United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-08-30

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 30 August, 1999

HEADLINES

• Hundreds of thousands of East Timorese flock to polls in UN- supervised autonomy ballot.
• Security Council members condemn violence against ethnic minorities in Kosovo.
• US Government "fully supports" UN mission in Kosovo, says newly appointed Ambassador.
• UN environment agency publishes new resource inventory to help countries find option to ozone-depleting pesticide.
• UN human rights panel concludes annual session in Geneva.

Despite persistent violence and intimidation in the days leading up to the vote, UN officials said over 90 per cent of the more than 450,000 registered voters had cast their ballots "in a calm and dignified manner" at the 200 polling stations throughout the territory.

The Secretary-General said the polling proceeded smoothly, a "testament to the determination and patience of the voters, despite some intimidation by militias outside some polling stations."

Sporadic incidents and threats of violence led to seven of the polling stations being closed for periods ranging from 30 minutes to three hours, UN officials said.

Despite the "deplorable" murder today of one East Timorese staff member with the UN mission, the Secretary-General paid tribute to the efforts of the Indonesian authorities and police, stressing that the role of the security forces will be even more important as the sealed ballot boxes are transported to the central counting station in Dili and the count begins.

"During this period, I call upon all East Timorese groups to exercise the utmost restraint and patience, to ensure that the will of the East Timorese people may be fully heard," he said. The results of the voting should be known in about a week.

On Sunday, the Secretary-General issued an appeal to all sides to respect the democratic process and urged that steps be taken to control the illegal activities of armed factions.

"Tomorrow's popular consultation is a unique opportunity to settle a long- running dispute by peaceful means," Mr. Annan said. "It is essential that the people of East Timor be able to vote in conditions free of intimidation and violence."

Later, East Timorese pro-autonomy and pro-independence forces pledged to lay down their weapons and conduct mutual visits to sites designated for arms storage. The Indonesian police, who under the agreement authorizing the autonomy vote have responsibility for maintaining peace, also agreed to provide security and to arrest those carrying weapons outside designated areas.

In a press statement, Council President Martin Andjaba of Namibia said the members reaffirmed their full support for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and its leader, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, and welcomed the steps already taken to implement the resolution (1244 of 10 June 1999) that set out the UN's mandate in the territory.

Council members urged UNMIK and KFOR to continue their efforts to ensure the resolution's full implementation and called on UN Members States to provide the UN Mission with the resources necessary to carry out its functions, Ambassador Andjaba said.

The Council was briefed earlier Monday by Assistant Secretary- General for Peace-Keeping Operations Hedi Annabi, who gave a comprehensive report on all aspects of UNMIK as well as the activities of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Speaking to reporters in Pristina on Sunday, Mr. Holbrooke highlighted the difficulty the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) must address when attempting to bring stability and democracy to an area where ethnic tensions have been long-present. "The damage here is less then in Bosnia but the complexity of dealing with the problems are in many ways deeper and the animosity may be deeper," he said.

Dr. Kouchner said even in the most troubled areas, such as Mitrovica, where large Serb and Albanian populations had led to high tensions and violence, the situation was improving. "Some days ago it was impossible to think that they would even be returning," he said. "Now they are getting back and they are being protected."

Today, Dr. Kouchner and UNMIK Police Commissioner Sven Frederikson took Mr. Holbrooke on a tour of the Ulpiana area -- a complex of buildings with an ethnically mixed population -- where there have been high incidents of harassment and crimes against ethnic minorities, particularly Serbs. UNMIK police have established an around-the-clock presence, allowing them to respond quickly to any complaints from residents.

The "Inventory of Technical and Institutional Resources for Promoting Methyl Bromide Alternatives" aims to help governments and international and national institutions involved in phasing out the pesticide to implement training and policy development activities.

According to UNEP, methyl bromide is an ozone-depleting substance that is used as a fumigant in agriculture, for pest control in structures and stored commodities and for quarantine treatments.

At its recently concluded annual session in Geneva, the Subcommission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights also adopted a resolution that expressed its "deepest consternation at the serious violations of key provisions of international human rights laws, general international law and humanitarian law" around the world, including the violation of rights of various ethnic or national groups in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The Subcommission also contended that the so-called duty and right of a country to carry out "humanitarian interventions," in particular by means of threats or use of force were "juridically totally unfounded" under current international law and were not justifications for violating the UN Charter.

In a month-long session which ended last Friday, the Subcommission adopted resolutions that targeted particular countries, including the Congo and Afghanistan. The Subcommission also specifically urged several countries to reconsider their decisions to withdraw from several international human rights treaties and covenants.

The Subcommission heard reports by experts on the link between globalization and increased incidents of racial discrimination, the effects of transnational corporations on the human rights of people in developing countries and human rights as the primary objective of international trade. There was also a preliminary report on terrorism and human rights, following which the members debated what constituted a terrorist or a terrorist act, and if human-rights violations could be committed, under international law, by "non-State actors."

The 26-member Subcommission, the principle subsidiary organ of the UN Commission on Human Rights, was created in 1947 to undertake studies and makes recommendations to the Commission. Its mandate includes keeping abreast of human rights trends and exploring important issues that have not received sufficient attention.

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

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