United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-06-08

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 8 June, 1998

UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPECIAL SESSION DEVOTED TO COUNTERING THE WORLD DRUG PROBLEM TOGETHER:

HEADLINES

• World leaders at UN drug summit call for balanced global and national strategies to combat drugs.
• Secretary-General tells leaders assembled for special session to find common ground in fight against drugs.
• General Assembly President says States must implement -- not only adopt -- anti-drug plans.
• Head of United Nations drugs control programme says he is satisfied with opening of conference on narcotics.

  OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

• Security Council endorses position of its five permanent members on Indian, Pakistani nuclear tests; speakers call for nuclear disarmament.
• Secretary-General deplores excessive use of force by Serbian police in Kosovo.
• Secretary-General reports that more humanitarian supplies reach Iraq, but improvements are still needed.
• United Nations evacuates international staff from Eritrea as conflict continues with Ethiopia.
• Deputy Secretary-General says there can be no sustainable development without peace in Africa.
• Two United Nations personnel are injured as landmine in Georgia damages their vehicle.
• United Nations Environment Programme calls for rapid action to deal with toxic wastes in Paraguay.
• International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda takes steps to speed up its work.
• United Nations Secretary-General extends condolences to Nigeria on sudden death of General Sani Abacha.

Presidents, prime ministers and senior ministers from more than 150 countries are taking part in a three-day special session of the UN General Assembly on the world drug problem. Issues on the agenda include judicial cooperation, amphetamine-type stimulants, precursors, demand reduction, money laundering, eradication of illicit crops and alternative development.

United States President Bill Clinton announced an International Drug Fellowship Program to enable professionals from around the world to come to the United States to work with its drug-fighting agencies. He said the fellowship will focus on the special session's priorities and help nations teach and learn from one another, while building a global network of skilled and experienced drug crusaders.

President Clinton said drugs are every nation's problem and every nation must act to fight them. He added that he intended to request over $17 billion for next year's anti-drug budget, with nearly $6 billion devoted to demand reduction. The strategy was to cut American drug use and access by half over the next 10 years, through strengthened law enforcement, tougher interdiction, improved treatment and expanded prevention efforts.

The President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo, called for unprecedented cooperation effort, based on a new strategy that is global, comprehensive and balanced. He said demand reduction should be seen as a public health issue as well as a problem of social behaviour and values, to be faced with medical educational, training and cultural programmes.

The United Nations should help each country elaborate a plan of action with concrete and verifiable targets, he continued. It should also help them adhere to the commitments made at the special session and to implement adequate legislation against money laundering and drug related crimes. The UN, he said, should periodically and objectively assess progress in each country.

A number of speakers stressed the importance of alternative development and crop replacement. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said crop replacement agreements with legitimate local governments should also heed the concerns and suggestions of trade unions, farmers's associations and human rights organizations. New international synergies must be created, he said, to provide credible, effective markets for alternative crops.

Mr. Prodi said national strategies can only work within a framework of international cooperation based on a globally concerted approach. The United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) must have adequate resources, he said, and called on other countries to help put it on a more solid financial ground.

The President of Bolivia, Hugo Banzer Suarez, said he was resolved to extricate his country from the drug-trafficking circuit within five years. Bolivia's national drug strategy is based on alternative development, prevention, eradication and interdiction, he said. The goal is to provide opportunities for a decent life for 35,000 families linked to the coca- cocaine circuit; eradicate an estimated 30,000 hectares of illegal coca plantations; combat those who deal in and profit from illegal drugs and give new opportunities to users. The Government was using dialogue and consultation with farmers who produce coca-leaf.

The President of France, Jacques Chirac, said the counter attack against drugs must be on every front and no country could fight the drug menace alone. Bilateral and multilateral funding must be mobilized to help producing countries follow the path of truly alternative development. And coherent region-wide programmes were needed.

Drug addicts needed to hear more than language about crime prevention, President Chirac said. They must be shown a way to change their lives, enter society and forge new social and emotional ties. There must also be firmness at home and abroad by the judiciary, the police and customs services while respecting individual rights.

The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, John Prescott, said the United Kingdom and the European Union learned that tackling drugs successfully meant looking at a whole range of social problems, covering housing, unemployment, poverty, crime and family life. Success is not just about eradicating crime but also about giving people a fresh chance.

He said a European-wide intelligence network -- known as Europol -- will shortly come into being. The European Union has also established partnerships with countries in Latin American, the Caribbean, Central Asia and Eastern and Central Europe.

Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori said conditions in his country were immensely favourable for launching an alternative crop substitution programme, but the Government lacked sufficient resources. Debt servicing restricted the capacity of producing countries to consolidate the process of crop substitution.

He said a significant portion of the annual debt service obligations could be earmarked for specific programmes and activities to facilitate a global strategy to fight illicit drug trafficking. This type of investment by creditor States would be in keeping with the principle of solidarity and shared responsibility.

The President of Colombia, Ernesto Samper Pizano, said that his country's story needed to be told to ensure "what happened to us does not happen to other countries of the world". Drug money, he continued, penetrated the economy, took over honest business, contaminated politics and corrupted values. Judges, journalists, presidential candidates, mayors and more than 3,000 police fell victim to terrorism. And drug money had financed various forms of violence beginning with guerilla and private justice groups, he said.

Yet, he continued, no other country has done so much with spending to combat drugs at over $1 billion a year, equivalent to 21 per cent of the costs of providing education for all children. Drug trafficking, he said, is a market with supply and demand, and only by actively working against all the links of production, distribution, and use of narcotics will definitive ways be found to get rid of the drug problem.

The Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Hubert Ingraham said although his country was not a producer, manufacturer, or major consumer of drugs, it had not been spared the calamity of the drug trade. The country of 700 islands, which was located conveniently between the major producer and consumer markets, had become a favoured route for the movement of drugs in the Americas.

A massive counter-offensive campaign by the Government and its neighbours is an example of what international cooperation can do to counter the drug trade, Mr. Ingraham said. The Bahamas spent nearly 15 per cent of its national budget on law enforcement matters, largely because of its drug efforts. It has extended its interdiction efforts and drug intelligence sharing with Cuba. Such sharing is critical and must be accelerated he said.

The President of Afghanistan, Burhanuddin Rabbani, said there was a symmetry between the extraordinary increase in drug production and the rise of the Taliban. In total defiance of all international norms and standards, the Taliban, had openly levied a "tax" on the cultivation and export of poppy, he added.

He said he was astonished and dismayed at the "aberration by a major UN agency which had entered into an agreement with a mercenary group, given such a privilege is reserved for a sovereign State." Concluding a contract with this group and allocating and transferring money to it, he said, will lead to an illusion of its legitimacy.

The Secretary-General urged leaders assembled for the General Assembly's twentieth special session to adopt a ground-breaking draft political declaration, which he described as unprecedented.

"The ground-breaking declaration on the guiding principles of demand reduction creates a balanced approach which, for the first time, addresses the responsibility of nations where consumption is a problem as well as that of nations where production is a problem."

During preparations for the special session, the second ever convened by the General Assembly on the world drug problem, governments prepared action plans on stemming the flow of stimulants and their precursors; judicial cooperation; combating money laundering; and collaborating on eradication and alternative development. Targets are set for each area. By 2008, for example, each country must make real progress in eliminating or reducing significantly crops of opium poppy, coca and cannabis.

"These are not easy challenges to meet," said the Secretary-General. "There will always be those who are ready to throw in the towel, but we must never give in to the human toll illegal drugs are taking on our societies." Noting that there were 21 million abusers of cocaine and heroin and 30 million who abuse amphetamine-type stimulants, the Secretary-General said, þwe cannot ease their suffering, or that of their loved ones, unless we fight this.

The Secretary-General termed the target date of 2003 for all States to enact legislation covering money laundering as "long overdue." The International Monetary Fund estimates that 2 to 5 per cent of the world's gross domestic product comes from laundered money.

"Young people need their leaders to take action, together, to counter the production, trafficking and abuse of illegal drugs," said Mr. Annan. "Over more than 30 years in the United Nations system, I have learned that when we pull together from all corners of the world to try to solve a problem, we will almost always succeed. Let this be one of those occasions."

Hosting a luncheon for the visiting leaders, the Secretary-General likened the gathering to a family crisis meeting. "It has come about because we, the family of nations, know we must take action together against something which is threatening our youth and our future."

Mr. Udovenko said the illegal drug trade posed a deadly threat to the world in the next century. He said the estimated $400-billion narcotics trade was capable of tainting or destabilizing global financial markets. "Even more dangerous, drugs are tearing apart societies, spawning crime, spreading diseases such as AIDS, and killing youth - the most vulnerable part and the future of our societies."

On the other hand, he said that recent trends offered an unprecedented opportunity to make real progress towards achieving the ultimate goal of a drug-free world. Among those was the more cooperative climate for dealing with global issues, including the blurring of previous policy differences between producing and consuming nations. At the same time, years of drug control activities had identified the know-how and technologies that promised success.

The General Assembly President warned against complacency, stating that "the drug problem cannot be wished away by good intentions and the international community must be prepared for a long and gruelling fight."

He endorsed the three main draft documents before the special session: the draft political declaration, the draft declaration on the guiding principles of drug demand reduction and the draft action plan on international cooperation on the eradication of illicit drug crops and alternative development. "But we will certainly have failed in the eyes of the world if we do not work as hard on implementing these declarations and intentions as we did on drafting them," said Mr. Udovenko.

Addressing the press on Monday, Under Secretary-General Pino Arlacchi said that all the presidents and prime ministers who addressed the session were very supportive of his Office's two pillars in the strategy to fighting drugs. These two pillars are demand reduction and the eradication of the cultivation of plants used in the production of drugs.

Mr. Arlacchi echoed the Secretary-General's statement that it was unique in the United Nations history to achieve, in one year, the level of consensus among Members States on a world strategy against drugs.

Mr. Arlacchi stressed that the United Nations has no monopoly of the knowledge on this global problem. "We are open to every idea from every field," he added. He also pointed out that a non-governmental event was running parallel to the three-day special session of the General Assembly. That event, he said, includes non-governmental organizations which advocate legalization and demand reduction of drugs.

However, Mr. Arlacchi added, the fact that the United Nations is listening and is reflecting the position of the international community does not imply that it endorses legalization.

By its resolution, the Council expressed its firm conviction that the international regime on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons should be maintained and consolidated. It recalled that in accordance with the NPT, India and Pakistan cannot have the status of a nuclear- weapon State.

"Today for the first time, this sacrosanct institution is being used to confer legitimacy upon the nuclear five," said Pakistan's Ambassador, Ahmad Kamal. He said the "mere mention of the root cause -- Kashmir -- is not enough."

The Council resolution encouraged India and Pakistan to find mutually acceptable solutions that address the root causes of tensions between them, including Kashmir.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the resolution's call for a resumption of bilateral talks between India and Pakistan. "I will continue my own efforts to encourage this dialogue, in the hope that it will reduce tension and the danger of an escalation into a nuclear arms race," he said.

Council members and other States took the occasion to draw conclusions about the broader issues of non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament.

"Deplorable though these countries' actions may be, a wake-up call has most definitely been sounded," said Kenyan Ambassador Njuguna Mahugu. He threw the ball in the court of the nuclear-weapon States, saying, "the rest of us expect them to take seriously their responsibility to finally remove the threat of nuclear weapons".

Baboucar-Blaise Jagne of the Gambia said that nuclear non- proliferation would largely depend on the equal treatment of States. "Having one set of rules for some and another for others cannot be justified," he said.

Iran's Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi, said that the failure to take action on nuclear disarmament, as well as the "unpopular insistence on the part of the nuclear-weapon States to remain on the same course," were among the reasons contributing to the present situation.

"It is not enough to stem the flow; we must also turn the tide," said Sweden's Ambassador, Hans Dahlgren. He said the five nuclear-weapon States bore a particular responsibility for the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction.

Speaking for the Russian Federation, the country's Ambassador, Sergey Lavrov, expressed hope that his country and the United States would soon reach a new phase of negotiations that would result in lowering the number of their nuclear warheads.

The Brazilian Ambassador noted that the Rio Group of States was calling for immediate negotiations on nuclear disarmament. And Canada's Ambassador, Robert Fowler, said the future credibility of the non- proliferation process depended not only on Pakistan and India, "but also on the good faith performance of the nuclear-weapon States." He called on those countries to make progress in reducing their nuclear weapons.

The "foot-dragging" by the nuclear weapon States in implementing their commitments with regard to nuclear disarmament stood in contrast to the international desire for the renunciation of such weapons, according to Egypt's Ambassador, Nabil Elaraby. Further, it may prompt other countries to seek the same advantages as the nuclear-weapon States, he said.

In his latest report on the implementation of an arms embargo imposed by the Security Council on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including Kosovo, the Secretary-General says that the situation in Kosovo has continued to remain tense. "Almost daily violent clashes have occurred along the borders with Albania and in other parts of Kosovo," according to the report.

Mr. Kofi Annan says that the intensity of the conflict significantly increased in recent days as a result of a major Serbian police offensive operation in the south-western part of Kosovo adjacent to the Albanian border. "The most recent reports indicate extremely heavy fighting between the Serbian police and armed groups believed to be KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army), resulting in the loss of lives."

The Secretary-General adds that the Serbian forces used heavy weaponry, including mortars and possibly artillery, with several villages being burnt and destroyed in the town of Decani. "The latest fighting represents a worrying trend," says the Secretary-General, warning that the further escalation of hostilities may get out of control and draw neighbouring states into the conflict.

The Secretary-General says that the increased number of acts of violence on both sides and the heavy presence of the Serbian police, including special police units and military forces, have generated insecurity among the local population. He adds that according to some estimates, more than 42,000 persons, including Kosovo Albanians and ethnic Serbs were displaced by the end of May.

The Secretary-General says he strongly supports the efforts of those committed to peaceful means to end the conflict in Kosovo. He urged the parties concerned to continue the negotiations started in Pristina on 22 May in order to lower tensions and stop the spread of violence.

The Secretary-General commends the efforts by regional and other organizations, coalitions of States and individual Governments aimed at achieving a political solution in Kosovo.

Ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo region are seeking more autonomy from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The report shows a general increase in the range and volume of humanitarian supplies reaching Iraq, but supplies continue to be erratic. The Secretary- General expresses concern that the full "food basket" was only delivered once to the Iraqi people, and calls for further coordination between the Government and the United Nations to ensure that humanitarian aid applications are processed in order of priority.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan also expresses serious concern that a recent survey carried out by the Iraqi Ministry of Health, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) showed "no measurable difference" in the nutritional status of children under five compared with the previous year. Over 30 per cent of all children in that age group were found to be suffering from chronic malnutrition, 3.1 per cent from acute malnutrition, and 15 per cent were underweight.

The Secretary-General recently approved a new humanitarian aid distribution plan which aims to tackle the serious problem of child malnourishment in Iraq.

There is positive news in the medical sector, with more drugs arriving in Iraq's three northern governorates, according to the report. However, the Secretary-General also notes that health centres, which have to respond to a disproportionate share of emergency cases, are not always fully staffed or supplied. "To date, observers have reported that most items were not available in adequate quantities, so that patients were left either without prescribed medicines or, worse, received only part of the recommended treatment."

Serious problems also prevail in the water and sanitation sector, according to the report. "The very poor condition of the water network, which suffers from frequent breaks and leaks, especially in southern Iraq, can result in contamination after disinfection of the water, which reduces the efficiency of the service."

Although supplies are arriving more quickly in the education sector, shortages remain serious, the Secretary-General reports. Supplies such as school furniture and textbooks are falling far short of needs, and the report warns that school desks and textbooks may not be available for distribution at the start of the next school year.

According to a United Nations spokesman, the international staff members were taken to Djibouti on Saturday. A small group of eight international staff remains in Asmara, the spokesman said.

The security situation in Eritrea has deteriorated as the country's forces battle with Ethiopian troops over a disputed territory.

Addressing the thirty-fourth Summit of Heads of State of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Monday, Ms. Fr‚chette said that the delay in implementing the arrangements for resolving some of the long-standing conflicts on the continent continues to be of serious concern. "We wish to seize this opportunity to once again urge all those engaged in peace processes to redouble their efforts and live up to their commitments."

The Deputy-Secretary-General said that the eruption of conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea has become a matter of "grave concern" and that the United Nations Secretary-General has repeatedly called for maximum restraint between the two neighbouring States.

She recalled that the Secretary General's report on Africa contains several recommendations on ways to enhance the collective capacity to prevent future conflicts which have and continue to cause African people "so much suffering." She identified disarmament as a major deterrence of conflicts on the continent. "Weapons in themselves do not cause war," she said. However, she added, an excess of arms breeds the suspicion and mistrust that can heighten tension and lead to violent conflict.

Therefore, Ms. Frech‚tte pointed out, the United Nations applauds the signing of the Pelindaba Treaty establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Africa as a great achievement in the field of disarmament. "All the more so as recent events in Asia suddenly revived the spectre of nuclear terror," the Deputy Secretary-General said, referring to the recent nuclear testing by India and Pakistan.

Ms. Fr‚chette said she also welcomes and supports, as the Secretary- General has done on numerous occasions, the "excellent" initiative undertaken by Mali to propose a subregional moratorium on small arms. She said the initiative, which has been endorsed by the grouping of west African nations "is of the highest relevance to preventive diplomacy."

She also said that African nations could further reduce the risk of armed conflict by committing themselves to cuts in defence spending. "I call on all OAU members to adopt the Secretary-General's proposal to limit defence spending to 1.5 per cent of GDP" adding that the measure would yield the added benefit of freeing up additional resources for development.

A United Nations spokesman said that the injured personnel were a military observer and an interpreter. Both have been evacuated and are in stable condition. Three others escaped with no injury, the spokesman said.

The United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia is monitoring a ceasefire between the Abkhaz forces who have sought to separate from Georgia, and Georgian forces. The fighting in Abkhazia broke out in 1992 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

UNEP was reacting to a review conducted at the request of the Government of Paraguay by a team of French technical experts.

Of particular concern is the current risk of flooding in the port area, which could lead to the contamination of the Paraguay river and downstream areas.

"As with the recent forest fires in Indonesia and Brazil, this toxic waste crisis demonstrates how human actions and natural events can combine in unexpected and negative ways," said Klaus T”pfer, Executive Director of UNEP. "We must do everything possible to ensure the safe handling and destruction of these dangerous and unwanted wastes," he said.

The expert team examined the contents of the drums to determine their toxicity. Their interim report proposes a number of specific technical solutions to minimize the environmental effects of the toxic waste site.

The new amendments include a decision that will allow judges to deal with judgement and sentencing procedures together rather than separately.

In order to improve legal assistance to suspects and accused persons, the judges decided that only counsels who have at least 10 years of relevant experience can be assigned to indigent suspects or accused persons.

The new procedures provide for conferences before the presentation of evidence in order to allow Judges to shorten their examination of some of the witnesses, or to reduce the number of witnesses to be called to prove the same facts.

The judges will have more control over the interrogation of witnesses so as to make the interrogations and presentations more effective and to avoid needless delays. The session also adopted measures which will enable the admission into evidence of written testimonies of expert witnesses.

The Judges also amended the Rules to ensure better support for witnesses, including physical and psychological rehabilitation, especially counselling in cases of rape and sexual assault. They decided to outline a gender- sensitive approach to victims and witnesses in relation to protective and support measures.

The changes were made by agreement of a plenary session comprising the six judges of the two trial chambers in Arusha and five judges of the appeals chamber in The Hague. Also participating were the Prosecutor and the Registrar of the Tribunal, who presented proposals for amendments in their respective areas.

In a statement issued by his Spokesman on Monday, the Secretary- General recalled the contribution made by Nigeria under General Abacha to ending the civil war in Liberia and to restoring the democratically elected government of Sierra Leone.

"At this crucial juncture, the Secretary-General looks forward to a peaceful and democratic future for the Nigerian people," the statement said.

According to reports, General Abacha suddenly died of a heart attack in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, on Monday.

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

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