DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
| Press Briefing |
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,
** Guest
Our guest today is Palitha Kohona, Chief of the Treaty Section in the Office of Legal Affairs here at the UN, who will launch the book Focus 2004: Treaties on the Protection of Civilians. That book has been co-published with the Department of Political Affairs in time for a treaty event that will take place during the general debate here in September.
**Secretary-General Condemns Murder of Korean Hostage in Iraq
The Secretary-General was appalled by the murder yesterday of Mr. Kim Sun-Il, who was taken hostage in Iraq on the 17th of this month. In a statement we issued yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General condemned in the strongest terms “this heartless crime, which no political or other cause can justify”, he said.
He extended his sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Kim Sun-Il and the Government of the Republic of Korea. He reiterated his appeal for the immediate and safe release of all hostages being held in Iraq.
Also yesterday, Philippine Foreign Minister Delia Domingo Albert, in her capacity as President of the Security Council, also condemned the killing. She said that, in the face of such evil, the world must stand united against the scourge of international terrorism that continues to plague our global community.
**Security Council
Security Council members held this morning an open meeting for their periodic briefing on the situation in the Middle East.
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast said events in the past month showed yet again how desperately the people of the Middle East need a political solution to their long conflict. Force, Mr. Prendergast said, will achieve neither a viable and independent PalestinianState nor a secure and recognized Israel.
He encouraged the parties, the region and the wider international community to play its part. On the planned Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Mr. Prendergast stressed that involvement of the international community will be crucial to an effective handover -- in terms of significant donor support for the Palestinians as well as in the political and the security aspects. This could make the difference between success and failure, he said.
In conclusion, he said that to choose the rocky road to peace is to take the difficult road, the road less travelled. But the alternative is a continued long, slow, inevitable descent into a landscape full of violence, hatred and bloodshed.
We have the full text of his remarks upstairs.
Immediately following that open briefing, Council members moved into closed consultations to continue their discussion on the Middle East. And also on their agenda are consultations regarding a discussion on the latest US draft resolution concerning exemptions from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
**Security Council Presidential Statement on DR of CONGO
Yesterday afternoon, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, briefed the Security Council on recent political and military developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Following the consultations, the Security Council issued a presidential statement in which Council members reiterated their grave concern at the continued violence and instability in the DRC, and urged all parties to remain committed to the peace process and to respect the Government of National Unity and Transition.
The Council also urged neighbouring States not to interfere in the DRC, and specifically urged Rwanda not to support armed groups led by Laurent Nkunda or Jules Mutebutsi.
In addition, the statement asked the Secretary-General to determine the need for a possible rapid reaction capability for the UN mission in the DRC. Regarding the deaths of civilians and human rights abuses in the eastern part of the country, the Security Council stated that those incidents be fully investigated and those responsible be held to account.
Also related to the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has confirmed his decision to start investigations into grave human rights abuses allegedly committed in the DRC since the 1st of July, 2002. We have a press release from the ICC on that.
**Security Council Mission in West Africa
The Security Council mission to West Africa is in Côte d’Ivoire today. Earlier today the ambassadors held separate meetings with President Laurent Gbagbo and the Prime Minister.
In speaking to the press afterwards, on behalf of the Security Council, French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sablière said that they discussed the issues that are preventing the application of the Linas-Marcoussis accord and the process of national reconciliation.
He added that the UN had lived up to its commitment by sending in peacekeepers to Côte d’Ivoire. It is now up to the various Ivorian parties to live up to their commitments. We have the full text of his statement available upstairs.
**Sudan - Update
United Nations and NGO staff on the ground in Darfur, Sudan, report continuing attacks on villages in south Darfur, where Janjaweed militias attacked, looted and burnt six villages on Monday, reportedly killing six civilians.
Army and police elements in the area did not intervene to prevent the attacks and other reports of banditry and acts of violence continue to be received, including in north and west Darfur. There is also increasing concern about the safety of humanitarian workers there.
Despite this uncertain security environment, the aid community in Darfur continues to focus on preparing for possibly reduced access during the rainy season, which has already begun. Aid groups have been pre-positioning food, non-food and shelter items. The groups also stress that it is necessary to organize and assist camps that have sprung up, especially with aid in the form of clean water and sanitation.
**Burundi
The Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that food shortages could begin in Burundi in August, which could last up to five months. According to an alert system that brings together UN agencies, the Burundi Government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), shortages have resulted from the early arrival of the dry season and a subsequent sharp drop in bean production.
UNICEF’s nutritional surveys, conducted this year, indicate that in the north-eastern provinces of Ngozi, Kayanza and Bubanza, prevalence rates for acute malnutrition in children from six months to five years have reached
10 per cent. Chronic malnutrition within the same group has reached
61 per cent.
**Diplomatic Quartet on Middle East
Tomorrow, the UN Middle East Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen will join envoys from the United States, the European Union and Russia for a meeting of the Middle East Quartet in Taba, Egypt. The envoys are expected to discuss their action plan and other steps to be taken in support of the Egyptian initiative, which calls for, among other projects, the training of Palestinian security forces.
Meanwhile today, Mr. Roed-Larsen met with Egyptian presidential envoy, Omar Suleiman, at the start of his mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Mr. Roed-Larsen and Mr. Suleiman discussed ways to enable the parties, Israelis and Palestinians, to seize the current opportunity and turn the Israeli withdrawal initiative into a new beginning of the peace process.
**Afghanistan
Jean Arnault, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), today participated in a launch, with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, of an exercise to ensure that freedom of organization, freedom of movement and freedom of opinion are upheld as the country prepares for elections.
Mr. Arnault said the verification exercise would help the Afghan Government to identify where the problems are in implementing those freedoms, who is behind them and how they should be corrected. We have a press release with more details on that.
**Global Compact
The Under-Secretary-General for Management, Catherine Bertini, today announced that she has initiated a project to integrate the principles of the Global Compact into the UN’s internal operations.
The Secretary-General had asked Ms. Bertini to make the UN a “leading example of responsible corporate citizenship” in its administrative policies. She has organized specialized working groups within the UN system to ensure that the Global Compact’s nine human rights, labour and environmental principles are explicitly integrated into UN administrative practice.
Ms. Bertini will be among the participants tomorrow at the Global Compact Leaders Summit, which takes place here at UN Headquarters. That Summit, which will be opened by the Secretary-General, will bring together representatives from government, business and civil society to take stock of the Global Compact and chart its future course.
We have more information on the Global Compact’s website -- www.unglobalcompact.org.
**Secretary-General Addresses International Law Forum
The Secretary-General has called on States to unite in defence of the principles of the UN Charter and international law, while working to find ways to make the UN more effective in producing collective responses to the threats of our age.
The Secretary-General made the comment in a message to the Third Forum for Debate on "The Role of the UN in the 21st Century and the Primacy of International Law", in Salamanca, Spain, today. That message was delivered by his Special Adviser, Alvaro de Soto.
The Secretary-General also said that the existing institutions to enforce the law the must be strengthened, and that’s why the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a landmark in efforts to build peace and respect for human rights. We have copies of that message upstairs.
**Secretary-General Addresses Stuyvesant High’s 100th Graduating Class
The Secretary-General this morning addressed the 100th graduation of New York’s StuyvesantHigh School, where he said there can be no nobler face that any country could show to the world than that school’s multicultural student body.
**WHO Issues Guidelines for Consumer Use of Alternative Medicines
Alternative medicines remain largely unregulated, and as a consequence, consumers need to be informed and given the tools to access safe and effective treatment.
It’s for this reason that the World Health Organization (WHO) has released a new set of guidelines for national health authorities to develop reliable information for consumer use of these medicines.
WHO says that as their use increases, so do reports of adverse reactions.
For example: in China, a country where traditional treatments are widely used, there were almost 10,000 known reported cases of adverse drug reactions in 2002 alone -- up from 4,000 between 1990 and 1999. We have more in a press release.
**I’ve been told that the Security Council consultations have now ended.
**Reminder
A reminder, Ireland’s Foreign Minister, Brian Cowen, will be taking your questions at the Security Council stakeout. We think that will be at around 12:45 p.m. He is currently meeting with the Secretary-General.
And although yesterday we said that at 12:45 p.m., General Gunther Greindl, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Standby Force High Readiness Brigade (SHIRBRIG) would brief you on the Committee’s latest discussions, the General has agreed to wait until after the Irish Foreign Minister finishes at the stakeout and he will then brief you here in Room 226.
**Press Conferences
Several press conferences tomorrow -- five in fact. The first is at 10 a.m., where Mario Baccini, the Italian Deputy Foreign Minister, and Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), will brief you on “Sustainable development through the Global Compact”. All of these press conferences are Global Compact-related.
Then at 10:45 a.m., there will be a high-level panel with representatives from business, labour and civil society to brief you in the Global Compact leaders Summit. We have a list of the participants available in my Office.
At 11:15 a.m., participants from the Summit and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) will be here to brief you on ground-breaking initiatives involving financial institutions and stock exchanges. And the list of those participants is also available upstairs.
At 2 p.m. -- and this is not Global Compact-related -- the President-Elect of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Leonel Fernandez, will be here to speak to you.
And then at 3:15 p.m., again participants from the Global Compact Summit will be here to talk to you about the global fight against corruption. It’ll be a big Global Compact day tomorrow.
That’s all I have. Are there any questions before we bring up Mr. Kohona?
**Questions and Answers
Question: Fred, we know that the Secretary-General has expressed opposition to the continuance of UN peacekeepers exemption [from prosecution] by the ICC. Does he have any reaction to the latest US proposal for what I guess would be a final one year extension?
Spokesman’s response: No he does not. As you know, he usually refrains from commenting on matters under discussion or debate in the Security Council. In this case he made an exception because he felt a very important principle was at issue. But he will not comment as the debate goes forward. They know where he stands.
Very good. Palith, why don’t you come up?
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