United Nations Daily Highlights, 00-04-19

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: [email protected]

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

ANNAN ADDRESSES SECURITY COUNCIL ON PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS

The Security Council in the morning went into closed consultations to discuss the draft of a Presidential Statement on Lebanon and the draft text of the resolution on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The draft resolution will be approved this afternoon, at the end of the formal meeting on that same topic.

The Council then went into a formal meeting on the protection of civilians and armed conflict, chaired by Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy.

The Secretary-General began the open debate by noting his report from last September on that topic, which urged the creation of a rapid deployment force to respond quickly to crises; the importance of preventive deployment; and the need for improved security in refugee camps.

Today's debate, the Secretary-General said, "bears vivid testimony to a growing recognition that our first duty in any conflict is to protect the innocent civilians."

The Council debate then proceeded; among the participants at today's debate is the new President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger.

The Security Council is continuing to discuss its draft Presidential Statement on Lebanon, and may adopt it later in the afternoon if the members arrive at an agreed text by then.

The President of the Security Council issued a letter, available today, which notes the composition of a delegation of nine Security Council Ambassadors travelling to Kosovo next week. The delegation, led by Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh, will leave New York for Kosovo on April 26.

Asked about the proposed Security Council visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Spokesman noted that a Council delegation of six members was tentatively scheduled to travel from May 2 through 8. The cease-fire on the ground there, he said, "continues to be largely effective," although he noted reports of skirmishes last Friday and more recent fighting in South Kivu in the eastern part of the country.

In response to a question, the Spokesman said that a report on missing persons and property from Kuwait and other nations was expected to go to the Security Council today.

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UN SPECIAL ENVOY ENDS MISSION TO HORN OF AFRICA

The Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Drought in the Horn of Africa, Catherine Bertini, who is also the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), ended her mission to the region today saying that "timing is absolutely critical" to prevent a disaster in the area.

"The international community has a rare opportunity of prevention," Bertini told a news conference in Nairobi earlier today. If the response is swift, she said, famine can be averted and deaths from various diseases stemming from the lack of basic needs can be prevented.

Bertini, who visited Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kenya to raise consciousness and attract donor support during her nine-day mission, outlined five priority areas: water, basic medicines, food aid, security and technical support in transport and infrastructure to ensure distribution of aid.

On behalf of the Secretary-General, Bertini appealed to the international community to be generous in their contributions.

PROSECUTOR ALARMED AT COURT'S DECISION TO RELEASE TWO ACCUSED

This morning in The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia rejected the Prosecutors appeal against the provisional release of Miroslav Tadic and Simo Zaric, in what is commonly referred to as the Bosanski Samac case (see press release 487). The Court ordered provisional release of the two to proceed.

The Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, issued a statement saying that she said is deeply alarmed at the decision of the Tribunal to release the two accused.

Del Ponte added that she would monitor closely the activities of the two accused, who are on their way to Republika Srpska, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She said, "If there is any suggestion that they, or persons on their behalf, are interfering with witnesses or evidence, I will not hesitate to seek the re-arrest of the accused."

The statement adds that since Republika Srpska has never surrendered any fugitive to this Tribunal, it is likely that the Prosecutor will have to turn to the Stabilization Force (SFOR) to re-arrest these accused if they refuse to return to the Tribunal for trial when required. (Click here for press release from the tribunal and the statement from the Prosecutor).

IRAQ PROGRAMME NOTES OIL REVENUE OF $5 BILLION FOR PHASE VII

According to the latest weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme, Iraq exported 15.2 million barrels of oil in the week ending last Friday. The estimated revenue for the current phase is around $5.06 billion.

The Security Council's Sanctions Committee has now approved contracts for humanitarian supplies worth $5.6 billion dollars and for oil equipment worth $718 million. There are currently $1.718 billion worth of contracts on hold.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

In response to questions, the Spokesman noted that the Secretary-General has received a letter from President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa on the AIDS epidemic. He has spoken recently to President Mbeki and is preparing a response to that letter, Eckhard said. He noted that both the World Health Organization and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS have stated that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been "definitively established" as the cause of AIDS.

Asked about the discussions on the Khmer Rouge trials in Cambodia, the Spokesman noted that the UN Legal Counsel, Hans Corell, intends to discuss matters further with his Cambodian counterpart, Sok An. Last week in Havana, Eckhard noted, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen presented the Secretary-General with a series of options to deal with the proposed trial, and the Legal Counsel is drafting a response. He added that the United Nations would study the options but did not consider them to be an exhaustive list.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, will visit West Africa for two weeks beginning Thursday. He will participate in the West Africa Ministerial Conference on War-Affected Children, sponsored by the governments of Canada and Ghana, to be held in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, from April 27-28 April, and will also go to Mali and Sierra Leone. Further information is available on the Special Representative's website.

The report on the cyanide spill in Romania was released in Geneva this morning by the UN Environment Programme and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. According to the report, the January 30 spill of between 50 and 100 tons of cyanide and heavy metals into the shared river systems of Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia was probably caused by a combination of inherent design deficiencies in the industrial processes involved, inadequate operating conditions, and bad weather. The report can be found in the website dedicated to this issue.

Ethiopia has become the 79th Member State to pay their full balance to the UN regular budget for this year. They made a payment of just over $63,000.

In Pristina, Kosovo, today, a joint statement against violence in the province was issued by the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Bernard Kouchner, the European Union and members of the Interim Administrative Council and the Kosovo Transitional Council. The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo reported that a planeload of antibiotics is on its way to treat an outbreak of tularemia, a rat-borne disease that causes high fever, body aches and swollen glands. So far 480 cases have been identified.