United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-03-12

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

BY

FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Friday, March 12, 2004

BLACK BOX TURNED OVER TO U.N. INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES

The black boxsent to UN Headquarters from Rwanda in 1994, and just discovered here the day before yesterday, has been turned over to Dileep Nair, the Under-Secretary-General for the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), who is inquiring into the circumstances in which senior officials were not informed that it had reached UN Headquarters.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), based in

Montreal, Canada, was consulted and has advised that the black box should be sent to an agency competent to read out its contents, in the presence of an ICAO monitor.

The arrangements required are under way, and the black box will be carried by hand for the read-out. When this is received by the United Nations, the next steps will be decided.

Asked whether the black box incident had damaged the credibility of the United Nations, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General yesterday recognized the seriousness of the situation, saying he was incredulous at the foul-up. The Secretary-General has taken the steps that are within his power to investigate the matter and find out why the information about the black box wasnt reported up the chain, as well as to turn the black box over to the appropriate authorities. In response to a question on Thursday on whether this was a case of obstruction, the Secretary-General told reporters that the UN Legal Office has been cooperating very effectively with the judge in France.

Asked who would examine the black box, the Spokesman said that the ICAO had given the United Nations a list of technically competent authorities. He added, in response to another question, that a black box could read the last 30 minutes of cockpit conversation, and, depending on any possible need for language interpretation, it should not, in theory, take long to transcribe.

He added that the Secretary-General would want this matter to be cleared up as quickly as possible.

Asked about what OIOS would do, the Spokesman said the Secretary-General had turned the matter of investigating how the black box was dealt with to OIOS. He noted that OIOS reports to the General Assembly, in an effort to make it as independent as possible.

Asked whether OIOS report on this matter would be made public, the Spokesman said that would be for Inspector-General Dileep Nair to decide. He noted that the majority of OIOS reports are made public.

The Spokesman said he would leave it to Nair to determine how the black box had been handled, who knew about it, and what the paper trail was. He noted that the United Nations had found a piece of paper in which the then-head of the Peacekeeping Departments Air Safety Unit said that the black box had been received at UN Headquarters. In that document, the black boxs appearance was described as pristine.

The official also wrote that he had sent out the serial number on the box to identify its origin, but had received no response. He was told that the cost of analyzing its contents would be $25,000.

Asked whether the United Nations had been in contact with the people who had dealt with the black box in 1994, the Spokesman said the two people had since left the United Nations. One of them, Roger Lambo, who headed the air operations for UNAMIR, the UN Mission in Rwanda, has been working for the ICAO, and the United Nations has been able to reach him.

Asked why the black box hadnt been found in 2000, when a French judge had talked to Lambo, the Spokesman said he believed there was never a formal request for the black box. Asked about a memorandum written by Michael Hourigan, the Spokesman added that there was never a formal request for that memorandum, either.

He noted that Hourigans memo had been given to OIOS, and was confidential. Eckhard added that a copy of that memo was made available to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which could show it to defense attorneys under certain circumstances; some of the attorneys had looked at it.

Asked why the Rwanda Tribunal had not investigated the downing of the plane carrying the Rwandan and Burundian Presidents, he said that was a judgment by then-Prosecutor Louise Arbour. He noted that UN peacekeepers had not had access to the plane crash site, with its soldiers blocked from the site by Rwandan Army troops. Eckhard also cautioned it was difficult to re-establish what took place 10 years ago.

Asked whether the Air Safety Unit had been under Kofi Annan 10 years ago, he said it had.

Asked about other details of the finding of the black box, he reiterated that it had been found in a filing cabinet at the Air Safety Unit of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, located across the street from UN Headquarters.

ANNAN OPENS MEETING WITH MINUTE OF SILENCE FOR MADRID ATTACK VICTIMS

Secretary-General Kofi Annan began a meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People by calling for a minute of silence in memory of those killed in yesterdays terrorist attacks in Madrid.

The Secretary-General reiterated his profound sympathy to King Juan Carlos and the Government and people of Spain.

The Secretary-General said this morning that the situation between the Palestinians and the Israelis remains extremely tense, with no discernible progress in peace efforts. At the same time, he told the Committeethe Israeli Prime Ministers announcement of a plan to evacuate the Gaza Strip settlements is encouraging, and he looks forward to seeing a timetable for that.

He added, An evacuation of Gaza Strip settlements should be seen as part of a broader process, an interim step that could revitalize stalled peace efforts, consistent with the Road Map.

U.N.ASSESSMENT MISSION CHIEF MEETS WITH

HAITIS INTERIM PRESIDENT

In Haiti, the integrated UN assessment mission began its first rounds of consultations yesterday following the arrival in the country of mission leader Hocine Medili.

Upon arrival in Port-au-Prince, Medili and his team conferred with UN Resident Coordinator Adama Guano and heads of UN agencies on the humanitarian situation.

This morning Medili met with Haiti's interim President, Boniface Alexandre. He had an earlier meeting with the new Chief of Haitian Police, Leon Charles. Today's schedule also includes meetings with representatives of the diplomatic community; the Head of the Special Mission of the Organization of American States, Mr. David Lee; and the Vice-Foreign Minister of Chile.

En route to Haiti from New York, Medili met in Miami with United States military authorities.

Asked whether Terje Roed Larsen would participate in a possible summit of the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers next week, the Spokesman said that neither Larsen nor anyone else in the UN Secretariat had been invited to participate.

On the humanitarian side, an inter-agency assessment mission went to Cap Haitien from Port au Prince via Gonaives on Wednesday and Thursday. The situation in Cap Haitien is calm and commercial activities appeared to have resumed. Markets along the road appear to be well stocked and no road blocks were encountered.

Following this mission, today the World Food Programme sent a first convoy with 10 metric tons of food to Cap Haitien

in order to distribute rations to schools. Next week a UN Inter-agency convoy (UNICEF, WFP and NGOs) is due to leave for Cap Haitien with food and medicines.

Also today a security assessment mission left Port au Prince to assess the road to the Dominican Republic. Most of the trade between the two countries takes place along this road. Within Port au Prince, the gradually improving security situation is allowing for greater assistance in the health area.

Asked whether the Caribbean Community had formally asked the United Nations for an investigation into the transfer of power in Haiti, the Spokesman said it had not.

INTENSIVE CONSULTATIONS BEGIN ON CYPRUS PLAN

At today's meeting of the two leaders in Cyprus, Special Adviser Alvaro de Soto indicated that he intended to begin a series of intensive consultations with each side separately.

De Soto informed the leaders that he believed this was the best way to facilitate forward movement on the core issues, given the difficulty of formulating in the direct format a package of trade-offs to improve the plan.

While this process is underway, there will not necessarily be daily meetings between the leaders. They will meet as necessary.

SECURITY COUNCIL ADOPTS THREE RESOLUTIONS ON AFRICA

The Security Council held back-to-back meetings to adopt three resolutions all unanimously, and all on Africa.

In the first meeting, the Security Council decided to extend the mandate of the UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea for six months until

15 September 2004

Then, in a resolution on Liberia, the Council decided to freeze without delay assets of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, his immediate family and close allies and associates in a move aimed at preventing them from using misappropriated funds and property to interfere in the restoration of peace and stability in Liberia and in the sub-region.

In addition, Council members adopted a resolution reinforcing the arms embargo against armed groups in the Kivus and Ituri in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It requests the UN Mission in the DR Congo to inspect the cargo of aircraft and of any transport vehicle in the region. It also establishes a Security Council committee to deal with the issue and requests the Secretary-General to name a four-member group of experts.

U.N. ENVOY CONDEMNS KOSOVO GRENADE ATTACK

ON PRESIDENT'S HOUSE

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Kosovo, Harri Holkeri, has condemned a grenade attack which occurred early today on the house of Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova. He described the attack as outrageous and cowardly.

UNMIK, the UN Mission in Kosovo, has briefed the President on the police investigation so far, and discussed security procedures to protect senior officials of the Kosovo government.

UNMIK takes this attack very seriously and will thoroughly investigate this and other extremist actions, which undermine security for the people of Kosovo.

ANTI-TERRORISM DECLARATION MADE IN VIENNA

A two-day counter-terrorism conference, organized by the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, ended in Vienna today with the adoption of a declaration reaffirming the need for a central role of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee in the global fight against terrorism.

The Vienna Declaration identifies seven areas of further counter-terrorism cooperation these include: greater coordination to meet the capacity-building needs of the member states, and an intensified encouragement to member states to ratify and implement anti-terrorism conventions and protocols.

The conference participants have agreed to hold a follow-up meeting on the Vienna Declaration within six months, and theyve accepted the invitation of the League of Arab States to host that meeting in Cairo.

THOUSANDS OF WEST AFRICAN REFUGEES STREAMING HOME

After years of civil war, thousands of West Africa's refugees are now streaming home through a recently-opened route between western

Liberia and southern Sierra Leone to embrace peace prospects in their homelands.

At a meeting on voluntary repatriation and sustainable reintegration in Africa earlier this week, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, identified

Liberia and Sierra Leone as two West African countries where large-scale refugee returns have been or could soon be taking place, in view of ongoing peace initiatives.

Meanwhile, after more than 30 years in exile, some 1,700 Eritrean refugees have left their camps in eastern Sudan and crossed back into their homeland in the biggest return convoy assisted by the UN refugee agency this year.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNAN TO RESPOND SOON TO REPORT ON AUGUST 19 ATTACK IN IRAQ: Asked when the Secretary-General would act in response to the accountability report regarding the August 19 bombings in

Iraq

, he said that a decision regarding the findings would come soon. The Spokesman was unaware of any requests to make the report public, except for a call from the UN staff union.

NO REQUEST FOR UN ROLE IN POLITICAL PROCESS RECEIVED: Asked whether the Iraqi Governing Council had submitted a request for a UN role in the political process, he said it had not.

ASSISTANCE PROVIDED TO REFUGEES IN MYANMAR: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says that it will begin providing assistance to improve basic services and infrastructure in areas in

Myanmar

where refugees may want to return from camps in neighboring Thailand. But UNHCR stresses that the current situation along the Myanmar-Thailand border is not conducive to refugee returns, and an acceptable settlement between Myanmars Government and insurgent groups is an essential prerequisite to refugee repatriation in the area.

SPECIAL ADVISER FOR AFRICA CONTINUES MISSION ON SUDAN PEACE PROCESS: Mohamed Sahnoun, the Secretary-Generals Special Adviser for Africa, discussed the Sudanese peace process in Asmara today with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Foreign Minister Said Abdullah. Sahnoun is currently in East Africa in support of the Sudanese peace process.

UNICEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO VISIT NORTH KOREA: Carol Bellamy, the executive director of UNICEF, the UN Childrens Fund, is on her way to Pyongyang for a three-day visit to North and South Korea. Bellamy is there to highlight results for children that are being achieved with UNICEF support in North Korea, as well as the challenges that remain.

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER CALLS FOR RELEASE OF AID WORKER: The acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, today appealed for the release of a Doctors without Borders worker who was abducted two years ago in the Russian

republic of Dagestan. Arjan Erkel, a Dutch national, is believed to be in ill health, and Ramcharan is asking all those who are in a position to obtain his release to do so expeditiously.

LIONS CLUB MEMBERS HOLD ANNUAL LIONS DAY AT U.N. HEADQUARTERS: Lions Club International members from around the world are meeting at UN Headquarters today for the 26th annual Lions Day with the United Nations, an event sponsored by the United Nations. The theme of this years program is Innovation..

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Monday, March 15

The 60th session of the Commission on Human Rights will open in Geneva.

The Commission on Narcotics Drugs meets in Vienna for its 47th session, between 15-22 March, for discussions on topics including the production, trafficking and abuse of synthetic drugs.

Tuesday, March 16

The Secretary-General will make opening remarks at the annual David Morse lecture at the Council on Foreign Relations, on the United Nations and global security in the 21st century.

The World Health Organization is convening a meeting of more than 100 health experts from 16 to 18 March in Geneva, to discuss preparations for the possibility of future human influenza pandemics.

Wednesday, March 17

The Security Council expects to hold consultations on Burundi.

The Secretary-General will make remarks at the public lectures series, which today features a lecture by Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa

on Gods World and World Politics.

Thursday, March 18

The Security Council intends to hold a formal meeting, followed by consultations, on the Middle East.

Friday, March 19

The Security Council expects to hold consultations on the UN Mission in Liberia.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162 - press/media only

Fax. 212-963-7055

All other inquiries to be addressed to (212)

963-4475 or by e-mail to: inquiries@un.org

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