United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-06-10

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, 10 June 1998

HEADLINES

• United Nations drug summit adopts global strategy to reduce illicit drug supply and demand by 2008.
• World Food Programme condemns killing of three relief workers in Sudan.
• Prosecutor for Rwanda tribunal thanks four African countries for arresting genocide suspects.
• Secretary-General says he is concerned about fighting in Guinea- Bissau.
• Secretary-General recommends establishment of United Nations peacekeeping observer mission in Sierra Leone.
• United Nations humanitarian agencies have access to western Kosovo for first time since Serb offensive.
• Secretary-General instructs his representative to pursue efforts to resolve Abkhaz/Georgia conflict.
• Secretary-General welcomes signing of decree to release fifteen East Timorese political prisoners.
• United Nations Secretary-General urges states to become parties to convention on trade arbitration.

The three-day special session of the General Assembly adopted a political declaration which commits governments to substantially reduce illicit drug demand and supply by 2008. The Assembly also adopted a declaration on principles of demand reduction to guide governments in setting up effective drug prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programmes.

In addition, it adopted a series of measures to enhance international cooperation to eradicate illicit crops through alternative development; to counter money laundering; to tackle the manufacture, trafficking and abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants; to promote judicial cooperation and to strengthen the control of precursor chemicals.

The political declaration requires governments to implement new strategies and programmes to reduce drug demand and new laws to counter money laundering by 2003. It also requires governments to adopt new measures to increase cooperation between judicial and law enforcement authorities within five years on extradition, mutual legal assistance, transfer of proceedings, controlled delivery, and illicit traffic by sea.

Governments also agreed to implement an action plan by 2003 against the manufacture, trafficking and abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants and to strengthen control of precursor chemicals to reduce their diversion by 2008. Countries must also make real progress within 10 years to eliminate or significantly reduce crops of opium poppy, coca and cannabis.

The political declaration calls on families, political, religious, educational, sports, business and union leaders, civic organizations and the media to actively promote productive and fulfilling alternatives to drugs.

The global strategy requires Governments to report every two years to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs on their efforts to meet the goals and targets for the next decade.

Speaking on behalf of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, Pino Arlacchi, said "We are not starting a new war on drugs." A better analogy would be that of a doctor facing a deadly disease, he said, and the world has a responsibility to help find a cure.

With the adoption of the political declaration and the action plans, the international community had taken another step towards a drug-free world, Mr. Arlacchi said. The drug control issue was now at the top of the world's agenda.

In his closing remarks, the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko of Ukraine, said the Political Declaration signified a global consensus on the shared responsibility of all countries for the successful outcome of the fight against drugs.

United Nations sources say that the workers were part of a mission of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) which was attacked on Tuesday as it returned from distributing food to internally displaced persons in the Nuba mountain region of Sudan. The relief aid workers had been travelling in marked vehicles in government held territory during the attack, a United Nations spokesman said.

Two of those killed were employed by WFP and the other was from the Sudanese Red Crescent, according to the spokesman. Four others were wounded in the attack by unidentified gunmen.

WFP Executive Director, Catherine Bertini said that she learned of the deaths with "profound shock and deep sorrow" and that her agency was seeking an investigation into the "tragic" killings. "Those who have died in this tragedy will certainly be remembered for their dedication, courage and commitment to serve the needy people in places and times when their own lives were in danger," said Ms. Bertini.

Reacting to the news of the killing and wounding of the relief workers, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, said there was no justification for violence against humanitarian personnel "whose only aim is to relieve suffering." He too condemned such "heinous acts" and extended his condolences to the families of the victims.

In a statement issued on Wednesday the Prosecutor, Louise Arbour, said she wished to convey her gratitude "for the exemplary cooperation and continued assistance" of Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Togo. The arrests followed the request made by the Prosecutor to the authorities of these countries on 5 and 7 June.

The statement of the Prosecutor said that the arrests were the result of the continuing strategy adopted a year ago to investigate and prosecute persons who held positions of leadership in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.

One of the six arrested suspects, Emmanuel Bagambiki, former Prefect of Cyangugu, has already been indicted by the tribunal on charges which include genocide and crimes against humanity.

The others are Mathieu Ngirumpatse, former Director General of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and President of the former ruling party; Edouard Karamera, former Minister of Interior of the interim government and former Vice President of the ruling party; Joseph Nzirorera, former President of the National Assembly and the Secretary General of the former ruling party; Juvenal Kajelijeli, former Bourgmestre of Mukingo; and Omar Serushago, a businessman and local leader of the Interahamwe militia in the Gisenyi prefecture.

Spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters that the Secretary-General was strongly opposed to the use of force for non-constitutional purposes. "He strongly deplores this military confrontation, which has already resulted in the loss of many lives," Spokesman Eckhard added, referring to the fighting which broke out on 7 June in the country.

The spokesman said Mr. Kofi Annan welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire and called for an early restoration of normal and constitutional political dialogue within the country.

The Secretary-General called on all sides to ensure the safety of United Nations staff working in Guinea-Bissau and to refrain from actions which may endanger the lives of the civilian population, said Mr. Eckhard.

In his latest report on Sierra Leone, the Secretary-General says that the mission would be known as the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL). Its main tasks would be to monitor the military and security situation as well as the demobilization of former combatants, to assist in monitoring respect for international humanitarian law at disarmament and demobilization sites, and to observe the situation in the north and east of the country in order to help in the disarmament and demobilization of surrendering former junta forces.

According to Mr. Annan, these activities would require up to seventy officers and a medical unit of up to fifteen persons, with the necessary equipment and civilian administrative staff.

The Secretary-General says that the mission would be led by his Special Envoy, Mr. Francis G. Okelo who would be designated Special Representative for Sierra Leone. The Chief Military Observer would be Brigadier-General Subbhash C. Joshi of India, who is currently the team leader of the small military liaison cell deployed in Sierra Leone.

The Secretary-General also says that he intends to convene a high- level conference in the near future in order to mobilize assistance for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process and for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Sierra Leone. He adds that the conference would also address the need to provide logistical and other support to the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) to improve its capacity to carry out its peacekeeping role. The conference will also address emergency and humanitarian needs, he says in his report.

Characterizing the situation in Sierra Leone as "complex and volatile," the Secretary-General stresses that the priority task in the country is to promote stability and security by disarming and demobilizing as many combatants as possible, as soon as possible. In the eastern parts of the country remnants of the former military junta continue to resist ECOMOG forces, he says.

The Secretary-General notes, however, that since his last report, the situation in the country "has in some respects improved considerably." He points out that since its restoration on 10 March 1998, the government has moved rapidly to reassert its authority throughout much of the country, and that President Tejan Kabbah has nominated a "compact" Cabinet of acknowledged experts in their fields and a Chief Justice.

A United Nations spokesman said on Wednesday that staff members of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme drove along a road and witnessed burned out homes in the villages near the Albanian border on Tuesday. The agencies' workers were advised to turn back around the town of Pec, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, UNHCR and non-governmental organizations operating in the region are organizing a convoy for Friday to provide flour, hygiene materials and other emergency supplies to the area.

Regarding neighbouring Albania, UNHCR has sent a mission to assess the situation in the eastern parts of the country where there have been unconfirmed reports that refugees had begun arriving. In northern Albania, refugees are reported to have continued to arrive at a rate of 200 persons a day.

In a statement issued by his spokesman on Wednesday, Secretary- General Kofi Annan expressed his "serious" concern at the increase in tension in the Gali district of Abkhazia, Georgia. Mr. Kofi Annan said the conflict appeared to have persisted in spite of the signing on 25 May 1998 of a "Protocol on a Cease-fire and Withdrawal of Armed Formations", Spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

The Secretary-General urgently appealed to the Government of Georgia and the Abkhaz authorities to settle their dispute at the negotiating table and not through armed confrontation. He said confrontation would only lead to further unnecessary human suffering and additional loss of life.

"He sincerely hopes that a meeting between Georgian President, Mr. Shevardnadze, and the Abkhaz leader, Mr. Ardzinba, will take place soon." Mr. Eckhard said, adding that the Secretary-General hopes that such a meeting would contribute to defusing the situation on the ground.

In a remark to the press made by his spokesman on Wednesday, Secretary- General Kofi Annan said he hoped that this development will lead to the freeing of all other East Timorese political prisoners.

The spokesman added that the Secretary-General was also encouraged by the beginning of what he hopes will be a sustained dialogue to resolve the question of East Timor as well as "the diversity of views being expressed in the context of the ongoing political reform taking place in Indonesia", the spokesman said.

The Secretary-General is actively engaged in discussions with the authorities of Indonesia and Portugal as well as various East Timorese representatives in the search for an early settlement of the problems based on "a just, comprehensive and internationally acceptable formula," the spokesman said.

The problem of East Timor, a former colony of Portugal started in 1975 when Indonesia sent its troops to the territory following a civil war which broke out when Portugal ended its colonial rule.

Mr. Kofi Annan was addressing a meeting of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) devoted to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards held at United Nations headquarters on Wednesday.

He said that the treaty, also known as the New York Convention, which was concluded at a diplomatic conference in New York on 10 June 1958, has nourished respect for binding commitments, whether they have been entered into by private parties or governments. "It has inspired confidence in the rule of law," he said.

The Secretary-General added that the Convention has helped ensure fair treatment when disputes arise over contractual rights and obligations. "As you know, international trade thrives on the rule of law: without it parties are often reluctant to enter into cross-border commercial transactions or make international investments," he stressed.

He noted that the Convention is one of the most successful treaties in the area of commercial law, adhered to by 117 states, including the major trading nations. "It has served as a model for many subsequent international legislative texts on arbitration," he said. The Secretary- General added that the Convention proved as early as the 1950's that the United Nations could be "a constructive, leading force in matters affecting relations among States and among commercial actors on the world scene."

Yet, Mr. Kofi Annan said, a number of states were still not parties to the Convention. "As a result, entities investing or doing business in those States that lack the legal certainty afforded by the Convention, and businesses cannot be confident that commercial obligations can be enforced." This, he added, increases the level of risks which can adversely affect international trade.

The Secretary-General called on States to reaffirm their commitment to the tenets of the Convention and to acknowledge that the ultimate goal of the United Nations regarding the Convention has not yet been achieved. "There is a need to promote the Convention so that the gaps in its membership are filled," he said.

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

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