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4 NOVEMBER 1999

The General Assembly, this morning, took up the question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country and the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

On the Falklands (Malvinas), the Assembly decided to defer consideration of the item and to include it in the provisional agenda of its fifty-fifth session.

In connection with the report of the Host Country Committee, the Assembly took note of the President’s appointment of Malaysia as a member of that Committee from among the Asian States. This stemmed from a decision by the Assembly to expand the membership by four, thereby bringing to 19 the total membership of the Committee. (The other 18 members are: Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, France, Honduras, Hungary, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Russian Federation, Senegal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States as the host country.)

Concerning the IAEA, its Director-General, Mohamed Elbaradei, presented the Agency’s 1998 report to the Assembly, and Brazil introduced draft resolution A/54/L.21 which would have the Assembly take note of the report. It would also welcome the measures taken by the Agency in support of efforts to prevent illicit trafficking in nuclear materials and other radioactive sources, and would bear in mind, while drafting an international convention on the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism, the work being done by the Agency in that area. The Assembly will vote on the draft at a later date. Nineteen speakers are inscribed on the list for this item, and the Assembly may meet again this afternoon to hear the remaining speakers.

The Agency’s annual report is a glossy, 143-page document. Reviewing the past year, the IAEA said that the international dimension of nuclear safety became increasingly recognized; the need for sustainable development continued to be a priority; the requirements for electricity generation without the emission of environmental pollutants, and especially the emission of greenhouse gases, grew in urgency; and the importance of worldwide moves towards a strengthened non-proliferation regime was heightened. Against this background, the Agency said it set in motion a re-examination and redirection of its functioning in order better to meet the needs and interests of the 129 members parties to its statute.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) is taking action, this morning, on draft texts on nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons. Action on a revised text on the preservation of and compliance with the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (A/C.1/54/L.1/Rev.1), sponsored by Belarus, China and the Russian Federation, was postponed for consultations. France introduced a new amendment that would add a new preambular paragraph as well as a new operative one. Just before coming to the briefing, I was told that Russia had requested a vote on the existing text. So the Committee may be voting on it now.

This morning, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) continued its discussion of two items under sector policy questions: industrial development cooperation, and business and development.

Dialogue is under way in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Mary Robinson and several human rights experts, who are here to present their reports under the item on human rights questions.

In opening remarks, Mrs. Robinson highlighted the human rights challenges she said awaited us as we enter the next century. There were the twin challenges of human rights protection and conflict prevention; of embedding a culture of respect for human rights in societies, institutions and cultures; the need to eliminate racial discrimination, racism and related intolerance; to protect the rights of the child; to prevent massive violations of human rights such as occurred in Cambodia, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo and East Timor; to raise the concept of prevention to the international level; and personal accountability and the end of impunity for gross violations of human rights. She concluded: "I do not think that respect for human rights is an impossibly idealistic goal. But it will require responsible decision-making by Governments. Nor do I despair of the United Nations as the focus for international human rights action. Its universality and impartiality, and its ability to listen to the weakest over the influence of the strong, makes it indispensable".

Today’s participants are: Sir Nigel Rodley (Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture); Dr. Kamal Hossain (Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan); Mr. Rajsoomer Lallah (Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar); Mr. Max van der Stoel (Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iraq); Mr. Roberto Garreton (Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo); Mr. Leonardo Franco (Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan); Mr. Adama Dieng (Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Haiti); and Mr. Thomas Hammarberg (Special Representative on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia). The discussion on the human rights cluster of items will continue through 11 November.

The Committee will vote this afternoon on a draft resolution (A/C.3/54/L.29), under which the Assembly would reaffirm the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the option of a state, and would express the hope that the Palestinian people would soon be exercising their right to self-determination, which is not subject to any veto, in the current peace process. A draft resolution on the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (A/C.3/54/L.45) will be introduced.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) will be taking action, this afternoon, on 12 draft resolutions – five dealing with the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs in the occupied territories (A/C.4/54/L.8 to L.12), and seven dealing with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) (A/C.4/54/L.13 to L.19). Among those texts, one on the occupied Syrian Golan (A/C.4/54/L.12), calls upon Israel to desist from imposing Israeli citizenship and Israeli identity cards in the occupied Syrian Golan, and to desist from its repressive measures against that population.

At the first of two meetings today, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) will conclude discussion of the item on the United Nations common system, then continue its section-by-section examination of the proposed programme budget for 2000-2001. Yesterday, it began but did not conclude section 5, peacekeeping operations. Tomorrow, the Committee will fill vacancies in six bodies, including the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). The others are: the Committee on Contributions, the Board of Auditors, the Investments Committee, the United Nations Administrative Tribunal and the United Nations Staff Pension Committee. Because all six are clear slates, there will be no secret ballots. The related documents are: A/54/101/Rev.1 to 105 and A/C.5/54/5 to 10.

The Sixth Committee (Legal) is meeting twice today on the report of the International Law Commission.

Copies of the appointments of Assembly President Theo-Ben Gurirab are available in room 378 and can also be found on the Internet. He meets this afternoon with the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Vladimir Petrovsky, and later with the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, to discuss the Millennium Assembly and Security Council reform.

I was asked yesterday how long judges can serve on the International Court of Justice. The answer is that there is no limit. However, they have to stand for re-election after each nine-year term.

Question: There are Special Rapporteurs for various human rights situations, but an Independent Expert for Haiti. Why is that?

Answer: I will check with the human rights people and get back to you.

Question: When is the next meeting of the Committee on Information?

Answer: The Committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow to conclude its resumed session. I will check with the secretariat and inform you.