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 the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Democratic Republic of CongoUpdate

We have an update on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

It remains tense.  Reports from the UN Mission indicate that there is no fighting taking place in Bukavu although sporadic looting continues.

The rebel forces under General Nkunda and Colonel Mutebutsi are less visible in the city streets, but the UN Mission’s assessment is that no significant withdrawal has yet taken place.  Meanwhile about 1,000 displaced people are being taken to a nearby location where they will be assisted by the UN system and by NGOs.

There are indications that a government team headed by Foreign Minister Ghonda will travel to Bukavu tomorrow.

In the capital, Kinshasa, the area around UN headquarters is calm today, but there are reports of looting in other parts of the city.  In Kindu, there were demonstrations this morning and 6 UN vehicles were damaged.

The UN Mission has issued a statement deploring the attacks against UN premises and appealing to all members of the Transitional Government to work towards restoring peace and the credibility of the transitional process.

Meanwhile the World Food Programme today appealed for an end to looting and attacks against its offices in the DRC, saying that the violence had forced the temporary suspension of its aid operations in many parts of the country.

We have both those press releases available upstairs.

**Iraq Elections

Earlier this morning in Baghdad, the head of the UN electoral team, Carina Perelli, announced that an agreement had been reached on the electoral framework for Iraq, including the eight members of the Independent Electoral Commission, including the Chief Electoral Officer.

According to Perelli, the Commission is well-balanced, and reflects the rich diversity of Iraq and its people.

Perelli said this meant that Iraq had moved further along on the road to self determination.  This has been done, she added, thanks to the determination, participation and political will of the Iraqi people.

From now on, she told the press conference, the Electoral Commission would be in the lead on the electoral process, while the UN provides technical assistance.

During the press conference she outlined the procedure through which the members of the Commission were selected.  And her introductory notes are available upstairs to you.

**Iraq – Human Rights Report

A report on human rights in Iraq has been released today by the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In it, the acting High Commissioner, Bertrand Ramcharan, says the fall of Saddam Hussein removed a government that preyed on the Iraqi people and committed shocking, systematic and criminal violations of human rights.

Ramcharan says that after the occupation of Iraq by Coalition Forces there have been some violations of human rights, and the governments concerned have condemned those violations and pledged to bring those responsible to justice.  It’s imperative that this happens, Ramcharan adds.

These are just some of the findings.

Others include a recommendation to reform Iraqi laws that violate international human rights standards and the designation of an Iraqi human rights ombudsman as soon as possible.

Copies of the report are available on the High Commissioner’s Web site.

**Darfur

Hundreds of new Sudanese refugees reportedly fleeing new fighting have fled into eastern Chad this week, according to the UN’s refugee agency.

At the same time, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says heavy rains have already begun to cut off roads and make access difficult to the southernmost part of the border region.

A UNHCR emergency airlift is also continuing.

The influx began on Tuesday and shows no sign of slowing.

**Security Council

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

The weekend Security Council retreat with the Secretary-General is scheduled to start this evening.

**Asylum Seekers

The number of people seeking asylum in industrialized countries fell sharply in the first quarter of 2004, continuing a downward trend that began in 2002.

According to UNHCR, there has been a spectacular decline in the number of Iraqi and Afghan asylum seekers, and a sharp drop in Russian claims -– mainly from Chechens.

During the first quarter of 2004, France was the largest asylum-seeker receiving country, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany.  You can get more on the UNHCR Web site.

**Trust Fund

From his Trust Fund to Assist States in the Settlement of Disputes through the International Court of Justice, the Secretary-General has awarded $350,000 each to Benin and Niger -- both of whom sought financial assistance for the settlement of a boundary dispute.  We have a press release on that.

**UNEP - Cold Water Corals

On the environmental side, cold-water corals -– not as well known as their warm-water cousins in the tropics -– are far more widespread and numerous than had previously been thought and are also under serious threat.

Researchers are now discovering cold-water coral reefs in many of the world’s seas and oceans including the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.

Until recently, it was thought that these corals were largely confined to deep waters in the northern hemisphere off places like Canada and Scandinavia.

These findings are detailed in a report from the UN Environment Programme, and are being released to mark World Environment Day which is being celebrated on or around 5 June.

The report also warns that many of the fish species found living around these corals are under threat from activities such as deep-water fishing and waste disposal.

The full report is due out in early July, but we have a press release with details available in my office.

**ILO/Migratory Labour

From the ILO, the number of migrants crossing borders in search of work and security is expected to increase rapidly in the coming decades -– and if all international migrants were to form a single political entity, they would represent the world’s fifth most populous country.

Those are some of the findings of a comprehensive new survey on labour migration by the International Labour Organization, which provides, for the first time, detailed information on migration laws, policies and practices in 93 countries.

We have a press release with details on the survey upstairs.

**Global Compact

On the Global Compact, on 24 June, the Secretary-General will host the Global Compact Leaders Summit at UN Headquarters here in New York.

The Summit will be the largest gathering ever of chief executive officers, government officials and leaders of civil society on the topic of global corporate responsibility.

Approximately 400 participants will attend the one-day summit, including hundreds of chief executive officers and senior executives of major international corporations.

Participants will assess the progress of the Global Compact and announce new initiatives.  Chief executive officers and other leaders will exchange experiences regarding the implementation of the Global Compact’s principles in the areas of human rights, labour conditions and the environment.

We have a press release on that upstairs.

**UNFPA – Child Marriages

On child marriages, the UN Population Fund is calling for more attention to be paid to the issue of child marriages, which violate the human rights of millions of girls by threatening their health, restricting their education and limiting their social, economic and political growth.

Speaking at a special session of the Global Health Council in Washington today, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund noted that the perception that married status ensures girls a safe passage to adulthood could not be further from the truth.

We have more information in a press release on that.

**UNRWA

Next Monday and Tuesday, the Swiss Government and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will co-host a conference in Geneva on the future of humanitarian assistance for Palestinian refugees.

Representatives of more than 60 countries and 30 international organizations will discuss the critical needs of some 4 million Palestinian refugees.

Workshops will cover four key areas:  the well-being of Palestinian refugee children; housing; infrastructure and the environment in Palestinian refugee camps; the socio-economic development of the refugees and the management and mobilization of resources on behalf of the refugees.

We have more on that in a press release.

**G-8/UNICEF

On the G-8 Summit, while leaders of the world’s richest countries gather on Sea Island, Georgia in the United States for the G-8 Summit, UNICEF calls on them to remember the plight of children in many of the world’s poorest countries.

And they’ve put out a press release with more details.

**Integrity Survey

As part of the UN reform process, the findings of the Integrity Perception Survey commissioned by the Office of Internal Oversight Services are being posted on the Web today, along with the Secretary-General’s comments on it, which are contained in a letter to the staff.

**Press Conference This Afternoon

Press conferences this afternoon:  1:15 p.m. in this room, Ambassador Luis Gallegos of Ecuador, who is Chairman of the UN Ad Hoc Committee for a Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, will be here to talk to you about the results of the Committee’s two-week meeting which ends today.

**Press Conference on Monday

And then a press conference on Monday at 11 a.m., the UN Environment Programme will be sponsoring a press conference by the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition concerning bottom trawl fishing in international waters.

**World Chronicle TV Programme

The Information Department has asked me to announce that World Chronicle programme no. 940, featuring Ambassador Marjatta Rasi, the President of the Economic and Social Council, will be seen today at 3:30 p.m. on in-house television channel 3 or 31.

**The Week Ahead at the United Nations

And we have the Week Ahead to help you with your coverage of the UN next week.

That’s all I have for you.  Yes, sir?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Could you tell us if there are any new developments in the sexual harassment case of Mr. Lubbers?

Spokesman:  No, the Office of Internal Oversight Services has submitted a draft report to the Secretary-General.  And following standard procedure, he has shown that draft to Mr. Lubbers for comment.  So, we’re still in the middle of a procedure here and we won’t have anything further to say until that procedure is completed.

Question:  How will this procedure follow from here on?

Spokesman:  Well, we’ll get the comments of Mr. Lubbers and then the Secretary-General will ask OIOS to finalize the report, and we’ll see where it goes from here.  I can’t predict.

Question:  And why is this not a final report yet and when do you expect that?

Spokesman:  OIOS traditionally asks for comments on its internal reports, which are intended as management tools; comments from those that they are reporting on.  So, this is standard procedure, as I said, and it hasn’t yet been completed.  Yes?

Question:  Can you confirm that the Dutch Prime Minister Balkenende had a phone call with the Secretary-General about this issue last Tuesday?

Spokesman:  No, I cannot off the top of my head.  I would not tell you, in any case, the subject of the Secretary-General’s conversations.  I usually have the telephone log.  I can confirm whether he spoke to this one or that one, if asked.  But once you go back to Tuesday, I no longer have that in my head.

Question:  The Dutch Prime Minister confirmed, his office today confirmed the telephone call, and in it his office stated that the Dutch Prime Minister asked Kofi Annan to be as fast-forward with this report as possible, because it’s damaging the image of the High Commissioner.  Can you confirm that...(interrupted)?

Spokesman:  Well, I think it’s also damaging to the Office of the High Commissioner, and I think everyone wants to see it done quickly.  But we also want to see it done fairly and right.  So, if you come to my office afterwards, I’ll see if I can confirm the fact that this telephone conversation took place.  But as I already told you, I can’t say anything about what they discussed.

Question:  I’ve got one last question.  A Dutch newspaper is publishing today some of the conclusions in the report.  And they’ve stated that there are three female employees of UNHCR who felt pressured and intimidated not to come forward with their complaints about sexual harassment cases of Mr. Lubbers.  Can you confirm that?

Spokesman:  No, I cannot comment at all about an investigation that’s under way.  If there were any leaks, that’s very unfortunate, I think it prejudices really the outcome of the entire investigation.  So let’s wait and see what this report looks like when it’s finalized.  And we wouldn’t comment before that time.  Yes, Mark?

Question:  I just wanted to get something straight about what’s public and what’s not.  Is it public information how much the United Nations pays troop-contributing countries for peacekeeping operations?

Spokesman:  I believe it is.  I believe that would be a budgetary matter, and all budgetary matters are contained in public documents.

Question:  In that case, would it be possible to remind the Comptroller of that fact, who refuses to release figures of how much the UN is paying to, or has paid to Member States for their peacekeeping operations?

Spokesman:  Certainly, I’ll ask if we can make that information available to you.  But I assume it’s already available in some document somewhere.  Maybe you just need help in locating the document.

Question:  That would be very helpful, but I got the message that the Comptroller was refusing to release those numbers for protocol reasons.

Spokesman:  Well, we’ll certainly look into it for you.

Question:  Thank you very much.

Spokesman:  I was told, for the Dutch Journalists who were here, now seem to have left, that...(interrupted).

Question:  No, I am here.

Spokesman:  Okay.  That, yes, I can confirm that the Secretary-General spoke with the Dutch Prime Minister on Tuesday.

Question:  Can you confirm anything on the subject of their conversation?

Spokesman:  Nothing on the subject.  We never do.

Thank you very much.

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