United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-07-16

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 16 July, 1998

HEADLINES

• Secretary-General recommends 350 more troops for UN mission in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
• Security Council approves monitors for court system in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• UN and other agencies warmly welcome temporary cease-fire over part of southern Sudan.
• UN and Government of Rwanda unable to reach agreement on new human rights presence in Rwanda.
• Lebanese armed elements fire mortar rounds near UNIFIL positions in Lebanon.
• Relationship between Security Council and International Criminal Court takes centre stage at Rome conference.
• Secretary-General, in Buenos Aires, commends Argentina for UN role.

He also recommended that UNPREDEP's mandate be extended for an additional six months.

"Recent developments in Kosovo have highlighted the danger of renewed violence in the area and the serious repercussions such violence could have upon the external and internal security of the Republic," the Secretary- General wrote in a report released on Thursday.

The majority of the new troops, according to the report, would be deployed at nine new permanently-manned observation posts in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, along the border with Kosovo (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) and Albania.

A reserve of two platoons of about 60 soldiers -- supported by a 35- member medical unit and three helicopters -- would perform limited ground and air patrolling duties, according to the Secretary-General's report.

Closed consultations among Security Council members and troop contributors were scheduled to take place on Thursday afternoon, said Fred Eckhard, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

The programme will be a part of the already established United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH). UNMIBH staff will be increased by 26 legal experts who will provide technical assistance for reform of the judicial system.

The Security Council, in a formal meeting, also requested that the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina cooperate fully with the court monitoring programme.

Security Council President Ambassador Sergey Lavrov, speaking to reporters outside the Council chambers, called the resolution "an endorsement of the Secretary-General's recommendation," as outlined in his report of 12 March.

UNMIBH's strength as of 31 May totaled 1,976 civilian police, three military support personnel, and 382 international civilian staff. One of its principal functions is to carry out law enforcement responsibilities, as set forth in the Dayton-Paris Agreement, through the United Nations International Police Task Force (UNIPTF).

The announcement came after the Government of Sudan joined the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) in declaring a cease-fire over the area.

In a written note issued at a press conference on Thursday in Khartoum, the UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Director of Resources and External Relations of the World Food Programme (WFP) stated that "it is expected that the cease-fire will immediately help stabilise displacement in Bahr Al Ghazal, which has been a major cause of the spiralling famine."

Mr. Martin Griffiths of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Mr. Tun Myat of WFP have been in the Sudan since 13 July to gain a better grasp of the current humanitarian crisis there. They noted with some concern "that the cease-fire does not cover all areas where there are humanitarian needs and which are affected by the conflict."

Their announcement echoed statements issued by WFP and UNICEF on Wednesday.

There are an estimated 700,000 people in need of emergency humanitarian assistance in the Bahr Al Ghazal area, including 14,000 children who are currently in UNICEF feeding centres.

Last week, the Executive Director of WFP, Catherine Bertini, had issued an appeal for the international community to help end the fighting in southern Sudan.

In a written statement issued in Geneva and Kigali, Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights announced her regret over its inability to reach an agreement with the Government of Rwanda.

"The United Nations must retain the mandate and the means to monitor the human rights situation in the country, " Mrs. Robinson said in the statement. Because the parties were not able to agree on the inclusion of human rights monitoring in the mandate, Mrs. Robinson continued, there would be no follow-on presence of her mission there and no human rights field operations after the end of July.

Asked by a reporter if this latest development means that the United Nations was losing control of what was going on in Africa, Fred Eckhard, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, replied that the United Nations does not "have responsibility for the whole continent."

"I don't think that there are any lessons to be drawn continent-wide from what just happened in Rwanda," Mr. Eckhard added. He pointed out that a United Nations panel on human rights is about to travel Algeria, for example.

The incident occurred at 05:00 hours on Thursday, when one mortar- round impacted five metres from a UN check-point north of Bra'shit. Another mortar-round exploded 100 metres from a nearby UN position, according to Fred Eckhard, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

"Although there were no injuries," Mr. Eckhard said, " a safety-zone around United Nations positions should be respected by both parties."

This announcement came after Security Council members on Wednesday expressed their serious concern over a recent incident in which two people were injured by two mortar-rounds fired by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) near UNIFIL positions.

India's chief delegate at the Rome Conference, Dilip Lahiri, said the Conference must not grant new powers to the Security Council. "It's one thing to have it under the UN Charter," Mr. Lahiri told UN Radio on Thursday, "but for me voluntarily to sign an agreement where I'm saying that these five countries will have a consent regime and that all others will be bound by what they say seems to me to be a fundamentally offensive position."

So far, the United Kingdom is the only permanent member of the Security Council to break ranks with the others over the issue of how much control the Security Council will have over the court's work.

While diplomats debate how the court would function, they agree that it should enjoy the widest possible support. On Wednesday, chief Unites States negotiator David Sheffer said it would be unrealistic to have a court that is not accepted by states. Mr. Lahiri said India shared this view. "We have to make a start," Mr. Lahiri said.

Other delegates remain concerned about a consensus that would create a weak court. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), for example, voiced its concern that a weak court would have a negative effect on humanitarian aid workers trying to help victims of conflict.

Drafting of the statute for the court is scheduled to finish on Friday.

"As a former UN peace-keeper myself," the Secretary-General said in Buenos Aires, "I have always felt a deep personal gratitude to your nation for offering so many of your brave men and women in uniform to serve the UN in our most sacred duty -- preventing armed conflict." Mr. Annan was delivering an address to the Argentine Council for International Relations.

He also praised Argentina's initiative on "White Helmets" -- a corps of volunteers in support of humanitarian missions.

"The need for effective humanitarian assistance has never been greater," Mr. Annan said, "a `White Helmets' corps can provide the dependability and professionalism."

On Thursday morning the Secretary-General had a meeting with Argentine president Carlos Menem and Foreign Minister Guido di Tella. Among the topics discussed was the follow-up conference to the Kyoto Protocol On Climate Change which will be hosted by Argentina this November.

The Secretary-General is scheduled to remain in Argentina, the third stop on his five-country Latin American visit, until Friday.

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

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