United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-04-21

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Tuesday, 21 April, 1998

HEADLINES

• Credibility and legitimacy of peacekeeping are basic conditions for lasting world order, says Secretary-General.
• President of General Assembly says tangible results are expected from group on reforming Security Council.
• Members of Security Council say reconstruction in Central African Republic should be dealt with seriously.
• Secretary-General says he is concerned at slow pace of extension of state administration in Angola.
• Business and trade unions discuss role of private sector during Commission on Sustainable Development.
• UN environmental agency initiates short-term action plan to contain Indonesian forest fires.
• UN Commission on Crime and Criminal Justice discusses new treaty to fight transnational organized crime.
• Human Rights Commission removes Cuba from its agenda.
• Human Rights Commission concerned at withdrawal of Investigative Team from Congo-Kinshasa.
• Head of refugee agency calls for strong efforts to resolve refugee problems in former Yugoslavia and Africa.
• Head of UN police force in Bosnia and Herzegovina fires local police chief after killings of Serb couple.
• World Food Programme warns of impending "humanitarian catastrophe" in southern Sudan.

Addressing the University of California at Berkeley where he received the Berkeley medal, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the United Nations can satisfy these conditions. He added that in order to do so, the United Nations "must seek and regain the confidence and the trust of the world community."

Mr. Annan pointed out that United Nations peacekeeping operations have evolved from the traditional kind of patrolling buffer zones and cease-fire lines to dealing with internal conflicts. This evolution to "more complex manifestations in the former Yugoslavia has been neither smooth nor natural."

The Secretary-General said that this evolution has also created "conceptual confusions and inflated expectations, betrayed hopes and blemished reputations." It has also made the United Nations review its responsibilities and question its most basic assumptions about the very nature of war and the very high price of peace in the post-Cold War era, Mr. Annan added.

The Secretary-General outlined some of the difficulties peacekeepers faced when they were expected to accomplish challenging tasks with limited means and mandate. "Peacekeepers were asked the impossible, and sometimes, therefore, even failed to achieve the possible," he said.

He said that had the Organization been given the necessary means and mandate, it would have been able to prevent the catastrophes in Rwanda and Bosnia where thousands of people were slaughtered by their enemies. "Any assessment of UN peacekeeping must begin with this recognition, if its credibility and legitimacy is to be restored," the Secretary-General stressed.

Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko of Ukraine was speaking to the Open- ended Working Group on the Reform of the Security Council as it resumed its work after a month's recess. The group, presided over by Mr. Udovenko, took up the second item of its programme of work: "Decision Making in the Security Council, including the veto."

In the previous rounds of deliberations on the first item of its agenda -- "Working Methods of the Security Council and transparency of its work", the Group made considerable progress, in the view of the President, said his Spokesman, Alex Taukatch.

However, Mr. Taukatch added, the President noted that "despite obvious accomplishments, there was little ground to be satisfied with the results achieved so far if one looked at the situation from the perspective of the totality of tasks facing the Group."

The President felt that it was incumbent on him, as the President of the Assembly, and as Chairman of the Working Group, to draw the delegates' attention to the fact that the international community was keeping a vigilant eye on the Group's work and that tangible results were expected from its deliberations, Spokesman Taukatch said.

He said that to help achieve those results, the President will continue intensive consultations with representatives of individual delegations and groups of countries in an effort to move the process of reforming the Security Council forward.

Following a briefing by Hedi Annabi, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, the President of the Security Council, Ambassador Hisashi Owada of Japan, said that members of the Council noted that many problems remained in the country, particularly in the economic field. In that context, he added "the cooperation with the Bretton Woods organizations was mentioned."

On the deployment of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA), Ambassador Owada said that Council members concluded that "it could be described as a success."

The Council members expressed their desire to the Secretariat that in view of the "delicate, sensitive" situation prevailing in that country, the Council would like to be frequently briefed on a regular basis.

In his latest report to the Security Council on the United Nations Mission in Angola (MONUA), the Secretary-General says that almost one year after the beginning of this process, there are still some 60 localities where central authority has not been established. These localities include Andulo and Bailundo, the strongholds of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

The Secretary-General urges both Angolan parties, particularly UNITA to take all necessary measures to expedite and conclude this process by the end of April 1998. "Further procrastination in this regard would not be acceptable."

Mr. Annan says that it is "obvious that the conclusion of the peace process will depend on the full demobilization of UNITA, especially the absentees and the residual troops." These troops, are still a cause of serious concern, says the Secretary-General. He says that unregistered armed elements continue to be reported in some provinces, adding that this situation "does not enhance mutual trust."

The Secretary-General regrets that while there has been improvement in the political climate, this positive trend has not resulted in an amelioration of the security situation in Angola. Of particular concern, he says, is the increase in armed attacks against the Angolan National Police, local government authorities and innocent civilians, allegedly carried out by UNITA elements, as well as acts of banditry.

The United Nations leader says it is also deplorable that the security of MONUA personnel and property is seriously undermined in several areas of Angola and that UNITA continues to impose restrictions on United Nations activities in some of the regions under its control.

However, the Secretary-General points out, although the remaining tasks under the 1994 Lusaka Protocol were not fully completed by the 31 March 1998 deadline agreed to by the two parties, most of the tasks in the timetable have been carried out.

He welcomes these "important developments" which include the promulgation into law of the special status of UNITA leader, Dr. Jonas Savimbi, the appointment of the governors and vice-governors nominated by UNITA, the return of some UNITA senior officials to Luanda, and the termination of Radio Vorgan's broadcasts.

The dialogue during the two-day "industry segment" will focus on how the private sector can best promote economic and social progress while protecting the environment. Discussions will be at the working level and resulting recommendations will be taken up on 29 and 30 April at the Commission's high-level segment by some 50 environment and other ministers. A number of corporate CEOs will also participate.

Issues slated for discussion include, voluntary business codes and initiatives; regulatory frameworks; reporting mechanisms; environmental management systems standards; promotion of eco-efficiency; the transfer of new technologies; protection of intellectual property rights; and freshwater management.

During a two-day UNEP-sponsored meeting in Geneva, fire-fighting experts from around the world proposed a plan which will provide training for 1,000 local fire-fighters, use of aircraft, operational management and communications and support to government liaison teams. The plan will cost $10 million.

UNEP Executive Director Klaus Topfer, said the experts had sent a clear message that it was not possible to fight all the fires. "We must make priorities with regard to those that are threatening human health and areas rich in biological diversity," he said. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Mr. Topfer to coordinate the United Nations response to the forest fires.

The 40-member Commission, which began meeting from today is the main UN policy-making body on crime-related issues. During the nine-day session delegates will review a set of options proposed by a panel of experts on a new treaty which will strengthen global cooperation against transnational crime. They will also focus on national and international action against corruption and bribery.

The Vienna-based Centre for International Crime Prevention will present two manuals on the protection of crime victims and abuse of power. The Commission will also discuss work to promote the establishment of an international regulatory framework for the use of civilian-owned firearms.

The decision was taken by a vote on a resolution sponsored by the United States which had sought to continue to place the situation of human rights in Cuba on the Commission's agenda. The resolution on the situation of human rights in Cuba received 16 votes in favour, 19 against and 18 abstentions.

Under the terms of the resolution the Commission would have decided to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cuba for one year. It would have also decided to consider this question at its fifty-fifth session under the same agenda.

In a resolution adopted on Tuesday, the Commission is requesting the Secretary-General to report on that matter and to provide comments and recommendations to the General Assembly and to the Human Rights Commission at their next sessions.

The Commission also asks the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to cooperate fully with the Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Commission in addressing the allegations in question.

The Secretary-General's Investigative Team in Congo-Kinshasa had been sent to probe allegations of massacres of Rwandan refugees during the conflict which toppled the previous government in the country. The Secretary-General decided to withdraw his team after concluding that the authorities in the country were not cooperating with the investigators.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Sadako Ogata, spoke to correspondents after she briefed the Security Council on her recent trip to the former Yugoslavia and her February visit to the Great Lakes region. She said in dealing with the 1.8 million displaced people in the former Yugoslavia, the issue of minority returns, including returns to Croatia, must be addressed, otherwise there would be no stability in the region.

In the Great Lakes region of Africa, Ms. Ogata said, the problem was how to deal with groups of refugees who were still mixed in with former combatants and criminals involved in genocide. She said a proposal by the Secretary- General for separation mechanisms could require the use of police or military forces. Another serious unsolved problem was what to do with people after they were separated.

Richard Monk, the Commissioner of the UN International Police Task Force (IPTF), removed Ivan Jurisic as chief of police for "repeated failure to provide a safe and secure environment" in Drvar which is in a Croat- dominated area. Barisa Letica, the interior minister of Canton 10, the administrative unit that includes Drvar, was also removed from his post.

The action followed the double murder on 16 April of an elderly Serb couple who had returned to their village near Drvar. Their bodies were pulled from their burning house and left for 14 hours in the front yard under the direction of Mr. Letica.

Since the beginning of the year, 53 fires have been set in Drvar but the local police had made no arrests or taken any other action to pursue the murderers, the spokesman said. The failure to meet minimal standards set forth in annex 11 of the Dayton Agreement had led to the removal of the two officials. The establishment of a multi-ethnic policing unit in Canton 10 was now expected to go ahead.

The head of WFP's southern sector operation in Sudan said that the situation in Bahr el Ghazal had reached a "critical and frightening level." David Fletcher warned that thousands of people might die from lack of food. He added that disease was becoming a reality as his agency anxiously waited for clearances to fly more aircraft. "The deprivation we have seen so far could very well be just the beginning of a humanitarian catastrophe," Mr. Fletcher said.

WFP said that it was barely meeting 30 per cent of the food needs for Bahr El Ghazal and that this month's total deliveries to southern Sudan, is estimated at 2,500 metric tonnes of food against a minimum requirement of 6, 000 tonnes. At least two thirds of this is for 350,000 of the worst affected people in Bhar El Ghazal, the United Nations agency added.

WFP said that it was authorized to fly only one C-130 Hercules aircraft into southern Sudan. Operation Lifeline Sudan has appealed to the Government to grant immediate clearance for at least one more C-130 to boost food deliveries from Lokichoggio in Kenya, the food agency said.

The food agency said that it was also facing a serious lack of funds for the emergency operations over the coming months. $31 million of the $43 million requested in the United Nations Consolidated Appeal last February is still outstanding, WFP said. In addition, the agency said that it needed an additional $6 million to pay for extra food and logistics costs from the recent Bahr El Ghazal emergency.

According to WFP, in addition to Bahr El Ghazal, other areas, such as Upper Nile and Eastern Equatoria are facing serious food shortages due to a combination of drought and insecurity.

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article