United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-07-13

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 13 June, 1998

HEADLINES

• Security Council establishes UN observer mission to Sierra Leone.
• Security Council condemns 1994-96 massacres, calls on Governments in Kinshasa and Kigali to investigate.
• Security Council calls on Israel not to expand jurisdiction and planning boundaries of Jerusalem.
• One million Afghanis in urgent need of food, UN food agencies report.
• Secretary-General calls for two-month extension of MINURSO for completion of voter identification.
• Head of UN disarmament says disarming civilians in Albania must be linked with development incentives.
• Security Council members reiterate deep concern over situation in Guinea- Bissau.
• Secretary-General commends Brazil for commitment to peace- keeping and leadership in disarmament.
• Battle over definition of key terms marks last week of debate at Rome Conference on International Criminal Court.

The United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) will monitor the military situation, disarmament efforts and respect for international humanitarian law in that country. It will consist of up to 70 military observers, accompanied by a small medical unit and civilian support staff.

In approving UNOMSIL for an initial period of six months, the Security Council expressed its grave concern "at the loss of life and immense suffering undergone by the people of Sierra Leone, including refugees and displaced persons, as a result of continuing rebel attacks."

UNOMSIL is the seventeenth on-going United Nations Peace-keeping operation. Peak deployment of peace-keeping troops was reached in July 1993 when 78, 744 troops were deployed at a cost of more than $ 3 billion. The current peace-keeping budget stands at less than $ 1 billion, for a total deployment of 15, 000 troops.

In a presidential statement issued late Monday the Security Council also called on the Governments of both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda to investigate without delay the allegations found in the report of the Secretary-General's Investigative Team to that region.

That report contained the Secretary-General's assessment that the 1994 genocide in Rwanda "led directly to the violence of the 1994-1996 period in eastern Zaire." "That same violence," the Secretary-General continued, "resulted in the creation, in September 1996, of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo (AFDL), and its successful military campaign against the regime of President Mobutu Sese Seko."

The report, dated 29 June 1998, details the extensive violence that took place in various parts of eastern Zaire, especially in the provinces bordering Rwanda.

In its summary, the Investigative Team noted the "the Democratic Republic of the Congo has shown no interest in fulfilling its obligation, under international law, to investigate responsibility for the serious violations of human rights."

The Security Council expressed its support for the issue of Jerusalem being covered in the permanent status negotiations between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Government of Israel, in accordance with the 1993 Declaration of Principles. This agreement was signed by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Washington, D.C., on 13 September 1993.

The Security Council also called upon the parties "to avoid actions which might prejudice the outcome of these negotiations," and expressed hope that the negotiations can resume and progress can be made "toward the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace."

Speaking to reporters outside the Council chambers, the Permanent Observer of Palestine Mr. Nasser Al-Kidwa said the Security Council's measure "was a good step forward." Asked if he thought the Security Council's statement was an instance of UN "micro-management" of the peace talks, Mr. Al-Kidwa said that "on the contrary, it is macro, macro- management."

The Permanent Representative of Israel Ambassador Dore Gold said that under the Oslo Agreement, Jerusalem remained "clearly under Israel's jurisdiction, " although it was subject to the permanent status negotiations. He added that "Israel remains committed to preserve and protect Jerusalem, for all its residents."

Experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) said this year's harvest would be the best in twenty years, according to a WFP press release. Yet severe problems remain, especially in terms of food distribution.

"Mine-clearing has to take place, there are areas where there is still warfare, there a problems with roads," said Peggy Polk, an information officer with WFP in Rome, in an interview with UN Radio.

Supply routes blocked by conflict and harsh winter conditions have prevented food surpluses in the north from reaching the heavily populated area around the capital, Kabul, as well as other regions of the country.

WFP plans to supply more than 100,000 tonnes of food to what the agency refers to as `vulnerable groups'. "Many of them are women," Ms. Polk explained, "women who head households, people who were wounded during the war, orphans, displaced people, the sick, the elderly and victims of natural disaster."

In a report released on Monday, the Secretary-General stated that substantial progress has been made in identifying applicants for the referendum. The total number identified to vote in the referendum is reported at 135,667. Eligible voters will be choosing between independence and integration with Morocco.

Noting one major exception to the progress made in identifying potential voters, the Secretary-General pointed to three Saharan tribal groupings who are listed in the last population count in the area, conducted by the former Spanish administration in the territory in 1974.

The question of identifying applicants from the three tribal groupings remains unresolved because of major differences between the parties.

The report states that the substantial increase in the pace of voter identification should enable MINURSO to finish identifying applicants from all Saharan tribes, except for the three controversial groups, by the end of August.

"My mission felt very clearly that a buy-back programme was not going to be feasible for a number of reasons," said Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala at a press briefing. Mr. Dhanapala mentioned that apart from the economic costs of such an approach, his team felt that civilians should not be rewarded for having illegal weapons.

Mr. Dhanapala and five colleagues from the United Nations visited Albania in June, at the request of the Government, to develop a programme to reduce the number of small arms held by civilians in that country. Details of the programme are outlined in a report that was made available on Monday.

Mr. Dhanapala's team reached its conclusions by considering the level of economic development in Albania, and the high percentage of youth unemployment. Development incentives to the civilian population would include job training programmes for the unemployed.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is ready to begin a pilot project, said Mr. Dhanapala.

Mr. Kofi Annan, in a speech at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Brasilia, said "Brazil has been a firm and loyal friend" of the United Nations. Brazil has often ranked as a major contributor of UN peace- keeping troops.

The Secretary-General's speech one of the activities on the first day of his 11-day official visit to five Latin American countries. Monday morning's activities included a meeting with the President of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

The President of Brazil also signed the Instruments of Ratification for Brazil's adherence to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Treaty on the Nuclear Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Ratification of these international agreements is an important step toward bringing them into force.

Reading a statement to reporters outside the Council chambers, Security Council President Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said members were especially concerned about the impact of fighting on the civilian population.

"Members of the Council call upon the parties to engage in a meaningful and constructive dialogue," Ambassador Lavrov said, "and urge all parties to allow the unimpeded delivery of emergency aid."

Other issues discussed by the Security Council on Monday included the upcoming elections in Cambodia and the killing of three peace-keepers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.) on Sunday.

"The members of the Council express their indignation at the terrorist act, " the Security Council President said. Five C.I.S. peace- keepers were killed and three were wounded in Georgia when a remote- controlled bomb exploded while they were out on a regular patrol. The peace-keepers were not part of a United Nations operations there.

One debate centres on the issue of how aggression would be defined in the Court's statute.

The first international war crimes tribunal, at Nuremberg, held aggression to be the "supreme crime". But at the current conference in Rome aggression is not included in a working paper on crimes that would be tried by the new permanent court. The paper, which was authored by the chief negotiators, states that aggression can only be added as a crime if a definition can be agreed on by the end of the day on Monday.

Other subjects being debated include the jurisdiction of the Court and the roles of the Security Council. A number of permanent Council members, including the United States, say the Court should in no way limit the authority of the Security Council. The United States is also arguing in favour giving the court jurisdiction over genocide, but not war crimes.

" Not all war crimes are necessarily very serious, much less atrocities," said United states representative David Scheffer in an interview with UN Radio. "An individual instance of looting or unlawful detention can be a grave breach of the Geneva Convention, but isolated instances even of an extreme nature do not rise to the level of serious international concern," Mr. Scheffer said.

The Secretary-General has urged delegates to resolve their differences to create "a court that is strong and independent enough to carry out its task."

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

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