United Nations Daily Highlights, 00-04-04

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

BY DAVID WIMHURST

ACTING DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, April 4, 2000

ANNAN VISITS GENEVA, MEETS ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER

Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Geneva this morning, where he met with his Special Envoy for the Balkans, Carl Bildt. He and Bildt were then joined by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata, who reviewed with them the refugee situation in the Balkans, which she had recently visited.

He then met with members of the Bureau of the 56th Commission on Human Rights, following which he met with the Foreign Minister of Nepal, Chakra Prasad Bastola.

The Secretary-General then addressed the Commission on Human Rights. He said that, "where dissent is forbidden, where expression is curtailed, where the flow of ideas and the exchange of views are limited by force, human well-being and prosperity are threatened and conflicts made more likely."

He appealed to those States that had not yet done so to ratify the two covenants on political and economic rights and on social rights, as well as the principal international human rights instruments so that "the universal realization of human rights can be given practical expression."

In the early afternoon, Annan met with Terje Roed Larsen, his Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and his Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority.

He then met with Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy, who informed him of Israel's intention to withdraw from southern Lebanon by the end of July and asked for the UN's cooperation during that withdrawal.

In a statement issued afterward, the Secretary-General said that he was pleased to receive Levy, who "reaffirmed his Government's decision to withdraw Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in accordance with Security Council Resolution 425, fully and without conditions."

Levy, Annan added, had informed him of Israel's "intention to cooperate fully with the United Nations throughout this process, within the framework of the relevant Security Council resolutions."

The two agreed on the need for cooperation from all parties. The Secretary-General said he looked forward to a formal notification from the Government of Israel.

Asked about whether the United Nations would increase its troop presence in Lebanon as Israel withdraws, the Spokesman said that such details would be worked out by the end of July, when both Israel's withdrawal is expected and the current mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon expires.

ANNAN, ROBINSON MEET FOLLOWING CHECHNYA VISIT

At Geneva airport, the Secretary-General met with Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who just returned from a visit to Russia and the Northern Caucasus, including Chechnya.

Robinson urged the Russian Government to establish an independent national commission of inquiry to deal with "serious and documented" allegations of abuse in Chechnya.

Robinson, in comments made in Moscow earlier today at the end of her five-day visit to the Russian Federation, said that an inquiry body "would go a long way towards providing a credible, sustained response to the large and growing number of documented reports of violations allegedly committed by the country's military personnel in Chechnya during the latest conflict."

She said that Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov had indicated this morning that her recommendation would be examined carefully and had invited her to return to Chechnya and the region in a few months to again assess the situation. (A press release with more details on her trip is available.)

MALAYSIA DIPLOMAT APPOINTED SPECIAL ENVOY TO MYANMAR

The Secretary-General has appointed Razali Ismail, formerly Malaysia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, as his Special Envoy to Myanmar.

In a statement, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General hoped that Razali would be able to visit Myanmar shortly to carry out the Secretary-General's good office efforts there.

ANNAN APPOINTS NEW HEAD OF ESCAP

The Secretary-General has decided to appoint Kim Hak-Su of the Republic of Korea as the Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok.

Kim, Ambassador at Large for International Economic Affairs and a prominent economist, replaces Adrianus Mooy of Indonesia, whose term expires on June 30.

ESCAP deals with questions such as regional economic cooperation, environment and sustainable development, poverty alleviation through economic growth and social development.

ANNAN CONDEMNS VIOLENCE IN HAITI FOLLOWING MURDER OF ADVISER

The Secretary-General, in a statement issued through his Spokesman, noted the murder on Monday of Jean Dominique, a Special Adviser to President Ren&eacute; Pr&eacute;val and the Director of Radio Haiti, to condemn the recent escalation of violence in Haiti.

"In the Secretary-General's view, these events underscore the need to re-establish democratic institutions in Haiti," the statement said. The Secretary-General recalled that nine people died last week in Port-au-Prince alone and he urged all Haitians to refrain from further violence. The Secretary-General also encouraged the Haitian Government to hold elections as planned to meet the Constitutional deadlines for the seating of Parliament.

ANNAN WELCOMES SERB PARTICIPATION IN KOSOVO STRUCTURES

The Secretary-General, in a statement issued through his Spokesman, welcomed the decision of the Serb National Council of Gracanica to participate as observers in the sessions of the Interim Administrative Council and Kosovo Transitional Council.

"This is an important and courageous step which underlines the commitment of the Kosovo Serb representatives to take their rightful place in a multi-ethnic and democratic Kosovo," the statement said. The Secretary-General said he hoped that representatives of the Serb National Council would soon join the two structures.

The United Nations is "determined to take every measure to ensure that the Serb community is able to live with dignity and in safety in Kosovo," the statement said.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS PROGRAM OF WORK

This morning, the Security Council's President for the month of April, Ambassador Robert Fowler of Canada, continued bilateral meetings with the other members of the Council.

Then, at 3 p.m., the Council will go into closed consultations to discuss its program of work for April.

Once the program of work is approved, the Council is expected to discuss the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM) Wednesday in closed consultations. The Secretary-General, in his latest report on the Mission, which was issued Monday, said that it had contributed to the generally calm situation at the Iraq-Kuwait border; the Mission's current mandate is set to end on Thursday.

ANNAN WELCOMES GATES FOUNDATION INVESTMENT IN AIDS PROJECTS

In a statement, the Secretary-General welcomed the contribution by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of $57 million for efforts to prevent the spread of AIDS in Africa. That effort, he noted, is being carried out by the UN Population Fund, in partnership with non-governmental organizations.

UN OFFICE REPORTS IRAQ SALES OF 6.5 MILLION BARRELS OF OIL

The regular weekly update on the "oil-for-food" program by the Office of the Iraq Programme notes that Iraq exported 6.5 million barrels last week, bringing in an estimated revenue of $155.5 million.

Total revenue for Phase VII of the program, which began on December 11, is now some $4.621 billion.

In Phases IV to VII, the Security Council's Sanctions Committee on Iraq approved $5.38 billion worth of contracts for humanitarian supplies, and put $1.33 billion worth of such contracts on hold.

In the oil sector, the Committee has approved contracts worth $689.2 million and put $335.7 million worth on hold.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The weekly humanitarian update, issued today, notes the drought affecting southern Afghanistan. It warns that the situation is likely to get worse because the period for rain is rapidly ending, and the next rains are not expected until December.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees today welcomed a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that the sending back of asylum seekers to situations where they could face persecution violated the European Convention of Human Rights. The return of such asylum seekers violates the Convention regardless of whether they fear oppression from Governments or others, such as paramilitary or rebel groups.

Mark Malloch Brown, the Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), today launched UNDP's Poverty Report for 2000, titled "Overcoming Human Poverty." The report stresses the need for new approaches on poverty that concentrate more on governance and the empowerment of people and less on social welfare systems. The report says that, although three-quarters of the world's poorer nations have estimated the scale of poverty they face, fewer than one-third of them have set targets to eradicate extreme poverty or reduce overall poverty substantially.

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