HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY
STEPHANE DUJARRIC
ASSOCIATE
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
ANNAN WELCOMES
HUMANE TREATMENT OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN LAOS
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
welcomes the reports received of the humane treatment extended to the
group of 171 men, women and children from ethnic minorities, including Hmong,
who have come out from remote areas of the Xaysomboune Special Zone in Lao PDR
early on Saturday morning.
He urges the Lao Government to continue to provide the
necessary assistance to the Hmong should a larger number come out of the
jungle in the days ahead.
The Secretary-General also reiterates the readiness of
the United Nations to provide every kind of humanitarian assistance to such
groups that the Lao Government may request.
DARFUR: U.N. ENVOY DEMANDS IMMEDIATE HALT
TO CEASE-FIRE VIOLATIONS BY REBEL GROUPS IN DARFUR
The Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for
Sudan,
Jan Pronk, is concerned about recent armed clashes between the two rebel
groups in South Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and
Equality Movement.
He condemns these actions, which constitute
serious violations of the N’Djamena Ceasefire Agreement.
He deplores
these irresponsible acts that led, according to the African Union, to loss of
life amongst the civilian population.
He also expresses his disappointment that these
violations are taking place at a time when the international community and the
African Union are exerting every effort to assist the parties in achieving a
breakthrough during the upcoming round of talks, scheduled to take place on 10
June.
Pronk calls upon the rebel groups to immediately cease
hostilities and to heed the request of the African Union to pull out their
forces from Graida and other locations.
He urges all parties, in particular the rebel groups, to
fully comply with the letter and spirit of the agreements they signed and with
the relevant provisions of the UN Security Council.
The Special Representative
expects the parties to live up to their commitment to engage in the
forthcoming round of talks in good faith and to fully cooperate with the
African Union mediation.
SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS MEETING ON HAITI
WITH PRIME MINISTER
The
Security Council held a closed, private meeting this morning on
Haiti with that
country’s Prime Minister, Gerard Latortue.
Earlier today, the Council held a meeting on the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and
approved a
one-month extension for nominations for "ad
litem" judges.
Then, this afternoon at 3:00
p.m., the Council has scheduled consultations on the
Democratic Republic of the Congo with
Jean-Marie Guehenno, the top UN peacekeeping official, as the briefer.
LACK OF COOPERATION IS HINDERING
INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL’S WORK
The lack of cooperation of States in arresting and
transferring people to the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia remains the main
factor hindering the Tribunal from completing its work, Carla Del Ponte, the
Tribunal’s Prosecutor, says in a
report released today.
She says there has been progress in the cooperation
provided by Serbia and Montenegro, while Croatia has provided unrestricted
access to documents and witnesses. But a number of key fugitives remain at
large in those countries (including Ratko Mladic, Radovan Karadzic and Ante
Gotovina).
In a separate
report out on the racks today, Erik Mose, the President of the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, estimates that by 2008, that
Tribunal will have completed trials involving 65 to 70 people.
The
Security Council is to hold a public meeting on the Tribunals’ completion
strategy next Monday.
ANNAN TO ADDRESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON
U.N. BUDGET
The
Secretary-General is to present the proposed program budget for 2006 and
2007 to a key advisory body on the UN budget this afternoon.
In his remarks, he is to tell the
Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) that
more will need to be done for the United Nations to address the challenges of
a rapidly changing world fully and effectively.
Once we see what is achieved in September in advancing
the strategy for UN reform, he is to say, he will present revised estimates
for the budget period.
Asked about the budget, the Spokesman said that the
proposed budget for the next biennium, before re-costing, comes to some $3.6
billion. That reflects real growth of less than 0.1 percent over the 2004-5
biennium.
That amount does not include any additional costs that
may be incurred from the adoption of proposals under the “In
Larger Freedom” report; the Secretary-General will revert to the ACABQ
with revised estimates depending on what reforms are to be implemented. The
amount also does not include the cost of peacekeeping missions.
ATTACKS CAUSE CIVILIAN DISPLACEMENT IN
DR CONGO
Random,
vicious attacks against civilians have led to new displacements from at least
three localities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in the past
week,
says the
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
These displacements have also involved homes
being burnt down, whole neighborhoods being looted, people having limbs hacked
off and women being raped.
A particularly virulent
rampage by Mayi-Mayi elements active in the area prompted the flight of some
100 individuals to the town of Manono, according to OCHA
. During the attack, fifteen females – including 8 girls –
were raped and forced to flee naked, able to move only at night due to their
lack of clothing. The displaced arrived in Manono on 31 May; the UN
Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has
sent a team of human rights investigators.
DEPUTY-SECRETARY-GENERAL LEAVES KOSOVO FOR BURUNDI
The
Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Frechette, is on her way to Burundi from
Kosovo.
The main purpose of her visits is to
reinforce the
Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse for UN personnel and to review the status of relevant
prevention and enforcement measures in the UN missions in those countries.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
NO LINK BETWEEN SPECIAL ENVOY’S TRIP TO
SYRIA AND BAATHIST CONGRESS: Asked about the announced trip by Special Envoy
Terje Roed-Larsen to Syria, the Spokesman said that Roed-Larsen was going
there as the
Secretary-General’s envoy dealing with the implementation of
resolution 1559. The implementation of that resolution, he said, is a live
and ongoing process, with the Secretary-General reporting periodically on it.
The Spokesman denied that there was any connection between Roed-Larsen’s trip
and the Baathist Congress underway in Syria.
LEBANON WAS NOT DISCUSSED IN ANNAN-LEAHY MEETING:
Asked about comments by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy that Syria was implicated in
the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the Spokesman said he
was unaware of the source of the Senator’s information. The UN’s focus, he
added, was on the investigation of the murder being undertaken by the team led
by
Detlev Mehlis. He also said Lebanon did not come up in yesterday's
discussions between the Secretary-General and Leahy.
GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT HIV/AIDS WELCOMES AUSTRALIAN
GOVERNMENT’S SUPPORT: The
Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today applauded the
announcement by the Government of Australia that it will allocate AUS$50 million
– or about US$38.2 million – in support of the Global Fund over the next three
years. The Global Fund calls on all donor governments to follow the examples set
by Australia and Canada, to at least double their pledges for 2005 and beyond.
WITHHOLDING FUNDS FOR THE UNITED NATIONS NOT SEEN AS
WORKING: Asked about legislation being discussed in the U.S. Congress on
withholding funds to the United Nations, the Spokesman said that the
Secretary-General has been clear that using withholding as a tool for reform
does not work. He added that the United Nations would refrain from commenting on
the legislation as Congress discusses the issue.
NO APPEAL LODGED YET BY DISMISSED U.N. OFFICIAL:
Asked whether Joseph Stephanides, former Deputy Director of the Security Council
Affairs Division, would appeal the decision to fire him, the Spokesman said that
the United Nations expects an appeal, although one has not yet been filed. The
United Nations would accommodate a request for an appeal, he said, adding that
the appeal process would allow Stephanides to have a full hearing.
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