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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-08-01United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSThursday, August 1, 1996This document is prepared by the Central News Section of the Department of Public Information and is updated every week-day at approximately 6:00 PM. HEADLINES
UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has called upon the international community to provide financial support to meet urgent socio-economic programmes for the reconstruction and development process in Djibouti. In a report to the General Assembly on the Strengthening of the Coordination of Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Assistance of the United Nations, including Special Economic Assistance, the Secretary-General said the immediate need is for a rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged or destroyed social infrastructures in all regions of the country that have been affected by civil strife. Dr. Boutros-Ghali said difficulties and problems are related first and foremost to the conflicts in the Horn of Africa, which have created a large movement of displaced populations and reduced the country's revenue as a result of loss of trade and services. The Security Council,in response to a recent statement of Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qaddafi that he would undertake air travel despite the embargo imposed on Libya, requested the Libyan Government to reconsider its position on the matter in light of the fact that the Council's sanctions are still in force. The Council's statement, through its President, Ambassador Alain Dejammet of France, is in response to a letter to the Council, received from the Libyan leader in which he said that he can only travel from Libya to distant countries by air. "This is despite the fact that I am avoiding air travel as long as my people remain under an unjust and hostile siege. An aerial embargo has been maintained for a number of years, which has been unprecedented in the history of the world," the Libyan leader said. Impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations and the effects of extreme poverty on the enjoyment of human rights will be among the issues to be examined by the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities when it convenes its forty- eighth session in Geneva from 5 to 30 August. Established in 1947 to undertake studies and make recommendations to the Commission concerning the prevention of discrimination and the protection of national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, the Subcommission's work is often at the root of international standards for the protection of human rights. At the forefront of research into human rights issues, the Subcommission will also examine at this session country situations, taking into account texts it adopted last year concerning Burundi, Rwanda, Iran, the Middle East, Kosovo, the former Yugoslavia, the Palestinian and other Israeli- occupied Arab territories, Iraq and Colombia. Other issues to be taken up by the expert body at the forthcoming session include the health of women and children, the human rights of women, the elimination of racism and the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights. Discussions will also focus on the rights of indigenous populations and a set of basic principles and guidelines on the right to reparation for victims of gross human rights violations. The new Israeli Government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was going back on its commitments under the peace agreements, thus creating a very serious situation in the Middle East as a whole, the Observer for Palestine told the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Wednesday. Citing statements made by Mr. Netanyahu during his recent trip to the United States, the Observer for Palestine said the new Israeli Government did not support the principle of land for peace and appeared unwilling to negotiate the status of Jerusalem; did not preclude the possibility of building new settlements and sought a renegotiation of parts of the agreements on Hebron. Stressing that those and other positions violated the agreements, he called on the international community to send a strong message that the peace agreements must be implemented. In other developments, the Committee approved the draft programme for the UN International Non-Governmental Organisation Meeting and the European Non- Governmental Organisation Symposium on the Question of Palestine, to be held from 2 to 4 September at Geneva. In reviewing the matter, Committee Chairman Ibra Deguene Ka of Senegal said an earlier decision to hold the event in territory under the Palestinian Authority had been changed owing to the situation in the Palestinian territory as a result of Israeli measures in violation of the agreement between the two sides. For information purposes only - - not an official record From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgUnited Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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