United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-05-04

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 4 May, 1998

HEADLINES

• In Africa, Secretary-General meets Kenyan President and Secretary-General of Organization of African Unity.
• UN Secretary-General says failure to prevent 1994 genocide in Rwanda due to lack of political will.
• Secretary-General appeals to donor governments and world populations to respond to humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
• Secretary-General says parliamentarians are a key "institutional bridge" between State and society.
• Secretary-General express concern about deteriorating situation in Kosovo.
• United Nations upgrades phone link between the northern and southern parts of Cyprus.
• World Press Freedom Day observed at UN Headquarters in New York.
• New Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information outlines major goals in policy speech.
• UN envoy on children and armed conflict visits Sri Lanka.
• Money laundering to be one of top priorities at upcoming UN General Assembly special session on drugs.

"In my talks with the President and the Foreign Minister we discussed the future of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)," the Secretary-General told the press. "I was happy to reaffirm my intention that the United Nations should maintain a strong presence in Nairobi," he said.

Later in the day, the Secretary-General met with the Foreign Minister of Sudan, with whom he discussed the negotiations on the situation in the country, which got underway in Nairobi on Monday under the Inter- Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which encompassed the nations originally affected by the East African drought of the 1980s -- Eritrea, Sudan, Uganda, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti. The Secretary-General ended the day at a dinner hosted by President Moi.

The Secretary-General concluded his official visit to Ethiopia on Saturday with a meeting with Thelma Awori, Director of United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Regional Bureau for Africa, followed by a visit to the Organization of African Unity (OAU), where he met with the Secretary- General Salim A. Salim and his senior aides. At the OAU, the Secretary- General discussed the conflicts in Somalia and Sudan, as well as the situations in the Great Lakes region, the Comoros, and Western Sahara. The practical obstacles to African peace-keeping, such as logistics and finance, were also discussed.

Secretary-General Salim informed the UN Secretary-General that the OAU hoped to have its Panel on Investigation into the Rwanda genocide up and running by July. The Secretary-General pledged United Nations support for the work of the panel, which would be looking into the events before, during and after the 1994 slaughter of over a half million Tutsi and moderate Hutu. Before leaving Ethiopia, the Secretary-General gave a press conference.

He then became the first Secretary-General to pay an official visit to Djibouti when he arrived there at mid-afternoon. In the evening, he met with the President of Djibouti, Al Hadj Hassan Goulen Apjidon, who had recently assumed the Chairmanship of IGAD. After a private meeting, the President hosted a dinner for the Secretary-General.

On Sunday morning, the Secretary-General met with Djibouti's Foreign Minister, Mohammed Moussa Chehem, who described the devastating impact on Djibouti of the collapse of neighbouring Somalia. The Secretary- General pledged United Nations support in Somalia being led by IGAD. The Secretary- General then went to IGAD headquarters in Djibouti, where he was briefed on IGAD's peace efforts by the organization's Executive Secretary, Tekeste Ghebray.

The Secretary-General said that the failure was local, national and international, including Member States with important capability. "The fundamental failure was the lack of political will, not the lack of information."

An article on Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch in the 11 May issue of the New Yorker magazine raised important questions, he said in the statement.

No one could deny that the world failed the people of Rwanda, the Secretary- General said. But, he continued, the crucial issue today was not how to apportion blame with the benefit of hindsight. "Rather, we should be asking how we can ensure that such a tragedy can never happen again, and how the international community can best assist the people and Government of Rwanda in the enormously difficult process of rebuilding a united community and healing the wounds of the past," he added.

The Secretary-General, who is on an eight-nation African tour which includes Rwanda, told reporters in Nairobi that the New Yorker article was an "old story which is being rehashed." If it was lack of information that prevented action or solutions to a crisis, "I think we would have very few crises in the world today," he added.

Speaking at a press conference in Gigiri, Kenya, the Secretary- General said that the needs of the people of southern Sudan where famine is threatening thousands of lives are "great and urgent."

The Secretary-General noted that the Government of Sudan on Sunday approved flights to southern Sudan. He said that the approval will allow the United Nations to increase nearly threefold deliveries of assistance in the coming months. "The Government of Sudan is to be congratulated for taking this important step to grant the United Nations full humanitarian access," Mr. Annan said.

"It is essential that this access be maintained in the months to come regardless of the outcome of the peace negotiations beginning today", the Secretary-General stressed. He was referring to the peace talks among the warring Sudanese parties meeting in Nairobi.

The Secretary-General said that with the humanitarian access problem now resolved, "the major constraints on the successful prevention of humanitarian catastrophe is the question of resources." He noted that of the United Nations appeal for US$ 109 million, only twenty per cent has so far been pledged. He pointed out also that the World Food Programme was appealing to donors for a further $20.12 million in food and cash to meet the food needs in the next four months. The United Nations Children's Fund, he added, needed an additional $4.5 million to respond to non-food needs in the Bahr El-Ghazal province alone."

In his toast at a lunch hosted by Francis X. Ole Kaparo, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya in Nairobi, the Secretary-General said parliamentarians carry tremendous responsibilities. "More than anyone else, you must give voice to the Kenyan people's struggles and aspirations," the Secretary-General.

Recalling that last year an African artist gave the United Nations a painting called "the sacred tree", Mr. Annan noted that the artist said the sacred tree represented African democracy in action. "What the tree is to the village, the National Assembly is to the nation," he said. He recalled that in an African village a tree is "a place where the elected representatives of the people -- a rich tapestry of views, traditions and beliefs -- come together for dialogue and debate.

The Secretary-General said that Kenyan parliamentarians had the "difficult task of balancing, protecting and creating the conditions that will improve the day-to-day lives of each and every Kenyan man, woman and child."

The Secretary-General cites "alarming reports" about incidents along the border with Albania, but notes that the United Nations has only a humanitarian presence in the area, and therefore is monitoring the situation through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Contact Group and the European Union.

Annexed to the Secretary-General's report is information received from the OSCE and the European Union, as well as the Russian Federation, which is a member of the Contact Group.

The European Union and the OSCE both report a tense situation in Kosovo, including the harassment of civilians at checkpoints. The OSCE warns that the existing tensions could "easily escalate into new clashes with unforeseen consequences" threatening "the stability of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the region and Europe as a whole."

The European Union notes that the Serbian Government has offered to hold talks, but it states that "the stipulation that a solution must be found within the Republic of Serbia (rather than leaving this question open) amounts to a precondition." The Security Council, in imposing sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, had called for a dialogue without preconditions.

The Serbian Government has also refused to accept the participation of an outside representative, as required by the Council. Noting that the Serbian Government has planned a referendum for 23 April on the participation of foreign representatives in the solution of the Kosovo crisis, the European Union says this is "an attempt by the Serbian Government to seek popular confirmation of its rejection of foreign involvement."

The Union further notes that some representatives of the Kosovar Albanian parties, including Ibrahim Rugova, the President of the Democratic League of Kosovo, continue to insist on independence for Kosovo, in conflict with the Security Council resolution on the matter.

"The conditions required for bringing about a meaningful dialogue have not been improved and a resolution of the crisis is not in sight," according to the OSCE. The basic demands of the OSCE have not been sufficiently considered by the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, it states.

For its part, the Russian Federation says it is "disappointed by the fact that Kosovar Albanian side has once again ignored Belgrade's proposal to begin the dialogue." According to the Russian Federation, "it is the leadership of the Kosovar Albanians who set forth preconditions, demanding the presence of international mediators and a conduct of negotiations solely with the representative of the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." In the view of the Russian Federation, "there should be no direct mediation in the process of the negotiations per se."

The ceremony took place at the Ledra Palace Hotel in Nicosia in the presence of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the Special Representative of the President of the United States and Gustave Feissel, the Chief of Mission of the United Nations Operation in Cyprus.

The upgrading of the phone links followed an announcement made by the United Nations at the 13 -15 November meeting in Brussels that it would upgrade the phone links between the two parts of Cyprus to twenty automated telephone and facsimile connections.

Since 1974, the United Nations had provided the only phone link between the northern and southern part of Cyprus. The existing three line operator- assisted telephone connections had for some time been unable to cope adequately with the growing demand from both sides. As a result, there were delays and inconvenience to users.

The expanded telephone system was funded by a programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees with financial assistance from the United States.

In a statement for the observance of the Day, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for a recommitment to the principles of a free and independent press that advanced a culture of respect for human rights, good governance, social integration and development for all people. The statement was read out by the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Public Information (DPI), Kensaku Hogen.

The President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko of Ukraine, said for all the marvels of modern communication, the need to protect and promote press freedom had lost none of its urgency. The right to free expression in the media could be easily trampled on by outright censorship or insidious intimidation, physical threats to journalists, lack of unhindered access to media outlets, absence of constitutional protection or the "vise of economic monopoly."

In a video-taped message, Federico Mayor, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said that World Press Freedom Day was of special importance this year as the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was also being celebrated. Fundamental freedoms were very vulnerable, and none more so than freedom of expression and freedom of the press, which were constantly being curtailed by censorship, imprisonment and sometimes death. Journalists were the living embodiment of those freedoms, and it was necessary to stand by them, protect them and support them with all the strength and resources that could be mustered.

"I call on journalists everywhere, their professional organizations, governments and ordinary people throughout the world to form a united front against arbitrary imprisonment, the threat of physical violence and all other attempts to muzzle the media," he said, adding that UNESCO would take action whenever action was necessary, since any setback for freedom of expression and freedom of the press was a setback for democracy.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said World Press Freedom Day was a day to remember journalists, editors and publishers who had been murdered, censored and harassed in the course of fulfilling their duty. She recalled that on 3 December 1993, a journalist with Le Matin in Algeria had been shot dead in a restaurant near his office. The victim had known he was in grave danger, and had sent his family away. She also recalled five journalists who had been stoned to death while on assignment in Sudan. She had met the sister of one victim, photojournalist Dan Elden, who had been on assignment with Reuters. His sister had expressed her determination to tell her brother's story, and had recently completed her project, entitled Dying to Tell the Story.

Press freedom brought responsibilities as well as rights, she said. Freedom of the press should not be viewed only in the political context. There were other, more insidious threats, such as factors that invoked self-censorship, which could be fear of defying economic power blocks or local power groups. The local press was vital to press freedom, she stressed.

The Chairman of the World Press Freedom Committee, James H. Ottaway, Jr., said one of the basic duties of a free press was to shine the bright light of exposure on both hidden and public abuses of human rights. The worst human rights abuses occurred where there was no free press.

World Press Freedom Day, normally observed on 3 May, was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993.

Among his priorities, Mr. Hogen cited the need to project the Organization as an open institution; to strengthen the Organization's ability to communicate around the globe; and to strengthen its capacity to use the latest information technologies.

Mr. Hogen, addressing the United Nations Committee on Information, stressed that it was essential to understand the requirements of the media culture of today, including new Internet technology. He described how the Department was already managing, coordinating and providing public information content for the United Nations "home page" on the Internet. "It is my intention to make all efforts within the limited resources at our disposal to continue to enhance the Department's capacity to use the new medium to its full extent," he said. Print, radio and video production would be geared to take optimum advantage of the multimedia capacity of the Internet.

Mr. Hogen further pointed out that new technologies have had a very significant effect on the growth of the traditional media, including radio and television. The Department had therefore continued to attach priority to those two traditional media, especially for broadcasts to developing countries. Recently, a study on the feasibility of the development of a United Nations international radio capacity was completed with the cooperation of a major national broadcasting organization. "We are examining various aspects of the study, especially the technical, financial, programming and managerial implications," he said. In the meantime, the Department was preparing to launch a pilot project for a direct broadcasting schedule for selected regions in Africa and Europe. Furthermore, the posting of audio files of daily United Nations news bulletins on the Internet illustrated a new avenue of growth for the two media together on the United Nations website.

Mr. Otunnu, who began his six-day visit on Sunday, will travel to conflict- affected areas to meet with children in schools, orphanages and reception centres for returnees and internally displaced persons. He will also visit the Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil communities and meet with local religious and civic leaders, education and health officials and non-governmental organizations.

The Special Representative's office was established as part of United Nations efforts to combat the terrible effects war has on children and their increasing use as soldiers. Mr. Otunnu is also concerned with countering the devastation caused by landmines, the disruption to education, health services and food production, the plight of displaced and resettled children, the psychological effects of witnessing violence and loss of loved ones, and the psycho-social impact of protracted fighting on children and young people.

The issue will be one of six to be addressed at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem which will be held in New York from 8 to 10 June.

According to the UN International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), the infiltration and sometimes saturation of "dirty money" into legitimate financial sectors and national accounts can threaten economic and political stability. Currently, only 30 per cent of countries have effective legislation to counter money laundering.

The Special Session is expected to adopt a political declaration calling on all Governments to enact laws by the year 2003 to prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute the crime of money laundering.

"We are proposing a bold initiative for the abolition of bank secrecy worldwide for every investigation on organized crime, not just narcotics," according to Pino Arlacchi, the UNDCP Executive Director.

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

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