United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-11-04

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Tuesday, 4 November 1997

HEADLINES

• UN Secretary-General welcomes Iraq's decision to postpone expulsion of United States citizens serving with UN.
• UN Secretary-General asks Member States to take decisions on reform package "without undue delay".
• UN Secretary-General calls on countries to reverse decline in contributions for development.
• President of International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia says States must also prosecute war criminals.
• While human rights situation in Rwanda worsens, UN Operation prevents further violence, new report says.
• UN organizes seminar on how to prohibit racist propaganda on the Internet.
• International Labour Organisation says trade union membership dropped sharply in recent decades.
• Major-General Esa Kalervo Tarvainen of Finland to be new Force Commander of UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission.
• Liberia informs Security Council of closure of its border with Sierra Leone for security reasons.

The Iraqi Government had announced that the members of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) would not be allowed in Iraq after Thursday.

The Secretary-General spoke by telephone with the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, on Tuesday to request the postponement of the deadline in order to provide an opportunity for the three United Nations envoys sent to Iraq to discuss with the country's authorities the importance of Iraq's compliance with the Security Council resolutions governing the work of the UNSCOM.

The three United Nations envoys headed by Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi are expected in Kuwait on Tuesday. They are scheduled to hold their first meeting with the Iraqi delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz at the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday afternoon.

According to United Nations Spokesman Fred Eckhard, three inspection teams on missiles, chemical weapons, and biological weapons were once again barred from inspection sites because they included United States nationals. "On arrival at the sites, the Iraqi officials there told them that they could continue their inspections but not with U.S. nationals." The teams returned to their Monitoring and Verification Centre in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, the oil-for-food programme in Iraq is proceeding unhindered by the current developments. Under the programme, Iraq, which is facing United Nations sanctions, is allowed to sell a certain amount of its oil in order to buy food and other humanitarian supplies.

The Secretary-General made his comments as Member States entered their sixth week of deliberations on the reform package. "The question is a simple one: Can the United Nations reform itself? As Secretary- General, I do not pretend that I have all the answers to all the problems faced by this Organization. The transformation of this Organization into an institution that is well-prepared for the challenges of the twenty- first century is a shared responsibility of the Secretary-General and Member States. And ultimately, the answer to the question as to whether the United Nations can reform itself must be given by you, the Member States themselves."

In a statement delivered on Tuesday by Under-Secretary-General Nitin Desai to the Pledging Conference for Development held in New York, the Secretary- General said that official development assistance (ODA) had dropped to its lowest level in 1996.

The Secretary-General pointed out, however, that the "combined core and non- core resources, have remained relatively stable over the past four years -- around $4.5 billion per year. But the funding through voluntary contributions is not generating enough core resources to meet agreed programme targets and requirements."

The Secretary-General said that core contributions have declined and become unpredictable. "I have therefore recommended to Member States a new core resource system of voluntary contributions and negotiated pledges."

The Secretary-General appealed in particular for contributions to carry out projects run by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"We are not capable of trying every war criminal at The Hague and it would help the Tribunal in its task if there were more national prosecutions for the multiple crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia", Antonio Cassess told the General Assembly on Tuesday. "The two approaches -- international and national -- should go hand-in-hand." He added that the leaders of the warring parties and other accused persons in command positions should be brought before the Tribunal, while other indicted persons should be tried in national courts.

"States must cooperate with the Tribunal. Arrests must be made. Assistance must be given to requests from the Tribunal. People must know that genocide, mass rape and other egregious abuses are regarded as the pinnacle of human criminality and that their own States will arrest them if they are indicted by the Tribunal. Our potential to break the cycle of violence is great, but we can only do so with the assistance of State and the organized world community."

Ambassador Japp Ramaker of the Netherlands joined this appeal, stating, "We cannot simply establish international tribunals and then walk away from them". Speaking for Pakistan, Khalid Aziz Babar called for the immediate surrender of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic who, he said, "are still at large enjoying freedom which they do not deserve".

Croatia's Ambassador, Ivan Simonovic, said that the composition of the persons that had been brought before the Tribunal did not properly reflect what had occurred during the conflict. "A situation such as the one at present, in which Croats make up 70 per cent of all accused in custody, serves to create a severely distorted picture of the reality of the conflict".

While acknowledging that the Government has a "right, and indeed a responsibility" to stem insurgency, the report documents a worsening human rights situation in Rwanda, marked by ethnically motivated attacks. During May and June, at least 2,022 persons were killed during operations of the Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA). According to information cross- checked by the Operation, they included a reportedly high number of unarmed civilians. "The extensive RPA cordon-and-search operations appear to have led to a high number of civilian deaths."

The report also says that increases in attacks against judicial officials are disconcerting, as they threaten to undermine the resumption of the criminal justice system. Although it is difficult to obtain an accurate picture of the number of persons currently in detention, there are at least 120,000. The Operation continues to receive reports of ill- treatment in a number of other prisons, and lack of food, access to water and health care continue to be chronic. "The continued detention of persons without trial, particularly in view of the fact that in most cases there is still no dossier setting out the factual and legal grounds for their arrest and detention, constitutes a major human rights concern."

The report documents increased attacks against expatriates working in Rwanda. Among those incidents were five staff members of the Field Operation who were killed during an attack by suspected insurgents. "The five who lost their lives made the ultimate sacrifice in their pursuit of promoting fundamental freedoms and respect for human dignity in Rwanda."

Amid these dangerous conditions, the Operation, with its staff of 78, has made significant progress in investigating alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law, monitoring the situation, facilitating the rebuilding of civil society, and assisting in the administration of justice in Rwanda.

The seminar will bring together Internet providers and representatives of the United Nations Centre for Human Rights, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Telecommunication Union as well as other United bodies and non-governmental organizations.

Meeting in Geneva from 10 to 14 November, the participants will tackle the technical aspects of screening racist propaganda on the Internet, including national and international measures. They will also explore juridical aspects of halting racist propaganda. In addition, efforts will be made to begin work on an eventual code of conduct and good practice for displaying material on the Internet.

Michel Hansenne was speaking in Geneva where on Tuesday he presented the report of the ILO entitled World Labour Report 1997-1998. According to the report, trade union membership in the last decade fell to less than 20 per cent of workers in 48 out of 92 countries surveyed. Roughly 164 million of the world's estimated workforce of 1.3 billion belonged to trade unions. The workforce declined to not more than 50 per cent of the national workforce in the countries surveyed except in only 14 of those countries.

However, according to the report, in spite of the decline in membership, trade unions have managed to consolidate their strength in core sectors, enlist constituents in emerging sectors and develop new strategies for collective bargaining, often on a global scale.

"Where many observers around the world see only decline, I see increased democracy, greater pragmatism and freedom for millions of workers to form representative organizations to engage in collective bargaining with their employers and to participate in decisions affecting society and the workplace", said Mr. Hansenne.

Much of the numerical decline in trade union membership has been caused by economic factors such as the reduction in public-sector employment, heightened economic competition and the falling share of manufacturing industries in total employment. In Eastern Europe the decline was the sharpest, resulting mostly from the end of quasi- obligatory union membership following the break-up of the Soviet bloc.

In other countries, such as South Africa, membership in trade unions increased by 130.8 per cent. Other countries which saw the increase in union membership are Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Spain, Thailand and Zimbabwe.

In a letter dated 3 November 1997, the President of the Security Council Ambassador Qin Huasun informed United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan that members of the Council agreed with the Secretary- General's intention to appoint the new Force Commander.

In a letter dated 24 October 1997, the Secretary-General informed the President of the Security Council that the current Force Commander, Major- General Gian Guisepe Santillo of Italy, will be relinquishing his post on 30 November 1997. Major-General Santillo has been the Force Commander of UNIKOM since 1 December 1995.

UNIKOM was established by the Security Council on 3 April 1991 to monitor the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait. The zone was set up by the Security Council at the end of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces on 2 August 1990.

In recent policy statement transmitted by the Representative of Liberia to the United Nations, Ambassador William Bull, the Government of Liberia says it "views with major concern" the 25 military coup in Sierra Leone.

"Intelligence reports available to the Government of Liberia indicate that the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council/Revolutionary United Front (AFRC/RUF) forces control major border points between Liberia and Sierra Leone and that the risk of hot pursuit into Liberia against Kamajors by the AFRC/RUF is high."

Liberia also says that it will make concerted efforts to ensure access of humanitarian relief to refugees and internally displaced persons as well as their safety and protection. Furthermore, the Government of Liberia has urged all parties in Sierra Leone to reach a political settlement and says that it will "wholeheartedly" assist in the restoration of constitutional rule to Sierra Leone.

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

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