United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-10-07

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, 7 October, 1998

Latest Developments

HEADLINES

• Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq assures Secretary-General that Iraq is prepared to work with the United Nations.
• Prosecutor of International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia rejects Belgrade's obstruction of investigations in Kosovo.
• U.S. needs to pay some back dues to avoid losing vote in General Assembly -- top U.N. official.
• Top U.N. human rights official reiterates call on government of Myanmar to release all political prisoners.
• United Nations Environment Programme welcomes European agreement on car emissions as a vital step in fight against global warming.

According to a statement issued by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on Wednesday, Mr. Aziz gave assurances that Iraq would work with the United Nations in a serious and professional manner to resolve the present situation and to facilitate a comprehensive review of the problem.

The statement was issued after the Secretary-General had met with the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister to follow up the discussions that had taken place over the last ten days amongst the Iraqi delegation, the President and members of the Security Council, and the Secretary-General.

The present situation has been created by Iraq's decision to suspend cooperation with the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) which is charged with overseeing the dismantling of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in accordance with Security Council resolution 687 (1991) which ended the Persian Gulf war.

"The Prosecutor finds the position of the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to be totally unacceptable," said a statement issued by the office of Prosecutor Louise Arbour. "Such a position ignores not only the express terms of the Tribunal's Statue, but also with various United Nations Security Council resolutions and Presidential Statements which unequivocally state that the Tribunal does in fact have jurisdiction over Kosovo."

The Prosecutor expressed her belief that it was in the best interest of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and of all people in Kosovo and Serbia to allow the investigators to fulfill their duties. This would allow them to contribute to establishing the full truth about the conflict in Kosovo and pave the way for the prosecution of those responsible for the crimes falling within the Tribunal's jurisdiction.

The Prosecutor further expressed her intention to pursue investigations into the events in Kosovo and urged the Belgrade authorities to comply with their international obligations to cooperate fully with the Tribunal and the Prosecutor's investigations.

Up until the last few weeks, the Tribunal had been carrying out investigations in relation to the events in Kosovo without any obstruction on the part of the Belgrade authorities. When the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia recently stopped granting visas to investigators, the Tribunal sought an explanation. The Belgrade authorities responded by saying that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to conduct investigations in Kosovo, so it would not be allowed to do so. They also asserted that the Prosecutor's investigations in Kosovo represented a violation of the country's sovereignty.

Article 19 of the Charter provides that a Member State whose arrears equal or exceed its contributions due for the preceding two full years shall have no vote in the General Assembly, unless the Assembly determines that this is due to conditions beyond its control. "The loss of vote in the General Assembly under Article 19 is automatic, unless the Assembly specifically decides to grant an exception, or until the minimum necessary payment has been received," said Joseph Connor, the Under-Secretary-General for Management.

At a press conference in New York, Mr. Connor said that some $150 million for back dues had already been legislated by the United States, but that money had not yet been paid to the United Nations. He added that according to the United States Government, the country's Administration "hopes that legislation will be forthcoming that would pay $197 million by the end of the year."

"If the United States pays the $150 million already legislated, and if they legislate and pay the $197 million that is hoped for, the total of that is $347 million, and that number is in excess of what we would calculate the minimum required to avoid Article 19," Mr. Connor said. "Not by much," he added, "but some."

The United States was not alone in failing to pay its assessed contributions; as of the end of September, 85 of the Organization's 185 Member States had not paid their dues in full, according to Mr. Connor.

"The prompt collection of assessments is the bedrock of United Nations financial stability," said Mr. Connor. "We have no other sources of funds with which to maintain the Organization, or carry out the mandates entrusted to us by Member States."

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Ms. Robinson said that the latest detentions of opposition activists in Myanmar were "very worrying" indicating that the Government continued to ignore basic human rights standards and the concern of the international community.

The High Commissioner urged the Government to undertake a process of reconciliation with the opposition and to cooperate fully with the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations.

"This ground-breaking commitment is a vital step forward in our efforts to deal with global warming," said Mr. Toepfer. He called for similar arrangements in other parts of the world, noting that UNEP had extensive experience in dealing with voluntary agreements.

European Union environment ministers on Tuesday accepted an offer made by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association to voluntarily cut the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from car exhausts by a quarter over the next ten years. The agreement will help the European Union to achieve the ultimate objective of a cut in output of six greenhouse gases to eight percent below 1990 levels by 2010, as required under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The next meeting of the Conference of the Parties to that Convention will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 2 to 13 November.

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

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