HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY
STEPHANE DUJARRIC
ASSOCIATE
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Friday,
May 20, 2005
U.N. POLITICAL CHIEF TO HEAD TO CYPRUS FOR TALKS
Kieran Prendergast, the Under-Secretary-General for
Political Affairs, and Tasos Tzionis, envoy of Cypriot President Tassos
Papadopoulos,
concluded today a series of preliminary, informal and non-binding
discussions on the
Cyprus issue. During these meetings, the Greek Cypriot delegation
explained in detail their views on both procedure and substance.
Following these consultations, the Secretary-General has
asked Prendergast to visit the region to listen to the views of all parties on
the future of the Secretary-General’s mission of good offices on Cyprus.
He will arrive in Cyprus late on Monday, 30 May 2005. He
will meet both Tassos Papadopoulos and Mehmet Ali Talat, as well as political
leaders on both sides. He will stay on the island until the afternoon of
Thursday, 2 June 2005, after which he will travel to Athens and Ankara for
consultations, before returning to New York on 7 June 2005 to report to the
Secretary-General.
Asked about today’s meeting,
the Spokesman said it was a general exchange of views between the Greek
Cypriot side and the United Nations. Now, he said, the important thing is that
Prendergast would go to the area to hear views and see how the United Nations
can move forward.
Asked how these talks were
initiated, the Spokesman said that, when the Secretary-General was in Moscow
earlier this month, Papadopoulos had told the Secretary-General that he would
send an envoy to New York. Following those talks, it was felt that there was
enough interest to send Prendergast to the region and take the pulse there.
SECURITY
CHALLENGES EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN HAITI
The Secretary-General says that despite recent progress,
security challenges are expected to increase in Haiti in the months leading to
elections. He recommends, in his latest
report to the Security Council on Haiti – which is out on the racks today
– that the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
deploy an additional infantry battalion of 750 troops to respond quickly in
likely “hot spots” during the pre-election period.
He advises the Council that the military ceiling for UN
troops in Haiti be raised from the current level of 6,700 to 7,500. He also
proposes raising the ceiling on UN police officers to nearly 1,900, from just
over 1,600 today.
The Secretary-General encourages all Haitians to
participate fully in both the electoral process and the national dialogue, and
he adds that the Transitional Government needs to do more to secure broad
participation in those processes.
He also says that the human rights situation in the
country is alarming, and appeals to the Transitional Government to initiate an
investigation promptly into human rights violations allegedly committed by
Haitian police.
COTE D’IVOIRE:
ELECTORAL MISSION ARRIVES TODAY
The United Nations is deploying an electoral review
mission to Abidjan,
Côte d’Ivoire from today through 2 June.
The mission will assess the status of preparations for
the presidential elections recently set for 30 October 2005, and will hold
consultations with the national authorities involved in those preparations.
The mission will focus on ongoing plans to establish a
credible register of voters, taking into account the compressed timeline in
which the elections are expected to be organized.
It will also review with UN staff on the ground the role
of the UN system in support of the electoral process, especially in the light
of the Pretoria Agreement, which has given new impetus to the Ivorian peace
process.
The mission is being led by the
Electoral Assistance Division of the Department of Political Affairs, and
includes staff members from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, as well
as two consultants. The mission will remain in Abidjan for a period of two
weeks.
INDEPENDENT
EXPERT SEEKS TO INVESTIGATE KILLINGS IN UZBEKISTAN
Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission
on Human Rights dealing with executions, today
asked the Government of Uzbekistan to enable him to visit that country
urgently, to assess the current situation there.
Alston, a law professor at New York University, said he
was gravely concerned about reports that hundreds of people, including women
and children, were killed last Friday when Government troops fired
indiscriminately to disperse a demonstration in Andijan.
Asked why the Special
Rapporteur thought he could travel to Uzbekistan a day after President Islam
Karimov told the Secretary-General that he did not believe an investigation
was needed, the Spokesman noted that Rapporteurs are independent experts named
by the Commission of Human Rights. Their strength, he said, is their
independence, and it is Alston’s right to say he wants to go.
He noted, in response to
questions, that the Secretary-General did speak to President Karimov on
Thursday regarding the situation in his country, which is of concern to the
Secretary-General. The President told the Secretary-General that he did not
think that the proposed international investigation committee is needed at
this time.
The Spokesman added that the
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights today also said the
indications were that President Karimov would not welcome an international
investigation at this time. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour
hoped that the President could be persuaded to see the interest that the
people of Uzbekistan and the international community have in setting the
record straight on the recent events in that country.
MORE THAN 1,000
COLOMBIANS FLEE HOMES DUE TO FEARS OF VIOLENCE
In Colombia, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR)
reports that some 1,100 people, mostly Afro-Colombians, have fled seven
northwestern communities because they are afraid of
clashes between irregular armed groups and the Colombian Army.
The internally displaced people are now in the provincial
capital, Quibdó, where the municipal authorities have been providing
assistance.
Given the urgency of the situation, UNHCR is launching an
emergency campaign early next week to provide them with identity documents so
that they can be entered into the government's registry for internally
displaced people and receive further assistance.
BUDGET
COMMITTEE PRESENTS RECOMMENDATIONS ON NEW U.N. BUILDING
The Advisory Committee on
Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) this morning presented to the
Fifth Committee its recommendations regarding the Capital Master Plan. The
ACABQ supported the Secretary-General’s proposal that the General Assembly
accept the offer of the host country on an interest-bearing loan of $1.2
billion, under the conditions outlined in the Secretary-General’s
report.
The ACABQ also recommended that
all options continue to be explored regarding the construction of a “swing
space” building.
Asked where the issue of the
Capital Master Plan would go next, the Spokesman said it would first go to the
Fifth Committee, and then to the plenary of the General Assembly.
UNITED
NATIONS STUDYING TEXT BEFORE U.S. CONGRESS
Asked about
legislation currently being considered by a committee of the U.S. House of
Representatives, the Spokesman said that the United Nations is taking a look
and studying this text, which it only recently received.
He called it a
piece of legislation which is still in committee and which will be debated
within the U.S. legislature. Consequently, Dujarric said, the United Nations
does not want to insert itself into this debate and comment on its details.
However, the
Secretary-General is clear in his position on the use of withholding as a tool
for reform, he said: It is counterproductive, particularly at a time when
reform is the primary agenda item. The best way to undertake reform is for the
Member States to engage in discussion. The Secretary-General has put forward
proposals, and they are being actively debated within the membership.
Asked how many
staff work for the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Spokesman said
it was about 400 in New York and 300 elsewhere. He noted, in response to
further questions, that the Committee on Information has made specific
requests on where that Department’s resources can go.
Asked about
outdated DPI accreditation forms, the Spokesman said that the new head of
Media Accreditation, Gary Fowlie, had promised to change those. More
generally, he noted that the head of the Department, Shashi Tharoor, has
revamped it and has tried to maximize the Department’s resources, while taking
into account the tasks mandated by the General Assembly.
NUMBER OF
ASYLUM SEEKERS FALLS IN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES
Statistics from the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for the
first quarter of 2005,
show that the number of asylum seekers arriving in industrialized
countries continues to fall steadily.
The quarterly total of 81,900
asylum applications in the 36 industrialized countries is down 13 percent,
compared to the last quarter of 2004, and 17 percent lower than during the
first three months of last year.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
BURUNDI: TWO PEACEKEEPERS DEAD:
Preliminary reports indicate that this morning, at around 7:30 a.m. local time,
a member of the South African contingent of the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB)
opened fire on a group of soldiers from his own contingent, killing one and
wounding four others. The alleged perpetrator later turned his weapon on
himself, taking his own life. ONUB is currently carrying out a full
investigation into the incident.
MANY RESORTS IN TSUNAMI-HIT AREAS BACK IN BUSINESS:
The UN Special Envoy for Tsunami-affected Countries,
Bill Clinton, today said in a video message that some potential tourists
simply do not know that many of the resorts in the
tsunami-hit regions have fully recovered and are open for business. He was
addressing the first
Regional Conference on Tourism Communications in Bali, Indonesia. The
two-day gathering was organized by the UN’s
World Tourism Organization and sponsored by Visa International-Asia Pacific.
NO SECURITY COUNCIL MEETINGS: The Security Council
has scheduled no meetings or consultations today.
ANNAN HOLDS FIRST MEETING WITH
HEAD OF LEBANON INVESTIGATION TEAM: The
Spokesman, in response to a question, confirmed that today’s meeting between the
Secretary-General and Detlev Mehlis, the head of the investigation into the
killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, was their first. Mehlis
will be in New York until the latter part of next week, meeting UN officials so
he can “hit the ground running” when he gets to Beirut.
INDEPENDENT RAPPORTEURS COULD
LOOK AT TORTURE ALLEGATIONS: Asked about
allegations of torture and mistreatment by US forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and
Guantanamo Bay, the Spokesman said that the UN’s independent rapporteurs on
human rights could follow up, and added that the U..S authorities have said they
would investigate the allegations.
THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Monday, May 23
The Security Council will hold consultations on Burundi. It
will also meet with the troop contributing countries for the UN Missions in
Burundi and in Haiti.
At 10:30 a.m., there will be a briefing organized by
the Mission of Morocco on humanitarian issues concerning Western Sahara.
At 11:15 a.m., there will be a
press conference by Mayors for Peace, with Taib Ali Taib Bahaber speaking to the
press.
The guest at the noon briefing
will be Palitha Kohona, Chief of the Office of Legal Affairs Treaty Section. He
will be here to mark the launching of the book entitled “Focus 2005: Treaties
Responding to Global Challenges.”
At 1:15 p.m., Goodluck Diigbo,
the President of Partnership for Indigenous People’s Environment, will give a
press briefing on the launching of an Internet portal for indigenous peoples
worldwide.
At 3:00 p.m., there will be a
press conference by the Native Women’s Association of Canada. Sherry Lewis,
Executive Director of the Association, will brief on developments with regards
to violence against indigenous women in Canada.
Tuesday, May 24
The Security Council has scheduled an open briefing,
followed by a private meeting, on the work of the Special Court for Sierra
Leone.
From 10:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Conference Room 7, there
will be a panel briefing to explore the work of the Commission for Africa and
the Secretary-General’s Advisory Panel on the work done by the New Partnership
for African Development.
At 11:00 a.m., there will be a press briefing on the
Non-Proliferation Treaty, featuring former US Defence Secretary Robert McNamara
and delegates from Germany, Canada and Sweden.
The Deputy Secretary-General will address the meeting of
the International Working Group on Sport for Development and Peace, in the
ECOSOC Chamber. At 12:45 p.m., there will be a press briefing by the Working
Group.
The Deputy Secretary-General will also address a luncheon
hosted by the 2005 Global NGO Executive Forum.
Wednesday, May 25
The Security Council has scheduled consultations on Haiti.
Thursday, May 26
In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Secretary-General and Alpha
Oumar Konaré, the Chair of the African Union Commission, will co-chair a donors’
meeting to support the African Union mission in Darfur, Sudan.
The Security Council has scheduled an open debate on
peace-building, which the Deputy Secretary-General will address.
Friday, May 27
The Security Council has scheduled a public meeting on
Kosovo.
Office
of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162 - press/media only
Fax. 212-963-7055
All other inquiries to be addressed to (212) 963-4475 or by e-mail to: inquiries@un.org