United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-05-18

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 18 May, 1998

HEADLINES

• Secretary-General says UN can solve "problems without passports" using "blueprints without borders".
• Secretary-General recommends that UN peacekeeping forces stay in Israeli- Syrian sector for six more months.
• UN Under-Secretary-General on Disarmament outlines UN response in wake of India's nuclear tests.
• Top UN official meets with parties in Angola amid concerns about deteriorating situation there.
• UN Legal Counsel says States are making "tremendous efforts" to establish permanent international criminal court.
• Demand reduction is crucial in curbing drug problem, says chief of UN International Drug Control Programme.
• Democratic People's Republic of Korea allows UN World Food Programme access to 171 counties.
• Committee on Rights of Child begin session in Geneva, with six countries from Europe, Asia and Pacific on agenda.

Secretary-General made these remarks during a commencement speech at his alma mater, Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Secretary-General urged students to adopt a broad outlook, noting that issues before the United Nations, such as the environment, drugs, pandemics and sustainable development, cut across all frontiers.

"This is the message we are trying to send to the world," he said. "Yet too many people are still thinking in local terms, constrained by boundaries."

The Secretary-General encouraged the students to enter public service. He said the reward of working in the service of humanity would go far beyond material gain; "it is the reward of knowing that one person - you -- can truly make a difference."

The Secretary-General also took the opportunity to decry the UN financial crisis. He noted that the unpaid dues owed by the United States -- some 1.6 billion dollars -- represented just over six dollars per American to repay a debt built up over a decade. "That amount would not buy you a pitcher of beer at O'Gara's," he joked.

In a report released on Monday, the Secretary-General observes that the situation in the Middle East continues to be potentially dangerous, and is likely to remain so until a comprehensive settlement covering all aspects of the Middle East problem can be reached. "I hope that determined efforts will be made by all concerned to tackle the problem in all its aspects, with a view to arriving at a just and durable peace settlement, as called for by the Security Council in its resolution 338 (1973)."

The Secretary-General also appealed to Member States to pay their assessed contributions to the Force, noting that the shortfall in funding stood at over $50 million. "This sum, far larger than the current annual budget of UNDOF, represents money owed to Member States that contribute the troops who make up the Force," he notes.

UNDOF, which was established in May, 1974 to supervise the ceasefire called for by the Security Council and the 1974 agreement on disengagement between Israeli and Syrian forces, has continued to perform its functions effectively, with the cooperation of the parties, according to the report. "The situation in the Israeli-Syrian sector has remained quiet and there has been no serious incident," the Secretary-General observes.

Mr. Dhanapala was speaking to correspondents at UN Headquarters on Monday about the United Nations reaction to the tests carried out 11 and 13 May. He said the Secretary-General had met separately on 14 May with India and Pakistan's Permanent Representatives to the UN and had also written to the Prime Ministers of both countries.

The Secretary-General's task was to try to establish a position that went beyond the national security interests of individual States and looked at global peace and security, Mr Dhanapala said. It was clear from India's statements that it was considering accession to the CTBT. Therefore, the Secretary-General had urged the Indian Government to continue with that process and he hoped that the international community would make it possible for India and Pakistan to adhere to the Treaty.

In his letter to the Indian Prime Minister, the Secretary-General underlined the urgency and importance of achieving nuclear disarmament, leading to the complete elimination of all nuclear weapons. He also welcomed India's promise to consider the negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament for a fissile material cut-off treaty.

The Secretary-General, in his letter to the Pakistani Prime Minister, expressed concern that India's tests ran counter to the norms widely respected by the international community and urged restraint by all States so there would be no escalation of an arms race in south Asia. Tensions were best solved by dialogue, he wrote, and urged Pakistan to subscribe to the CTBT. Pakistan and India's adherence to the CTBT, he said, would add significantly to stability in the region, the Secretary- General believed.

Mr. Dhanapala told correspondents that the UN looked forward to the early negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty during the Conference on Disarmament, which is currently meeting in Geneva. He pointed out that it was also important, he said, to urge the five recognized nuclear weapons States to honour their commitments with regard to nuclear disarmament.

An ad hoc committee on negative security assurances established by the Conference on Disarmament meant the prospect of a treaty being negotiated to assure non-nuclear weapons States that they would not be threatened or attacked with nuclear weapons held by nuclear weapons States, he said.

The Under Secretary-General for Disarmament said there was also a great need to establish in the Conference an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament. If that was not immediately possible, the five permanent members of the Security Council -- China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States -- who were all nuclear states should hold negotiations among themselves to advance the cause of nuclear disarmament, he added.

All nuclear weapons States and nuclear weapons capable States should negotiate a "no first use" treaty, which would greatly enhance global security and allay the fears of non-nuclear weapons States about the use of nuclear weapons, he said.

The Secretary-General's Special Representative in Angola, Alioune Blondin Beye, met on Monday with the Jonas Savimbi, the leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). Tomorrow, the Spokesman said, Mr. Beye will meet with Angolan President Eduardo Dos Santos. Later this week, the Joint Commission, which steers the implementation of the 1994 Lusaka Protocol, will consider proposals submitted by Mr. Beye to end the current crisis.

Meanwhile, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello, arrived in Angola on Monday to assess ongoing humanitarian programmes in the country. He will meet with senior Government officials before leaving on 24 May.

At a Monday press conference at UN Headquarters, the United Nations Legal Counsel, Hans Corell, said the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries, which will meet from 15 June to 17 July, is expected to culminate years of work by finalizing and adopting a draft statute for the court.

There was broad agreement that the court should deal with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, Mr. Corell said. Other crimes being considered include attacks against UN and associated personnel, acts of international terrorism and illicit drug trafficking. There is disagreement on whether to include the crime of aggression, since it was difficult to get a clear definition of the crime, he said. The question is also connected to the Security Council's role.

The court will not take up that many cases, but rather focus on the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, he continued. It is intended to perform a complementary role in relation to national legal systems. The draft statute allowed for investigations and prosecutions to be initiated based on a complaint by a State party or a referral to the Security Council. There was also a possibility that the prosecutor might be authorized to initiate investigations.

Mr. Corell said that, unlike ad hoc tribunals established in the past, the court would focus on the whole world. It would deal with crimes committed by individuals, whereas the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, dealt with issues between States.

The Court would also be different from the two ad hoc tribunals, one for the former Yugoslavia and the other for Rwanda, set up by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, he said. As Member States were legally bound by resolutions adopted under Chapter VII, the whole world was obliged to comply with those ad hoc Tribunals.

In Rome, delegates will discuss a treaty -- the normal way to create international cooperation -- which would contain a statute for an international criminal court, he said. The draft statute would have to be ratified by Governments, after they presented it to their national parliaments.

The idea of an international criminal court has been on the United Nations agenda since the end of World War II, Mr, Corell said. Member States, he said, were now making a "tremendous effort" by undertaking "a highly complex task, both legally and practically". The goal is to come up with a concept acceptable to as many states as possible. It is important that the court become universal and that individuals be held responsible for acts which the court would deal with, he added.

Reducing demand for drugs is one of six key issues to be tackled at the upcoming UN Drug Summit to be held in New York from 8 to 10 June. Other issues include money laundering, precursor chemicals, amphetamine- type stimulants, eradication of illicit crops and judicial cooperation.

At the special session of the UN General Assembly, world leaders are expected to adopt a political declaration committing their governments to establish new or enhanced drug demand reduction strategies and programmes by 2003. The goal is to achieve "significant and measurable results" by 2008.

Another declaration to be adopted outlines principles to guide governments in setting up effective prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programmes. It also calls for adequate funding for such programmes. "This is the first time the countries of the world are placing as much emphasis on demand as on supply," says Mr. Arlacchi.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) had asked for access to 210 counties. The WFP Executive Director, Catherine Bertini, said on Monday that although she was disappointed the Government had not yet opened up the other 39 counties to the agency's relief workers and monitors, negotiations were continuing and she was hopeful of gaining access in the coming months. "They have committed to our having access to all countries and we are anxiously awaiting physical access," she said.

In light of restricted entry, WFP will temporarily scale back its proposed emergency operations in the country by 55,000 metric tons of food, valued at about $33 million. Ms. Bertini said that if entry to more counties was eventually granted, WFP operations could be once again expanded.

The agency took this action very reluctantly, Ms. Bertini said. "It means that about 765,000 people, mostly women and children, won't receive urgently needed food from the international community. But we owe it to our donors to ensure that we are able to monitor the food aid they provide through WFP," she said.

The Committee will discuss the promotion and protection of children's rights in Hungary, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Fiji, Japan, the Maldives and Luxembourg. They are among the 191 States parties to the Convention and are expected to send representatives to the Committee to present and defend reports on how they give effect to children's rights.

On Monday morning, the Committee heard from Helga Klein, speaking as representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, who reviewed recent United Nations activities which benefit children. She noted that the just- concluded session of the Commission on Human Rights had adopted several resolutions on children, including one on the abduction of children in northern Uganda. Mrs. Klein also said the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, would address the Committee on Friday, 29 May.

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

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