United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-11-14

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, 14 November 1997

HEADLINES

• UN Secretary-General "disappointed and concerned" at failure of United States Congress to act on funding for UN.
• Secretary-General says the United Nations has no plans to stop oil-for- food programme in Iraq.
• Security Council expands UN Observer Mission in Tajikistan, enabling it to support peace accord.
• Security Council calls on military junta in Sierra Leone to fulfill its obligations under peace plan.
• Sergio Vieira De Mello appointed as new United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator.
• UN expert on human rights in Democratic Republic of the Congo expresses concern at lack of democracy there.
• Executive Director of UNAIDS says epidemic is accelerating in many parts of world, especially Africa.
• UNICEF sends rations to flood-stricken areas in Somalia.
• President of Cameroon authorizes the transfer to Arusha, Tanzania, of two Rwandans charged with genocide.

"The failure comes during a week when the United Nations Security Council has been seized by the crisis regarding arms inspection in Iraq, in which the United Nations plays a role that is indispensable to international peace and security as well as to the vital national security interests of the United States", said Mr. Annan. "And it comes only a day after the United Nations General Assembly endorsed a major component of my programme of institutional reform."

The Secretary-General expressed gratitude to those in the Clinton Administration, the Congress and the public at large who had worked for passage of the resolution. "And I know that they, like us, are dismayed by the outcome."

Despite these developments, the Secretary-General asserted that "the United Nations must move on". He pledged to continue efforts to reform the Organization, adding that "at the same time, we must also take a serious look at our financial vulnerabilities".

The Secretary-General noted that the practice of borrowing from peacekeeping funds to pay regular budget bills was "imprudent at best" and said he would seek guidance from the General Assembly on whether and how to continue that practice. Toward that end, he said he would ask the President of the General Assembly to urgently reconvene the Assembly's high-level group on finance to explore "all possible options for ensuring prompt payment by Member States of their dues". He asked that the group report on the matter before the end of the year.

Following the withdrawal of the inspectors of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), who have arrived in Bahrain, the Secretary- General was asked about what would happen to the programme, which provides for Iraq to sell its oil in order to pay for humanitarian supplies. "It was and it is intended to help the Iraqi population. women, children and vulnerable populations, and we have no reason to stop that", Mr. Annan told reporters in New York.

Concerning the reports that some women and children have moved to the palaces of President Saddam Hussein and other installations to act as human shields in case of a military attack, the Secretary-General said he was shocked. "I don't think women and children should be used in that situation." Even if the women and children had gone to those sites voluntarily, he added, "they should have been prevented from placing themselves in harm's way, if the Government genuinely believes there is going to be an attack."

Regarding diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute over the inspection of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction triggered by Iraq's objection to the participation of American inspectors, and its subsequent decision to expel them from the country, the Secretary-General said such efforts should continue. He himself had made contacts with various leaders in order to break the impasse.

Asked if he was not putting his own staff in "harm's way" by keeping them in Iraq, the Secretary-General he was not sure the United Nations had reached to the stage of pulling its employees out of Iraq. "We would definitely not put our staff in harm's way, and the moment we feel their lives are in danger, we will pull them out. We have not made that judgement yet."

In a related development, the Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), Ambassador Richard Butler told reporters he was "happy to report that all of our inspectors are now safely in Bahrain" adding that the Americans that who had gone to Amman were to travel to join their colleagues in Bahrain.

On the allegations of the Iraqi authorities that UNSCOM is carrying out spying activities for the United States, Ambassador Butler said that such claims had no foundation and bordered on propaganda. On the use of the U-2 reconnaissance plane, he said "while it is an American aircraft, supplied with an American pilot, that is where the American involvement stops. The plane has got UN markings on it. The pilot carries a UN certificate" and flies under the programme of UNSCOM, which is overseeing the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

By unanimously adopting resolution 1138 (1997), the Council authorized the Secretary-General to increase the number of United Nations military observers in Tajikistan from 45 to 120 and to strengthen the Mission's civilian component to prepare UNMOT to carry out its expanded mandate. The Council also extended the Mission's mandate until 15 May 1998.

Under its expanded mandate, UNMOT will investigate ceasefire violations and report its findings to the United Nations and to the Commission on National Reconciliation. UNMOT will also monitor the assembly of fighters of the United Tajik Opposition and their reintegration, disarmament and demobilization; as well as assist in their reintegration into governmental power structures or demobilization of ex- combatants.

The Council also welcomed the convening of an international donor conference in Vienna on 24 and 25 November and encouraged Member States to respond generously and contribute to the success of the peace process.

The appeal will seek some $65 million to cover United Nations activities in the country over the coming year.

Addressing the Council, the representative of Tajikistan said that international support would make it possible to cement the peace process and give it an additional impetus and dynamic to make it more stable and irreversible. "Expanding the mandate of UNMOT will definitely mark the beginning of a qualitatively new stage of the practical implementation of the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan", he said.

Meanwhile in Geneva, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that Saturday would mark the end of a four-year UNHCR operation to repatriate some 60,000 Tajik refugees who had fled into northern Afghanistan to escape civil war in their home country. "This is a happy ending for these people who have been exiled from their homeland now for five years and who initially swam icy rivers, who have ended up being shelled in their camps in Afghanistan on several occasions", said UNHCR spokeswoman Pam O'Toole. She added that UNHCR would be prepared to continue providing assistance to Tajik refugees in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakstan.

In a statement read out on behalf of the members by the Council President, Ambassador Qin Huasun of China, the Security Council reiterated its condemnation of the overthrow on 25 May of the democratically-elected government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, and its concern about the threat to peace, security and stability in the region presented by the situation in Sierra.

The Security Council expressed its full support and appreciation for the efforts of the Committee of Five on Sierra Leone of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to seek a peaceful settlement of the crisis and the restoration of the democratically elected government and constitutional order. In this regard, it welcomed the peace plan agreed in Conakry on 23 October between the ECOWAS Committee and representatives of the junta. It also noted with satisfaction President Kabbah's acceptance of the peace plan in his statement of 5 November.

The Security Council called for the maintenance of the cease-fire as agreed in the peace plan. It also called on all the parties concerned to work for the early and effective implementation of the peace plan. It encouraged the ECOWAS Committee to cooperate closely with the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Sierra Leone.

The Security Council expressed its readiness to consider how it can support the implementation of the peace plan, adding that it looked forward to early recommendations from the Secretary-General on the role of the United Nations could play in this regard.

The Security Council reiterated the need for the provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance in response to local needs, and called on the junta to ensure its safe delivery to the intended recipients. It urged all States and relevant international organizations to continue to assist those countries dealing with the influx of refugees caused by the crisis in Sierra Leone.

The Security Council reminded all States of their obligation to comply strictly with the embargo on the sale or supply of petroleum and petroleum products and arms and related mat‚riel of all types to Sierra Leone, and with the other measures imposed by a previous resolution.

Mr. De Mello is presently serving as the United Nations Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees at the rank of Assistant Secretary- General. He is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) designated regional humanitarian coordinator for the Great Lakes region.

"I hope to contribute modestly my field experience in humanitarian and peace-keeping operations to strengthening the Office of the Emergency Relief Coordinator", Mr. De Mello told reporters after his appointment was announced in New York. "It is essential that the new Office be an effective support mechanism to those operational agencies that actually do the work on the ground."

Over the course of his over 27 years with the United Nations, Mr. De Mello has performed a wide range of functions in a diverse array of countries. He was the Secretary-General's Special Representative for the former Yugoslavia and the Head of Civil Affairs of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in former Yugoslavia during 1994 and 1995.

Earlier in his career, Mr. De Mello was a UNHCR Field Officer in Dhaka, East Pakistan/Bangladesh, from 1971 to 1972; Associate Programme Officer for the South Sudan Operation, from 1973 to 1975; Programme Officer with the UNHCR Special Operation in Cyprus, from 1974 to 1975; Deputy Representative in Mozambique, from 1975 to 1977; Regional Representative in Northern Latin America, 1978 to 1980; Senior Political Advisor, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), from 1981 to 1983.

On the administrative side, Mr. De Mello worked as the Deputy Head of UNHCR's Personnel Services from 1983 to 1985. For two years after that, he served as Chef de Cabinet of the High Commissioner. From 1990 to 1993, he was the Director of UNHCR's Division of External Relations. During that time, he was responsible for the refugee aspects of the multilateral negotiations on the Rwandese conflict and the Albanian exodus.

Mr. De Mello will succeed Yasushi Akashi as Emergency Relief Coordinator. His appointment takes effect 1 January 1998.

Addressing the press on Friday, Roberto Garreton expressed regret that after a process in which civil society was involved -- a process which cost a great deal of Zairian blood from 1990 to 1996 -- every time there was a protest in the country, it was repressed. "Every time they organized what is called there, les villes mortes, the dead cities, it was people who would protest."

According to Mr. Garreton, each time that happened there, there would be massacres; "there would be 300, 400 dead in that city."

The Special Rapporteur said the civil society's involvement in a democratic process has been paralyzed. "Political parties are illegal, except for one, the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire."

Regarding the denial of the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that there was a single party rule because in the cabinet there are several members from the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, which had supported Mobutu, Mr. Garreton said, "Yes it is true that there are members of that party. But in order to be members of the cabinet, they had renounced their party and become members of the Alliance."

Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said there had been a significant increase in the number of HIV infections this year. As a whole, Africa continued to be the worst hit region; most of the world's 350,000 children infected annually through mother-to-child transmission live in Africa. Statistics suggested that nearly half of the adult population in some cities in Botswana, Malawi and Zimbabwe are living with HIV. "Only a few years ago, we thought southern Africa would be spared the worst. Tragically, today we realize it has not."

Addressing the governing body of UNAIDS, Dr. Piot said too few countries had mounted a truly comprehensive response to the epidemic. He called for greater cooperation among countries to battle the epidemic. "What we do know after 15 years of experience is that we do not know enough", said Dr. Piot. "But we must use what we have learned in terms of what does work in this epidemic and do what we can do to make a difference."

Dr. Piot also highlighted a number of areas where progress had been achieved. Among other examples, he cited an expanded response to the epidemic in a number of countries "as diverse as Botswana and China". UNAIDS had made progress in promoting important methods of preventing HIV/AIDS, including the female condom. In early November, South Africa had placed an order for 1.5 million female condoms from the manufacturer. Nine other countries had placed orders and more were expected to follow.

UNAIDS is sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank.

Flooding in the Juba valley is estimated to have killed 1,000 persons and affected an additional 100,000, according to the Untied Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA). Food stocks, which are usually stored underground, have been devastated, and access to the affected population is very difficult since roads are flooded.

UNICEF has chartered a plane to fly out 39 metric tonnes of humanitarian daily rations to those in need, according to a spokesman for the agency in Geneva. Patrick McCormack told reporters that Norway had donated 10 boats and 20 metric tonnes of high-energy biscuits, and the United States military was expected to fly in three plane loads of supplies, including blankets, to Nairobi. Those rations would either be delivered by boats or air-dropped over the affected areas.

UNICEF had launched a $9.6 million appeal, including 4.6 million in supplies and $5 million in cash, to help the Somali flood victims. DHA is coordinating contributions to the Somalia Flood Response.

Laurent Semanza and Jean Bosco Barayagwiza, who are currently being detained in Cameroon, will be transferred to the detention facilities of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania.

Their indictments, which were confirmed by Judge Lennart Aspegren on 23 October, charge the two with, among other things, presiding over meetings to plan massacres of Tutsis and certain Hutus, distributing weapons, and organizing and executing the massacres.

The Registrar of the Tribunal, Agwu Okali, thanked the Government of Cameroon for cooperating with the Tribunal in this case. "It should be remembered that four other accused currently in Arusha, namely Ferdinand Nahimana, Theoneste Bagosora, Anatole Nsengiyumva and Andre Ntagerura, were also arrested there and transferred to Arusha with the cooperation of the Government of Cameroon", the Registrar said.

Laurent Semanza was Bourgomaster of Bicumbi commune for 20 years before becoming President of the party, Mouvement R‚publicain National pour le D‚veloppment et la D‚mocratie (MRND) in the greater Kigalii area.

Jean Bosco Baragwiza was Director of Political Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a member of the Comit‚ d'Initiative de Radio T‚l‚vision Libre des Milles Collines and a senior officer in the administration of its radio in Kigali.

The transfer of the two to Arusha will bring to 23 the total number of persons in custody in the Tribunal's Detention. The only accused in custody out of Tanzania is Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, who is presently being detained in the United States.

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

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