PRESS BRIEFING
25 SEPTEMBER 2001
(Near Verbatim)
MS. MARGARET NOVICKI - UNAMSIL SPOKESMAN AND
MAJ. MOHAMMED YERIMA- UNAMSIL MILITARY SPOKESMAN

VIGOROUS RESPONSE TO TERROR NEEDED, SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN TELLS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

On the day that should have seen the opening of the annual high-level debate in the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the UN's principal legislative body yesterday that the terrorist attacks against the United States were also a strike against everything the UN stood for.

"Peace, freedom, tolerance, human rights and the very idea of a united human family," Mr. Annan said as he presented to the Assembly his annual Report on the Work of the Organization. "It struck at all our efforts to create a true international society, based on the rule of law."

"Let us respond by reaffirming, with all our strength, our common humanity and the values that we share," he said at the outset of the debate, in which representatives of over 60 countries were expected to address the Assembly. "We shall not allow them to be overthrown."

The Secretary-General noted the need for a vigorous response to terrorism, which the General Assembly will address in greater detail on 1 October. He also underscored the need to reaffirm the rule of law: "No effort should be spared in bringing the perpetrators to justice, in a clear and transparent process that all can understand and accept."

Mr. Annan warned, however, that responding to the attacks should not distract from the rest of the UN's work and that rather than resorting to violence, cooperation and partnership was the only route that offers any hope of a better future for all of humanity, with the United Nations squarely in the centre of any such efforts.

"The United Nations must provide a framework of shared values and understanding, within which their free and voluntary efforts can interact, and reinforce each other, instead of getting in each other's way," Mr. Annan said.

The Secretary-General called for a strengthening of the international trade system to ensure that its benefits were available to all, especially the developing countries. He also encouraged the Assembly not to see the attacks as setbacks to pledges made in last year's Millennium Declaration on reducing the number of people who live on less than $1 a day, ensuring universal primary education for all children, or halting and beginning the reversal of the spread of HIV/AIDS.

"Let us reject the path of violence, which is the product of nihilism and despair," Mr. Annan said. "Let us prove by our actions that there is no need to despair; that the political and economic problems of our time can be solved peacefully; and that no human life should be sacrificed, because every human being has cause to hope."

GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S HIGH-LEVEL DEBATE NOT LIKELY BEFORE LATE OCTOBER - UN OFFICIALS

Senior New York City officials have told the United Nations that its annual high-level General Assembly debate - which normally attracts the participation of national leaders from around the world, but was postponed following the terrorist attacks against the United States - should not be held before October or early November.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani last week when the New York security team could handle an influx of heads of State and Government for the high-level debate, according to a UN spokesman. "The Mayor said it should not be before late October or early November at the earliest," spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in New York, adding that Mr. Guiliani had suggested that the issue be revisited in a few weeks.

The Secretary-General then conveyed this information to the President of the General Assembly, who continues to consult with regional groups on possible dates for the two-week debate, Mr. Eckhard said.

According to a spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, the regional groups are not considering other venues for the gathering, but have instead said they wanted the meetings to be held in New York.

DISARMAMENT COMMENCES IN BO AND BOMBALI DISTRICTS

The Civil Defence Force (CDF) and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) began handing over their weapons in Bo and Bombali districts yesterday, when more than 70 combatants disarmed on the first day of disarmament in the two districts.

Sixty-four CDF combatants were disarmed in Mongeri, Bo District, and three RUF combatants handed in their weapons in Batkanu, Bombali District, at a ceremony attended by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji. Another three RUF and two CDF were reported to have disarmed yesterday in Makeni.

Weapons handed in by the RUF ex-combatants included a G3, an AK-47, a rocket-propelled grenade, bombs and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Villagers at Batkanu cheered, sang and danced as the weapons were turned over to UNAMSIL Military Observers and were disabled by the ex-combatants.

The apparent slow start in the disarmament exercise in Bombali District was due, according to RUF officials, to the choice of the DDR camp -- set up at St. Francis Secondary School by the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration. The RUF's Mr. Eldred Collins told UNAMSIL officials that they would prefer to use the military barracks in the area.

While conceding that the slow start of the disarmament process was a disappointment, Ambassador Adeniji said both parties were committed to the peace process.

UNAMSIL RECEIVES KONO NEEDS ASSESSMENT MISSION

Yesterday, UNAMSIL's Civil Affairs Sector V, MILOBS and Pakistani Battalion 1 in Koidu received the Kono Needs Assessment Mission at the Sector V Headquarters. Some 80 persons, including representatives of UN Agencies, international and national NGOs, key GoSL ministries and Kono local administration led by the Senior District Officer, are participating in the three-day mission, which will examine the humanitarian needs of the District, as well Government infrastructure required to enhance the restoration of state authority.

The assessment will initially take place in six out of 14 chiefdoms. The remaining chiefdoms are currently inaccessible due to the poor state of the roads.

UNAMSIL HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE OPENS TODAY IN MAKENI

A team of UNAMSIL Human Rights Officers visited Makeni and Magburaka on Thursday, 20 September, in preparation for today's opening of the Regional Human Rights Office for the Northern Province. The team met with members of the civil society and had a cordial meeting with leaders of the RUF.

The UNAMSIL Human Rights Field Coordinator and head of delegation, Mr. Patrice Vahard, explained to the RUF leaders that the establishment of a UNAMSIL Human Rights Office in Makeni is in line with the mission's commitment to achieving integrated deployment of military and non-military components throughout the country.

The human rights office will monitor and report on violations of human rights and international humanitarian law throughout the Northern Region, run sensitization programs, mainly on the TRC and the Independent Special Court, and organise regular human rights training sessions for civil society groups and others in the Northern Region.

The RUF leaders welcomed the opening of UNAMSIL's Human Rights Office and pledged the RUF's cooperation with its activities.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q: The CDF Spokesman, Mr. [Charles] Moiwo, today claimed on Radio UNAMSIL that some CDF fighters in the Bo District were not accepted at the demobilization center because they did not meet weapons criteria of sixty rounds of ammunitions for their guns. Can you confirm these allegations?

Ms. Margaret Novicki: First of all, CDF disarmament did begin well yesterday. Sixty-four CDF fighters disarmed yesterday in Bo. So I don't think there are any hitches in the process. As far as the weapons criteria is concerned, the CDF has been sensitized as to the new weapons criteria which has been established by the National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR) with the cooperation of UNAMSIL. I don't think that it is fair for Mr. Moiwo to suggest that they are not aware of these regulations.

Q: Is it true that UNAMSIL has released Brig. Morris Kallon to the RUF interim leader General Issa Sesay? If that is so, why didn't you release him to the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) because he is alleged to have shot dead one of his colleagues?

Maj. Mohammed Yerima: First of all, UNAMSIL did not arrest Morris Kallon. After the shooting incident in Makeni, Morris Kallon came to UNAMSIL to seek refuge. Later on, the RUF wrote to UNAMSIL requesting his release to their organization. We then released him to the RUF High Command. And don't forget that the SLP is still not deployed in Makeni.

Q: What is the United Nations position on the United States of America vis-à-vis the tendency for that country to boycott major United Nations conferences? How would this affect the global effort by the United Nations to control terrorism?

Ms. Novicki: We in the United Nations believe that the international community should come together wherever possible and form a consensus on issues of global importance. And that is what we are trying to do -- encouraging that consensus to be developed. If individual countries decide not to be part of that consensus, that's their right, we can't force them to be. But all in all, United Nations is an organization that stands for working together in partnership trying to solve the globe's problems.

Q: Don't you think that the slow start of disarmament in the Bombali District will affect the movement of humanitarian organizations in the Kono District?

Ms. Novicki: If you have been following the disarmament process, you would know that sometimes it starts out slow and sometimes there are some hitches in the initial phases of the process. Sometimes the parties to the conflict raise different issues at the outset. But we have managed to resolve such differences and move the process forward.

Q: When do you hope to declare Kono District arms-free?

Maj. Yerima: Kono district is declared arms-free. Whoever carries weapons in that district will be apprehended and prosecuted.

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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