United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-08-28

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, 28 August, 1998

HEADLINES

• Security Council demands end to fighting and resumption of negotiations for political settlement in Afghanistan.
• Secretary-General says political crisis in Haiti is having a "corrosive effect" as police brutality persists.
• UNICEF responds with life-saving assistance for children in flood- stricken Bangladesh.
• Repatriation of refugees to Liberia is hampered by heavy rains, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
• United Nations refugee agency delivers humanitarian aid to western Kosovo province.
• United Nations World Food Programme welcomes Egypt's contribution to aid effort in southern Sudan.

In resolution 1193 (1998) unanimously adopted on Friday, the Council reiterated once again that any outside interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan should cease immediately. It called on all States to take resolute measures to prohibit their military personnel from planning and participating in military operations in Afghanistan and to immediately end the supply of arms and ammunition to all parties to the conflict.

The Security Council also called upon all States neighbouring Afghanistan and other States with influence in the country to intensify their efforts under the aegis of the United Nations to bring the parties to a negotiated settlement.

Condemning the attacks on the United Nations personnel in the Taliban-held territories of Afghanistan, the Security Council called on the Taliban to urgently investigate these "heinous crimes" and to keep the United Nations informed about the results of the investigation.

It demanded that all Afghan factions and, in particular the Taliban, do everything possible to assure the safety and freedom of movement of the personnel of the United Nations and other international and humanitarian personnel.

The Security Council condemned the capture of the Consulate-General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mazar-e-Sharif. It demanded that all parties and, in particular the Taliban, do everything possible to ensure safe and dignified passage out of Afghanistan of the personnel of the Consulate- General and other Iranian nationals missing in Afghanistan.

The Council urged all Afghan factions and, in particular the Taliban, to facilitate the work of the international humanitarian organizations and to ensure unimpeded access and adequate conditions for the delivery of aid by such organizations to all in need of it.

The Security Council appealed to all States, organizations and programmes of the United Nations system, specialized agencies and other international organizations to resume the provision of humanitarian assistance to all in need of it in Afghanistan as soon as the situation on the ground permits.

It reaffirmed that all parties to the conflict are bound to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and in particular, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and that persons who commit or order the commission of grave breaches of the Conventions are individually responsible for such breaches.

The Council requested the Secretary-General to continue investigations into alleged mass killings of prisoners of war and civilians. It also requested him to investigate ethnically-based forced displacement of large groups of the population and other forms of mass persecution in Afghanistan and to report to the General Assembly and the Security Council.

The Security Council urged the Afghan factions to put an end to the discrimination against girls and women and to other violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

The Council also demanded that the Afghan factions refrain from harbouring and training terrorists and their organizations and to halt illegal drug activities.

The report, which documents the work of the Organization of American States/United Nations International Civilian Mission in Haiti (MICIVIH), paints a picture of increased lawlessness and armed crime, a surge in drug trafficking as well as sporadic incidents of civil disturbance. In response, the Haitian National Police has tried to maintain discipline and sanction abuses, but "has resorted on occasion to heavy-handed tactics."

While complaints of inappropriate behaviour by off-duty police appear to have decreased, incidents of ill-treatment and brutality are reported all too regularly in some of the country's main police stations, according to the report. During the first five months of this year, MICIVIH received 150 reports of beatings of suspected criminals, many of which were corroborated through interviews and physical evidence. "These incidents marked a deterioration in the treatment of detainees in police custody," the Secretary-General writes. "They also showed the reluctance of some supervisors to assume their disciplinary responsibilities, or, worse, their tolerance and even condoning of such practices."

The Secretary-General expresses particular concern about cases of ill- treatment involving cigarette burns, simultaneous slaps on both ears which can damage the ear drums, blindfolding in interrogation and, in one case, a finger allegedly crushed with pliers. "The most serious case documented during this reporting period was that of a detainee allegedly severely beaten in the Cap-Ha‹tian police station who died at the door of the local prison where police left him after prison officials refused to take him in because of his condition."

A number of police have been suspended, dismissed and/or taken into custody on charges of involvement in drug trafficking, armed gangs and other crimes. Despite such actions, those responsible for extrajudicial executions, beatings and other forms of ill-treatment -- which in some cases resulted in death -- were not systematically punished, according to the report.

The Secretary-General points to a number of irregularities in the prison system, including the detention of individuals even after their sentences had expired. Further, only 19 per cent of all prisoners have been sentenced -- 626 people of a total prison population of 3,300. "In some prisons, appalling sanitary conditions, lack of out-of-cell time and severe deficiencies in the provision of medical treatment have put at risk the health of prisoners."

The Secretary-General concludes that the continuation of the political crisis will create a climate increasingly inimical to the development and consolidation of institutions charged with maintaining law and order and with guaranteeing respect for human rights and the rule of law. "In such a context, the observation, promotion and institution- building responsibilities of MICIVIH continue to be vital contributions to the efforts of the Haitian authorities to fight impunity, to hold State agents accountable for their actions and to reform and consolidate these key institutions."

UNICEF said on Friday that it was distributing supplies of Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and water purification tablets in response to the appeals from the Government of Bangladesh for international assistance to deal with problems caused by extensive floods.

UNICEF Spokesman Patrick McCormick told reporters in Geneva that the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh had treated over 4,000 patients suffering from diarrhoea.

He said that "ORS is a very simple and effective treatment. It costs eight cents a packet and saves 1.5 million children a year."

According to Mr. McCormick, diarrhoeal diseases are "a leading killer in developing countries, killing some 2.2 million people every year."

UNICEF said that the damage caused by this year's prolonged floods was very extensive in Bangladesh. "Forty-five out of sixty-four districts and over 24 million people have been affected with 360 deaths reported," he added. The deaths were caused by drowning, snake bites and diseases, the United Nations agency said.

The floods have also caused extensive damage to houses, agriculture, transportation networks and schools, according to UNICEF. "About 6,000 schools have been closed and over 5 million students affected," Mr. McCormick said.

"Over the past weeks, conditions have slowed the rate of return considerably as roads must be surveyed and approved before each convoy from Guinea and C“te d'Ivoire sets out," UNHCR Spokesman Kris Janowski told reporters in Geneva on Friday.

Some convoys, like one for 252 refugees planned from Ghana through C“te d'Ivoire, are likely to be postponed until October, when seasonal rains will have eased. So far UNHCR has repatriated over 80,000 of the 480,000 Liberians who had been residing mainly in Guinea and C“te d'Ivoire. As many as 198,000 are estimated to have returned spontaneously during the same period.

UNHCR is organizing a census next month to determine how many Liberians have gone home on their own, according to Mr. Janowski. The 80,000 former refugees have been brought home mainly on trucks and buses, but hundreds have repatriated from as far away as Nigeria by boat in a complex logistical operation.

The United Nations refugee agency recently revised its budget for the Liberian return and reintegration programme from $39.7 to $32.2 million. So far, UNHCR has received $18 million -- just over half of the needed funds.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the multi-agency eight-truck convoy which had been barred earlier by the Serb police went to the villages of Skivjane in Decane and Brolic in Pec. There were no reports of checkpoint problems, said UNHCR.

On Thursday, the same convoy was turned back by the Serb police at the Slatina checkpoint just outside Pristina. Later, the convoy received police authorization to proceed with the shipments on Friday.

The convoy is carrying food packages for 3,000 families. Each package, which is good for one month, contains pasta, rice, vegetable oil, sugar, and beans. The supplies also include 25 tonnes of wheat flour, 30 rolls of plastic sheeting and 120 wood-burning stoves.

The two consignments, valued at $400,000, comprise 80 tonnes of lentils, beans, vegetable oil and dried milk powder, plus various medical supplies.

As part of its ongoing airlift, WFP will start operating its seventh C-130 Hercules on Saturday, bringing the size of the fleet to 15 large aircraft. Funded by the United States, the plane will be used primarily by WFP to transport cargo for non-governmental organizations (NGOs). By using WFP's planes, NGOs can cut costs by one third.

Although WFP is in the midst of the largest humanitarian food airdrop operation in its history, Sudan's humanitarian situation remains severe. In the town of Wau, an alarming increase in death caused by bloody diarrhoea and hypothermia has recently claimed 238 lives. In response, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is rehabilitating hand-dug wells and has built 24 new pit latrines. NGOs are providing plastic sheeting to about 10, 000 households. Since the beginning of August, 1,330 people have died in and around Wau.

The WFP operation in Sudan requires $154 million. So far, the agency has received contributions valued at $128 million.

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

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