United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-03-13

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, 13 March 1998

HEADLINES

• Security Council members welcome return of Sierra Leone's ousted President as United Kingdom moves to have oil embargo lifted.
• Concerned about tension in Cyprus, Security Council members call on parties to move negotiations forward.
• Chief of UN weapons inspectors will travel to Baghdad next week for talks with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister.
• General Assembly expected to resume emergency special session on illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and rest of occupied Palestinian territory.
• UN Secretary-General says international criminal court remains missing link in international legal system.
• International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia enters not-guilty plea for Dragoljub Kunarac.
• United Nations unveils new $27 million plan to help Brazil fight drug trafficking.
• New head of UN communications office says world public needs to be better informed about work of United Nations.
• United Nations refugee agency laments attacks against Lutheran World Federation workers in Rwanda.
• Chairperson of Commission on Status of Women reports substantive progress as annual session concludes.

Ambassador John Weston of the United Kingdom predicted that the text would be adopted on Monday "without controversy".

Also on Friday, members of the Council, through a statement to the press read by Council President Abdoulie Momodou Sallah of the Gambia, welcomed the return of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah to Freetown. President Kabbah had been ousted in a military coup on 25 May 1997.

Members of the Council welcomed President Kabbah's commitment to national reconciliation and the establishment of a broad-based government. They also welcomed the re-opening of the United Nations Office in Freetown, headed by the Secretary-General's Special Envoy, Francis Okelo. They also expressed gratitude for the efforts of humanitarian agencies in getting emergency aid to those in need, and to the forces of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) for their role in the country.

The Security Council imposed sanctions against Sierra Leone by its resolution 1132 (1997), adopted on 8 October 1997, as part of international efforts to restore President Kabbah to power.

Speaking to the press, Council President Abdoulie Momodou Sallah of the Gambia told reporters that there was concern about the high level of tension on the island and in the region. "In this context, the members call on both parties to take the practical steps necessary to move the negotiations forward in an effective manner," he said.

Members of the Security Council reiterated their full support for the mission of the good offices of the Secretary-General on Cyprus and commended Mr. Cordovez's efforts, according to Ambassador Sallah.

Mr. Cordovez is scheduled to travel later this month to Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and Geneva.

Ambassador Richard Butler told reporters in New York on Friday that he expected to leave for Iraq with a scientific and policy team next week. On Sunday, 22 March, Mr. Butler said he would hold two days of talks with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz. Following that, Mr. Butler said he would spend two days with the staff at the UNSCOM Baghdad monitoring and verification centre.

The talks would focus on a review of progress in the technical evaluation meetings held on missile, chemical and biological weapons, although the latter meeting would not be quite finished while Mr. Butler was in Baghdad, he said. "We'll also talk about the future of UNSCOM- Iraq cooperation in the light of the Memorandum of Understanding" brokered by Secretary-General Kofi Annan last month, Mr. Butler said.

"We will also talk about arrangements which will then be virtually complete for the beginning of inspections for presidential sites," Mr. Butler said, noting that this would take place shortly after he left Iraq.

Mr. Butler noted that Scott Ritter, who had recently led successful inspections in sensitive sites in Iraq, had reported to the Secretary- General on Friday morning about his activities, which had included access to the Iraqi Ministry of Defence. "The Secretary-General was very happy to receive that report, thanked Mr. Ritter for the good work that he had done and encouraged him to continue to do it," Mr. Butler said.

Acting on behalf of the League of Arab States, Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe of Syria wrote to General Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko of Ukraine on Thursday to request the resumed session. Mr. Udovenko's Spokesman, Alex Taukatch, said that although the President was travelling, Acting President K.J. Jele of South Africa had written to Member States to inform them of the President's intention to resume the emergency special session on Tuesday, 17 March.

The tenth emergency special session has met three times so far. Under the terms of 1950 General Assembly resolution 377 (V), an emergency special session can be called if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of its permanent members, fails to exercise its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security "in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression". The tenth session was called in response to Israel's decision to build Har Homa, a 6,500 unit housing project in the Jabal Abu Ghneim area of East Jerusalem. On two previous occasions, the Council had failed to adopt a draft resolution that would have expressed deep concern about the decision and would have called on Israel to refrain from settlement activities.

Addressing Thursday evening a commemorative conference of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Secretary-General said that such a court could eliminate the risk of "selective justice" which, he said was one of the deficiencies of ad hoc tribunals. The court, he added, could take over when national criminal justice institutions were unwilling or unable to act.

An international criminal court could guarantee that at least some of the individuals responsible for atrocities during conflicts were brought to justice, thus putting an end "situations in which atrocities and conflict work in tandem", Mr. Annan told the ABA conference commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The Secretary-General said that the court would end impunity by upholding the principle of individual criminal accountability by making all individuals in a government or military hierarchy , from rulers to private soldiers, accountable for their actions. "A court, in short, will put warlords and future war criminals on notice," Mr. Annan said.

On Monday, Kunarac pleaded guilty to the charge of rape as a crime against humanity. But on Friday, Judges Cassesse, May and Mumba questioned the defendant in order to ensure that his plea was not "equivocal". Under the Tribunal's rules, if the accused pleads guilty, judges must be satisfied that the guilty plea had been made voluntarily and that it was not equivocal. They also must ensure that there was a sufficient factual basis for the participation of the accused in the crimes in question.

Judges questioning Mr. Kunarac, a Bosnian Serb, found that he had not intended to plead guilty to the count of rape as a crime against humanity. They also found that Mr. Kunarac did not perceive his criminal conduct to be part of a widespread or systematic attack against the Muslim population of Foca on discriminatory grounds. As such, the judges entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of Mr. Kunarac.

The largest project of its kind in Latin America, the new five-year, $27.9 million initiative aims to help Brazil's National Drug Control Plan.

"The project provides the Brazilian federal authorities with much needed support in their relentless fight against drug trafficking and abuse," said UNDCP Executive Director Pino Arlacchi. "Working together, I'm confident that UNDCP and the Brazilian Government can turn the tide against illegal drugs."

The new collaboration is designed to help the Brazilian Government crack down on the trafficking of illegal drugs and chemicals required for refining heroin and cocaine. According to UNDCP, Brazil borders the world's largest producers of cocaine and is a transit point for some 150 metric tonnes of cocaine each year which is destined for markets around the world. Brazil has also become a supply location for the precursor chemicals used in making cocaine and heroin. Many Brazilian cities face increasing problems related to drug abuse.

The UNDCP-backed law enforcement project includes assistance for the modernization of police training programmes, an improved cross-border coordination among drug control agencies, and the creation of a national system to monitor precursor chemicals. The Brazilian Ministry of Justice will fund 88 per cent of the new project, with UNDCP providing the balance. The new project will complement existing UNDCP efforts to combat drug abuse in Brazil.

Mr. Hogen stressed the importance of international cooperation in tackling these issues. "No one country can resolve the issue, for example of global warming," he said, emphasizing the need for all nations to work together to improve the quality of life worldwide.

He said that the twentieth century had been "a century of turmoil, ideological conflicts and wars." He expressed the hope that the twenty- first century would be "a century for citizens and century for the people."

Mr. Hogen, who has had a distinguished diplomatic career in Japan, underlined the importance of cooperation between the press and the United Nations "to make sure that the things that take place in the United Nations are properly communicated to the world."

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the fatal attack carried out on Wednesday also left five civilians dead. UNHCR said that the killings, carried out by infiltrators who singled out the LWF residence, took place at the Bukora settlement village in the Rusumo commune.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata on Thursday expressed shock and regret on hearing of this new attack on aid workers.

LWF is one of two non-governmental working with the United Nations refugee agency at the UNHCR-financed Bukora settlement which is sheltering 1,500 Rwandan returnee families. The other non-governmental organization is the International Rescue Committee.

Speaking at a press conference in New York, Patricia Flor said that the Commission, one of the oldest functioning bodies of the Economic and Social Council, had a long record of achievements in the advancement of women and their human rights.

Ms. Flor reminded correspondents that the Commission had elaborated the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It had also served as the preparatory body for the Fourth World Conference of Women in Beijing and the resulting Platform for Action.

The Commission's programme of work for the current session, from 2 to 13 March, included human rights of women, the girl child, women and armed conflict, and violence against women.

Ms. Flor said that an important outcome of the session would be the recommendation to the General Assembly that it convene a special session from 5 to 9 June in the year 2000 to review the Platform's implementation and to promote discussion of further actions and initiatives. The timing of the special session during the passage from one century to the next should facilitate a lively debate on ways and means to promote gender equality.

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

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