United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-06-25

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, 25 June, 1999

HEADLINES

• Secretary-General forms "group of Friends" to consult on UN operations in Kosovo.
• Tensions run high between Albanian and Serb communities in Kosovo amid violence and lawlessness.
• Aid workers struggle to find shelter for tens of thousands of refugees flooding back to Kosovo.
• Security Council, Secretary-General voice deep concern over escalating tensions in southern Lebanon.
• Secretary-General challenges business to join UN in fight against AIDS.
• Security Council recommends two South Pacific island countries for United Nations membership.
• France and United Kingdom agree to earmark troops for rapid deployment in UN peacekeeping operations.
• Top UN human rights official "deeply shocked" at cruelty and violence against civilians in Sierra Leone.
• Central role of UN reaffirmed on International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
• Secretary-General calls on governments to fight use of torture. * UNHCR repatriates last of Guatemalan refugees from Mexico.

The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is leading the massive international effort to rebuild Kosovo into a functioning, democratic society.

Mr. Annan has invited 13 countries and three international organizations to come to New York next Wednesday. The provisional list of Friends includes Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the European Union (EU), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

In a preliminary report outlining UNMIK's structure and role, the Secretary- General said he would consult regularly with Governments and organizations that could help him implement the Security Council resolution authorizing the UN Mission.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General's two Special Envoys for the Balkans are attending meetings over the weekend as part of the international bid to find solutions to the fallout from the wars in the former Yugoslavia.

Special Envoy Eduard Kukan will chair a plenary on the future of the Balkans at the annual International Economic and Political Forum in Crans Montana, Switzerland. Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russia's Special Envoy for Kosovo and Jesse Jackson, the US Special Envoy for the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights, will also address the Forum.

Other speakers will include Kiro Gligorov, President of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; Montenegro's Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic; Slovenia's President Milan Kucan; Bosnia and Herzegovina's Presidium member Alija Izetbagovic; and Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova.

Carl Bildt, the Secretary-General's other Special Envoy is in Greece where he will participate in an international Seminar titled "Developing a Network of Young Leaders from Southeastern Europe".

Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Secretary-General's Acting Special Representative, who is in charge of setting up the UN operation in Kosovo, went to Mitrovica, where tensions are running high between the Albanian and Serb communities who live on the opposite sides of the river running through the town. A UN refugee agency team which went to Mitrovica on Thursday to open a regional office described the town as "a ticking time bomb".

Meanwhile, in Pristina, the stand-off between Serb and Albanian medical staff at the main city hospital deteriorated further on Friday when negotiations between the two sides under the auspices of the UN and KFOR broke off. UN staff described the atmosphere at the hospital as a microcosm of the problems and challenges elsewhere in the war-torn province.

According to KFOR, 247 Kalishnakov rifles and a similar number of pistols and knives have been seized in the hospital over the past few days. Serb doctors and staff have been confronting Albanian medical staff wanting their jobs back and there has also been violence among patients. A man brought in with a gunshot wound pulled a pistol on a person he claimed was his assailant, triggering an exchange of gunfire.

On the political front, Mr. Vieira de Mello is scheduled to meet in Pristina on Saturday with the four Albanian signatories of the Rambouillet accords, said the spokesman.

In a huge spontaneous movement, over 300,000 Kosovars have flooded into Kosovo in the last 10 days, with a record high of nearly 50,000 crossing back on Friday, according to the latest figures from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

But, even as returnees crossed into Kosovo from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonian, Serbian houses burned in Pec. According to UNHCR, it was unclear who was doing the burning -- the scores of Serbians leaving each day because they are afraid of an uncertain future or Kosovo Albanians seeking revenge.

Meanwhile, the aid convoy and relief operation is gathering momentum with dozens of trucks reaching those in need on a daily basis. UNHCR convoys from the Macedonian capital of Skopje carried blankets, mattresses, tents, plastic sheeting and hygienic kits to Pec, Pristina and Prizren.

In other developments, UNHCR announced on Friday that the humanitarian evacuation programme will be suspended at the end of June, with the exception of refugees in need of special medical care. Nearly 90,000 refugees were evacuated to 29 countries under the programme which began in early April to relieve the pressure caused by the flood of refugees into the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Under a repatriation plan, the first organized return of Kosovar refugees, initially to Pristina, Prizren and Urosevac, is scheduled to leave from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Monday.

In a press statement, Council President Ambassador Baboucarr-Blaise I. Jagne of Gambia said Council members called on both sides to immediately cease all hostilities and respect the Council's past resolutions on the situation.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Mr. Annan said that over the last three weeks, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has reported an apparent "slackening of control" on both sides over their personnel in south Lebanon, affecting both civilian populations and UNIFIL.

"Yesterday's direct attacks on civilian targets in several areas of Lebanon, and the rocket fire into northern Israel represent a serious escalation," Spokesman Fred Eckhard said. "That innocent civilians lost their lives is particularly deplorable."

Speaking in the Bank of England building in the heart of London's financial centre, the Secretary-General encouraged businesses to contribute money and to participate in other ways towards efforts to prevent and treat the spread of HIV in the developing world.

Drawing attention to the epidemic's impact on Africa, the Secretary- General said the disease had not only taken a terrible human toll, but had also devastated African economies by unravelling hard-won successes. "It is taking away both breadwinners and those who look after the young, the old and the infirm," the Secretary-General said. "It is destroying the very fabric of society."

The Secretary-General said businesses could play a vital role by providing a venue for HIV education and giving leadership within the wider community. He noted several examples in African countries of foreign companies working to educate people about HIV, guaranteeing benefits to employees with AIDS and supporting medical research and education efforts.

"Look to the global picture, realize the implications of this world epidemic and join in the effort to combat it," the Secretary-General urged. "Join forces with the many organizations which are in the forefront of the fight for survival."

The Council adopted without a vote a draft resolution on the Republic of Kiribati's application for membership.

By a vote of 14-0, with China abstaining, the Council also agreed to a separate draft resolution on the application of the Republic of Nauru.

The Ambassador of France, Alain Dejammet, and Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom signed the Memorandums of Understanding in a ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York.

Twenty-two other countries have signed the UN's stand-by arrangements, which allow for peacekeepers to be dispatched quickly to trouble spots around the world.

The High Commissioner called for an increase in the number of rights monitors in Sierra Leone and the creation of a human rights infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the Sierra Leone Government signed a "Human Rights Manifesto," on Thursday reaffirming its commitment to the "unwavering and non- discriminatory promotion of all human rights for present and future generations in Sierra Leone," said a spokesman.

According to the spokesman, the Manifesto also contains provisions on the establishment of an independent national human rights institution and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Through the Manifesto, the Government reiterates its commitment to raising the military recruitment age to 18 years.

The global implications and cross-border nature of drug abuse and illicit trafficking make the United Nations the most suitable instrument in the war against drugs, said Secretary-General Kofi Annan, marking the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which is observed on 26 June.

"We shall continue to join the efforts of those individuals, families, communities and States that are determined to put an end to the calamity of drug abuse," the Secretary-General said.

The head of the UN International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), Pino Arlacchi, said good progress has been made since last year's political breakthrough, which saw Governments agree for the first time to work together to address consumer demand by adopting targets and deadlines to reduce the illicit flow and abuse of drugs in the next decade.

"Already some of the largest consumer markets are seeing a drop in drug abuse because of the prevention and intervention programmes they have crafted," UNDCP Executive Director Arlacchi said. "We need to achieve the same around the world."

Meanwhile, in developments related to the International Day, UNDCP announced the launch of a $13 million programme to help Iran increase its ability to control the flow of illicit drugs, particularly along its borders. The programme will modernize Iran's drug laws, increase public awareness and set up projects to help with the effects of addiction.

In Afghanistan, UNDCP said despite an increase in poppy production this year, talks with the Taliban leadership have "scored good results" while a multi-agency-sponsored project to encourage alternatives to poppy cultivation has just begun.

Torture was still used as a weapon of intimidation in war time and as a tool of governance by those who could not rule with the confidence of their people, said the Secretary-General. "While it's too late to prevent torture from accompanying us into the new century, it is not too late to redouble our efforts to contain this menace," he said.

A sense of impunity has prevailed, but the world community was trying to fight back, said Mr. Annan. Indictments by the International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda sent the signal that no one, regardless of power or rank, could violate human rights and get away with it. He urged all nations to fully support the Tribunals and called for States to ratify the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court which defined torture as a crime against humanity and as a war crime. Contributions to the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture was another way for governments and others to demonstrate their support, he added.

Meanwhile, at a press conference at UN Headquarters, Elsa Stamatopoulou, from the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the message for this year's observance was that ending impunity was part of the healing process for victims of torture. She called for a recommitment to the fight against torture, as international norms against it already existed and the practice was clearly outlawed.

On Thursday, 167 refugees left the Mexican states of Quintana Roo, Campeche and Chiapas to return home, the final group of Guatemalans to go back with the help of UNHCR and of the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees. UNHCR has invested $28 million in repatriation and reintegration programmes for this group within Guatemala.

Around 45,000 Guatemalan refugees arrived in Mexico between 1982 and 1984, fleeing the civil conflict in their country, according to UNHCR.

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

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