HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY FARHAN HAQ
ASSOCIATE
SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Friday,
January 26, 2007
BAN KI-MOON WELCOMES CONDEMNATION OF HOLOCAUST
DENIAL
The
Secretary-General
welcomes
the adoption by the
General Assembly today of a resolution
unequivocally condemning any denial of the Holocaust.
This reflects the prevailing view of the
international community.
The Secretary-General
reiterates his conviction that the denial of historical facts such as the
Holocaust is unacceptable.
He expresses his strong
desire to see this fundamental principle respected both in rhetoric and in
practice.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE, BAN PUBLICIZES HIS FINANCES
The Secretary-General’s
financial disclosure
statement for the period 1 January – 31
December 2006 was
submitted to Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), the external financial firm
hired by the United Nations to confidentially review the financial disclosure
statements submitted by staff.
PwC, in reviewing the
Secretary-General’s financial disclosure form, has determined that no further
action is required of him with respect to his compliance with the requirements
of the financial disclosure programme.
Now that the review is
complete, the disclosure form has been posted on the Secretary-General’s
website, honouring
his promise to make the statement public.
Certain personal details have been
removed for security purposes.
SECRETARY-GENERAL WRAPS UP FRANCE VISIT, HEADS
TO AFRICA
In Paris this morning, the
Secretary-General and French President Jacques Chirac held a meeting at which
they discussed the situation in Lebanon, and the results of yesterday’s
reconstruction conference.
They also talked about the
difficult political situation in that country.
In addition, they
discussed an international conference on the environment which will be held
next week in Paris.
Other topics included Cote
d’Ivoire, Darfur, and the security situation on the border between Chad, the
Central African Republic and Sudan.
The Secretary-General is
now on his way to Africa, where he will visit the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Ethiopia and Kenya in the coming days.
SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS KILLING OF U.N.
PEACEKEEPER
The Secretary-General
condemns the
killing earlier today of a UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) Indian peacekeeper, who
was shot dead by unidentified attackers when the de-mining team he was
escorting came under fire near Magwe in Southern Sudan.
Two other UNMIS Indian
peacekeepers were injured in the incident.
The Secretary-General
extends his condolences to the Government of India and to the family of the
deceased soldier and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured. He demands a
swift investigation into this incident and calls on all Sudanese parties to
fully cooperate with the United Nations.
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL APPOINTS MEMBERS OF DARFUR
MISSION
The President of the
Human Rights Council,
Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, today announced that the Human Rights
Council’s High-Level Mission to Darfur will be led by Jody Williams, the
recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.
She will be joined by Sima Samar, the
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan.
The President has also
invited the participation of the following individuals in their personal
capacities: Mart Nutt of the Council of Europe’s European Commission Against
Racism and Intolerance; Bertrand Ramcharan, former Acting UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights; Gabonese Ambassador Patrice Tonda; and Makarim Wibisono,
President of the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights.
The members of the Mission
will arrive in Geneva within the following days to begin their preparatory
work.
They will depart for Sudan
in early February. The
Human Rights Council
decided last month to send this Mission, which will assess the human
rights situation in Darfur.
MILITARY TENSION STILL HIGH IN
ETHIOPIA/ERITREA
The UN Mission in Ethiopia
and Eritrea (UNMEE)
reports that the military situation in
the Temporary Security Zone and Adjacent Areas, which UNMEE continues to
monitor from existing posts, remains volatile and tense.
Routine troop movements
are still observed on both sides in Sector West, Sector Centre and Sub-Sector
East, the Mission says.
CONFLICT CONTINUES IN
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
According to the Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),
civilians in the northern and northeastern parts of the Central African
Republic are getting displaced as a result of the ongoing conflict between
Government Security Forces and the armed opposition.
Amid reports of villages
being torched and summary executions, Margareta Wahlström, the UN’s Acting
Emergency Relief Coordinator, has said that the human suffering resulting from
these egregious violations of human rights is appalling.
REVIEW OF KHMER ROUGE COURT CONCLUDES
The Review Committee for
the Extraordinary Chambers to try Khmer Rouge crimes in Cambodia today
concluded a two-week session in Phnom Penh on the draft Internal Rules for the
court.
Solid progress was made
during the two-week session of the Review Committee, significantly narrowing
differences on a number of issues.
Nevertheless, there remain
several major issues to be fully resolved. A further meeting of the Review
Committee will be convened in March.
Asked about the purpose of the tribunal, the
Spokesman said it was to try crimes that had occurred during the Khmer Rouge’s
rule in Cambodia. The current discussion had to do with the court’s rules of
procedure.
Pressed for more information about the court,
Haq said that it had been set up between the UN and the Cambodian Government
and involved a mix of UN and Cambodian officials.
PASSING OF
GUYANA-VENEZUELA MEDIATOR
MOURNED
The Secretary-General
mourns
the passing of Oliver Jackman, the distinguished diplomat and jurist from
Barbados, who has been serving the United Nations since 1999 in efforts to
resolve the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.
The Secretary-General
extends his sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Jackman and to the
Government of Barbados.
Throughout his career, Mr.
Jackman embodied the spirit of the international civil servant, working not
only for the United Nations but also as a judge of the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights.
Prior to his role as
Personal Representative of the Secretary-General on the Guyana-Venezuela
issue, Mr. Jackman served the United Nations from 1961 to 1967 in the United
Nations Operation in the Congo, and as Chief Information Officer at the
Economic Commission for Africa.
His contributions to the
United Nations will always be remembered.
BAN KI-MOON TO PROPOSE RESTRUCTURING PLAN TO
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Asked how long the Secretary-General needed to
finish his plan for UN restructuring, the Spokesman said that the process was
moving along and that soon we might see a letter from the Secretary-General to
the President of the General Assembly concerning his restructuring proposals.
Asked about how Special Representatives of the
Secretary-General (SRSGs) related to Under-Secretaries-General (USGs), the
Spokesman said that, while most SRSGs held the rank of USG, that was not
always the case. SRSGs could also hold the rank of Assistant Secretary-General
(ASG) in certain cases.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
REFUGEE AGENCY TO
CONTINUE REPATRIATIONS DESPITE GUINEAN STRIKE:
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR)
reports that the
general strike that has been paralyzing Guinea over the last two weeks has
limited its access to camps hosting Liberian refugees. But despite that, UNHCR
plans to go ahead with a voluntary repatriation convoy tomorrow. That will bring
to 46,000 the number of refugees helped by UNHCR to return to Liberia from
Guinea since the repatriation programme started in October 2004.
THREE-WAY FORUM ON
TIMOR-LESTE
SECURITY SET UP: Timor-Leste, Australia and the UN Mission in
Timor-Leste
have established a Trilateral Coordination Forum to discuss security concerns.
Meanwhile, senior UN officials met yesterday with Timorese police and political
officials to discuss ways of curbing the continued violence in Dili. Officials
from the UN Mission have also met with martial arts gangs to stress that the
cycle of violence and
revenge
must stop.
SPECIAL ENVOY FOR KOSOVO TO TURN IN PROPOSAL:
Asked about the latest ideas by Martti Ahtisaari, the Secretary-General’s
Special Envoy for the Future Status Process for Kosovo, the Spokesman said he
would not comment on the proposal until it had gone to the parties involved, on
2 February. Haq clarified that today it had been shared with the Kosovo Contact
Group. After informing the parties, Ahtisaari would eventually turn his proposal
over to the Secretary-General, who would transmit it to the Security Council.
U.N. ENCOURAGES COUNTRIES TO CONTRIBUTE TROOPS
TO SOMALIA FORCE: Asked about the
status of an Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)/African Union
force in Somalia, the Spokesman said that the UN had encouraged Governments to
contribute troops for that force and that the Secretary-General would continue
to do so while in Addis Ababa.
WHEREABOUTS OF BENON SEVAN NOT A U.N. MATTER:
Asked about the whereabouts of Benon Sevan, the former head of the oil-for-food
programme, the Spokesman said that, as Sevan did not work for the UN anymore, he
did not have that information. Haq also reminded the journalist that the UN had
waived Sevan’s legal immunity at the request of US legal authorities.
ILLICIT ARMS TRANSFERS
IN LEBANON A CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Asked
about the content of a future report by Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN Special Envoy
for the Implementation of Security Council
resolution 1559,
especially with relation to arms transfers to Lebanese militias, the Spokesman
said one would have to wait until that report was issued. Haq added that the
issue of any arms going to forces except the official Lebanese armed forces was
a matter of concern.
THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE
UNITED NATIONS
27 January – 2 February
2007
[This document is for
planning purposes only and is subject to change.]
Saturday, January 27
Today is the International Day of Commemoration
in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
The Secretary-General today arrives in Kinshasa,
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Sunday, January 28
The Secretary-General will visit Kisangani,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, before departing for Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
Monday, January 29
The Secretary-General will take part in the
opening ceremony of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.
There will be a private meeting this morning for
troop-contributing countries of the UN Mission in Haiti. Following that, the
Security Council will hold consultations on Haiti.
At 2:30 p.m., Edmond Mulet, the
Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Haiti, will brief the press in
Room 226.
The second annual observance of the International
Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust will be marked
with a ceremony in the General Assembly Hall, from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm.
There will be a press briefing on the exhibit
“The Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti and Present Day Racism in Europe” in Room
226 at 1:30 p.m.
The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations
will this week finalize its consideration of applications for consultative
status with the Economic and Social Council in Conference Room 1.
The Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women will this week finalize its
examination of country reports in Conference Room 3.
At 3 p.m. in The Hague, the
International Criminal Court will hold a public hearing to render its decision
regarding Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A working group of the UN's
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will gather in Paris, starting today,
to start finalizing the Panel’s latest report.
The Human Rights Council’s
Working Group, on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights
and impeding the exercise of the rights of peoples to self-determination, will
conduct a fact-finding visit to Peru from 29 January to 2 February.
The UN Environment Programme
and the World Glacier Monitoring Service will launch a report on the world’s
glaciers today in Geneva.
Tuesday, January 30
The Security Council will
meet this morning to vote on a resolution on the UN Mission in Ethiopia and
Eritrea.
Writers Zlata Filipovic and
Melanie Challenger will sign copies of Stolen Voices: Young People’s Diaries
from World War I to Iraq, from 1 - 3 p.m. on the Concourse Level of the
General Assembly Building. Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public
Information Shashi Tharoor will make introductory remarks.
The World Intellectual
Property Organization will host the third global congress on counterfeiting and
piracy, today and tomorrow in Geneva, in collaboration with INTERPOL.
The Prosecutor of the
Special Court for Sierra Leone, Stephen Rapp, will be the guest at the noon
briefing. He will brief on the preparations for the trial of former Liberian
President Charles Taylor.
Wednesday, January 31
The Secretary-General will
be in Nairobi, Kenya.
Today is the last day of the
Russian Federation’s Presidency of the Security Council.
The Security Council will
hold an open debate this morning on the Peacebuilding Commission.
The World Health
Organization’s Director-General, Margaret Chan, will be in Thailand from 31
January to 2 February.
At 6:00 p.m. in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a
screening of Volevo solo Vivere (I Only Wanted to Live), about nine
Italian survivors of Auschwitz.
Thursday, February 1
The Secretary-General will be in The Hague, in the Netherlands, where he will
visit the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and
the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Today Slovakia assumes the rotating Presidency of the Security Council.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN’s Special Representative for Children and Armed
Conflict, and Rima Salah, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, today end their
trip to Sudan, which started on 26 January.
The UN's Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change will today release in Paris the first of four parts of a
major scientific assessment on climate change.
Ambassador Peter Burian of
Slovakia, the Security Council’s President for the month of February, will brief
the press in Room 226 after Council consultations, on the programme of work for
the month.
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
