HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
KOFI ANNAN LAUDS DESIGNATION OF
HOLOCAUST DAY
Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomes today’s decision by
the
General Assembly to designate 27 January as an annual International Day of
Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
He
sees this annual commemoration as an important reminder
of the universal lessons of the Holocaust, a unique evil which cannot simply
be consigned to the past and forgotten.
He also looks forward to taking the measures which the
Assembly has requested from him, to establish a program of outreach on the
subject of “the Holocaust and the United Nations” and to mobilize civil
society for Holocaust remembrance and education, in order to help prevent
future acts of genocide.
ANNAN APPOINTS ENVOY TO WORK ON FUTURE
STATUS OF KOSOVO
The Secretary-General has conveyed to the Security
Council his intention to appoint Martti Ahtisaari, former President of
Finland, as his Special Envoy to lead the political process designed to
determine the future status of Kosovo.
On 24 October, the Security Council endorsed the
Secretary-General’s conclusion, which he had conveyed to the President of the
Council on 7 October, that the time has come to move to the next phase of the
political process in Kosovo.
Ahtisaari’s excellent negotiating skills, proven
leadership, previous experience with the United Nations and knowledge of the
Balkans make him the ideal person for this endeavour.
The Secretary-General also conveyed to the Security
Council his intention to appoint Albert Rohan, former Secretary General of the
Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as Ahtisaari's deputy.
The future status process will be carried out in the
context of
resolution 1244 (1999) and the relevant Presidential Statements of the
Security Council.
NEW REPRESENTATIVE APPOINTED FOR HUMAN
RIGHTS IN CAMBODIA
The Secretary-General has decided to appoint Yash Ghai of
Kenya as his Special Representative for human rights in Cambodia, following
the resignation of Peter Leuprecht.
Ghai is a distinguished academic and renowned
constitutional lawyer and is currently teaching human rights and public law at
the University of Hong Kong.
RUSSIA ASSUMES PRESIDENCY OF SECURITY
COUNCIL
Russia has assumed the Presidency of the Security Council
for the month of November, and Ambassador Andrey Denisov is holding bilateral
talks with other Council members today on the program of work for the coming
month.
Tomorrow at 3 p.m., Ambassador Denisov will talk to
reporters about the Council’s activities this month.
Yesterday afternoon, following the meeting on Lebanon,
the Security Council held another meeting in which it adopted a Presidential
Statement strongly condemning the bomb attacks that took place in New Delhi on
Saturday. The Council stressed the importance of bringing the perpetrators,
organizers, financiers and sponsors of those attacks to justice.
Asked whether the Council will receive a briefing on
Wednesday from the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Implementation of
resolution 1559, the Spokesman noted that the Council was still working on
its program of work for the month and thus that briefing had not been
confirmed yet.
U.N. MISSION IN ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA
REPORTS SITUATION AS TENSE
The
UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea reports the situation on the ground as
tense.
Regarding the situation in
Eritrea, the mission reports that restrictions on freedom of movement are
continuing both in the Central and Western Sectors. Night movement of our
patrols is also being curtailed. This in turn has seriously constrained the
mission’s ability to monitor the remaining 40 per cent of the Temporary
Security Zone and adjacent areas, according to the mission.
Asked what the Secretary-General was doing to respond to
Eritrea’s problems with the UN Mission, the Spokesman said that the Eritreans
have yet to provide any reason as to why they are limiting the UN’s movements
in its peacekeeping and humanitarian work.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO HEAD TO GREAT LAKES
REGION
This weekend the
Security Council will begin a
mission to the Great Lakes region of Africa.
From 4 to 11 November, Council members will travel to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.
The intent of the mission is, in part, to stress the
importance of achieving sustainable peace, security and stability for all
countries in the region. The mission will also underscore the importance of
the resources committed by the UN to peacekeeping in the region.
Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sablière of France, who will
lead the team, will brief correspondents tomorrow at 3:30pm.
U.N. ENVOY
CONFERS WITH OFFICIALS IN SUDAN ON ‘NO GO’ AREAS
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative Jan Pronk
met with the Sudanese Minister of Interior and raised with him the issue of
cooperation between the United Nations and Sudan.
Pronk expressed satisfaction at the significant
improvement of the cooperation of the Sudanese police with UN civilian police.
He raised the situation in West Darfur where security
remains problematic and continues to hamper UN movement. Humanitarian
assistance is still being provided by air and the roads from and to Geneina
are still "no-go" for the United Nations.
U.N. STAFFER PROSECUTED FOR SEXUAL ABUSE
IN KOSOVO
A Pristina District Court panel
-- presided over by an international judge but also involving two judges from
Kosovo -- found UN refugee agency official Rashidoon Khan guilty of one count
of sexual abuse of persons under the age of sixteen and one count of
falsifying official documents. Khan’s sentence is three years in prison.
The
UN Mission in Kosovo says the ruling demonstrates both its zero-tolerance
policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and the independence of the judiciary
in Kosovo.
The Mission also stresses that,
if in any case there are credible allegations of criminal misconduct on the
part of any UN staff, immediate investigative and prosecutorial measures are
undertaken in accordance with the applicable law in Kosovo.
OPIUM CULTIVATION FALLS AGAIN IN MYANMAR
Opium cultivation in Myanmar, the world’s second largest
opium producer, fell by more than a quarter in 2005 from the year before, and
is now 80 per cent lower than in the peak year of 1996, according to the
UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 2005 Myanmar Opium Survey,
which was
launched today in Bangkok.
UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa has welcomed
the decline in cultivation but has warned that the rapid eradication seen in
the past decade could be undone if growing poverty among farmers is not
addressed.
ANNAN AND PRINCE OF WALES FOCUS ON YOUTH
EMPLOYMENT
The Secretary-General
and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales will, this afternoon, attend a
special forum of business leaders here at UN Headquarters on the global
challenge of youth employment.
They’ll emphasize the crucial role of the private sector
in developing countries in creating jobs for young people, and will challenge
them to come up with new ways for training young people to help them to set up
their own businesses.
Today’s event is co-hosted by the United Kingdom Mission
to the UN and the
UN Development Programme, in association with the Prince of Wales Business
Leaders Forum and Youth Business International.
The discussion will include business leaders, civil
society, UN representatives and Ambassadors of UN Member States, and
presentations by young entrepreneurs identifying the challenges of youth
employment.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROCLAIMS ANNUAL
HOLOCAUST DAY
This morning the General Assembly adopted without a vote
a resolution on Holocaust remembrance, resolving that the United Nations
designate 27 January as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory
of the victims of the Holocaust. The resolution was co-sponsored by 104
Member States.
At the close of the meeting, Assembly President Jan
Eliasson reiterated his opening statement that “the Holocaust also reminds us
of the crimes of genocide committed since World War II. It must, therefore, be
a unifying historic warning around which we must rally; not only to recall the
grievous crimes committed in human history but also to reaffirm our
unfaltering resolve to prevent the recurrence of such crimes. We cannot
continue to repeat saying ‘Never again’ – after Cambodia, Rwanda and
Srebrenica.”
Today, informal consultations of the plenary on the Human
Rights Council are being held in both morning and afternoon, to discuss rules
and procedures, working methods and transitional arrangements for the new
Council.
On Wednesday afternoon, informal consultations of the
plenary will be held on the Peacebuilding Commission, to review a next text
circulated by the Co-Chairs, the Ambassadors of Denmark and Tanzania. The
Co-Chairs are aiming to circulate a draft resolution towards the end of next
week.
ROTATION IN PROCUREMENT DIVISION
INCREASED
In response to a series of questions about whether a
particular procurement officer, Diane Mills-Aryee, had been rotated out of the
UN Procurement Division, the Spokesman said he did not know of her
particular status but that a number of people were being rotated out of that
division as part of a policy of rotating staff from there more frequently.
He added that such a rotation does not imply wrongdoing
by any staff member. He added, in response to a further question citing a
claim by a lawyer that the officer had been prohibited from talking to
reporters, that Mills-Aryee had not been barred from speaking to the press and
that all staff are allowed, if they so choose, to speak to the press on their
general areas of expertise.
Asked about the employment status of another individual,
the Spokesman said he did not have details about the particulars of every
person employed by the United Nations.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
QUAKE HELP ‘JUST
A DROP IN THE BUCKET’ SO FAR: The Office of the
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, (UNHCR), says that, in all, it has
provided 20,000 tents among other materials to Pakistan. But that is “just a
drop in the bucket” according to the agency. UNHCR is working with the Pakistani
military and other partners in 12 camps that have a combined population of more
than 15,000 people. And more people are coming down from the mountains daily.
SECRETARY-GENERAL TO VISIT IRAN WITHIN A MONTH: Asked when the
Secretary-General would travel to Iran, the Spokesman said that would take place
some time this month.
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