United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-07-13

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Tuesday, 13 July, 1999

HEADLINES

• Secretary-General outlines comprehensive strategy for UN mission in Kosovo to restore shattered province.
• Head of Yugoslav war crimes tribunal says charges against Milosevic could be expanded.
• Security Council members back Secretary-General's decision on start of registration for ballot on East Timor's future.
• Ways to resolve African crises top agenda of Secretary-General's meetings at OAU summit in Algiers.
• Handover of political prisoners in Guinea-Bissau welcomed by Secretary- General as a step towards reconciliation.
• New head named for UN mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In a report released at UN Headquarters on Tuesday, the Secretary- General describes his concept for implementing the mandate of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) as "novel". Four international organizations and agencies will work together in one operation, under one leadership to create the normalcy under which all Kosovars can enjoy the benefits of democracy and self-governance, he says.

Under Mr. Annan's plan, the United Nations will be in charge of civil administration, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will head up humanitarian relief, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will lead institution building and the European Union will oversee reconstruction. As head of UNMIK, Bernard Kouchner, the Secretary- General's Special Representative, will be the highest-ranking international civilian official in Kosovo.

The Secretary-General's strategy for UNMIK envisions five integrated phases. First, the Mission will set up administrative structures, deploy international civilian police, provide emergency assistance for refugees, restore public services and train local police and judiciary. It will also develop a phased economic recovery plan and aim to establish a self- sustaining economy.

The second phase will focus on administration of social services and utilities and consolidation of the rule of law, says the report. Administration of such sectors as health and education could be transferred to local and possibly regional authorities. Preparations for elections will also begin.

During a third phase, UNMIK will prepare for the elections to what may be termed the Kosovo Transitional Authority and in the fourth phase help elected Kosovo representatives organize and establish provisional institutions for democratic and autonomous self-government.

A concluding fifth phase will depend on a final settlement. Under the Security Council resolution, which set up the international operations in Kosovo, UNMIK will oversee the transfer of authority to institutions established under a political settlement.

Describing the current situation on the ground, the Secretary- General notes that tensions remain high in some areas in Kosovo and expresses particular concern about the continued harassment of minority groups. He strongly encourages all ethnic communities and parties in Kosovo to show restraint and tolerance and cooperate fully with the international community.

On the humanitarian front, Mr. Annan says priority must be given to providing shelter and rebuilding damaged or destroyed homes before winter. Significant financial resources and personnel, including experts in various fields, will be required immediately, including money to pay the salaries of local public servants.

"If we are not able to meet this requirement, we will face a collapse of the public sector," the Secretary-General says, adding that this could have tremendous implications for social order and jeopardize the success of the mission.

Justice Arbour, who is on a two-day visit to alleged war crimes sites in Kosovo, was speaking at a news conference in Pristina. "There's every reason to believe that we will be in a position to expand on the charges that we have brought to date," she said.

In late May, the Tribunal indicted President Slobodan Milosevic and four senior Yugoslav officials with crimes against humanity, including murder and mass deportation of ethnic Albanians.

The Prosecutor said she expected the work of the forensic teams in Kosovo to continue until the fall. "It is absolutely critical that we try to preserve as much of the evidence that we cannot access immediately, and at the same time that we not get distracted from an investigative agenda that is focused and very well targeted, she said.

Arbour also pointed that the work of her office was clearing the ground for the Prosecutor of the future International Criminal Court.

After a briefing by the UN Secretariat on Mr. Annan's decision to delay the beginning of registration by three days because of security problems, Security Council members issued a press statement expressing concern that the security situation in East Timor as a whole remained serious. They were particularly concerned that the recent incidents in Maliana, Viqueque and Liquica had highlighted the larger problem of militia impunity.

Stressing that the Government of Indonesia had the responsibility to maintain security in East Timor, Council members welcomed the high- level visit by members of the Indonesian Cabinet to Dili on 12 July and the reaffirmation by the Government of its commitment to the full implementation of the Agreements on East Timor.

Council members called on the Indonesian authorities to make urgent progress in improving the security situation in East Timor to allow the consultation process to be implemented in peace and on time.

With the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea being among major concerns at the OAU summit, the Secretary-General and his Special Envoy, Mohamed Sahnoun, met today with Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and then with Eritrean President Isais Afwerki.

In a series of bilateral encounters, Mr. Annan met on Tuesday with several Heads of State from different regions of Africa, including President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.

Later in the day, the Secretary-General had a joint meeting on the Democratic Republic of the Congo involving President Sam Nujoma of Namibia, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and President Laurent-Desire Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as Salim Salim, the Secretary- General of the OAU.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata, who herself held discussions with several African leaders at the summit, stressed that peace and development were the only hope of resolving the continent's refugee crisis.

In her meetings with the presidents of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia, the High Commissioner urged them to renew their commitment to "Africa's neediest", its millions of refugees and displaced people, according to UNHCR.

In a statement released by his spokesman, the Secretary-General said that this development constituted "a resolute step" by the authorities towards national reconciliation and the restoration of the rule of law. The civil war that began in Guinea-Bissau in June 1998, ended last May with the overthrow of President Joao Bernardo Vieira.

Mr. Annan also said the handover was consistent with the spirit and the letter of the July 6 press statement of the Security Council, in which Council members urged the transitional authorities and civil society to uphold their commitment to the restoration of genuine and lasting peace and respect for the rule of law, including the release of political prisoners.

In another development, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported that the voluntary repatriation of refugees from Guinea-Bissau had begun with the departure of the first returnees from Dakar, Senegal, out of the 900 registered for the operation. UNHCR said it had rented buses and trucks to transfer the refugees to the port, and had chartered a vessel, which would make several rotations this week between Dakar and Bissau.

Mr. Klein, who will take up his post on 2 August, previously served as the United Nations Transitional Administrator for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium. Currently, he is the principal deputy or High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mr. Klein will succeed Elizabeth Rehn, who has headed UNMIBH since January 1998. The spokesman said during Ms. Rehn's term in office the sides have moved towards democratic and multi-ethnic policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The opening of police academies in both the Bosniac-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska with considerable minority representation is a tangible expression of the dynamic work done by the UN Mission under Ms. Rehn's leadership, the spokesman said.

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

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article