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 Stéphane Dujarric, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Guest at Noon

Joining us today is Vincent McClean, the New York Representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, who will be presenting the Andean Coca Survey for 2003.  Mr. McClean, please join me.

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

We have a statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

“The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the serious tension and persistent instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which puts the peace process at risk.  He calls on all parties concerned to abide by the terms of the Global All-Inclusive Agreement, and to uphold the transitional process.  The Secretary-General urges all components in the Transitional Government to address the crisis in Bukavu and all other issues in a consensual manner and reaffirms the United Nations’ availability to assist in this regard.

“The Secretary-General is also concerned about the continuing reports of movements of refugees from the DRC to Burundi, and urges all sides to respect international humanitarian law.”

We have the full text of the statement available upstairs.

**WFP

Also on the DRC and on the issue of people crossing into Burundi, the World Food Programme says it is feeding thousands of refugees who have crossed into Burundi and Rwanda from the DRC to escape violence that has temporarily paralysed WFP's aid operations in much of the eastern part of the DRC.  We have a press release available upstairs.

**SG Comments

The Government of the Sudan must take steps to control the Janjaweed militia, and must also allow humanitarian workers to be given free access to the Darfur region, the Secretary-General told reporters this morning on his way into the building.

Asked about the situation in Darfur, he said the United Nations was rushing to get as much supplies to Darfur before the rains come, and he noted the massive violations of international humanitarian law that were taking place there. The Secretary-General added that he met a Sudanese delegation, headed by the Finance Minister, while in Brazil two days ago. They told him that they are going to do the best they can to bring the situation under control.

Asked about the security situation in Iraq, the Secretary-General said that he was extremely worried, and urged that “all efforts must be made to secure the environment.”

Asked whether the Security Council should pass a resolution extending the exemption some nations would receive from prosecution by the International Criminal Court, the Secretary-General said that such a blanket exemption would be wrong. He added, “I think it would be unfortunate for one to press for such an exemption, given the prisoner abuse in Iraq,” and warned that such a move would discredit the Security Council.

**Security Council

Turning to the Council, this morning the members of the Council unanimously passed a resolution that re-establishes its Panel of Experts dealing with the question of sanctions on Liberia, for a further period lasting until 21 December of this year.

It requests the Secretary-General to appoint, by the end of this month, no more than five experts who will conduct a follow-up assessment mission to Liberia and neighbouring countries to report on the implementation of Security Council sanctions and any violations of them.

Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry of the United Kingdom is expected to brief the press tomorrow at 12:45 p.m. on the Security Council’s visit to West Africa which will be taking place from the 20th to the 29th of June.  The Mission is expected to include visits to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Guinea Bissau.

**Kosovo - Riots Charges

We have upstairs an update on the police investigations into the March riots in Kosovo.  UN police have arrested around 270 people, and international Prosecutors are handling 52 of the most serious cases.  These include all 19 cases involving deaths, cases against the organizers or leaders of the riots, and cases involving significant violence against police.  Of these 52 cases, 15 cases are already in various stages of the court process.  We have more details upstairs.

**Cyprus

Out on the racks today is a letter from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Tassos Papadopoulos in response to Mr. Papadopoulos’ letter to the Secretary-General on 7 June.

**Rwanda

On Rwanda, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda today sentenced Sylvestre Gacumbitsi, a former Rwandan mayor, to 30 years in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide. The Tribunal ruled that Gacumbitsi had organized the killings of some 20,000 people.

**Afghanistan

The UN Mission in Afghanistan reported today that, as of yesterday, the number of people registered to vote in the country was just under four million –more than 2.5 million men and more than 1.4 million women. In recent days, close to 90,000 Afghans are registering to vote each day. And we have more details on this upstairs.

**DSG

And lastly, earlier today, the Deputy Secretary-General received an honorary degree from WaterlooUniversity in Canada and delivered the convocation address for the graduating class. 

She encouraged the graduates not to underestimate the power of a single person to make a difference. The Millennium Development goals, she told graduates, might have been adopted by governments, but the likelihood of achieving them will depend – to no small extent – on the efforts of community activists, private entrepreneurs and concerned young citizens such as yourselves.  We have the full text of her address upstairs.

Before we turn to the coca survey, do you have any questions?

Questions and Answers

Question:   The government of Haiti signed an agreement with the United States government regarding troops and the International Court of..., so what is the situation?  Is this the standard situation that two governments can sign an agreement to non-observance of the law of the International Court...(interrupted).

Associate Spokesman:    I don’t know.  I haven’t seen the agreement.  So, I’ll be happy to, we can talk afterwards.  But I haven’t seen the text of the agreement.  I was not even aware of it.  Yes?

Question:   Has the report on the suspicious substance found on Monday been completed?

Associate Spokesman:    No, it has not.  But if my colleagues upstairs are listening they maybe able to call Security and we should, maybe, get an update before the end of this briefing.  [The Spokesman later said the results of the analyses had come back negative and that the substances were deemed harmless.]

Question:   well, as a follow-up, do you know if there are any other agreements similar to this type of contract with the United States?

Associate Spokesman:    No. I mean governments are, you know, permitted to sign bilateral agreements.  We’re not aware of all bilateral agreements that may be signed between governments.

Mr. McClean, welcome.

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