United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-12-04

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

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN

HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, December 4, 2002

ANNAN CALLS ON TIMORESE LEADERS TO RESTORE CALM

Considerable disturbances took place in Dili, Timor-Leste, during the daylight hours of December 4, with an estimated 600 individuals involved in violent demonstrations. These included some vandalism against Parliament offices, and the residence of the Prime Minister.

Some stores and international hotels were targets of arson and looting. While final figures for casualties are not yet available, we understand that at least one Timorese has been killed, while others, including a member of the Government and at least two police officers, have been injured and at least 20 people have been brought to hospitals.

Over 30 people have been detained as a result of the disturbances. As of the close of the day, the situation had once again become calm.

At the request of the Prime Minister, military peacekeepers from the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) have been deployed in Dili to assist the Timorese and international police in maintaining order in the capital.

In a statement, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the Timorese political leadership to pursue its efforts to restore calm. UNMISET will continue to proved support as required.

Ambassador Alfonso Valdivieso of Colombia, the current President of the Security Council, said in a press statement that "the Members of the Security Council endorsed the statement issued by the Secretary-General and call on all parties to show restrain and return to calm."

Shortly after the initial violence, Kamalesh Sharma, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative, visited the Timor Leste Parliament building, which had been damaged in the clashes. Sharma expressed his concern at the injuries and loss of life that took place at the Parliament building. He asked for the immediate deployment of peacekeeping and police forces around the Parliament and the principal Government administrative building, and said the UN Mission would assist the Timorese Government in maintaining peace and security.

UN WEAPONS EXPERTS INSPECT MORE SITES IN IRAQ

Dimitri Perricos, the leader of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) inspection team, briefed reporters today in Baghdad, Iraq, on his teams work by saying that they had inspected the Al-Mutanna site. This was the site where Iraq had had a chemical weapons (CW) warfare programme and thousands of CW shells and agents had been destroyed by the UN weapons inspectors in the past. The UNMOVIC team wanted to know if some shells containing mustard gas, which were left out at the site, were still stored there. Perricos said that the team had found the shells stored at the site.

Jacques Baute, the IAEA Iraq Action Team leader, said that his team had conducted an inspection at the Tuwaitha site run by the Iraqi Atomic Energy Agency. The team inspected several major areas at the site for about five hours in order to review changes that had taken place since December 1998.

Responding to another question on the practicality of increasing the number of weapons inspectors, Perricos said that we will be using a multiplicity of teams, utilizing multiple disciplines to conduct weapons inspection in the coming weeks.

The 11th quarterly report to Security Council from, Dr. Hans Blix, the Executive Director of UNMOVIC was issued today. Blix will present the report to the Council this Friday afternoon in closed consultations. In the report, Blix reports on UNMOVICs activities from September 1st to November 30th. Blix says that the first team of inspectors already in Iraq is to be followed by additional groups of inspectors drawn from the Commissions roster of trained experts. UNMOVIC expects to have around 100 inspectors plus support staff in Iraq by the end of December.

Asked about the details of the handover of the Iraqi declaration expected this weekend, the Spokesman said he understood that Iraqi officials would hand their declaration at some point on Saturday to both IAEA and UNMOVIC officials with an extra copy for the Security Council, as pursuant to Resolution 1441.

When asked about the exact details of how the documents would be transferred to New York and distributed to Security Council members, the Spokesman said he could not elaborate on the transfer to the Council and added that the format of the Iraqi submission would have to be taken into account. The Spokesman went on to say that he hoped that by Friday most of these details could be released to journalists in time for the weekend.

Asked about reports from the White House calling for the UN inspectors to be more active and aggressive, the Spokesman said the heads of both UNMOVIC and IAEA, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei have instructed their inspectors to be as active as possible. The number of inspectors, the Spokesman added, would increase as weeks go by, allowing them to be more active. As for being more aggressive, the Spokesman said, that both Blix and ElBaradei had given instructions to their staff on how to behave and they were pleased with their actions on the ground.

UN AGENCY PROTESTS TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS IN GAZA IMPOSED BY ISRAEL

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) today lodged a formal protest with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a new travel restriction imposed on international staff in the Gaza Strip.

The Agency has been informed that, as of December 4, vehicles entering Israel from Gaza must carry two or more staff members travelling together. Single occupancy vehicles, with the exception of a small number of high-ranking diplomats, are banned from crossing into Israel until further notice.

UNRWA, which has a team of only three international staff drivers for the whole of the West Bank and Gaza, will find its operations severely curtailed by this order.

Even its diplomatic pouch will be prevented from leaving Gaza without two drivers, while simple staff meetings and other basic communications between its operations in the West Bank and Gaza will be greatly impeded.

Asked about the Israeli decision, the Spokesman said these measures taken apparently for security reasons conflict directly with the humanitarian work that UNRWA is trying to do and that is why the protest had been filed. The Spokesman added that these measures apply not only to UNRWA but to all UN staff operating in the area.

SECURITY COUNCIL DECIDES TO INCREASE SIZE OF UN MISSION IN DRC

Security Council members met this morning to consider three draft resolutions: on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sierra Leone sanctions and the "oil-for-food" program for Iraq.

The Council suspended consultations after discussions on the DRC and a briefing by the Chairman of the Sierra Leone Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser of Mexico, and held two back-to-back formal meetings to vote on those two resolutions.

On the DRC, the Council voted unanimously to endorse the Secretary-Generals recommendations in his latest special report, in particular the new concept of operations for the UN mission in that country. The resolution authorizes the expansion of the mission to up to 8,700 military personnel. The council also authorizes the funding of quick impact projects by the UN mission. In the resolution, the Council also expresses its deep concern over the humanitarian situation in throughout the country, particularly in the Ituri region in the northeast of the country.

Then, Council members voted 15-0 that measures to prohibit the direct or indirect import of all rough diamonds from Sierra Leone will remain in force for another six months. Rough diamonds controlled by the Government of Sierra Leone under the Certificate of Origin regime shall continue to be exempt from these measures.

The Council, in closed consultations, was also briefed on the latest developments in Timor Leste has also been added.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS BURUNDI, IRAQ'S OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAM

At 3:30 p.m., the Security Council has scheduled a public meeting with South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma on Burundi. Zuma, in his capacity as Facilitator of the Peace Process in Burundi, has scheduled a press briefing immediately after the Council meeting.

The Security Council is then scheduled to resume closed consultations on Iraq's "oil-for-food" programme following the meeting on Burundi.

UN MISSION IN DRC RECEIVES SECURITY GUARANTEES IN NORTH EAST

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reports that the Secretary-Generals Special Representative in that country, Amos Namanga Ngongi, received from the leader of the Union of the Congolese Patriots, Thomas Lubanga, security guarantees concerning non-government organizations working in Ituri area, in the northeastern part of the DRC.

Ngongi stressed the need for the humanitarian community to be allowed access to the populations in need of humanitarian assistance in order to bring them the assistance.

UN SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE GAMBARI LEAVES ANGOLA

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Mission in Angola (UNMA), Ibrahim Gambari, left Luanda for New York on Tuesday.

While Gambari is expected to visit Luanda, Angola, regularly as a non-resident Representative of the Secretary-General until the expiration of the Mission's mandate in February 2003, the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, Erick de Mul, has been designated as Deputy Special Representative and Officer-in Charge of the UN mission.

Prior to his departure, Gambari told reporters that the peace process under the Lusaka protocol is now completed and peace in Angola is now a fact. The major challenges faced by Angola were humanitarian and developmental, he said, adding that was why it is appropriate that Erick de Mul will be taking over as Officer in Charge from this point on.

REPORT CITES CHALLENGES FOR PROTECTING CIVILIANS IN ARMED CONFLICT

The Secretary-Generals third report to the Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, which was issued today, focuses on challenges that occur during the transitional phase from conflict to peace, and stresses the importance of protecting civilians throughout that process.

The report examines three emerging challenges for the protection of civilians: the sexual exploitation of civilians in conflict, including by UN and other humanitarian personnel; the commercial exploitation of conflicts; and terrorism.

The report notes that the United Nations is working to ensure that the design of peacekeeping and relief operations incorporates protection measures for groups vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

On terrorism, it says that terrorism must be condemned without reservation, but warns that the targeting of civilians and the disproportionate use of force beyond legitimate military objectives are violations of international humanitarian law and must be strongly condemned. The United Nations will need to formulate clear guidelines for its future work on protecting civilians in armed conflict where terrorist organizations are active.

NANE ANNAN VISITS U.S. CITIES TO RAISE HIV/AIDS AWARENESS

Today and Thursday, Nane Annan, the Secretary-Generals wife, will be visiting the cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul and Chicago to raise awareness about the global HIV/AIDS crisis.

This visit is being sponsored by the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Association/USA and is in support of the UN Foundation's and Ad Council's "Apathy is Lethal" national public service campaign.

While in Minneapolis and Chicago, Mrs. Annan will meet with local community leaders, tour children's hospitals and speak at public events in order to engage these communities and their leadership in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Asked about responses from Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders to the Secretary-Generals proposals, the Spokesman said that as of the briefing no responses had been received. Asked to respond to public comments made by various Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot officials concerning the plan, the Spokesman said he would not respond to public comments adding that there was a mechanism in place and the Secretary-General was waiting for official responses.

The Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights dealing with the independence of judges and lawyers, Dato Param Cumaraswamy, today expressed his grave concern over the deterioration of the rule of law in Swaziland, following comments by that countrys prime minister that his Government does not intends to recognize two judgements by its Court of Appeal. The Special Rapporteur criticized the failure of the Government to honor decisions of its courts, and urged the Government to respect the judgments of its Court of Appeal.

The World Health Organization said today that Friday will mark the end of a 30-year campaign to eliminate river blindness as a public health threat to West Africa. At the beginning of the campaign in 1974, as much as 10 percent of the population in high impact regions were completely blind and 30 percent had severe visual handicaps. Hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of river-valley had been abandoned at an economic loss of $30 million a year. Now after almost 30 years of vector control and public health management, the fertile river valleys are now free of the parasite that causes river blindness and fit once again for human habitation.

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