United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-10-27

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 27 October 1997

HEADLINES

• President of Democratic Republic of the Congo says he will accept UN human rights investigative team.
• UNITA will show commitment to peace process, its leader tells Secretary- General's Special Representative.
• United Nations closely following developments in Iraq after its Parliament recommends non-cooperation.
• In Human Rights Committee, Iraq charges that embargo against it causes genocide.
• United Nations Spokesman says news reports indicate that referendum in Western Sahara will be held in 1998.
• Secretary-General says decolonization programme will remain in Department for Political Affairs.
• UN-sponsored conference in Oslo seeks strategy against child labour.
• International Court of Justice has suffered from severe budget cuts, its President tells General Assembly.
• Participants on UN-organized panel stress importance of treatment programmes for drug-addicted offenders.
• General Assembly's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee approves draft on Year for Older Persons.
• China signs International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The agreement followed a meeting on Saturday, 25 October, between Ambassador Bill Richardson of the United States and President Kabila.

According to a press statement issued by Ambassador Richardson in Kinshasa on Saturday, the mandate of the team will cover events which occurred between 1 March 1993 and 31 December 1997, and will cover any areas within the Democratic Republic of the Congo relevant to the team's mandate. The team will also "be free to deploy without interference to the areas it wishes in the order it wishes", and will deploy simultaneously in the east of the country and Mbandaka as soon as possible.

The team's report is to serve as a comprehensive statement of fact. "The team will report objectively and factually on any sites it investigates." The agreement commits the team not to interfere in the internal Congolese affairs and to respect the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Before the team's report is released, the Congolese Government will be afforded a "reasonable" opportunity to review it.

"The Government will guarantee, to the best of its ability, the security of the team in accordance with the advice of United Nations security specialists accompanying the team", Mr. Richardson said. He added that the team "is committed to complete its work in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by 28 February 1998." The United Nations Secretary- General may extend this date if the team has been unable to complete its work.

UN Spokesman Fred Eckhard said on Monday that the United Nations Secretariat was still studying the agreement, which appeared to meet the requirements for an impartial and independent investigation. "Our hope is, of course, that the four investigators that were recalled to New York in early October can return to the Congo and finally begin their work", Mr. Eckhard added.

According to United Nations Spokesman Fred Eckhard, Mr. Beye met with the President of Angola, Jose Eduardo dos Santos on Friday, and on Saturday with Dr. Jonas Savimbi, leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

"Mr. Savimbi told the Special Representative that UNITA will take a number of steps to show its commitment to the peace-process", Mr. Eckhard said.

The steps promised by Dr. Savimbi include the extension of state administration into 88 locations which are currently under UNITA control, and the transformation of Radio Vorgan into an independent broadcasting facility. Further, UNITA will submit a list of outstanding military personnel who are not included in the 6,052 already communicated to the UN Mission in Angola. Finally, UNITA promised to make 56 million rounds of ammunition, 64,000 bombs and 100 heavy weapons available to the UN Mission in Cuando Cabango province.

UNITA is facing United Nations Security Council sanctions at the end of October if it does not comply with its obligations under the Lusaka Protocol, which was signed on 20 November 1994 to end the conflict in Angola.

According to press reports, the Iraqi Parliament called on the Revolutionary Command Council to cut ties with UNSCOM, which is overseeing the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

"We have got nothing to say on this subject right now, although we are closely following Iraq's action in this matter", Spokesman Fred Eckhard told the press on Monday.

Meanwhile, UNSCOM continued with its inspection activities on the ground. The Executive Chairman of UNSCOM, Ambassador Richard Butler, is still scheduled to visit Baghdad in mid-November, as has been agreed with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, the Spokesman said.

Mr. Mahmood said that the continued economic blockade of Iraq was a violation of international law, charging that the intervention of the United Sates and its allies had deprived the Iraqi people of their livelihood and exposed them to genocide.

During discussion of Iraq's report, a number of experts on the Committee expressed regret that international sanctions had led to the suffering of the Iraqi population, in particular the children. They expressed sympathy towards the Iraqis who were subjected to a precarious economic situation.

Nevertheless, many experts expressed deep concern about continued human rights violations in the country, and said the sanctions could not be used as a pretext for such massive violations.

The Spokesman said that Secretary-General Kofi Annan was preparing his report on Western Sahara, which he will submit to the Security Council on 15 November.

In that report the Secretary-General will present a time-table for the referendum in Western Sahara.

The referendum will enable the people of Western Sahara to choose between independence and incorporation into Morocco. The territory was administered by Spain until 1976 when it withdrew.

Through the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), the world body has helped in the identification of individuals eligible for participation in the referendum, which will enable them to decide whether to opt for independence or integration into Morocco.

Meanwhile, the General Assembly's Special Political and Decolonization (Fourth) Committee on Monday approved a draft resolution which would have the General Assembly note with satisfaction the agreements reached by Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO) for implementation of the settlement plan in Western Sahara during private direct talks under the auspices of the Secretary- General's Personal Envoy James Baker.

According to the text, which was approved without a vote, the Assembly would urge the two parties to implement those agreements fully and faithfully, to continue their cooperation with the Secretary-General and his Envoy, and to refrain from undertaking anything that would undermine the settlement plan and the agreements reached for its implementation.

As part of his reform package, the Secretary-General had recommended that the decolonization programme fall under the new Department of General Assembly Affairs. In response, a number of States introduced a draft resolution in the General Assembly's Special Political and Decolonization (Fourth) Committee calling for decolonization activities to remain in the Department of Political Affairs. That draft was withdrawn on Monday following the Secretary-General's decision, which was expressed in a letter to the Chairman of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

In his letter, the Secretary-General said that the substantive responsibilities for the decolonization programme will be maintained in the Department of Political Affairs, "which will remain the focal point for matters relating to decolonization". The related substantive services to the Special Committee will be provided by a discrete "Decolonization Unit", to which the necessary staff resources will be made available.

In his letter, the Secretary-General also expressed appreciation for meetings with those who had sponsored the draft resolution. "These discussions were most useful in clarifying the questions that have been raised in this context", he wrote.

The Secretary-General noted "that the overall effect of these measures will be to strengthen Secretariat resources in support of the decolonization programme". He stresses "in the strongest terms" that he attaches the highest priority to the decolonization programme. "I am firmly committed to maintaining its importance and status in the context of the Organization's work in the political arena."

Convened by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labour Organisation, the conference has brought together ministers from 40 countries for three days to discuss the plight of the world's 250 million working children. Exploited in hazardous conditions, these children are at risk of injury, illness and even death.

Leading experts on child labour will join government participants and representatives of non-governmental organizations to forge a new, comprehensive strategy for battling child labour. Development cooperation is expected to be a key feature of the new strategy.

According to UNICEF and the ILO, child labour is most prevalent in the less- developed regions. Asia has the most child workers, with 61 per cent of the world total, as compared with Africa, which has 32 per cent, and Latin America, with 7 per cent. The ILO reports that in some countries, up to 80 per cent of working children work seven days a week. Most children working as paid employees earn far less than adults, and the younger the child, the lower the wage. Girls, on average, earn less than boys, even though they tend to work longer hours in the same jobs.

Michel Hansenne, Director-General of the ILO, says the war against child labour can be won in the next 15 years. "How? By adopting a four- point global campaign that includes mobilizing political will, backing it with a time-bound action programme that includes ending all extreme forms of child labour immediately, adopting a new international convention against such extreme forms of child exploitation and translating the power of worldwide concern into international social and economic policy programmes."

UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy says child labour robs children of their rights, including the right to education. "Education is the single most effective tool we have for eliminating child labour", she says.

Norway's Minister of International Development and Human Rights, Hilde Frafjord Johnson, says economics is at the root of the problem. "Child labour is a consequence as well as a cause of poverty", she notes.

The Conference, which will end on 30 October, is being held at the Radisson SAS Scandinavia Hotel in Oslo.

Judge Stephen M. Schwebel said he was grateful to the Secretary- General and the General Assembly for their responsiveness in "helping the Court to deal with its difficulties".

Still, he cautioned that the Court "continues to confront a heavy caseload under severe financial constraints". Translation resources were barely sufficient to meet the needs of immediately pending cases. "There is no room for forward planning in the sense of embarking on the translation of cases which are not close to being ready for hearing, as there is simply no way of funding it."

While he welcomed proposals for including the Court in the ongoing process of reforming the United Nations, Judge Schwebel urged that such reform must be carried out within the framework of the Court's Statute. "The Court has, and must continue to enjoy, complete autonomy in establishing its own practices and procedures if judicial independence is to be preserved", he said, adding, "Equally, if it is to operate as the Charter provides, the Court must be accorded the resources to do its work."

At a panel discussion organized by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention and the Alliance of Non-Governmental Organizations on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York, the experts said that incarceration for drug-addicted offenders has not solved the problem of drug-related crimes.

Describing treatment as better than no treatment, one expert said that programmes for drug-related offenders should be tailored to specific needs of individuals. Some of these programmes, he said, should be implemented in and outside prison. Prisoners who are undergoing treatment, should not be released before they have recovered to avoid relapses, he added.

Another expert acknowledged that some people should go to prison, but stressed that there was no single approach in dealing with the problem of drug abuse.

The panel was moderated by Judge Milton Mollen, who led the "Mollen" Commission which investigated police corruption in New York from 1992 to 1994. Other panelists included State Senator Catherine Abate, who is running for the office of Attorney-General of New York State; Reginald Wilkinson, President of the American Correctional Association; Robert Gangi, Executive Director of the Correctional Association of New York; and Ron Susswein, Assistant Attorney-General and Deputy Director of the Policy Bureau in the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.

By the draft, which was approved without a vote, the Assembly would ask the Secretary-General to officially launch the International Year for Older Persons in 1998, on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons. It would encourage all members of the international community to take advantage of the Year to increase awareness of the challenge posed by the demographic ageing of societies, the social needs of older persons, the contribution of older persons to societies, and the need for a change in attitudes towards older persons. Member States would be invited to take account of the increasing number and percentage of older persons in need of help. They would also be asked to develop comprehensive strategies to meet the increasing needs of older persons. That draft was revised prior to approval.

The Committee also approved, without voting, drafts on the follow-up to the International Year of the Family and on policies and programmes involving youth.

The Representative of China, Ambassador Huasun Qin, met with Secretary- General Kofi Annan on Monday afternoon to inform him of his country's decision and to protest the participation of the Republic of China, which adopted that instrument on 5 October 1967.

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

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