HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday,
December 14, 2005
ANNAN URGES
RESPECT FOR LIBERIAN ELECTION RESULTS
Secretary-General Kofi Annan is
concerned about the recent disturbances in Monrovia and the tensions
resulting from protests by supporters of the Congress for Democratic Change
(CDC) against the results of the run-off presidential election of 8 November.
The Secretary-General calls on the leaders and supporters
of the CDC to respect the internationally certified results of the election
and adhere to universally accepted standards of democratic governance and the
rule of law.
The leadership of the CDC and their followers should
refrain from any violence, which is absolutely unacceptable, and allow any
complaints to go through the full legal process set out in
Liberia’s electoral legal framework.
The Secretary-General calls on all Liberians to work
together in charting a course for political stability, social and economic
development, and the strengthening of the rule of law in their country.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO MAKE STATEMENT ON
ERITREA & ETHIOPIA
Jane Holl-Lute, Assistant Secretary-General for
Peacekeeping Operations, briefed the Security Council this morning on the
situation in
Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Secretary-General was present throughout the
consultations.
The Security Council is expected to make a Presidential
Statement today on its decision.
GUINEA-BISSAU, IRAQ AND CYPRUS ARE ON
SECURITY COUNCIL AGENDA
The Security Council this morning also held
consultations on
Iraq and on
Guinea-Bissau.
On Iraq, Council members discussed the latest report
concerning the work of Yuliy Vorontsov, the High-Level Coordinator dealing
with missing Kuwaiti and other persons and property.
On Guinea-Bissau, they discussed the Secretary-General’s
latest report on the UN office there.
This afternoon, the Security Council is holding a formal
meeting to vote on the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
After that, Council members will hear from
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari, in an open
briefing on the latest developments in Iraq. That briefing will be followed by
consultations, also on Iraq.
ANNAN TO SEND ENVOY TO BOLIVIA, AHEAD OF
ELECTIONS
The Secretary-General has been
closely following the situation in Bolivia ahead of national elections this
weekend.
He has decided to send
Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Angela Kane to the country
in order to deliver a message on his behalf to President Rodriguez, expressing
his support for peaceful and democratic elections.
Kane is expected to travel to
Bolivia today and to meet with the President on Thursday.
U.N. PROBE INTO KILLING OF EX-LEBANESE
PRIME MINISTER
RECEIVES CONFLICTING SIGNALS FROM SYRIA
Detlev Mehlis, the head of the
UN International Independent Investigation
Commission,
briefed the Security Council Tuesday afternoon on the investigation into
the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 other
people. He said the Commission has interviewed more than 500 witnesses, and
has established, together with the Lebanese authorities, a list of 19
suspects.
He noted the cooperation by the
Lebanese authorities, but said that the Commission has received conflicting
signals from Syria. At the same time, the Syrian authorities did make five
Syrian suspects available for questioning, which Mehlis said “might be the
starting point” for Syria’s full and unconditional cooperation with the
investigation.
Council members discussed
Mehlis’s second report, first in an open meeting and then in consultations.
Following those consultations, Mehlis spoke to the press, saying that he had
personally assured the Syrian authorities that Syrian suspects would be given
the same rights that they would be given in their own country.
Asked about the search for
candidates to replace Mehlis, the Spokesman said the search was continuing to
find a potential successor as soon as possible, although he noted that
investigative judges with the appropriate antiterrorism credentials “are not
lining up on First Avenue looking for a job.”
Asked about the delay in
finding a successor, the Spokesman said that it would not damage the
investigation, since Mehlis had agreed to remain as the titular head of the
investigation until a replacement was chosen and would help to ensure a smooth
transition to a successor. The Spokesman stressed that the Secretariat was
very much focused on finding a successor as quickly as possible.
Asked whether the Mehlis
investigation would be expanded, the Spokesman said that was a decision for
the Security Council to consider.
TWO ROADS TO RE-OPEN TO HUMANITARIAN AID
TRAFFIC IN WEST DARFUR
The UN Mission in Sudan today reports that it has decided
to open two roads east of Geneina in West Darfur, which
had been closed for safety reasons.
The decision followed a meeting held
by the United Nations with over 45 community
leaders, who gave their assurances that humanitarian vehicles would be granted
safe passage. The United Nations will immediately
begin assessing humanitarian needs in the area.
Meanwhile, the Mission has received
reports that last Friday, armed tribesmen attacked eight civilians in a
village in South Darfur, killing two and looting their belongings.
INSECURITY BLOCKS HUMANITARIAN
DELIVERIES IN SOMALIA
Francois Lonseny Fall, the
Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Somalia, today warned that insecurity was blocking deliveries of
humanitarian relief and jeopardizing the lives of people in urgent need of
assistance.
“I could not stress enough the
need and the urgency to provide a safe operating space for humanitarian
agencies to reach these people,” Fall said.
According to this year’s
estimates, one million Somalis are in need of urgent assistance and
protection, mostly in the south/central part of the country.
ANTI-CORRUPTION TREATY ENTERS INTO FORCE
The UN
Convention Against Corruption enters into force today, with 140 signatures
and 38 ratifications.
To mark the occasion, the UN
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the treaty’s custodian, will hold a panel
discussion on combating corruption.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton
will be the keynote speaker. And the panelists will include
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari and
Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services Inga-Britt Ahlenius.
The event, which will be
moderated by UNODC head Antonio Maria Costa, will take place tomorrow in the
Trusteeship Council Chamber from 11.00 a.m. to 1 p.m.
FUTURE
SIERRA LEONE OFFICE GETS NEW CHIEF
Available today is the exchange
of letters between the Secretary-General and the Security Council confirming
the appointment of Victor da Silva Angelo as the Secretary-General’s Executive
Representative for the new UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL).
The new, integrated office starts work on 1 January. The mandate of the UN
Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL)
expires at the end of the year.
Da
Silva, from Portugal, is the current Deputy Special Representative in Sierra
Leone. He will continue to hold his position as the Resident Representative of
the UN Development Programme in that country.
ANNAN
CALLS ON MIDDLE EASTERN & NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES
TO RAMP UP FIGHT AGAINST A.I.D.S.
The Secretary-General has called on the governments of
the Middle East and North Africa not only to review their domestic budgets
devoted to
AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, but also to assess how their overseas
development assistance can be mobilized to meet the global challenge posed by
AIDS and other development issues.
The call was part of a message delivered on his behalf
today at the high-level session of the
Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Morocco.
Health ministers of the Middle East and North Africa were
also in attendance.
In his message, the Secretary-General added that the
countries of the Middle East and North Africa have an unprecedented
opportunity to help the international community in guaranteeing the long-term
security and predictability of resource flows for the global AIDS response,
including through mechanisms such as the Global Fund.
HOUSING AGENCY APPEALS FOR FUNDS FOR
ZIMBABWE & PAKISTAN
Today the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)
gathered donors in Nairobi to raise funds intended for shelter recovery -- for
both Zimbabwean evictees and Pakistani quake survivors.
The President of UN-HABITAT’s Governing Council, who is
also Poland’s ambassador to Kenya, and the Chair of UN-HABITAT’s Committee of
Permanent Representatives opened the meeting by pledging personal funds to
build houses in the two countries.
In Zimbabwe, UN-HABITAT has helped the UN Country Team to
design a new cost-effective shelter model on land provided by the Government.
The Government-approved structures use local materials, and can be easily
built by the people who will be living in them. Moreover, they are designed so
that the materials can be reused when families are in a position to build more
permanent homes.
Regarding Pakistan, UN-HABITAT has put forth a number of
proposals, including one concerning a new winterised shelter design that
incorporates quake-resistant techniques. The project would initially culminate
in 4,000 units for some 28,000 people, at a cost of $2 million.
SECRETARY-GENERAL
CONCERNED ABOUT REPORTED ABUSE IN IRAQ
Asked about UN
concerns about human rights in Iraq, the Spokesman said that the
Secretary-General is very concerned about a new report on abuse of detainees
in another facility controlled by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. Both the
Secretary-General and his Special Representative, Ashraf Qazi, have expressed
concerns to the Iraqi authorities.
The Spokesman
noted that, in a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaffari dated 25
November, High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour called for an
international element to be added to the Government's investigation into
conditions of detention in Iraq. The Secretary-General very much looks forward
to the early issuance of the reports on the Government's investigation.
Meanwhile, Dujarric added, Qazi
and the UN Mission in Iraq’s Office of Human Rights continue to raise the
issue with Iraq officials and follow up on abuse reports, bringing them to the
attention of relevant Iraqi authorities. Also, the UN Mission actively
supports human rights training programs for members of Iraqi security forces.
ANNAN ADDS MEMBERS TO ALLIANCE OF
CIVILIZATIONS PANEL
The Secretary-General today announced the
complete composition of the High-level Group for the
Alliance of Civilizations, with two names added: those of Professor
Candido Mendes of Brazil, and Professor Pan Guang of China. The additions
bring the membership of the High-level Group to a total of 20.
Asked about the
Secretary-General’s meeting today with his Special Advisor on the Alliance of
Civilizations, Iqbal Riza, the Spokesman said that they would discuss the
High-Level Group’s recent meeting in Spain. Today’s meeting would also be the
first one between the Secretary-General and the Director of the Office for the
Alliance of Civilizations, Thomas Mastnak, and the Deputy Director, Shamil
Idriss.
ANNAN IS CLEAR
IN CONDEMNATION OF IRANIAN PRESIDENT’S
COMMENTS ON ISRAEL
Asked about recent
comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that reportedly disputed the
Holocaust and suggested that Israel be moved to a different area, the
Spokesman said that the Secretary-General was very clear in his condemnation
of those comments when President Ahmadinejad had first made them.
The
Secretary-General, he said, continues to be shocked by these remarks every
time that the Iranian President makes them.
Asked whether Iran
could be suspended from UN membership over such remarks, the Spokesman said
that, in accordance with the UN Charter, that was a matter in the hands of the
Member States.
The Spokesman noted that the
Secretary-General had reminded Iran that Israel is a long-standing member of
the United Nations, with the same rights and obligations as every other
member. The Secretary-General recalled in particular that, under the United
Nations Charter, all members have undertaken to refrain from the threat or use
of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any
state.
U.N.
STAFF MUST NOT TAKE ORDERS FROM HOME COUNTRIES
Asked about
allegations of wrongdoing made against a UN procurement official on secondment
from India, the Spokesman said that the United Nations expects all staff to
act with complete independence from their home countries, and noted that they
had taken oaths to that effect.
He noted that
Under-Secretary-General for Management Christopher Burnham had drawn attention
to the ongoing and expanding investigation by the Office for Internal
Oversight Services into procurement, as well as efforts to overhaul rules to
detect potential conflicts of interest.
The Spokesman responded to a
reporter’s quip about cufflinks worn by Burnham that show the United States
Presidential seal by noting that the United Nations does not dictate sartorial
rules to staff. The Spokesman stressed that no one should question the
independence of UN officials based on what cufflinks, suits or hats they had
on.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
MEMBER STATES HAVE HARD
DECISIONS TO MAKE ON U.N. BUDGET: Asked
whether the United Nations has a plan for how to assess the UN budget if the
gridlock in budget talks continues, the Spokesman said that the UN budget is
designed on a two-year cycle by decision of the General Assembly, and any change
in how it is designed would also have to be made by the General Assembly. The
Secretary-General, he said, made it clear that the United Nations needs a budget
by the end of this year; the Member States consequently have hard decisions to
make soon.
U.N. ENVOY ATTENDS LONDON MEETING ON MIDDLE EAST:
Alvaro de Soto, the UN Special Coordinator for the
Middle East Peace Process, is today attending the annual Ad Hoc Liaison
Committee meeting in London. At that meeting, key donors, along with
representatives of the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel, are
discussing the humanitarian, social and economic situation in the occupied
Palestinian territory, and Palestinian reform.
UNICEF DRAWS ATTENTION TO CHILD EXPLOITATION: The UN
Children’s Fund issued its annual
report today on the state of the world’s children. In it, the agency claims
that hundreds of millions of children are suffering from severe exploitation.
Their plight is being ignored, the agency said, and these children have become
virtually invisible. The report recommends specific measures, including
increased research to bring to light the depth of the problem and programs to
protect and monitor children.
TRANSPORT COMPANY TO JOIN FORCES WITH UNITED NATIONS:
The UN Development Programme and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) will
sign tomorrow a disaster relief partnership with transportation company DHL.
This is an attempt to ensure the delivery of immediate aid to remote disaster
areas following catastrophes.
VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT CHAVEZ TO RECEIVE UNESCO AWARD:
President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela will receive the 2005 International José
Martí Prize in a ceremony that will take place in Havana on 28 January, the UN
Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced. The
ceremony will coincide with the anniversary of the birth, in 1853, of José Martí
the Cuban humanist, writer, translator, diplomat and teacher.
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