United Nations Daily Highlights, 06-06-07

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, June 7, 2006

SECRETARY-GENERAL STANDS BY STATEMENT FROM DEPUTY

Asked about criticisms by U.S. Ambassador John Bolton about a speech delivered on Tuesday by Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General stands by his Deputys statement and agrees with the thrust of it. In response to questions about Ambassador Boltons request that the Secretary-General repudiate the speech, the Spokesman said the Secretary-General saw no reason to take any action.

Dujarric said in response to questions that everyone should read the speech in full. He contended that it was not an anti-US speech, but rather one that argued for greater U.S. engagement in the United Nations, since it says that the United Nations cannot work without U.S. engagement and leadership and UN reform cannot happen without the United States.

He hoped that, once everyone had read the speech, they would understand it as a call for greater U.S. commitment, as well as cooperation by the Group of 77 in UN reform efforts, so that the reform process will move forward.

Asked about the thrust of the speech, the Spokesman said that it is first and foremost a warning about the impending crisis the United Nations is facing due to the deadlock over UN reform and the budget cap, which poses longer-term risks to the UN's ability to deal with urgent global challenges.

What the Secretary-General wants, he said, is a United Nations that is better equipped to deal with the complex emergencies it must face. The way to do that, he added, is the reform process, which is stalled.

The Secretary-General, the Spokesman said, believes that the Membership need to work together on the reform effort to achieve their goals. At present, he said, the management reform effort has gotten bogged down in questions that are not about reforming the United Nations. The debate, the Spokesman said, had now become about power and who, amongst the membership holds it. It is also clear, he said, that the United Nations needs strong U.S. involvement and commitment to function effectively.

Asked whether the Secretary-General believes the U.S. commitment has been insufficient, the Spokesman said that what is needed is continued and sustained commitment from the United States, as it has received from this administration on a number of issues. What is needed, he said, is for the reform process to work; currently, it is in crisis.

Asked about the speechs reference to how the United States keeps Middle America in the dark about the United Nations, the Spokesman acknowledged that the United Nations itself could do a better job of highlighting the work that it does. But Member States, he added, also have a role in keeping the public informed about the UNs work.

Asked whether Malloch Brown violated UN rules by making political references to Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, the Spokesman said he did not see either Limbaugh or Fox as political entities.

Asked about the reference to Fox News, the Spokesman denied that it was a criticism, but rather an observation. He noted that Malloch Brown has in the past praised Fox for its aggressive reporting, which has brought a number of issues to the forefront for further action.

Dujarric disputed the idea that the speech took issue with only one side, saying that it included criticism of Democratic as well as Republican Administrations, as well as criticism of the Group of 77 coalition of States, just as much as the United States, for the current deadlock

Asked about complimentary comments in the speech that were made about former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the Spokesman said that the speech also praises current Secretary Condoleezza Rice's leadership and talks about the "wide number of areas" the United States is engaged very constructively with the United Nations, from Lebanon to Afghanistan.

The Spokesman noted that the Deputy Secretary-General was speaking to an American audience and used terms directed to that audience.

Asked whether Malloch Brown would speak with Ambassador Bolton, the Spokesman said he was not aware whether a conversation would take place. He later told reporters that Malloch Brown would talk to reporters at 2:45 p.m. today.

Asked about the circumstances behind the speech, the Spokesman said it had been a long-standing engagement for the Deputy Secretary-General.

Asked whether the Secretary-General knew about the speech that his Deputy would make, the Spokesman said he was aware that Malloch Brown would make it, but noted that it is the Deputy Secretary-Generals speech.

Asked to respond to Ambassador Boltons comment that the speech was the biggest mistake by a UN official since 1989, the Spokesman disputed that the speech was a mistake.

Asked whether Mark Malloch Brown was aligned with the U.S. Democratic Party, the Spokesman disagreed, saying the Deputy Secretary-General is not aligned with any one political party, and is an international civil servant. He noted that UN officials routinely speak at the functions of many political parties.

Asked about the Secretary-Generals knowledge of Middle America, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General has made a number of trips throughout the United States, not simply to the two coasts, and was himself educated for some time in the Midwest.

ANNAN WELCOMES MYANMAR'S DECISION TO RELEASE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER

Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomes the release yesterday of Ms. Su Su Nway, who had been imprisoned in Myanmar since October 2005.

The Secretary-General urges the Myanmar authorities to follow up this measure with further action that will alleviate the political atmosphere and promote national reconciliation, including the lifting of remaining restrictions on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders.

SECURITY COUNCIL AND PEACEKEEPING ASSESSMENT MISSIONS

MEET WITH AFRICAN UNION IN ADDIS ABABA

The Security Council mission led by British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, today, where it met with representatives of the African Union (AU).

Meanwhile, also in Addis Ababa today is the mission led by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno to assess the requirements for a possible transition from the African Union to the United Nations in Darfur. Today, the Guehenno mission met with the leadership and staff of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The Security Council mission and the Guehenno mission were meeting in Addis Ababa.

TIMOR-LESTE: NOT A TIME FOR DESPAIR

The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste, Ian Martin, today left the capital Dili after a nine-day visit to assess the situation around the country.

Martin told reporters that he would convey the Secretary-Generals message that the current situation in Timor-Leste "is not a time for despair"but a time for the people and leaders of Timor-Leste as well as a time for the international community to act together.

He reaffirmed the United Nations commitment to assisting the people and Government of Timor-Leste through the current crisis and beyond the immediate need to restore security.

Martin and Timor-Leste Foreign Minister Ramos Horta will be here this week to brief the Secretary-General and next week to the Security Council.

Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that it is preparing a flash appeal for Timor-Leste because of the worsening humanitarian situation there.

The World Food Programme (WFP) today announced that it will provide food aid to 100,000 displaced people over the next six months. WFP is currently providing highly fortified biscuits to 6,000 children and pregnant women in camps in and around the capital, Dili.

Asked about comments from Ramos Horta about whether the United Nations would send a police force to Timor-Leste, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General is keen to hear from Ian Martin, who would also brief the Security Council as it decides on the future UN posture in the country.

What is clear to the Secretary-General, Dujarric said, is that the UN presence will have to be increased, so that it can help to stabilize the situation and rebuild what was destroyed in the recent violence.

Asked about comments from Special Representative Sukehiro Hasegawa that it had been a mistake to pull out UN forces from Timor-Leste so quickly, the Spokesman said that the focus in the weeks and months ahead would be on how the international community can best help the Timorese people as they move to rebuild what had been destroyed.

Asked about an investigation into killings near the UN compound in Dili, the Spokesman said the United Nations was keen to get to the bottom of it, and would cooperate with any investigation by the Timorese Government.

U.N. TRIBUNAL CHIEFS ARE CONCERNED BY LEVELS OF COOPERATION

FOR BRINGING FUGITIVES TO JUSTICE

The Security Council today heard from the Presidents and Chief Prosecutors of both the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

The ICTY and ICTR officials reported to the Council on the measures taken and the challenges they face in fulfilling their completion strategies. In her report to the council, ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said speeding up proceedings remained a top priority of her office and she reiterated her call for concerned States to cooperate fully with her investigations.

Prosecutor Hassan Jallow of the ICTR, for his part, reported that the Tribunal continued to faces challenges and non-cooperation in arresting the 18 indicted fugitives while his office was able to reliably confirm the current location of some of them. He said he was confident that the ICTR can conclude the cases of all those currently in detention by the 2008 deadline of the Completion strategy.

LIBERIA: U.N. MISSION REPORTS ON PROBE INTO SEX ABUSE ALLEGATIONS

The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has released an update on ongoing investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct by UNMIL staff.

After preliminary investigation, three of the cases were found to be unsubstantiated and closed due to lack of evidence. Preliminary investigations were completed in another 24 cases, of which 16 were found to be substantiated. Investigations are on-going in the other 18 cases.

Disciplinary action has been taken by UN Headquarters in six of the 2005 cases involving UNMIL personnel. For the remaining cases if substantiated, disciplinary action will be taken at the conclusion of the case review.

Asked whether countries would be named and shamed for abuses committed by their peacekeepers, the Spokesman noted that the United Nations has in the past named countries involved in sexual exploitation allegations, particularly when the countries have taken action against offenders.

Asked about action taken today in the Netherlands against a man found guilty of violating the UN arms embargo on Liberia, the Spokesman said that the United Nations welcomes it when Member States take up the responsibility of prosecuting such violations.

GLOBAL COMPACT LAUNCHED IN NIGERIA

The Secretary-General has sent a message to the official launch of the Global Compact in Nigeria, taking place in Abuja today. In it, he says we have a shared duty to do all we can to shape globalization so that it spreads prosperity far more broadly among the populations of less developed countries.

Meanwhile, the Global Compact office eports on the new Peace through Commerce program, which was developed by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business with Global Compact support. The program's aim is to raise awareness of corporate citizenship and the role of business for peace in leading business schools in the United States and other countries.

PALESTINIANS NEED MORE FINANCIAL SUPPORT

The Secretary-General, in a report to the General Assembly and Economic and Social Council, says that significant financial support from the international community will be needed to avoid further degradations in the quality of life within the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The report, which is out on the racks today, says that Israel is strongly encouraged to resume payments to the Palestinian Authority through an appropriate mechanism, while the Palestinian Authority should comply with the three conditions set down by the Quartet.

HAITI: U.N. MISSION REJECTS FALSE ALLEGATIONS SURROUNDING

DEATH OF CANADIAN PEACEKEEPER

The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) responded today to recent media reports concerning the death of Canadian police officer Marc Bourque.

According to the MINUSTAH statement, on 20 December 2005, Bourque was shot by gunmen in Port-au-Prince and died shortly afterwards from his wounds, in spite of medical assistance provided to him at the scene of the shooting by two Jordanian doctors and a Jordanian nurse.

When the car Marc Bourque was driving came under fire, in the Cité Soleil area of Haiti, a Jordanian Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) drove into position to protect it. But the gun fire continued from another position, hitting Bourque.

In spite of every attempt to save Marc Bourques life by the hospital staff, he died as a result of massive blood loss from the artery in his leg, which was severed by the bullet that struck him and by metal fragments from the door of the car he was driving.

The entire episode occurred with the space of 40 minutes, from the moment his car came under fire to the moment he arrived at the hospital.

This painful tragedy, which devastated Marc Bourques family, friends and colleagues, has been revisited in the past few days by a Canadian magazine, which alleges that the Jordanian military did nothing to help Marc Bourque as he lay wounded at the scene of the shooting.|

MINUSTAH rejects as unacceptable the false allegations and loose conclusions that have been made and drawn in recent days by professional media in Canada. These current and inaccurate media reports have served only to slander the Jordanian Battalion and further distress Marc Bourques family, friends and colleagues.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNAN ENCOURAGES IRANIAN PRESIDENT TO CAREFULLY VIEW EUROPEAN PROPOSALS: Asked about developments in Iran, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General is hopeful that the Iranians will take the time to view the proposals presented by European Union High Representative Javier Solana carefully. He noted, in response to a further question, that the Secretary-General had spoken to the Iranian President and encouraged him to consider the package fully.

PUBLIC INFORMATION CHIEFS TRIP TO MOSCOW NOTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY: The Spokesman disputed the premise of a question implying that Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoors travel schedule helped any bid by him to become Secretary-General. Tharoors current trip to Moscow was for a media seminar on the Middle East, mandated by the General Assembly, which he and all Under-Secretaries-General in his job have attended since its inception.

SPOKESMAN HIGHLIGHTS ANNANS CALLS FOR SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM: Asked about the way in which the five permanent members of the Security Council had been selected, the Spokesman noted the Secretary-Generals call for the Security Council to be reformed so that its legitimacy can be increased.

ALL POLITICAL ACTORS SHOULD SUPPORT SOMALI TRANSITIONAL FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS: Asked about the United Nation's concerns about Somalia following the gains by an Islamist movement in Mogadishu, the Spokesman said that the key for the United Nations is for all political actors to support the Transitional Federal Institutions. He noted that Special Representative Francois Lonseny Fall was holding discussions with a number of Somali leaders.

ANTI-TERROR ACTION SHOULD RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS: Asked about the Council of Europes report on extraordinary renditions, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had not seen the report. He added that the Secretary-Generals message was that, in countering terrorism, one has to pay full respect for international human rights law.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162

Fax. 212-963-7055

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