U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing, 01-08-01

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From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>

Richard Boucher, Spokesman

Washington, DC

August 1, 2001

INDEX:

STATEMENTS
1         Results of US-Peruvian Joint Investigation
1         Diversity Immigrant Visa Program
CHINA
2         Detainee Update
3         Discussions During Powell’s Visit
ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS
2-3       Targeted Killing Policy
6         Arafat’s Visit to Saudi Arabia
7         Communication Regarding US Policy
9         Cease-fire / International Solidarity Movement
RACISM CONFERENCE
3-4       Update on Attendance / Progress of Dialogue
MACEDONIA
4         Situation and Talks Update
CUBA
4-5       American Citizen’s Emergency Landing
UN
5         Diplomatic Parking
TANZANIA
5-6       Boy Scouts
TURKEY
6         European Court of Human Rights Ruling
COLOMBIA
7-8       Fumigation Safety Standards
STATE
8         Computer Virus

MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to be back with you after such a long journey.

If I can, I would like to start off and tell you about two things at the top. The first, tomorrow afternoon, Thursday, 2:00 p.m., Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Rand Beers will announce the results of the US-Peruvian joint investigation of the April 20th accidental shoot down of a US missionary plane in Peru. He will make a brief opening statement, he will show the 50-minute video footage taken from a US tracking aircraft. And then he will take questions from the press. So it will be a long briefing, but you will get the sort of full details of the report on the incident.

I know I am going to be asked if we can make available the video for broadcast, and the answer is, I don't think so. So we are still working on that. But, at present, the plan is to do the remarks and the Q&A on the record, but the video would not be available for broadcast. Anyway, we will get a notice on this out to you. And, of course, the report itself will be on the Internet at the State Department site after the briefing is over.

Second point -- do you want to go to questions on that first?

QUESTION: It was being withheld until other family members were informed, and members of Congress. Is that process over?

MR. BOUCHER: That process is still under way, that is why we are waiting until tomorrow. But we have been talking to people on the Hill and we are trying to make sure the families are well informed of the contents of the report before we make it public.

Okay, second point. We are announcing today the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program again for this year, the Diversity Lottery. The mail-in period for the next Diversity Visa Lottery will be between October 1st and October 30th of this year. People who want to apply for this can get instructions in the visa bulletin, which is available at the State Department web site at travel.state.gov. And then we have the information on the background of that program available to you as well.

And with those announcements, I would be glad to take your questions on these or other topics. Mr. Schweid.

QUESTION: You may have seen the story out of Beijing about the Chinese- born American writer who now has been formally arrested, which seems to move a step toward a trial, and which seems to conflict with the measures -- the little gestures, the three gestures the Chinese had extended before the Secretary went to Beijing.

Do you know anything further about it? And does the State Department have a view of this situation?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, a couple of things to say on this. First, he has now been formally arrested on May 26th, and I believe the article might even say that. He was formally arrested, actually May 25th. We have talked to Chinese officials about this in Guangzhou. Our Consul General was in touch with Chinese officials, and they tell us the status -- the formal status of the case hasn't changed at this point. He was arrested on May 25th, and they say the case is still under investigation.

He was detained on April 8th, and we have had periodic consular visits. Of course we have consistently urged the Chinese to promptly resolve this case. Our last consular visit occurred on July 25th. So that is where we are with that one.

I would correct something in your question, thought, that I would note that the other people who were allowed to leave China were in fact arrested, charged, indicted, tried, convicted, and then allowed to leave China. I don't have any expectation or speculation on what might happen in Mr. Wu's case, but of course we have consistently urged the Chinese to promptly resolve all these cases and allow these people to be reunited with their families.

QUESTION: So you're not saying that the fact that he is still under arrest is contrary to the actions taken in the other cases? I mean, they were further advanced, the process was completed?

MR. BOUCHER: That is what happened in those other cases. What happens in Mr. Wu's case, I don't know. We certainly don't want him to be detained any longer than he has to. We would like to see it promptly resolved and see him able to be returned to his family.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. BOUCHER: No other questions? Please.

QUESTION: The Israeli Cabinet has held a security meeting this morning, and they declared afterwards that they will continue with their targeted killing assassination of activists -- Palestinian activists. Do you have any comment?

MR. BOUCHER: I wasn't aware of that particular news, but I think our views on this are fairly well known.

QUESTION: Can you just restate them please, for the benefit of --

MR. BOUCHER: We are against the practice of targeted killings.

QUESTION: Many people in the Middle East, if I may follow up, see you as partner in this policy, as part of your condemnation of such policy, because American-made weapons are used in these killings, such as the Apache helicopters which were used yesterday in the bombing of Hamas press office.

MR. BOUCHER: Well, I don't think that could be taken in any way to express -- to believe that we somehow condone these killings. We provide these weapons for Israel's defensive needs, for their legitimate defensive needs, but we have made it absolutely clear that we are against this practice of targeted killings.

QUESTION: But now that you see that they are used in killing even children civilians -- two children were killed yesterday in the Apache helicopter attack -- are you taking up this matter with the Israeli Government?

MR. BOUCHER: We have raised the matter of this attack in particular with the Israeli Government. Deputy Secretary Armitage met yesterday with the Israeli Chief of Cabinet. They discussed the current situation and he expressed our serious concern about those air strikes yesterday. In addition, Ambassador Kurtzer in Israel has raised our concerns with the highest levels of the Israeli Government.

QUESTION: In Powell's visit to China, was there mention of China opening dialogue with the Dalai Lama?

MR. BOUCHER: I will have to go back and check, frankly. I do not remember if that specific point came up. He certainly raised a number of human rights issues and stressed the importance that we attach to human rights. And then our Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Labor Affairs Lorne Craner was staying in China for a meeting the next day. So I would have to double check and see if the specific issue of Tibet was raised. But the general topic of human rights has been high on our agenda and was high on the Secretary's agenda during his visit.

QUESTION: New subject. We have gone over this before, but where do things stand in terms of the US attending the racism conference?

MR. BOUCHER: They stand where they stood before, that we would like to go to the conference. The Secretary has said he would like to go to the conference. But our participation depends on how some things turn out. We are very concerned about some of the issues that are being raised in the preparatory part of the conference. We are very concerned specifically about these statements about interjecting the Middle East conflict into this conference, equating Zionism with racism or almost, in effect, doing that. And those are the issues that we are out working on in Geneva.

We have a strong delegation in Geneva at the preparatory conference. We are going to try to work on some of these things and make sure they don't become obstacles or side-track the conference itself.

QUESTION: Do you think you are making any progress in that direction?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, this just began. It is a two-week meeting, I think, that just began. Our Assistant Secretary for Democracy and Labor Affairs Lorne Craner will get there, I think, over the weekend or at least by the weekend. So he will be working on it in the second week and we will continue to work hard on this throughout the preparatory meeting.

QUESTION: On Macedonia, what have you heard from your man in Macedonia on the state of the talks between the Macedonian factions?

MR. BOUCHER: Basically, we hear the talks are continuing. The talks are continuing today at Ohrid. President Trajkovski and the party leaders are, in our view, working constructively and intensively to try to find compromises on the remaining issues. European Union Representative Leotard and our US Ambassador Pardew are deeply engaged with the party leaders in trying to bring the talks to a successful conclusion. We do think now is the time to reach a deal. But as far as we know, the talks are continuing today.

QUESTION: While the situation in Macedonia is as it is, what is happening with the projected oil pipeline that was supposed to go to Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. I will have to check.

QUESTION: Can you give us the status of the American who was -- made an emergency landing in Cuba?

MR. BOUCHER: I will tell you what I can about it. I have to say that the gentleman has not signed a Privacy Act waiver, so there is a limit to the amount of detail that I can go into.

The background, yesterday at about 3:45 p.m., an American citizen student pilot took off from Marathon Airport in the Florida Keys in a Cessna 172 for his first solo flight. Instead of returning to the airport, he flew towards Cuba. A US Navy airplane already in the air attempted to contact the Cessna but it did not respond, and it flew into Cuban airspace. The Navy airplane turned back before reaching Cuban airspace.

Our US Interest Section in Havana and the State Department were informed in the evening by the Cuban Government that the plane had crash landed on the eastern outskirts of Havana, that the pilot suffered minor injuries and that he had been taken to the hospital to be checked for further injuries. The State Department -- our US Interest Section in Havana is in direct communication with this person's family. We have requested consular access to this American citizen, but as I said, we don't have a Privacy Act waiver, we can't go into details.

I would say that the circumstances that we know of suggest that this was not a political action on his part.

QUESTION: Can you say if you have been granted consular access?

MR. BOUCHER: No, not at this point. We have just requested it.

QUESTION: Can you elaborate on the -- what makes you think there is no political motive?

MR. BOUCHER: No, I can't. Not without -- we don't have a Privacy Act waiver, so there is a limit to which we can explain the individual's actions.

QUESTION: Did the Cuban government say when he is coming back, or the plane?

MR. BOUCHER: Not at this point.

QUESTION: New subject? Can you say anything about the agreement between the UN and the State Department and about the parking issue in New York, the diplomatic parking issue?

MR. BOUCHER: I can't -- no. What I can say is that we have been working with the City of New York on the issue of diplomatic parking. First and foremost, let me say, the State Department's view of diplomatic parking fines is that they should and must be paid. We have taken that position consistently over the years. We have frankly taken that position with our diplomats overseas.

So we are trying to work out with the City of New York how we can do this in a manner that meets their need for a payment of parking fines and the international obligations that we have diplomatically for the United States.

We are still working on the details at this point, so there is nothing I can announce.

QUESTION: But do you think that the demands of the City of New York are unreasonable in accordance with what your --

MR. BOUCHER: We are talking to them. We are working with them. We are trying to work it out. We both have needs that have to be met, and we are still working on the details. So that is where we will stop for the moment.

QUESTION: While we're on local news, do you have anything on the Tanzanian Boy Scouts?

MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't.

QUESTION: The Tanzanian --

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. That's not a --

QUESTION: I have a question about whether they have asked --

MR. BOUCHER: I know the matter. It's an INS matter; it's not a State Department matter.

QUESTION: Can you explain this?

MR. BOUCHER: Alan will tell you later.

QUESTION: Is the White House (inaudible)? (Laughter.)

MR. BOUCHER: Absolutely. Since we're on that topic, it's -- we'll have to do a daily corrective after the briefing on that subject.

QUESTION: I think it's going to be a short briefing.

MR. BOUCHER: We have a question down here.

QUESTION: The European Court of Human Rights ruled yesterday that Turkey did not violate the rights of (inaudible) party by ordering its dissolution in 1998. Do you have any comment on that?

MR. BOUCHER: We are not members or participants or party to the European Court of Human Rights, but I think we have made clear our view of the matter. I think, as a matter of principle, the United States regards closing down of democratically organized political parties to be contrary to accepted international norms. But I will leave the legal cases for the Europeans.

QUESTION: Yes, do you have any comment on Yasser Arafat's visit to Saudi Arabia? Whether they are discussing Mitchell or anything?

MR. BOUCHER: No. We hope that everybody everywhere agrees, and we think they do agree, that it is important to get on with ceasing the violence and implementing the Mitchell recommendations.

QUESTION: Yesterday, Congressman Dingell had sort of a hearing. He had several Arab diplomats, and James Zogby was there, and the general theme was that there is -- Arab governments are saying that the US isn't sensitive enough to the Palestinians' plight, that certainly the Arab public feels that, and that there is a widening gap, et cetera, et cetera.

I just wondered if any representation of this sort has been made in any serious way to either the State Department or to embassies? Are you hearing especially new complaints that US policy isn't sufficiently sensitive to the Palestinians?

MR. BOUCHER: New complaints? I mean -- (laughter).

QUESTION: Well, I mean, people must complain all --

MR. BOUCHER: Difference than we've heard for the last 40 or 50 years?

QUESTION: Well, you've talked -- the Administration talked yesterday about it escalating. They were more critical of Israel than they have been for a while.

MR. BOUCHER: Let me try to put it in this context. This Administration has made quite clear from the beginning that we understood the regional implications of these policies, that we wanted to address policies in a regional manner, and that we wanted to be able to have relationships with individual countries in the Middle East that went beyond the regional matters, but reflected our bilateral interests and concerns with those countries.

So we do have active bilateral dialogues in the region, as well as general dialogues with people. And we do hear a lot about the Israeli-Palestinian disputes. We all know the emotions, the passions, the views and the interests that are raised by events in the Israel and Palestinian areas. At the same time, we always make the case that what the Palestinians need -- in fact, what the Israelis need -- is a return to normal life, and a return to the prospect of peace, and that the Mitchell Committee recommendations are the best way of doing that.

And so we hear from a lot of governments, but we also hear from them that they understand that the way to proceed is for both parties to fully implement the Mitchell Committee recommendations, and that means getting on with the process of ceasing the violence, going through the cooling -- undertaking the cooling-off period and starting to implement the recommendations of Mitchell.

So we are aware of how much different governments in the region care about this, but in the end, it seems we come to the same conclusions, that the Palestinians and Israelis deserve normal lives free from the kind of violence that we have now, and that the way to get there is to implement the Mitchell Committee recommendations.

QUESTION: On Colombia? A couple of governors and congressmen for that country are here in Washington talking to people on the Hill relating the position of the State Department about the fumigations in the southern departments of Colombia. They say there is a need to create an international commission to inspect the fumigations, and give a report that they say will be safe for the people who are affected by these fumigations. Basically, they are saying it is not true, the position of the State Department, that people are not hurt by these chemicals used against the coca fields.

Do you have any response to that?

MR. BOUCHER: In some ways, it is not a political question or a diplomatic one; it's a scientific question. The pesticide or herbicide or whatever it is that is being used -- the chemicals that are being used in these sprayings are widely used throughout the world, including in the United States. Ninety percent of the use in Colombia is, in fact, for normal agricultural purposes by farmers, and it is only being sprayed against drugs in terms of large production areas, not small ones.

So I am sure there is abundant testing and scientific literature available on this particular chemical, and I would invite anybody interested in it to look that up.

QUESTION: But let me follow up. One of the congressmen used in this argument that you said presented a label of these chemicals, saying to keep away from children, especially to inhale this chemical. And is it -- the area of fumigations in Colombia, obviously the people with -- on the earth are inhaling this toxic chemicals. That is why they say they are reacting to this US position.

MR. BOUCHER: I am not going to get into some indirect discussion where somebody supposedly said something about something, and I am supposed to respond to it. So let's start with the facts and finish with the facts.

QUESTION: But the Department --

MR. BOUCHER: The fact is that this has been looked at in many, many areas. It is used in a specific way. There are Colombian courts that are adjudicating this. And at the same time, we felt that we do take these concerns seriously. We have started -- we are doing studies down in Colombia with Colombians involved on them to look at, make sure there are no ill effects of health. But this is a widely used chemical. It has been used in certain applications against the drug program, but also much more widely in agricultural production in Colombia, and there is no adverse health effects that have been reported.

So even as we undertake further studies to make sure that it is environmentally safe and safe for people, we are still looking for any evidence that might indicate otherwise.

QUESTION: Another subject? Are there any special computer virus problems here, any special precautions?

MR. BOUCHER: No, the fix is in. We have put the fix against this worm in all our computers, and at least the report this morning from our chief information officer was that there are no problems being experienced.

QUESTION: Do you have any (inaudible) hope of cease-fire taking hold in the Middle East which he helped negotiate in the presence of such declared adopted official policy of assassination?

MR. BOUCHER: By whom?

QUESTION: By Israel.

MR. BOUCHER: I would say that we have constant hope that we can do this. We work on it very hard. We have representatives in the region that are still working to get to that point of where we can calm the situation down, and we can implement the Mitchell Committee Report. And we do that for two reasons: One, because we think -- as I said before -- people deserve normal lives, the people of the region deserve it; and, second of all, we think it's really the only path, the best path, and the only available path to get back to the process of negotiation and ultimately resolve these issues.

QUESTION: So you believe that the co-existence of the cease-fire can co- exist with the policy -- continued policy of assassination?

MR. BOUCHER: We think the continued -- that the policy of targeted killings is wrong. We don't believe it should exist at all.

QUESTION: A group of 18 Americans known as the International Solidarity Movement are in the West Bank in a house, and they call themselves independent observers, watching action in Israeli military posts and Israeli helicopter activity.

What do you think about these groups? Are they a help, are they a hindrance?

MR. BOUCHER: I am not aware of them, frankly. I don't know. There's plenty of people running around the West Bank, including journalists. So we think it is important --

QUESTION: Are they (inaudible)? (Laughter.)

MR. BOUCHER: No, I mean, this comes up every time we discuss observers, monitors, whatever. I mean, we have talked about monitors in terms of implementation of Mitchell, after we get to that phase. But we should never forget that there's tons of people running around, including journalists, reporting on what is going on, and whenever there is an incident, there's always different statements and we hear different sides of the story about what may have happened and what may not have happened. And we hear it from the journalists themselves who are out there reporting on the issues. So there are plenty of people watching.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. BOUCHER: Thank you. [End]

Released on August 1, 2001

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