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PRESS BRIEFING
17 JULY 2001
(Near Verbatim)
PATRICK COKER - UNAMSIL ACTING SPOKESMAN
SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN ADDRESSES THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCILFollowing is an excerpt of the address by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the high-level segment of the 2001 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council in Geneva on 16 July 2001:
We meet at a time of uncertainty in the world economy. At such times, more than ever, the United Nations has a responsibility to defend the interests of its most vulnerable members. It is therefore most timely that you are devoting this High-level Segment to the role of the United Nations system in African development -- as indeed it was timely that, two month ago, we held the Conference on the Least Developed Countries. Most of those countries are in Africa, as you know.
At the conference, it was accepted by all that the Least Developed Countries are entitled to special and differential treatment, both in terms of debt relief and in terms of access for their products to the markets of more fortunate countries. That was an important breakthrough. You will be given the full text of the address after this briefing.
CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FOR THE SIERRA LEONE SPECIAL COURT
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has scaled back his requests for financing of a Special Court for Sierra Leone, citing continued shortfalls in receiving funds and pledges for the first three years of its operation.
In a letter to the President of the Security Council released yesterday, the Secretary-General said that last month the Secretariat presented to interested countries revised estimates for the Court's funding needs, amounting to some $57 million for its first three years of work, including about $16.8 million for the first year.
The Secretary-General had proposed last October the establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone to try persons deemed most responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other violations of international humanitarian law.
He said at the time that he would proceed with establishing such a Court only after he had received contributions to finance the first year of its operation and pledges sufficient to fund the next 24 months, which were estimated at $30.2 million and $84.4 million, respectively.
As of 6 July, the Secretariat had received indications of contributions in funds for the Court's first year amounting to about $15 million, and pledges for the following two years for approximately $20.4 million, the letter says. Accordingly, the Secretary-General said he intended to circulate a letter to countries that have made pledges, asking them to deposit contributions within 30 days for the Court's first-year costs to a Trust Fund.
Once the Court is established, the letter says, "Member States have a responsibility to ensure that sufficient resources are available to secure the completion of proceedings against those indicted."
SRSG VISITS KAMBIA DISTRICT IN NORTHERN SIERRA LEONE
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji, visited Kambia District in the Northern Province on 15 July, accompanied by his deputy for Governance and Stabilization, Alan Doss, as well as other senior UNAMSIL officials.
Upon his arrival, the SRSG toured the town, visiting destroyed buildings of a secondary school, a clinic, and Medecins Sans Frontieres building. He later addressed a gathering in the town hall, which was also attended by ex-combatants and local authorities. The town hall was fully packed by the locals and outside the building a huge gathering of people in festive mood had gathered with traditional folk music and dances.
In his speech, Ambassador Adeniji explained the importance of the peace process, the redeployment of the Sierra Leone Police, the Sierra Leone Army in Kambia District and the extension of government authority in the area, with the assistance of UNAMSIL.
UNAMSIL FORCE COMMANDER VISITS BANGLADESH BATTALION
The Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), Lt. Gen. Daniel Opande, yesterday, 16 July, visited Bangladeshi Battalion 4 (BANBATT 4) stationed at Lungi Airport. BANBATT 4 has been in Sierra Leone for about one month after the return to Bangladesh of BANBATT 1 upon completion of the latter's tour of duty with UNAMSIL.
Upon arrival at Lungi, the Commanding Officer of BANBATT 4, Col. Farooq Ahmed, briefed the Force Commander on the deployment and responsibilities of his troops. BANBATT 4 provides security to the airport, conducts both land and marine patrols and also renders humanitarian assistance within its area of responsibility.
In his address to the Bangladeshi peacekeepers, Gen. Opande talked about the importance of their task of providing security to the only international airport in Sierra Leone. He exhorted them to be vigilant as they handled cross-sections of travelers to and from Sierra Leone. In that regard, he urged them to be a showpiece for UNAMSIL as they were working at the gateway to the nation.
The Force Commander expressed his confidence in the battalion's professionalism and dedication to duty. He also reminded the peacekeepers that their primary duty was to restore sustainable peace to Sierra Leone.
REVOLUTIONARY UNITED FRONT RELEASES ABDUCTED GIRLS TO UNAMSIL
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) yesterday released 107 children-62 of whom were girls, and 45 their babies and dependent siblings-to the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) in a brief ceremony at Makeni's Wusum stadium. Senior representatives from the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, the National Commission on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration and UNICEF attended.
Among the 62 girls, 11 were pregnant and another 33 were breast-feeding their infants. Most of the child mothers were between the ages of 14 and 17, and many had been abducted by the RUF from the western area and the Southern province in the period since January 1999.
Col. Agnes Manning, the RUF's commander of women and children, handed over the girls to Ms. Bituin Gonzalez, UNAMSIL's Child Protection Adviser, and appealed to UNAMSIL to ensure that the children would be well-cared for. Since the first major release of children on 25 May, UNAMSIL had been focusing its efforts on obtaining the release of girls and was gratified that the first such release had taken place, Ms. Gonzalez said.
The Commanding Officer of UNAMSIL's Nigerian Battalion 7 at Makeni, Lt. Col. J.A.P. Oladipo, in his opening remarks, said the hand-over was in keeping with agreements reached between the Government of Sierra Leone and the RUF at Abuja and Freetown in May. This release would push the peace process even further, he said.
The RUF noted that additional girls would be released in the coming weeks from Magburaka, Pendembu, Tongo, Kono and Kamakwie.
The released children were taken to Port Loko to an interim care center run by Caritas-Makeni. They will subsequently be transported to child protection agencies in their regions of origin, eventually to be reunited with their families.
Today's release brings the total number of children handed over by the RUF to UNAMSIL since 25 May to 1,170.
UNAMSIL HONOURS NIGERIAN BATTALION 7 WITH UN MEDALS
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji, on 14 July conferred UN medals of honour on 32 officers and 774 soldiers of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone's Nigerian Battalion (NIBATT 7) at a ceremony held in the Northern town of Makeni.
UNAMSIL's Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Daniel Opande, and other senior UNAMSIL military officers also attended the ceremony. Other dignitaries included the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Governance and Stabilization, Mr. Alan Doss, Deputy Force Commander Maj. Gen. Martin Agwai, and Mr. Keith Biddle, the Inspector-General of the Sierra Leone Police.
Speaking at the ceremony, Ambassador Adeniji commended the Nigerian Battalion for their sacrifices in fulfillment of the main objective of the United Nations--the maintenance of international peace and security throughout the world. He encouraged the Battalion to continue performing its duties with the discipline and professionalism that has characterized its operations since arriving in the mission area in January.
The SRSG also congratulated the Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. J.A.P. Oladipo, and the officers and soldiers of the Battalion for their contributions to the peace process, particularly in the current phase. He noted that the Mission could always count on NIBATT 7 to carry out whatever task given to them to further the peace process.
The Sierra Leone Army (SLA) Band provided the music during the parade, the first visit of the SLA to Makeni--the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) headquarters--in several years. The ceremony also witnessed traditional and cultural dances from Nigeria.
UN medals are a mark of honour bestowed upon UN troops who have served a minimum of 90 day in the mission without committing any offence.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: Last week, UNAMSIL informed us about RUF complaints about CDF attacking their positions in villages in Kono and Koinadugu districts. The spokesman informed us that investigations are going on. So what is the latest on these attacks?
A: Investigations are ongoing. You will recall sometime ago if you listened to Radio UNAMSIL during the news, it was mentioned that the Human Rights Section is carrying out investigations into these alleged attacks. As soon as details of these investigations are collated, they will be passed on to you.
Q: I understand you're deployed some Pakistanis over the weekend in Kono. Can you give me the figure of troops you took to Kono over the weekend? With regards to this Special Court I think the UN Secretary General seems to be finding it a little bit difficult raising funds for this particular Special Court. Don't you think with this (inaudible)……… the phase of this particular reconciliation process now going on in the country, how do you want to reconcile these with regards to raising funds and the situation now on the ground?
A: At the moment we have about 908 Pakistani officers and men in Sierra Leone. An advance party has been deployed to Kono and they are settling down and in the coming weeks we shall have more of the Pakistani troops being deployed in this general area.
Concerning the Special Court, you can recall that in the briefing notes, I mentioned that Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan did write a letter to the UN Security Council, which is a normal procedure concerning the funds for the Special Court. Of course he has made his statement quite clear that the court will not commence until the funds for the first year are made available and indeed pledges for the next 24 months are made available by donor nations. I believe the peace process is moving forward effectively and we shall cross the bridge when we get there.
Q: We are aware that in fact the RUF had said that they will not be disarming until certain conditions are met. However we have learnt again that they have changed that position. Can you please tell us what has been the outcome of disarmament in Kono as of Tuesday the 17th July and secondly we are aware again that some of your arms are still with the RUF. Have they released all your arms?
A: I'm happy you noted that the RUF has rescinded whatever statement they made concerning the DDR process. And I can inform you too that the disarmament process is ongoing. The figures I have indicated that on the 16th we had (inaudible) … of combatants from the RUF disarming at Koidu and Yengema general area. On the 14th of July about 103 CDF combatants disarmed in Matru area. Figures for today, I do not have but this is an indication to you that the disarmament process is ongoing and it has not stop as has been speculated.
You will agree with me that the peace process is ongoing and we have received some weapons from the RUF in the past. As soon as talks are going on concerning this area weapons that are still with the RUF will be released to UNAMSIL. As I speak to you indeed a tripartite meeting is going on in Bo involving UNAMSIL, the government of Sierra Leone and the RUF. This is a follow-up DDR meeting.
Q: Why is it that UNAMSIL is unable to prevent the CDF from attacking the RUF in Kono?
A: Concerning the prevention of a party to the conflict attacking the other, you would agree with me also that the parties to the conflict met on the 15th of May and agreed that they will cease hostilities. We have the moral obligation here to ensure that all parties to the conflicts do respect whatever signature they have put on paper and indeed whatever commitments they have made to the people of Sierra Leone. And I believe that your question is very informative and is being listened to by all parties to the conflict. UNAMSIL will continue to do what it has to do to make sure that they respect the agreement they have signed.
Q: Do you have any report of rebels terrorizing villages on Mile 91-Magburaka Highway. The report even said that they have even set up about 7 checkpoints in the area.
A: Well, to the best of my knowledge and indeed reference to the reporting system we do not have such reports and we've had our troops patrolling that general area. They have not given any such report. I believe some of your colleagues that travel to Bo by road to attend the tripartite meeting will also tell us the situation on that road. But we do not have such a report.
Q: Very recently the Special Representative paid a visit to Makeni and met the RUF high command and they posed questions about the establishment of the Special Court. And again the spokesman told us about the kind of response of the Special Representative and what he said to organize some workshop and other seminar so that these guys will be educated about the Special Court. Now my question is I just want to know about the deployment of UN troops and details about the deployment of UN troops as of now?
A: Yes those details will take some time to give. But if I could just quickly give you a run down of the latest deployment in Kono general area, that is the deployment of an advance party of the Pakistani contingent. But within Freetown you of course know we have the Sector 2 Nibatt 5 and 6, Goderich and Freetown respectively, and Kenbatt 6 at Masiaka general area.
Of course Port Loko which is Sector 1, Makeni which is Sector 4 and indeed Kenema which is Sector 3. So this is just an eagle-eye view of our deployment.
Q: Since May 15th the communiqué signed between the RUF and the CDF, we were no longer expecting any of the parties to the conflict to control territories in this country any longer according to the communiqué. Now I see RUF claiming to have territories in Kono, Koinadugu and so on. And they have been attacked by CDF, and CDF also controlling territories. I think UNAMSIL has got a role to play in this whole nonsense. Don't you think it's high time we send in the Sierra Leone Army to take positions, extending government control in those areas and at the same time I see the UNAMSIL CIVPOL in conjunction with the Sierra Leone Police were expected to have deployed in that Kono general area latest this week. Can you just comment on those two issues?
A: UNAMSIL does not believe in any area being controlled by any party. But you will also agree with me that parties to the conflict occupy areas. It is now left to your own imagination to see it whether they are in control or not and UNAMSIL will continue to work with all parties to the conflict to make sure that we go in accordance with the mandate and the wishes of Sierra Leone. UNAMSIL is making sure that we extent the control of government authorities and activities. Indeed I can assure you that the Kambia district the government has extended its authority in that general area, and we have the police presence at Lunsar. These are very commendable effort by UNAMSIL and indeed by every party to the conflict. Indeed we believe that this extension is on going and to the credit of all parties to the conflict. The SLA was at Makeni playing music during a parade over the weekend. These are commendable efforts which we should emphasize. We still call on all parties to the conflict to respect their signatures and make sure that they give peace a chance and indeed allow the peace process to move forward.
Q: We are very much aware that today is a very crucial day to the RUF, CDF and UNAMSIL's own role towards ensuring peace in the country. Can you give us a feel of the agenda? Is it a closed agenda or is it an opened one? Let us get the feel of it so at least we can report on it in our press.
A: The agenda of the tripartite talk is not a closed agenda. Basically the top most issue on the agenda is the DDR process. And you would agree with me that, that had always been the agenda outside other issues that come up during such meeting. But it is basically on the disarmament process, which is the key point in the peace process at the moment aside from other issues like the extension of government authority, peace building activities and indeed empowerment of the people of Sierra Leone.
*********** For additional information, contact UNAMSIL Public Information Office: UNAMSIL Headquarters, Mammy Yoko, P. O. Box 5, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Tel: 232-22-273-183/4/5 Fax: 232-22-273-189
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