United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-04-17

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

FROM THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, April 17, 2001

MIDDLE EAST: ANNAN IN CONTACT WITH LEADERS; URGES TALKS

After a round of phone calls to leaders in the Middle East, Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement just before 7:00 p.m. Monday, saying he was deeply disturbed by the escalation of military operations across the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon, and calling on the parties to respect that line. He also called for political negotiations to resume in order to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

The Secretary-General is resuming his telephone contacts on the Middle East today.

Following the events last night and this morning in Israel and the Gaza strip, Terje Roed Larsen, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process said: Security measures alone do not produce durable security. At the worst, the opposite may result: They may produce neither peace nor security. Larsen went on to add: Neither occupation nor reoccupation will bring peace or security.

EFFORTS UNDERWAY TO DEPLOY UN TROOPS IN REBEL-HELD CONGO

The 120 Moroccan peacekeepers who had been blocked from landing at Kisangani on Sunday by the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) rebel group remain at Bangui, in the Central African Republic, pending the resolution of the matter.

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for the Congo, Kamel Morjane, has been in contact with the ambassadors of Security Council permanent members in Kinshasa. The force commander for the mission, Maj.-Gen. Mountaga Diallo is scheduled to accompany a group of ambassadors representing the permanent members of the Security Council Wednesday to Goma to make a demarche to the rebel group leadership.

Despite media reports that the RCD may have moderated their position, as of the noon briefing, the UN mission ( MONUC) says it has had no official communication from the rebel leadership.

During its closed consultations this morning, the Security Council was given an update on the situation by Hédi Annabi, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.

COUNCIL DISCUSSES REPORT ON PROTECTING CIVILIANS IN ARMED CONFLICT

Following its briefing on the latest developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Security Council discussed, in closed consultations, Report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on the protection on civilians in armed conflict.

A public debate on the same subject is scheduled for Monday, April 23.

Wednesday, the Council will discuss the report by the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Also Wednesday, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette will brief the Security Council on her recently concluded mission to Sierra Leone.

The report on the UN mission in the Congo, originally scheduled for Wednesday, is scheduled for discussion on Friday. The report is expected to be issued in the next day or two.

UN LEGAL COUNSEL CONVENES MEETING ON SIERRA LEONE COURT

The Secretary-General's Legal Counsel, Hans Corell, this morning convened a meeting of interested Member States to discuss the Special Court proposed for Sierra Leone to try war crimes committed in that country since 30 November 1996.

They reviewed the budget as well as the practical planning for the court, and agreed to set up a Management Committee to be composed of major donors to the Special Court and members of the UN Secretariat who would interact as the Court gets established.

The Department of Legal Affairs will draw up the terms of reference for this Committee, and will meet again with Member States by the end of this month to get it up and running.

In response to a request for a list of members of the committee, the Spokesman said it is envisaged that the management committee would be made up of representative of donor countries and representatives of the UN Secretariat.

Responding to a question as to when the court would be set up, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General has said that he wanted the first years budget in the bank and the pledges for the following two years lined up before the court begins its operations.

On the ground, the UN mission in Sierra Leone ( UNAMSIL) today began deploying to Makeni and Magburaka as part of its push into territory held by the Revolutionary United Front. This operation is expected to take about a week.

UNICEF CONTINUES EFFORTS TO LOCATE SLAVE SHIP

The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) says its offices in West Africa are trying to gather information on the fate of children who have been reported to have been aboard a slave ship. The suspected ship docked in Benin last night but the 145 passengers were mainly adults accompanied by about 28 children. UNICEF country offices in Benin, Cameroon and Gabon are working with local authorities to determine the facts.

UNICEF has taken the occasion to emphasize that every year, some 200,000 children are trafficked across the national borders of about 20 countries in West and Central Africa. These children end up working in agriculture, fishing, domestic labor, urban sweatshops and the sex trade.

In response to a question, the Spokesman said that UNICEF would keep journalists updated on its findings. The Spokesman added that the formal investigation into the suspected ship was being conducted by the Government of Benin but that UNICEF was assisting and that its officers were mobilized in neighboring countries in case the ship landed elsewhere.

SERBS PROTEST ESTABLISHMENT OF TAX OFFICES IN KOSOVO

The UN Mission in Kosovo ( UNMIK) reports that, for the past two days, Kosovo Serbs have been protesting the establishment of tax collection centers in northern Kosovo, and have been blocking roads around Leposevac and Zubin Potok. The demonstrations have been peaceful, and the Mission reports that one protest held in northern Mitrovica dispersed without incident earlier today.

The UN Mission notes that the tax collection points have been established in accordance with the revenue arrangements that apply in Kosovo. The centers are set up to collect excise and sales taxes, and are not new to Kosovo; the first such tax collection point was set up on the administrative boundary line in February 2000.

The UN Mission in Kosovo said today that it expects those who wish to raise questions about the tax collection centers to do so in proper channels, not by committing illegal acts or blocking access.

The Kosovo Force also noted the release early this morning of five Serb men who had been held by ethnic Albanian extremists in the Presevo Valley.

In response to a question as to why the UN mission had set up tax collection posts near the border with Serbia when Kosovo is still part of Yugoslavia, the Spokesman said that these posts are to collect sales tax and not customs duties. He added that the United Nations is mandated to administer the province and the tax revenue is needed to finance the administration of the province. Some of the posts are located near the boundary with Serbia for reasons of practicality, the Spokesman later said.

BOSNIAN SERB WILL MAKE FIRST APPEARANCE TOMORROW AT THE HAGUE

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ( ICTY) will hold the initial appearance of Bosnian Serb suspect Dragan Obrenovic Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. in The Hague.

Obrenovic, who was seized by NATO's Stabilization Force and transferred to the Tribunal on Sunday, is accused of complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with the massacre of at least 5,000 Bosnian Muslims in the Srebrenica enclave in 1995.

IRAQI OIL EXPORTS CONTINUE TO RISE

According to the weekly update from the Office of the Iraqi Programme ( OIP), the Iraqi oil exports under the United Nations oil-for-food programme continued to rise this week to an average of 2.48 million barrels a day in the week leading to April 13, 2001. The sale of 17.4 million barrels of oil generated an estimated 418 million in revenue at current prices.

The total value of contracts placed on hold by the Security Councils 661 Sanctions Committee stand at $3.52 billion, of which about $3 billion worth of contracts were for humanitarian supplies, while another $437 million worth were for oil industry spare parts and equipment.

REPORT ON COLOMBIA PRESENTED TO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

This morning in Geneva, the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), Mary Robinson, presented her report on the situation on human rights in Colombia and the activities of the UN human rights office in that country to the 57th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Robinson noted the positive steps the government had taken in area of the rule of law, including new laws against forced displacement and torture as well as new military and civilian criminal codes which incorporate human rights and humanitarian law standards.

Unfortunately, she said, the States efforts to comply with international recommendations on human rights protection issues have failed to produce tangible results, either because these actions have lacked continuity, have had a limited impact or, as in a number of cases, have not been implemented. In conclusion, she said that her office stands ready to assist Colombia in its efforts to achieve full respect for Human Rights.

Also today, Hina Jilani, the Secretary-General Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders presented her first report to the Commission since her appointment in late August of last year. I am deeply concerned by the variety of repressive trends, measures, and practices used to threaten the freedom of action of human rights defenders,Jilani said in her speech. She went on to add: No region is free of these trends. The degree of violence used to silence voices in defense of human rights increases every day.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

About 40 Kurdish demonstrators succeeded in entering the grounds of the UN offices in Geneva this afternoon. They were protesting against the treatment of political prisoners in Turkey. A small delegation was received by the chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Ambassador Despouy. Following the meeting, the demonstrators left the UN grounds without incident. The whole event lasted no more than hour.

A three-member reconnaissance team for the recently-established Ethiopia-Eritrea neutral Boundary Commission arrived in Asmara, Eritrea late last night. The purpose of the teams visit is to collect information to draw a plan of action for technical on-site activities required for the Commissions mandate, which is to delimit and to demarcate the border between the two countries based on pertinent colonial treaties and applicable international law.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR) said it plans to begin within days an operation to relocate some 80,000 Sierra Leonian refugees from the isolated Parrots Beak border area to safer camps in the interior of Guinea.

A joint message from the Secretary-General, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) and the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, which will be observed on May 3rd, calls upon decision makers to do what they can to ensure that journalists can pursue their work unhindered and undeterred.

The Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC) has issued a note to correspondents and fact sheet on this weekends climate change talks, which are scheduled to take place at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York, under the chairmanship of Jan Pronk.

In response to a query on whether there had been a request for a return of a UN mission to Haiti, the Spokesman said after the briefing that the Secretary-General had received a request from President Jean-Bertrand Aristide for a representative of the Secretary-General to be appointed to Haiti.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162

Fax. 212-963-7055

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