United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-10-29

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, 29 October 1997

HEADLINES

• Security Council condemns decision of Iraqi Government to impose conditions on cooperation with UNSCOM.
• Executive Chairman of UN Special Commission on Iraqi disarmament suspends field operations in Iraq.
• Security Council decides that sanctions against UNITA will take effect on 30 October.
• Security Council calls on foreign forces to withdraw immediately from Republic of the Congo.
• Arab Group requests General Assembly to resume emergency session on illegal Israeli actions in East Jerusalem and rest of occupied Palestinian territory.
• Human Rights Committee finds Jamaica, Ecuador, Spain and Australia in violation of International Covenant.
• UN High Commissioner for Human Rights gathers information on human rights dimensions of crisis in Algeria.
• UNICEF Executive Director says education is most essential, cost- effective tool to eliminate child labour.
• UNICEF official says crisis in Democratic People's Republic of Korea caused by collapsing health system.
• As General Assembly debates Security Council report, speakers call for greater openness.
• Speakers in the Administrative and Budgetary Committee oppose reduction of ceiling rate of scale of assessments.
• Rape incidents down in former Yugoslavia, but prevention and help for victims still needed, UN Secretary-General says.
• UN study: drug abuse costs Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development States $120 billion a year.
• UN Conference on Trade and Development reports world seaborne trade expanding, but small island States lag.
• United States Ambassador says United Nations deserves credit for its position on probe in Congo-Kinshasa.

In a statement read by the President of the Council Ambassador Juan Somavia during its consideration of the Iraqi decision on Wednesday, the Council said it had considered the letter dated 20 October 1997 from the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq to the President of the Security Council. The letter conveyed the "unacceptable decision of the Government of Iraq to seek to impose conditions on its cooperation with the Special Commission. That decision, the Council added, would prevent the Special Commission from discharging its responsibilities under relevant Security Council resolutions.

The Council recalled its demands in resolution 1134 (1997) that Iraq cooperate fully with the Special Commission in accordance with the relevant resolutions, which constitute the governing standard of Iraqi compliance.

The Security Council demanded that Iraq cooperate fully with the Special Commission without conditions or restrictions. The Council furthermore reminded the Government of Iraq of its responsibility for the safety and security of the personnel of UNSCOM and its inspection teams.

The Council warned of the serious consequences of Iraq's failure to comply immediately and fully with its obligations under the relevant resolutions. It said it was determined "to ensure rapid and full Iraqi compliance with the relevant resolutions and for that purpose will remain actively seized of the matter."

Ambassador Richard Butler emphasized that the suspension is temporary and that UNSCOM could resume operations without delay.

The decision of Ambassador Butler followed Iraq's demand that UNSCOM personnel of United States origin be withdrawn from the country. Ambassador Butler said it was unacceptable to him "on an administrative level and nor is it consistent with agreements Iraq has already entered into, or with the long-standing policy of the United Nations to permit a circumstance where one Member State would seek to exercise a right of decision or veto over the persons" doing the work of the United Nations.

"With respect to Iraq's demand that UNSCOM personnel of the United States be withdrawn from the country within seven days, beginning at five o'clock tonight New York time, I have not taken a decision about that yet."

According to a United Nations spokesman, there are some 100 United Nations staff members in Iraq, including 40 inspectors. Of those, there were 10 United States citizens working with UNSCOM in Baghdad and two in Bahrain.

The head of UNSCOM also cancelled consultations with a group of Iraqi officials which were due to be held in New York on Friday. "I actually facilitated their entry into the country, this country, for the purposes of those consultations."

Furthermore, Ambassador Butler suspended his trip to Iraq which was to have taken place next week for consultations.

Concerning the work of his staff in Iraq, he said that they "will attend the Baghdad Centre in a normal way and maybe catch up with office work which they have a lot of since they tend to spend a lot of time out in the field". Staff of the Commission due to be rotated in and out, he added, would continue in their normal way.

Regarding the safety of UNSCOM staff in Iraq, Ambassador Butler said he was "assured that there is no threat to the safety of those personnel at the present time, and I will be taking steps through diplomatic channels to reinforce that assurance".

By unanimously adopting resolution 1135 (1997) on Wednesday, the Security Council demanded that UNITA comply immediately and without any conditions with the obligations set out in resolution 1127 (1997), including full cooperation in the normalization of State administration throughout Angola, including in Andulo and Bailundo.

In resolution 1127 (1997), the Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations which provides for enforcement, decided, among other things, that all States shall take the necessary measures to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of all senior officials of UNITA and of adult members of their immediate families. The Council, however, made exceptions for officials functioning in the Government of Unity and National Reconciliation, the National Assembly, or the Joint Commission. The Council also called on States to suspend or cancel all travel documents, visas or residence permits issued to senior UNITA officials and adult members of their immediate families, and to immediately and completely close all UNITA offices in their territories.

Furthermore, the Council said States should prohibit flights of aircraft by or for UNITA, the supply of any aircraft components to UNITA and the insurance, engineering and servicing of UNITA aircraft.

In its latest resolution, the Security Council expressed deep concern at the lack of significant progress in the peace process in Angola. It strongly deplored the failure by UNITA to comply fully with its obligations under the Peace Accord, the Lusaka Protocol and relevant Security Council resolutions.

The Council demanded that the Government of Angola and in particular UNITA complete fully and without further delay the remaining aspects of the peace process and refrain from any action which might lead to renewed hostilities. It also demanded that they cooperate fully with the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA), including the provision of full access for its verification activities. The Council reiterated its call on the Government of Angola to notify MONUA in a timely manner of its troop movements, in accordance with the provisions of the Lusaka Protocol and established procedures.

The Council reiterated its belief that a meeting in Angola between President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and the leader of UNITA, Dr. Jonas Savimbi, could facilitate the process of peace and national reconciliation.

The Security Council endorsed the recommendation of the Secretary- General to postpone the withdrawal of United Nations military formed units until the end of November.

The Council also extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) until 30 January 1998, and requested the Secretary-General to submit a report and recommendations no later than 13 January 1998 on the future United Nations presence in Angola.

In a statement read by Council President Ambassador Juan Somavia of Chile at its meeting, the Security Council expressed grave concern regarding the presence of Angolan armed elements in the Republic of the Congo, as reported by the Secretariat.

Reaffirming the statement of its President made on 16 October, the Security Council condemned all external interference in the Republic of the Congo. It stressed the importance of a political settlement, national reconciliation and transitional arrangements, leading to the holding of democratic, free and fair elections with the participation of all parties as soon as possible.

At its tenth emergency special session held in July, the Assembly recommended that the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War convene a conference on measures to enforce the Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and to ensure its respect. The Assembly also requsted the Secretary-General to report on the matter within three months.

The Secretary-General wrote to the Government of Switzerland in its capacity as depositary of the Geneva Convention, requesting the necessary information. In response, the Government of Switzerland sought the views of the 188 States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. The report summarizes the replies of the 53 States parties to the Convention which responded to a request for their views.

The request for a resumption of the session was conveyed in a letter to the President of the General Assembly, the Ambasador of Yemen and current Chairman of the Arab Group, Abdalla Saleh Al-Ashtal.

The Committee reached its findings after examining individual complaints filed under the First Optional Protocol to the Covenant, which gives the Committee the right to examine such complaints. The nationals can only resort to the Committee after they exhaust all domestic appeals. One hundred and forty countries are States parties to the Covenant, but only 92 countries have ratified the First Optional Protocol.

The Committee found Jamaica in violation of the right to a fair trial for three Jamaicans. It said authorities also ill-treated a fourth Jamaican. The Committee said the four men had the right to appropriate remedies. At the time of the submissions, the four Jamaicans were on death row at St. Catherine District Prison, but since then, three have had their death sentences commuted. Last week, Jamaica presented its second periodic report to the Committee and announced it was withdrawing from the First Optional Protocol.

The 18-member Committee said that Ecuador had subjected an Ecuadorean inmate to "cruel and inhuman treatment" and said he was entitled to compensation. In the case of a Cambodian citizen who was detained in Australia for more than four years, the Committee said the Cambodian's detention was "arbitrary" and his right to have it reviewed by a court was violated. The Cambodian was entitled to adequate compensation, the Committee said. It also concluded that Spain had denied two British brothers the right to a fair trial and said they were entitled to compensation. In response to a complaint from an Italian who faced expulsion from Canada, the Committee did not find that country in violation of any rights decreed by the Covenant.

The experts also considered inadmissible two complaints against Australia and New Zealand.

The letter was sent to certain United Nations Special Rapporteurs and chairmen of committees monitoring human rights treaties.

In a related development, Mary Robinson said she had a "helpful dialogue" with Algeria's Ambassador to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mohamed- Salah Dembri. "During a constructive meeting, we discussed Algeria's cooperation with the various United Nations human rights mechanisms and the potential for future cooperation with these mechanisms." The two agreed to continue their dialogue on the matter.

In a statement to the International Conference on Child Labour in Oslo on Wednesday, Carol Bellamy said that the link between child labour and education can be seen in the millions of children who are available for exploitative work precisely because they have no access to affordable, quality education. Millions of others "cannot exercise their right to education because of factors associated with their jobs, ranging from long work hours to scheduling conflicts".

"In a $28 trillion global economy, it is obvious that the world has the means to ensure universal primary education. What is necessary is a commitment to make the necessary resources available. That commitment is part of our fundamental obligation to children -- for just as children have rights, adults have a responsibility to see that those rights are fulfilled."

Ms. Bellamy said that child labour robbed children of their fundamental rights, including the right to childhood. "Every child is a miracle in the making -- miracles that we have an obligation to protect and nurture."

She said that there was no shortage of laws; most countries have outlawed or severely restricted child labour. Both the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the General Assembly in 1989 and the various International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions offered a broad policy framework for specific actions, Ms Bellamy added.

"Yet for all of this, child labour continues on a vast scale. Over 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are labourers -- 120 million of them full time." Ms. Bellamy said that the highest proportion of children who work, some 40 per cent, is thought to be in Africa, with about 20 per cent each in Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean. "In sheer numbers, there are more child labourers in Asia than anywhere else, with 60 per cent of the worldwide total -- compared to 32 per cent in Africa and 7 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean."

She said that the need to shield children against the brutalities of armed conflict has become dominant theme, including the fact that child soldiers are involved in a particularly extreme and hazardous form of child labour.

"The commercial sexual exploitation of children is another urgent issue that is now being openly discussed -- including the fact that children trapped in pornography and prostitution are also engaged in extreme and hazardous child labour."

Identifying poverty as a major cause of child labour, Ms. Bellamy urged governments to adopt a time-bound programme of action to eliminate all forms of child labour.

Briefing the press on the agency's field mission recently, Omawale Omawale said that even if food were available, "we would still see children getting sick and dying if nothing was done about the fact that the whole hospitals don't have drugs and equipment, and the fact that water has not been chlorinated for some time, and water supplies are less than adequate."

Mr. Omawale said that there were no "typical images of famine situations with mass movements of people, people lying dead on the streets and things of that nature, partly because this is a very ordered society, and such things would not be allowed to occur in any event."

Mr. Omawale said that without a humanitarian response, a major crisis could occur in the country.

On the situation of children in the country, Mr. Omawale said that UNICEF was providing supplies to the nurseries and kindergartens. "As we get these things into these institutions we found more and more children coming back to them. And therefore that presents a major opportunity for looking after these kids, at least in the short term."

The official of UNICEF said that as health assistance begins to flow into the country, "the situation looks as though it might be getting better", adding that the focus should be on water and sanitation. "If kids continue to get diarrhoea and dysentery, gastro-enteritis, and things of this nature, no amounts of food is going to resolve the problem -- frankly, they won't even be able to eat", Mr. Omawale concluded in his remarks to the press.

During the Assembly's annual debate on the report of the Security Council, a number of participants said the current reporting system was not useful and put forward suggestions for making the Council's work more open to non- Council members.

Blas F. Ople of the Philippines said "the content of the present report, which remains essentially a compilation of official proceedings and decisions, continues to make it difficult for the General Assembly to undertake a truly substantive and in-depth consideration and analysis of the actions of the Council".

The Ambassador of Italy, Paolo Fulci, stressed the need for information on the process leading to the Council's decisions. "In particular, we continue to believe that the report should include a concise account of the Council's informal consultations on crisis areas, regional tensions, humanitarian emergencies, and other issues crucial to local and global stability." Egypt's Ambassador, Nabil Elaraby, called for "a record not only of the formal meetings of the Council, but also of its informal meetings where most of the actions and decisions of the Council are agreed upon before being formally adopted, and which remain in total obscurity".

Ernst Sucharipa of Austria called for "exhaustive" announcements in the Journal on items to be dealt with by the Council. He suggested that the outgoing president present analytical reports on items dealt with during his or her leadership. In addition, he called for the Council to be open to the input of non-Members, especially when dealing with issues of special concern to them.

Malaysia's delegate, Hasmy Agam, said a monthly Security Council bulletin should be published, and added that non-Members should benefit from special briefings given by United Nations officials to the Council.

The current President of the Council, Juan Somavia of Chile, presented the report to the Assembly. He said various efforts had been made to make the Council more open. "This is an area to which detailed consideration will continue to be given", he said. "A number of mechanisms have already been established in order to improve access by Member States to the work of the Council, though our experience is that, in some cases, effectiveness depends not only on the Council itself but also on the participation in them by non-Members."

As the Fifth Committee continued discussion on the scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations, Dawn Yip Li-Yan of Singapore said the reduction of the ceiling rate from 25 per cent to 20 per cent might not guarantee that the United States will honour its financial obligations to the United Nations. "What if it does not -- will we revert to a ceiling of 25 per cent?" she asked.

The representative of Mozambique, Carlos Dos Santos, said the ceiling rate should not be lowered at the expense of developing and least developed countries. He said that his country's assessments at the floor rate was beyond its true means. Like the floor rate, the ceiling bore no relation to the principle of capacity to pay, he said.

Brenda Mercedes Castellanos Gonzalez of Guatemala said that only a minority of countries might be able to vote in the future if the scale did not reflect developing countries interests, referring to the application of Article 19 of the Charter by which a Member State loses its right to vote "if the amount of their arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years".

The representative of Azerbaijan, Rufat Novruzov said a new scale should reflect the plight of countries struggling with poverty caused by war, natural disasters and the problems of economic transition.

Norway's representative, Tryggve Gjesdal, said his country felt that Member States "should take a close look at the pros and cons of retaining a ceiling in the scale as high as 25 per cent", adding that that should be done in the context of an overall financial settlement where arrearages were dealt with.

According to the report, the Special Rapporteur on the situation in the former Yugoslavia has received very few allegations of rape and abuse in the past year. "In contrast to the situation during the war years, incidents of rape are no longer reported as a widespread phenomenon in the former Yugoslavia", the Secretary-General writes. "It must be remembered, however, that reports of sexual assault are difficult to obtain given the reluctance of victims to describe such experiences since they implicitly carry with them prospects of social stigma and fear of reprisals."

The report documents activities of the United Nations system to deal with the problem of rape as a weapon of war, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Among them are the efforts of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "While UNHCR appreciates that women victims of violence may still be suffering from trauma or the physical effects of rape, UNHCR believes that, in the current context, other problems, including the reintegration of minorities and the plight of single female-headed households, have taken over in priority."

During 1997, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has continued to amass evidence of rape, sexual torture, sexual abuse and other forms of sexual assault that occurred during the war. Although charges of sexual violence were not contained in the indictments issued from July 1996 to September 1997, the report states that the Prosecutor expects to include such evidence in future indictments.

The study, titled Economic and Social Consequences of Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, finds that drug abuse in the United States alone costs $76 billion a year. Drug-related costs, such as enforcement, prosecutions, prisons, prevention programmes, treatment and health care are estimated at $9.6 billion in Germany, $3.2 billion in the United Kingdom, $1..2 billion in Australia, and $1.1 billion in Canada.

According to the study, traffickers in industrialized countries take in one half to two thirds of drug profits. Less than 10 per cent of the drug profits remain in the producer countries, which are predominantly in the developing world. Drug traffickers in producer countries generally invest their money in conspicuous luxury items, such as yachts, villas, flashy cars and arms to support their trade.

Aside from promoting corruption, drug profits are usually invested unproductively, often in real estate and construction, which inflates prices, and in the entertainment industry. Compounding the problem, drug- financed enterprises often eliminate legitimate business competition using intimidation and violence against their competitors. Furthermore, governments have difficulty making sound economic policy decisions, since their markets did not respond predictably, due to the large amounts of drug- money in the economy. For instance, drug-financed enterprises will not react predictably to changes in interest rates generated by a central bank.

The study also notes that drugs are price-sensitive in OECD countries, as are most licit commodities. At current price levels, a one per cent increase in street price reduces the number of heroin users by 0.9 per cent. Higher prices and lower availability mean less experimentation in the short term, which translates into fewer addicts in the long term. Also, according to the report, at current levels more than 16,000 people die annually from drug abuse in OECD countries. However, the actual numbers are much higher because drug-related deaths are often attributed to other factors, such as car and work-related accidents, strokes and heart attacks. The calculated cost per heavy drug abuser in OECD countries ranges from $20, 000 to $30,000 per annum.

The report also highlights an emerging danger in countries that are rapidly privatizing State-owned assets, such as former Soviet-bloc nations. The assets from the sales of State-owned industries can easily become the target of criminal investment, which in the longer term undermines the foundations of both the country and its emerging market economy. Criminal enterprises often use intimidation or violence against competition, which can lead to monopolistic price-setting policies. And, once the ability to coerce is recognized by the legitimate local competitors, criminals no longer need to spend money on violent activities to achieve their goals.

The Review of Maritime Transport, 1997 focuses on how high transportation costs are impeding the development of small island developing countries. The development of these countries and their integration in the world economy is nearly exclusively dependent on access to inter-island and international shipping services, according to the report.

Efficient maritime transport systems and port infrastructure are particularly important for small island developing States. Current handicaps include high distribution costs, lack of reliable shipping services, expensive transhipment charges, inadequate port facilities, weak maritime administration and the absence of economies of scale when negotiating freight rates with shipping lines. Freight costs as a percentage of total import values can be as high as 11 per cent, compared with 4.2 per cent for developed market-economy countries and 8.3 per cent for developing countries as a whole. The more remote small island countries incur even higher freight costs, ranging from 12 to 18 per cent of import value.

After meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), Mary Robinson, Ambassador Bill Richardson said that President Laurent Kabila of Congo-Kinshasa also deserved credit for understanding the need to put this investigation "behind him".

Ambassador Bill Richardson was commenting on the agreement reached with President Kabila allowing the United Nations investigative team to probe allegations of violations of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ambassador Richardson had met with President Kabila on 25 October.

During the course of the mission, Ambassador Richardson and his team met with the leaders of Congo-Kinshasa, Angola, Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea to discuss national and regional issues. Ambassador Richardson emphasized the need for "better communication, better dialogue between the Great Lakes region and the international community, including UNHCR, the United States and Western powers".

The American team is expected to return to New York on Thursday to brief United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council on the results of the mission.

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

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