United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-07-21

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Tuesday, 21 July, 1998

HEADLINES

• Security Council members and Secretary-General condemn killing of four UNMOT staff in Tajikistan.
• Security Council authorizes increased troop strength and extends mandate of UNPREDEP.
• Secretary-General welcomes announcement that Nigeria will move toward democratic civilian rule.
• Security Council members express serious concern at humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
• UN representative for human rights in Cambodia condemns attack on election staff officials.
• As visit in Guatemala continues, Secretary-General is "deeply disturbed" by attack on army chaplain there.
• New Head of WHO, in address to staff, calls for greater focus in agency's work.

Preliminary reports indicated that they were ambushed and ruthlessly executed, according to a statement by Fred Eckhard, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

The four were on patrol in the Garm area of north-central Tajikistan but failed to report back on Monday evening. An UNMOT search team found them off a road the next morning, 50 metres down a hill.

In a statement read to reporters outside the Council chambers, Security Council President Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation said members also called on the Government of Tajikistan to finalize their investigation as soon as possible.

"The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms this act of cold- blooded murder," said Mr. Eckhard. He said Mr. Annan called upon the Government of Tajikistan and the United Tajik Opposition "to make every effort to bring o justice those responsible for this heinous act.

In previous statement, the Secretary-General had expressed his sincerest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the victims.

The Department of Peace-keeping Operations was notifying the next of kin on Tuesday. The patrol was composed of two military observers - - Major Ryszard Szewczyk of Poland and Major Adolfo Sharpegue of Uruguay -- as well as Akino Yutaka, a Japanese civil affairs officer, and Jourajon Mahramov, a Tajik interpreter.

All UNMOT staff have been recalled to the capital city of Dushanbe by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Tajikistan, Mr. Jan Kubis.

UNMOT's composition as of 30 June 1998 consisted of 81 military observers and two police, assisted by international and local civilian staff. All UNMOT personnel are unarmed.

By this action, UNPREDEP troops were increased to a maximum level of 1,050.

In a unanimous decision, the Security Council authorized UNPREDEP to continue to deter threats and prevent clashes in that country, and to monitor the border areas.

Recalling its arms embargo to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including the Kosovo region, the Council also authorized UNPREDEP to report to the Secretary-General "any developments which could pose a threat to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia."

Speaking before the vote, Ambassador Nancy Soderberg of the United States said that "the current crisis in Kosovo reinforces the need for the increase in, and extension of, UNPREDEP's current mandate."

"The Secretary-General reiterated the United Nations' readiness to assist in the electoral process," according to Fred Eckhard, the Spokesman for Mr. Annan. Mr Eckhard said he also welcomed the release of political prisoners and urged that any remaining political prisoners be released without delay.

"Recent developments represent an opportunity to break with the past and usher in a new era of civilian, democratic rule", said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, in a related statement released late Monday in Geneva.

"Nigeria's authorities have an opportunity to embark on a process of transition achieved through broad consultation and full respect for human fundamental rights and freedoms," Mrs. Robinson said.

She also said that her office stood ready to assist Nigeria in its transition, and expressed her hope that the Government of that country would welcome a visit by Soli Sorabjee, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation in Nigeria.

The majority of international humanitarian workers have left Kabul in the last few days, according to briefing notes made available by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday.

Council members also condemned the murder of an employee of the UNHCR and an employee of the World Food Programme (WFP), both of which took place last week in Jalalabad, according to UNHCR.

"This brutal incident illustrates once again the risks that have become inherent in aid work in conflict situations," says UNHCR in its briefing note, adding that the situation for aid workers in Afghanistan has become "even more difficult."

In a statement read by Security Council President Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation, Council members "condemned the measures taken recently by the Taliban authorities" which make it impossible for most Non- Govermental Organizations (NGOs) to continue their work in Kabul.

"The withdrawal of international NGOs from Kabul and the suspension of their assistance programmes will have a detrimental effect on 400,000 people," according to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Fred Eckhard. Mr. Eckhard said those people have depended directly on NGOs for food, medicines and basic services.

United Nations agencies and the International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC) will continue to operate in Kabul, said Mr. Eckhard. This year the United Nations has a $ 157 million humanitarian assistance programme for Afghanistan, a war-afflicted country that has the highest rates of infant, childhood and maternal mortality in Asia.

The incident, which is being investigated by the Cambodia office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, took place in Anlong Veng on 17 July.

The officials were transporting boxes and ballots for the 26 July elections at the time of the attack, according to a statement released on Tuesday by the Special Representative for the Secretary-General on Human Rights in Cambodia, Thomas Hammarberg.

Initial reports indicated that the attack was organized by a group belonging to one of the Khmer Rouge factions. According to the statement, Mr. Hammarberg's office would also investigate reports of "plans by the Khmer Rouge to disrupt the electoral process through the use of violence in the areas where they continue to operate."

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a statement released on Tuesday, encouraged "the Cambodian people to vote freely according to their own conscience." Mr. Annan expressed the hope "that the democratic aspirations of the Cambodian people can be fully realized through the holding of truly free and fair elections."

The Secretary-General, who was continuing his official visit to Guatemala, associated himself "with the feeling of consternation this criminal act has sparked," according to a press release issued by the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA).

The attack on Monsignor Sebastiano Crestani was carried out on Monday afternoon outside the San Juan de Borromeo church in Guatemala City, and was condemned in the "strongest terms" by MINUGUA.

On Monday, the Secretary-General had arrived in Guatemala to resume his visit to Latin America. Mr. Annan had met with President Alvaro Arzu and reviewed the process of the implementation of the Guatemala peace accords.

According to Spokesman Fred Eckhard, the Secretary-General had also inquired about the current investigation concerning the murder of Archbishop Juan Gerardi Conedera. President Arzu had said that no effort was being spared to bring to light the truth about that horrible incident.

On Monday evening, the Secretary-General had also been honoured with the Order of Quetzal, the highest recognition bestowed in Guatemala. His programme for Tuesday included a meeting with the Peace Cabinet and with the Archbishop of Guatemala.

"What we do here in Geneva and in the Regional Offices matters very little if it does not lead to a difference on the ground," Dr. Bruntland said in an address to WHO staff. "It matters only if in the end children get better access to care," said Dr. Bruntland, who is the former Prime Minister of Norway.

The Director General singled out AIDS, polio, malaria and tuberculosis as areas in which the agency should specialize. Other public health problems WHO should focus on, she said, are tobacco, ageing populations and "the all too often neglected burden of mental illness."

In outlining her programme for reform, Dr. Bruntland explained that all of WHO's programmes and activities had been grouped in clusters, each of which should be "sending a message of what business we are in." This reorientation of WHO was not an effort at downsizing the agency, she said.

Fundraising efforts and staff mobility were among the other issues highlighted by Dr. Bruntland.

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

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