HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY MARIE OKABE
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
KOFI ANNAN
DEEPLY CONCERNED OVER REPORTS OF DETAINEE ABUSE IN IRAQ
Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, was deeply
concerned to learn about the reported abuse of a large number of detainees
at an Iraqi interior ministry building.
The Secretary-General welcomes the immediate
investigation announced by Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari yesterday.
The Secretary-General also welcomes the Prime Minister’s
statement that such practices are completely contrary to Iraqi Government
policy.
The United Nations has repeatedly expressed concern about
ongoing human rights violations in
Iraq, and specifically the lack of due process for detainees and abuses
against them.
Most recently, such concerns were expressed by the
United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI) in its second bimonthly
report on the human rights situation in Iraq dated 14 November 2005.
Asked whether the
Secretary-General would take up the issue of human rights concerns with the Security
Council, the Spokeswoman referred to the human rights report by UNAMI that
came out on Monday, and also noted the Council’s monthly briefings on
developments in Iraq.
UNITED NATIONS SEEKS TO ENSURE THE
INTERNET BENEFITS EVERYONE
In Tunis today, the
Secretary-General
spoke at the opening of the
World Summit on the Information Society, saying that it must be “a summit
of solutions” that would lead to information and communications technologies
being used in new ways to benefit all social classes.
He emphasized that the United Nations does not want to
“take over” the Internet, but to protect and strengthen it to ensure that its
benefits are available for all. And, as I mentioned yesterday, he stressed the
importance of freedom and openness to the information society, saying that,
without the right to receive and impart information through any media
regardless of frontiers, the information revolution will be stillborn.
Speaking at a press conference later, he
noted the intense debate over free speech and human rights at this summit.
The Secretary-General said that, when such a discussion
takes place, “it can only be beneficial to the society concerned and other
societies around the world.”
AGREEMENT REACHED ON INTERNET GOVERNANCE
Delegations in Tunis reached an agreement on Internet
governance late last night, just ahead of the Tunis Phase of the
World Summit on the Information Society. The agreement, which will make up
part of the Summit’s outcome document, contains a number of breakthroughs,
according to the Summit spokespeople.
For example, it recognizes that all Governments have
equal roles and responsibilities when it comes to Internet governance. It also
asks the Secretary-General to convene and invite participants to a new
democratic and transparent Internet governance forum, which would have no
oversight function and would not replace existing arrangements, but would
allow for dialogue between stakeholders.
Delegates also agreed that, while the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) would still be in charge of
technical management of the Internet, individual countries would now manage
their own country-code Top-Level Domains.
ANNAN ORGANIZES TRILATERAL MEETING WITH
ABBAS AND SHALOM
Earlier today, on the sidelines of the World Summit, the
Secretary-General organized a short trilateral meeting with Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan
Shalom.
The Secretary-General congratulated them for the
agreement reached yesterday between
Israel and the Palestinian Authority regarding the movement of Palestinian
goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip. He hoped that all sides will
press ahead with implementing that agreement, adding, “This is only a
beginning of better days to come.”
The Secretary-General also met separately today with
President Abbas. The President briefed him on the recently agreed measures to
ease the movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip and West
Bank. They also discussed the upcoming elections in the Palestinian Authority.
The Secretary-General
told reporters afterward, “The Palestinians are talented people, but they
need help. They need material help and support to get the job done.” The
transcript of those comments is upstairs.
Among others, he met Huang Ju, Executive Vice-Premier of
China, with whom he discussed avian influenza. The Secretary-General thanked
the Chinese authorities for all the measures they have taken to deal with this
disease, saying that international cooperation is the most efficient way to
fight it.
The Secretary-General also had a tete-a-tete meeting with
President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon. They discussed the implementation of UN
resolutions dealing with the situation in
Lebanon and Syria. The President understands the need for all to cooperate
with UN resolutions. They also discussed stability in the region.
The Secretary-General assured President Lahoud that the
Security Council wants to get to the truth and find the perpetrators of
the attack that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others. The
Security Council, the Secretary-General told the President, is conscious of
the need for stability in the region.
Asked whether the
Secretary-General was trying to achieve a compromise between Syria and
Mehlis’s investigation into Hariri’s assassination, the Spokeswoman said that
the Secretary-General had spoken by phone with Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad on Monday.
The Secretary-General had urged
cooperation from the Syrian authorities regarding the Mehlis investigation.
The Secretary-General, Okabe added, respects Mehlis’s lead on that
investigation.
Asked about the
Secretary-General’s views on where Syrian suspects should be interviewed, the
Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General has not conveyed his views on that
matter and would leave that decision to Mehlis.
U.N. OFFICIAL RENEWS PLEA FOR SYRIAN
COOPERATION WITH HARIRI PROBE
The Under-Secretary-General for
Political Affairs,
Ibrahim Gambari, met in Beirut today with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad
Saniora.
At a news conference following their meeting, Gambari
made a renewed plea for cooperation by Syria with the
U.N. independent investigation into the assassination of former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri and others. “We are waiting for the concrete
manifestation of that cooperation,” he said.
Gambari said Mehlis has made a request to Syria and is
awaiting their response. Referring to Mehlis as “an impartial, professional
prosecutor” who has the full confidence of the United Nations, Gambari
reiterated his view that “there is no real option but for Syria to cooperate.”
At a press conference, Gambari also said that the mandate
of
Geir Pedersen, originally the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative
for Southern Lebanon, has now been expanded to cover all of Lebanon and to
encompass economic and social development issues, in addition to matters of
peace and security.
Asked about the reasons for the
expansion of Pedersen’s mandate, the Spokeswoman said it had been under
consideration for some time, and was in response to developments in Lebanon.
[Gambari, in his press briefing, said the extension was so that issues of
sovereignty, independence and stability in Lebanon would be dealt with in a
coordinated manner, and that Pedersen’s new job would not substitute for the
work of other UN envoys.]
Asked about recent reported
threats against Prime Minister Saniora’s government, the Spokeswoman later
noted that the UN supports the sovereignty, independence, stability and
security of Lebanon, and has expressed its support for the elected government.
U.N. ENVOY FOR SUDAN MEETS DARFUR REBEL
MOVEMENT COMMANDERS
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan,
Jan Pronk, left for
South Darfur today where he will meet commanders of the Sudan Liberation
Movement and Army.
He will discuss a range of issues with them, including
their participation in the seventh round of Abuja talks scheduled to start
next Monday.
The
UN Mission in Sudan says the relocation of staff affected by fighting
among the local population in Yambio, the state capital of Western Equatoria
in Southern Sudan, iss temporary and they will return as soon as the situation
is normalized. The fighting had led to casualties and the looting of a
compound run by the
World Health Organization, as well as the evacuation of U.N. and
international NGO staff members.
Unfortunately, the fighting there has led to the
postponement of a massive measles immunization campaign that was due to start
next week.
SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON SUDAN AND
COTE D’IVOIRE
The
Security Council held closed consultations this morning in which it was
briefed by Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis of Greece, in his capacity as
chairman of the Council’s sanctions committees for Sudan and Cote d’Ivoire.
He spoke about the work of the
panel of experts for
Sudan, and then about his recent visit to
Cote d’Ivoire.
Also, at 3:30 p.m. today, the
Council’s Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict will hold a closed
meeting.
U.N. PEACEKEEPERS ENGAGE IN EIGHT-HOUR
GUN BATTLE
WITH ARMED GANGS IN HAITI
The
U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) reports that U.N.
peacekeepers fought a gun battle with gang members in the Cite Militaire area
of Port-au-Prince yesterday and killed four of them.
The mission said a Brazilian patrol stopped to check on a
barricade under construction in the Pele zone of Cite Militaire when they came
under attack by men firing heavy weapons.
The “blue helmets” returned fire and called for back up.
Some 200 U.N. peacekeepers battled the gangs for about eight hours, the
mission said.
Besides the four killed, 33 other gang members were
apprehended and turned over to Haitian authorities.
There were no civilians injured in the battle and no
casualties among the “Blue Helmets. Two other UN posts came under attack
yesterday, the mission said. There were no UN casualties.
U.N. AID EFFORT FOR SOUTH ASIA QUAKE
VICTIMS REMAINS UNDER-FUNDED
The
U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports
that the UN flash appeal for the
South Asia quake remains under 30% funded. Moreover, only 5% of shelter
needs and 9% of water and sanitation requirements have been met.
Meanwhile, Executive Director of the
U.N. Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT),
Anna Tibaijuka, leaves for Pakistan tonight, where she will spend four
days meeting with government officials and donors.
UN-HABITAT is currently coordinating with the
U.N. Development Programme to distribute winter shelter rehabilitation
kits, so that people can construct “warm rooms.” The kits have been designed
so that the materials can be reused when permanent shelters are rebuilt in the
spring.
The
Food and Agriculture Organization
reports that losses of crops, livestock and
irrigation infrastructure – as a result of the earthquake – amount to more
than $440 million.
ZIMBABWEAN
GOVERNMENT INFORMED OF U.N. CONCERN
OVER SUDDEN RE-EVICTION ACTIONS
Asked whether the
situation in
Zimbabwe “quiet”, the Spokeswoman responded,
“All is not quiet.”
The UN
Humanitarian Coordinator/ Resident Coordinator in Zimbabwe, Agostinho
Zacarias, has expressed his deep concern on the sudden re-eviction on 14
November of hundreds of vulnerable individuals who had already been affected
by Operation Restore Order/Murambatsvina and who were staying in the Tsiga
area in the Mbare neighborhood of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.
The resident
coordinator, in a note verbale sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
further stresses that the evictions make it hard for the provision of
humanitarian assistance to the affected populations.
In that note
verbale, he also noted that the decision on Tuesday by the Government of
Zimbabwe to accept UN assistance in constructing temporary shelter is a
positive development.
VOLCKER
COMMITTEE TO CONTINUE OPERATING UNTIL END OF DECEMBER
Asked where the
discussions between the United Nations and Paul Volcker’s
Independent Inquiry Committee stand, the Spokeswoman noted that the
Committee, in a press release today, said that it would remain in existence
until the end of December, and that discussions were continuing with the
United Nations and the Iraqi authorities on the handling of documents.
Asked whether the
United Nations would take any kind of action against staff member Wagaye
Assebe, the Spokeswoman said that the
Committee had not issued any adverse findings against her. The
Secretary-General, she added, had the highest regard for Assebe’s work.
Asked whether a
written censure of Joseph Stephanides was public, Okabe said it was not; it
would be a confidential letter in his file.
ANNAN: NEED FOR
TOLERANCE IS GREATER TODAY THAN ANY OTHER TIME
Today is
International Day of Tolerance, which is observed every year to focus the
world's attention on tolerance as an essential condition for peace, democracy
and sustainable development.
The
Secretary-General, in his message marking the
day, said, “The need for tolerance is greater today than at anytime in the
United Nations' past.”
He warned of a rising tide of
xenophobia and extremism which, he said, “demands our strongest response.”
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
SECRETARY-GENERAL’S OFFICE
REVIEWING DOCUMENTAION PLANS: Asked about
reports that City College of New York and Yale University would create a
database of Kofi Annan’s letters, and whether it would include oil-for-food
documents, the Spokeswoman said she was aware of those reports, and noted that
the university official cited, Jean Krassno, has been authorized to
undertake this project. At the same time, the Executive Office of the
Secretary-General is still reviewing all its
aspects, including its timing and logistics, as well as archival rules and legal
aspects which must be taken into consideration.
TSUNAMI RECOVERY OFFICE LAUNCHES WEBSITE: The Office
of the Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery is launching its new website today.
The website features up-to-date data on the tsunami- affected region and ongoing
progress in the recovery effort. The website’s address is:
www.tsunamispecialenvoy.org.
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