United Nations Daily Highlights 96-09-24

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Tuesday, September 24, 1996

HEADLINES

• Sixteen States sign Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signaling end to nuclear arms race.
• United States is committed to paying off its accrued obligations to the United Nations soon, US President tells General Assembly.
• European Union says United Nations cannot be expected to stand alone in conflict prevention and maintenance of world peace.
• UN sanction mechanism needs to be modernised and damage caused by sanctions minimised, Russian Federation says.
• United Kingdom says least-developed countries should be granted tariff- free access to markets of developed world.
• Meeting of eminent persons should be convened to explore means of enhancing UN's preventive diplomacy capacity, Prime Minister of Japan tells General Assembly.
• Egypt says peace in the Middle East will not be comprehensive until a regime for regional security is established.
• Consideration should be given to problems raised by international traffic and trade in arms, Costa Rica says.
• UN Secretary-General addresses commemorative meeting of the Movement of the Non-Aligned Countries on 35th anniversary; says the underlying philosophy of non-alignment remains valid.
• UN Secretary-General meets with Expert on the Impact of Armed Conflicts on Children; expresses appreciation for her work.
• UN High Commissioner for Refugees excludes 20 Rwandans indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
• States adopt resolutions to strengthen international safeguards and global nuclear cooperation.
• International Bioethics Committee to discuss moral issues of genetic research.
• Renewed conflict breaks out in eastern Zaire, with incoming and outgoing fire; non essential staff is relocated to Nairobi.

Declaring the Treaty open for signature, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said respectable differences were held by States over various provisions during the Treaty's development, adding States, however, became convinced that it was best to lay those differences aside. "The adoption of this Treaty meets the demand of the great majority of the world's people for a clear signal that the nuclear arms race is coming towards its end", he said.

Dr. Boutros-Ghali said the global community had opted for a world where nuclear weapons would not be considered a choice for the defence of any State.

Addressing the General Assembly on the second day of the general debate, President Clinton said the US was committed to the reform process that was streamlining operations, reining in its budget, and readying the UN for the demands of a new century. "In this time of challenge and change, the United Nations is more important than ever because our world is more interdependent than ever," the President said.

He said most Americans realised the importance of the UN, "unfortunately, some Americans, in their longing to be free of the world's problems and their preoccupation with our own, ignore our interdependence and the benefits of cooperation".

The President reiterated his call for a coalition of zero tolerance for aggression, terrorism and lawless behaviour, stating that as long as a few countries threaten their neighbours and their people, and support and protect terrorists, they cannot become full members of the family of nations.

In a statement on behalf of the European Union, Mr. Spring said the EU welcomed the trend towards closer cooperation and mutual support between the UN and regional organisations.

Outlining existing cooperation between the UN and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Mr. Spring said the EU encourages and supports similar efforts being made in other regions. "The meetings of regional organisations that the Secretary-General has convened in recent years are an important innovation in this regard," he said.

The Foreign Minister emphasised that the UN should be maintained as the only organisation authorising the use of force, adding that any similar actions taken in circumvention of the UN Security Council should be completely precluded.

Highlighting the Afghan conflict, Mr. Primakov urged the UN to address the conflict in that country. "The Afghan drama, like an endless sequence of internal conflicts in Rwanda and Liberia, is the most convincing argument for the development of UN national reconciliation diplomacy," he said.

He welcomed the proposal put forward by the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation that the least-developed countries be granted tariff- free access to the markets of the developed world. "The best hope that the poor have for sustained economic development is to be given the freedom to export. The freedom to sell", he said.

Addressing the General Assembly, Mr. Hashimoto said the UN had the potential to fulfil, in a practical manner, an extremely effective function through preventive diplomacy. He proposed that a meeting of eminent persons be convened to explore means of enhancing the UN's preventive diplomacy capacity.

Mr. Hashimoto said Japan, as a leading donor, would work to further enhance its Official Development Assistance (ODA).

Calling for a regime based on arrangements that provide equal security for all parties with minimum levels of armament, Mr Moussa urged the Security Council to take specific steps to establish a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

Reiterating his country's confidence in the Secretary-General, Mr. Moussa said the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the Arab League attached high priority to seeing the Secretary-General presiding over the UN Secretariat for the second term.

He said consideration should be given to the problems raised by the international traffic and trade in arms. On the issue of the UN reform, the Foreign Minister said new vitality must be given to the General Assembly, both regarding the need to ensure the principle of universality.

Addressing the commemorative meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement on its 35th anniversary, Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali said that, having the culture of democracy among nations at its core, the Non-Aligned Movement is living proof that a culture of democracy among nations contributes to both development and peace, and has made clear that it was determined to play a positive and independent role in world affairs.

"I see three main dimensions of our work: the struggle for development; the search for peace; and strengthening the United Nations itself, as an effective mechanism for development and peace," he added.

Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali has already referred to the study in his annual report on the work of the Organisation, and will make a statement in the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural (Third Committee) on 11 November, when the study will be considered by the Committee, the Spokesman indicated. The Secretary-General was asked by the General Assembly to contribute a study on the impact of armed conflicts on children. He asked Ms. Machel to serve as his Expert in the preparation of the study, the Spokesman recalled.

The 20 Rwandans are believed to be among those behind the execution and planning of the genocide in which more than 500,000 Rwandans were killed. Some of these Rwandans are in the custody of the tribunal, including three who were arraigned in the Tanzanian town of Arusha in June, while others are known to be in Europe and Africa.

Meanwhile, the ICTR is preparing to start its first trials in Arusha, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General Sylvana Foa said. Four of the 20 indicted are detained in special cells of the Tribunal; three of the four were detained in Zambia last year, and extradited to Arusha last May. The fourth was arrested in Kenya last Friday, and then extradited to Arusha.

There are now three judges in Arusha who constitute a trial chamber, the Spokesman added. The first trial is scheduled for 26 September, the second for 17 October, and the third for 7 November. The date for the fourth trial has not yet been decided.

The conference, which concluded today in Vienna, was attended by Ministers and high-level governmental delegates from the 124 Member States of the IAEA.

The session will open with addresses by French President Jacques Chirac, and UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor. The programme includes a discussion chaired by Corinne Lepage, French Minister of Environment, on food, plant biotecnology and ethics, which will consider questions such as whether the use of biotechnology in agriculture will widen the gap between the industrialised and developing countries.

The President of the IBC Legal Commission and Uruguayan Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Hector Gros Espiell, will present a draft of the Declaration on the Protection of the Human Genome for approval by IBC members. The draft declaration affirms that genetic research must respect the dignity, freedom and rights of individuals, and treats other moral issues connected with such research.

More than fifty people have been relocated to Nairobi, most of them are from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO), and non-governmental organisations (NGO's), the Spokesman explained. The camps around Bukavu have about 300,000 refugees.

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

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