United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-02-27

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, 27 February 1998

HEADLINES

• International Court of Justice finds that it does have jurisdiction over Libyan cases concerning Lockerbie.
• Secretary-General postpones planned trip to Washington to be close to Security Council deliberations on Iraq.
• Egypt's Ambassador says there was controversy on early draft resolution on Iraq before Security Council.
• Secretary-General says that without recent Iraq agreement, UN weapons inspections would have ended.
• Israeli-Palestinian cooperation agreement signed with UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
• Secretary-General welcomes ceasefire in Cambodia.
• Conference on control of hazardous wastes ends on note of optimism in Kuching, Malaysia.
• President of Bolivia and head of UN Drug Control Programme agree on plan to eradicate coca leaves.
• Committee drafting anti-nuclear terrorism convention concludes session.
• United Nations seeks $550 million to meet emergency needs in Great Lakes region and Central Africa.
• United Nations refugee agency looks into the repatriation of Liberian refugees in Sierra Leone.
• World Food Programme welcomes United States' contribution of aircraft for Kenya emergency operation.

Libya contends that the United Kingdom and the United States do not have the right to compel it to surrender two Libyan nationals suspected of having caused the destruction of Pan Am flight 103, which crashed over Lockerbie, Scotland on 21 December 1988. All 270 people aboard the flight died, as well as 11 people on the ground. Libya argues that it is authorized to try the suspects under the 1971 Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation. It has also offered to have the suspects tried in a third country or at The Hague.

The incident prompted the Security Council to impose sanctions against Libya pending a resolution of the issue. According to the ICJ, the United Kingdom and the United States contested the Court's jurisdiction, arguing that they had no legal dispute with Libya regarding the Convention. The United Kingdom asserted that the matter had to do with the "reaction of the international community to the situation arising from Libya's failure to respond effectively to the most serious accusations of State involvement in acts of terrorism". The United States argued that it was not a question of "bilateral differences", but rather one of "a threat to international peace and security resulting from State-sponsored terrorism".

The United Kingdom and the United States also contended that even if the Montreal Convention did confer on Libya the rights it claims, they could not be exercised "because they were superceded by Security Council resolutions". They also cited the United Nations Charter provision that "in the event of a conflict between the obligations of the Members of the United Nations under the present Charter and their obligations under any other international agreement, their obligations under the present Charter shall prevail." The United Kingdom and the United States noted that under the Charter, all Member States "agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council".

But the Court ruled otherwise, noting that the Security Council resolutions cited by the United Kingdom and the United States were adopted after Libya filed its application to the Court on 3 March 1992. "In accordance with its established jurisprudence, if the Court had jurisdiction on that date, it continues to do so," the judges found.

Welcoming the ICJ's decision, Libya's Ambassador to the United Nations, Omar Dorda, said it meant that "sanctions imposed against my country shall be deemed null and void". He added that the lifting of the sanctions "is the minimal possible action of the Security Council".

"The Secretary-General feels he needs to be close to this process as it draws to a conclusion," said his Spokesman, Fred Eckhard. Mr. Annan was to have begun his trip to the United States capital on Monday, 2 March.

Following consultations on Iraq, Security Council President Denis Dangue Rewaka of Gabon, speaking on behalf of the members, said they had held a "useful exchange of views" on the draft resolution. "Consultations are continuing with a view to producing a consensus text," he told reporters on Friday.

Ambassador Nabil Elaraby said that some diplomats had viewed the text as "an attempt at trying to rewrite the agreement reached between the Secretary-General and Iraq". He added that the text had also tried to "link the possibility of any violation of this agreement with the cease-fire resolution of 1991, and threaten some severe consequences, namely that there would be military attacks if there is any violation".

One paragraph in the draft resolution had, in a sense, tried "to make it more difficult to lift the sanctions in the future," according to the Egyptian Permanent Representative. He said this had been reflected in an effort to link the lifting of the sanctions with other matters that were not related to weapons of mass destruction, such as prisoners of war or missing persons. While stressing that Iraq had to address those issues, Mr. Elaraby noted that they were not related directly to the question of lifting the sanctions.

Ambassador John Weston of the United Kingdom -- one of the cosponsors of the draft resolution -- told reporters on Monday that an effort was being made to "retain the underlying concept of the [draft] resolution" while at the same time "trying to take on board some of the suggestions and comments by our colleagues in the Council". He noted that this was the normal procedure in drafting Security Council resolutions. "At the end of the day, we want a unanimous outcome and we want a clear message sent and we want that to be done quickly," said Ambassador Weston.

Interviewed by United Nations Radio on Friday, Nizar Hamdoon, the Permanent Representative of Iraq, said "up till this minute it doesn't look like the majority of the Security Council members are ready to take that text".

Ambassador Hamdoon stressed that Iraq would stick to its commitments under the Memorandum of Understanding. "We hope that the Secretariat, for its part -- through the Council which is also a very important player in this game -- we hope that they stick to their word," he said.

"I have great hope that the agreement I reached with Iraq will prevent tragedy, safeguard the UN's achievements and enable the international inspectors to finish their work," the Secretary-General said in an address to the twentieth annual Lions Day at the United Nations. The address, read by Assistant Secretary-General Gillian Sorensen, was largely devoted to the issues of disarmament, human rights and drugs.

On human rights, Mr. Annan recounted the history of United Nations work in setting human rights standards, but noted that "there is an enormous gap between laws on the books and facts on the ground". The commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this year should be dedicated to improving the lives of the hundreds of millions of people whose rights are being violated. Human rights, he said, "are not a subsidy to be taken away by governments or any other power".

The Secretary-General also welcomed the anticipated establishment of an international criminal court, expected at a diplomatic conference in Rome this summer. Also this summer, the Secretary-General noted, the General Assembly would convene a special session on international drug control. "Drugs are tearing apart our societies, spawning crime, spreading diseases such as AIDS, and killing our youth: our future," he said. Noting that since no country was immune from the scourge, the Secretary-General said that the United Nations International Drug Control Programme was coordinating the global and regional response.

The agreement was drafted under the aegis of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and was signed by its Assistant Director-General for the Directorate, Daniel Janicot. In a press release issued on Friday, UNESCO said the agreement stipulates that "Israeli and Palestinian educational systems should be encouraged to reflect objective reciprocal knowledge and positive understanding of both people's religious and political concepts". It also stresses that youth education is essential for mutual understanding, and calls for priority attention to communication between universities operating in the fields of training and research.

The agreement provides a permanent framework for the process known as "Granada II", which aims at contributing to peace-building between Israelis and Palestinians by following up on meetings held in Granada, Spain in December 1993. The Granada II process began in July 1997 with a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian experts in Jerusalem who identified projects for cooperation in the areas of education, science and culture.

A United Nations Spokesman said on Friday that the Secretary-General hoped that the decision of Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen would translate into a permanent end to the fighting.

The United Nations Secretary-General said that he hoped the end of the fighting in Cambodia would enable the refugees to return to their country and to participate in the forthcoming elections.

The Fourth Meeting of the Convention of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal ended on Friday with delegates vowing to continue to stem and eradicate the "evil cargo" of hazardous wastes.

Klaus Topfer, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said that the illegal exports of hazardous wastes were "a crime against mankind and they must be prosecuted as a criminal act." He added that intensive cooperation with Interpol and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights was "a must". Mr. Topfer stressed the urgent need to build the capacity of States to prevent illegal traffic of hazardous wastes.

The Basel Convention was adopted in March 1989 after a series of notorious "toxic cargoes" from industrialized countries galvanized world outrage over the dumping of hazardous wastes in developing and eastern European countries.

At the five-day meeting in Kuching, more than 23 decisions were taken, including the establishment of hazardous waste lists and an amendment to the Convention's annex containing a list of States from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Liechtenstein and the European Union. A 1995 Ban Amendment prohibits the export of hazardous wastes by these countries to non OECD countries.

Many representatives at the Conference's high-level segment stressed the need for international technical assistance and capacity building. They also supported the establishment of centres for training and technology transfer on the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and the minimization of the incineration of such wastes.

The Convention, which entered into force in May 1992, has grown from 30 Contracting Parties to 117. Mr. Topfer said that this increase was a "great success" for the Convention.

On the final leg of his Latin American tour, UNDCP Executive Director Pino Arlacchi met with President Hugo Vancer on Thursday to discuss the problem of drugs. According to a United Nations Spokesman, the President expressed his support for a global plan for the eradication of coca leaves in Latin America.

Spokesman Fred Eckhard said that President Vancer and Mr. Arlacchi endorsed a cooperation agreement in order to integrate the global plan with all Bolivian efforts to fight illicit drugs. They also agreed to launch a study on the productivity of these plants in the Chapari region. The results of that study will be discussed during a conference they propose to hold in 1999.

Before going to Bolivia, Mr. Arlacchi had visited Colombia and Peru to discuss the strategy for the eradication of opium and coca. He met with the leaders of the two countries to discuss the anti-drug plan which will be submitted to the Special Session of the General Assembly on Drug Control to be held in June.

Participants did not reach agreement on the question of whether a separate treaty on the issue is needed. Some argued that the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism could be dealt with by a protocol to an existing legal instrument.

Committee Chairman Philippe Kirsch of Canada said there was general agreement that any instrument should complement existing international treaties, although it was recognized that some overlap was unavoidable. The Committee was still considering whether to elaborate a new convention or a protocol either to the 1980 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material or the 1997 Convention on the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings.

Important elements of the proposed draft convention on nuclear terrorism were drawn from the 1980 Convention, which largely deals with the use of nuclear material for peaceful purposes.

The Committee Chairman said that if delegates decided on a separate convention, rather than a protocol, they would still have to determine to what extent the new instrument took into account the 1997 Convention. There were still uncertainties on how to deal with several complex issues, including the exact nature of the offence, the materials or facilities to be included and the scope of the convention, he said.

The Committee was mandated not only to deal with the problem of nuclear terrorism but also to address the issue of terrorist bombings. Last year the General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, culminating efforts which began in the Committee.

The appeal comes at a time when the humanitarian situation in the region is grave, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Cross-border and internal tensions are on the rise, leaving hundreds of thousands vulnerable to attack. Over 2 million people are displaced throughout the region. In addition, the food deficit has increased, social services have been disrupted and the economies have become severely debilitated. These afflictions have been further compounded by the effects of recent drought and flooding.

The appeal aims at providing the basic life-saving assistance still needed while also assisting countries in rebuilding their national infrastructures. Reflecting the complex mosaic of requirements in the region, the appeal is tailored for each country. For example, assistance to Rwanda is intended to support recovery from war and genocide and the reintegration of repatriated families.

The appeal has been formulated in line with Secretary-General Kofi Annan's programme for reform, in that it seeks to address both basic relief needs and reconstruction requirements of war-damaged societies in a balanced and integrated fashion. The appeal will also cover activities identified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with the aim of building an environment conducive to reconciliation and sustainable development.

With the lifting of restrictions by the West African peacekeepers for commercial and relief cargo into Freetown, UNHCR said on Friday that its staff had gone to Freetown to see how many of the estimated 14,000 Liberian refugees wanted to repatriate and how to do it.

The United Nations refugee agency said that so far approximately 1,900 Liberians had been contacted in Freetown and Waterloo. 260 of those refugees have asked to immediately go back to Liberia.

UNHCR said its staff recovered three of its light vehicles left in Freetown and that three others, which had arrived at the port of Freetown before the coup, were found heavily vandalized at the docks.

Meanwhile, fighting was reported in the centre and northeast of Sierra Leone prompting thousands of people to flee. UNHCR said that 16,000 Sierra Leonean refugees had arrived in the Liberian town of Vahun.

UNHCR said that it had not received reports of the ousted junta fighters crossing over to Liberia, although the refugees said that the militia had tried to stop them from crossing earlier this week.

WFP said on Friday that two United States C-130 Hercules aircraft have airdropped 16 tonnes of maize to El-Wak in northeastern Kenya. A second airlift delivered food to Wajir. The United Nations food agency said that the food was enough to give 4,600 people a half ration for one month.

The newly-donated United States aircraft which will supplement WFP's existing fleet of air transport for the Kenyan food operation will be based in Mombasa. They will make daily flights into areas in northeastern Kenya as well as the Dadaab refugee camps.

"With this increase in air power, WFP can continue its operations to move large quantities of food to the most vulnerable people," said Russ Ulrey, WFP Regional Logistics Officer. He said that thousands of families were still stranded by the floods and were totally dependent on food aid.

On Friday the United Nations agency also received confirmation of a contribution by Germany of more than $200,000 to support the air operations.

In addition to the aircraft, WFP is also using four boats to deliver the food aid. The operation is funded by the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Netherlands, Denmark and Norway.

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

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