darfur.

The Acting High Commissioner calls for humanitarian workers to be given full and unimpeded access to the region.  He urges the Sudanese Government to pursue a policy of national reconciliation for Darfur and adds that an international, independent commission of inquiry is required.

We have copies of that report available upstairs.

**Sudanese Refugees

The High Commissioner for Refugees, meanwhile, started moving the first of thousands of Sudanese refugees from the southern-most tip of the 600-kilometre stretch along the Chad-Sudan border where refugees have been fleeing Darfur.  UNHCR also reports that more than 31,000 Sudanese refugees have been displaced from their settlements in northern Uganda in recent weeks, following repeated raids by marauding rebels of the feared Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

**MONUC

The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has launched a comprehensive investigation into reported instances of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of civilians, including minors, by its personnel in Bunia.  The Mission is determined to enforce the Secretary-General’s policy of zero-tolerance of any sexual misconduct, in accordance with his Bulletin on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, of 9 October 2003.

The United Nations Mission is committed to completing a full and thorough investigation as a matter of urgency, and to applying all available sanctions against any of its personnel found responsible.

**Democratic Republic of Congo

Also on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the humanitarian situation of tens of thousands of Congolese expelled from neighbouring Angola over these past few weeks appears to be stabilizing.  The number of expellees entering into one of the main entry points has decreased from a rate of hundreds to dozens of persons crossing each day.

Since the expulsions began in March, some 67,000 Congolese have been registered by local crisis committees.  It’s estimated that up to 100,000 Congolese migrant diamond workers will be expelled from Angola.  United Nations agencies, such as United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme, along with other humanitarian partners, are continuing to deliver aid where possible.

We have a press release on that upstairs.

**Secretary-General at Stakeout

The Secretary-General was asked upon entering the Security Council this morning for its consultations on Sudan about his reaction to the threat against him purportedly issued by Osama bin Laden.  He responded that the United Nations will take precautions, and that he intends to carry on with his life and his work.

Asked about the recent apologies from United States officials concerning the photographs of prisoner abuses in Iraq, the Secretary-General said he was relieved that United States officials have taken it seriously, including President Bush, by saying that he was sorry for what happened.  He added, “I hope the people in the region pay attention to that reaction”.

We have a transcript of his comments upstairs.

**Brahimi

The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, continues his discussions in Iraq.  Today he met a number of members of the Governing Council to discuss the political transitions and to listen to their views.  Among the Council members he met with, were Sheikh Ghazi, a tribal leader from Mosul, Dr. Mahmouh Othman, Adel Abdel Mahdi of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and Adnan Pachachi.

Also attending his meeting with Dr. Othman was the newly appointed Iraqi Minister for Human Rights, Bakhtyar Amin.  They discussed the situation surrounding the treatment of detainees, which Brahimi again condemned.  The Minister briefed him on the mechanisms that were being put in place to ensure that these incidents do not occur again.  Lastly, Brahimi also met with the National Security Adviser of the Council of Ministers, Mouwafak al-Rubei.

**‘Oil-for-Food’ Investigation

Yesterday afternoon, we made available to you a statement from Paul Volcker, the Chairman of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the oil-for-food programme.

In his statement, which is available upstairs, Volcker said that, at his request, the Secretary-General had taken the necessary steps to ensure that all United Nations staff cooperated fully with the investigation and all relevant documents are secured solely for the Committee’s use.  Also on the issue of documents, Volcker said as the investigation proceeds, and as the Committee arrives at an understanding of the substance and scope of the relevant documentation, including material from Baghdad, the Committee will consider appropriate disclosure.

Subsequently, we issued a statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General in which he fully accepts the arrangements set out by Volcker.  In the statement, the Secretary-General again assures the Inquiry of the full cooperation of all United Nations staff.  He earnestly hopes that the Inquiry will reveal the full truth about the management of the Programme, and repeats his undertaking to waive the immunity of any official found by the Inquiry to have broken the law.

**Lebanon

The United Nations Mission in Lebanon reports that early this morning local time there was an exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli Defence Forces across the Blue Line in the Shab’a Farms area.  According to the Israeli army, one Israeli soldier was killed and five others wounded.  There are conflicting claims by both sides as to how the incident started.  The United Nations Mission is investigating.

This incident came less than 24 hours after a day of heavy Israeli air incursions into Lebanon, Hezbollah anti-aircraft fire across the Line and an Israeli air strike on Hezbollah positions.  The Secretary-General is greatly concerned about this new escalation along the Blue Line and strongly urges both parties to exercise restraint.

**Colombia

An update on the visit to Colombia by Jan Egeland, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator.  He visited internally displaced people and will do so again tomorrow.  Today, he is in a range of meetings, including one with President Álvaro Uribe Vélez.

The trip is aimed at evaluating Colombia’s humanitarian situation, with a particular focus on internally displaced persons.  It is estimated that the cumulative number of people displaced over the past decade stands at 3 million.

He’ll be our guest here on Monday to brief you in detail on that visit.

**Liberia

In a symbolic disarmament ceremony yesterday in Liberia, the United Nations Mission there reported receiving personal automatic weapons from Minister of Defence Daniel Chea.  He submitted one AK-47, one shotgun and a submachine gun, saying that he was disarming himself as part of the charting of a new course for Liberia.

The ceremony marked the start of disarmament of ex-Government of Liberia militia in Kakata.  Two hundred fifty-one combatants voluntarily turned in their weapons to the United Nations Mission’s peacekeepers in an orderly and controlled manner, and were transported for demobilization to the cantonment site at VOA.

**UNHCR/Afghanistan

The United Nations refugee agency reports that its Afghan repatriation programme has reached another milestone, with more than 2 million refugees returning from Pakistan and 700,000 leaving Iran.  This has pushed the total number of returns past the 3 million mark since the agency started helping them return home early in 2002.

We have more on that in a press release.

**Secretary-General’s Award

A reminder now that Nane Annan will be receiving the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award in the Netherlands tomorrow, on behalf of the Secretary-General.  The Secretary General had originally planned to attend, but due to world events, which require his presence here at Headquarters, he can no longer go.

The Four Freedoms Awards are presented to national and world citizens who have made extraordinary contributions to advancing freedom on a global scale.

We have more on this upstairs.

**Week Ahead

And we have the week ahead for you, to help you in your coverage of the United Nations next week.

**Questions and Answers

Spokesman:  James?

Question:  Fred, Mr. Volcker’s letter saying that documents are solely for his use is not very credible, given that we know that the United Nations was already requesting people not to release documents to anybody before his appointment.  And it seems that Mr. Volcker has been involved in some kind of cover-up of these documents.  I would ask you to make very plain to Mr. Volcker that his decision not to release the documents to the press is interfering substantially with its ability to investigate these allegations.  I would also ask you if you could get a decision from him within a matter of days regarding release of 55 internal audits done on the oil-for-food and also all weekly reports provided by the overseers to the 661 Committee.  Those reports have already been released to the 15 members of that Committee, and I don’t see why those reports, which would substantially help us in investigating the alleged corruption in the oil-for-food programme, should not be released.

Spokesman:  First of all, if you look at the full series of letters that were sent out to various contractors and oil overseers, you’ll see that they all were generated by the Secretary-General’s decision to form a panel.  It was before Mr. Volcker’s selection as head of that panel had been announced, but the intention to form the panel had been announced.

Question:  Maybe if someone else had been chosen, the documents would have been released.

Spokesman:  My point is, the naming of Mr. Volcker is irrelevant to the position we took institutionally regarding documentation.

Question:  Is there any legal reason why those documents cannot be released to the press?

Spokesman:  I think, as I have already explained here, the internal audits by the OIOS are a management tool, and it is common practice, both in governments and in the private sector, not to make these public.  So there are 55, I believe, such internal audits.  The external audits were all given to the 661 Committee.  It is our obligation to inform the Committee of the results of those audits and to share those reports with them.  If members of the Committee want to share those reports with the press, that’s for members of the Committee to do, but we are not obligated to turn over the external audits to the press.

Question:  I am not saying you’re obligated, I am saying as a matter of policy, why is it that these documents that you have already turned over to the members of the 661 Committee, namely the external audits and the weekly reports, cannot be turned to the press?  Is there some cover-up going on?

Spokesman:  How can there be a cover-up when we have shared them with 15 members of the Security Council?

Question:  Why not make them available to the press?

Spokesman:  Because we are not obligated to share them with you.

Question:  Why, as a matter of policy, are you not willing to give them to the press?

Spokesman:  We’ve carried out our obligations by giving them to the governments.  If the governments want to share them with the press, that’s fine.  We’ve given everything –- the internal audits and the external audits – to Mr. Volcker.  He can do whatever he wants with those.

Question:  Could you convey to him a request that that decision be made within days, because the lack of that basic information is substantially interfering with the ability of the press to investigate the allegations.

Spokesman:  Well, who is doing the investigation, Mr. Volcker or the press?

Question:  Well, I would hope that we both have the same interest in the truth.  Maybe Mr. Volcker does not wish to see the press get to the truth.

Spokesman:  Mr. Volcker has a very large responsibility.  All the documentation has been turned over to him, his investigation is just getting under way.  He sent out his statement yesterday that once he has been able to weigh this documentation, he’ll make a decision on its disclosure.  That’s not going to happen in a matter of days.

Question:  Well, why wouldn’t it happen within days?  What possibly could take him longer than a few days to decide that the information that has already been released to 15 members of the United Nations should be released to the press?  You seem to be prejudging his decision, just confirming our suspicion that there is some sort of cover-up going on here.

Spokesman:  I resent the allegation of a cover-up.  There have been a lot of irresponsible charges made in the media over the last several weeks about the United Nations.  We have been essentially tried and convicted in the press on the basis of virtually no evidence.  We have turned over all the documentation to a panel that has been appointed to study it. Let the... [interrupted]

Question:  Fred, if you wanted to be covered better by the press, perhaps you should cooperate more with it and give us factual information so we could verify or contradict the allegations.

Spokesman:  We work with you to the extent we can to explain our position and what we have done.  We are not at liberty to give you... [interrupted]

Question:  Yes, you are at liberty to release the documents that have already been provided to the 661 Committee!  It is not correct to say you are not at liberty to provide those documents.  You have (not) come up with any legal reason why you are not at liberty.  You’ve got a policy decision not to. 

Spokesman:  No government, no private company gives the press and the public access to 100 per cent of its documents.

Question:  I am not asking you for 100 per cent.  I am asking for internal and external audits and weekly reports.

Spokesman:  We do not share the internal audits for the reasons I told you.

Question:  The weekly reports?

Spokesman:  The weekly reports and the external audits went to the Security Council.

Question:  Why won’t you share those?

Spokesman:  Because they are the property of the Council and they were intended for the Council’s use, the Council controls them.  We are not going to make them available unless Council members authorize us to.

Question:  Oh, so this is a new thing now!  You told us we should ask Mr. Volcker if he would release them, now you are telling us we should ask the Security Council.  Who should we ask in the Security Council?  Who are you hiding behind now?

Spokesman:  We are not hiding behind anyone, James.  Mr. Volcker...

Question:  Who should I ask?

Spokesman:  Mr. Volcker has all the documentation.  Anything that he wants to release in connection with his inquiry, he may do so.

Question:  But if the Security Council decides to release them, you are happy with that?

Spokesman:  Some of that same documentation is in the hands of the Council.  If those Council members want to release that documentation, that’s their sovereign right.

Question:  The Secretary-General has condemned the Iraqi prisoner abuse.  Can this subject come up for a debate in the Security Council or the General Assembly?

Spokesman:  You’ll have to ask the Council.  The Secretary-General said it had caused damage, and he said he was encouraged by the decisive way it was being dealt with by the United States.  Whether the Council intends to take it up, you’ll have to ask them.  They have the acting High Commissioner for Human Rights there today, but whether that will come up or not, you’ll have to ask them.

Any other questions?  Thank you very much.

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