United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-04-22

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

OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE

BY

KOFI ANNAN

SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, April 22, 2002

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL'S OPENING REMARKS

"Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen,

As all of you know, on Friday evening the Security Council adopted resolution 1405 (2002), which welcomed my initiative to develop accurate information regarding recent events in the Jenin refugee camp. I have now established a Fact-Finding Team to carry out that task.

The members of the Team are Martti Ahtisaari, who is here with me, who doesn't need any introduction, Mrs. Sadako Ogata, the former High Commissioner for Refugees and Mr. Cornelio Sammaruga, former head of ICRC (International Committee for the Red Cross). Of course we will have Gen. Bill (William) Nash as military advisor and Peter Fitzgerald as police advisor. Both Gen. Nash and Peter Fitzgerald have had considerable experience working in conflict areas. Gen. Nash was in Bosnia and Mitrovica, and Peter Fitzgerald also worked in Bosnia.

I am most grateful that each of these very busy people, and distinguished persons, have accepted my invitation at such short notice, to take on this important task and be part of the Team.

Mr. Ahtisaari will chair the Team. He does not need an introduction many of you remember him from his distinguished service here at the United Nations and his days as President of Finland.

The Fact-Finding Team will start its work without delay; it will first assemble in Europe this week and then travel to the region as quickly as possible.

To assist the team's task of developing accurate information, I expect the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to cooperate fully with the Team and provide full and complete access to all sites, sources of information and individuals that the Team will consider necessary to meet in the exercise of their functions.

The Team will be guided in its work by the relevant Security Council resolutions, including the recent call by the Council on all parties to respect international humanitarian law, and by universally accepted norms of international humanitarian law.

The Team will gather information and report its findings and conclusions to me. The team will be able to draw in the resources of the United Nations here in New York and in the region."

SUMMARY OF ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS On the fact-finding team

Asked what the United Nations could do to bring those responsible for any crimes in Jenin to justice, the Secretary-General refused to speculate on any findings, saying, "We should await the results of their findings." Responding to a question on whether the team would study any potential war crimes, he said, "I am not sending a team of prosecutors or criminal investigators... They are going to establish the facts." Asked about the criteria for the selection of the members of the team, the Secretary-General said he had tried to put together a team with considerable experience, which is familiar with humanitarian issues, and which would be professional and independent-minded. "I think we have that team," he said. Asked whether he consulted with Israel on the teams composition, Annan said he did in the sense that Israel assured him that it would cooperate with anyone he sent down to look into what happened in Jenin. Israel said it had nothing to hide, and the Council, he noted, had endorsed his idea to send a fact-finding mission. "I hope that I have put together a team that everyone would accept as competent and the best that we could have put together," he added. Asked why military and police advisers were accompanying the team, he underscored that the team has nothing to do with the Secretary-Generals recommendation that a multinational force be sent to the region. He said he thought it was important to have on the team someone who understands how military campaigns are mounted and someone who could deal with situations in populated areas and with crowd control. Asked about what access the team will have, he said he hoped it would have access to everybody, adding that he had been given the assurance that the team would have such access. Asked about the timetable for the teams work, the Secretary-General said he could not predict it, noting that first, the team would go to Jenin and then determine what action was needed. He said, "We would want to get the facts as quickly as possible." Ahtisaari, who said he had been in New York visiting a sick colleague at the time that he was approached over the weekend to lead the team, said the teams intention was to meet on Wednesday in Europe. He hoped they would be on the ground in the latter part of this week. Asked whether the team would travel outside of Jenin, Ahtisaari said it was premature to start talking about where it would visit. He said the team would do everything in order to be able to report to the Secretary-General. The Secretary-General said the team would focus on Jenin, but would also follow where the facts will lead. He said that Security Council Resolution 1405 should be read in its entirety, noting that it began by expressing concern at "the dire humanitarian situation of the Palestinian civilian population." He emphasized that the teams mandate is very clear: They will present their findings and conclusions to him, and he would report to the Security Council.

On recent criticism of UN officials

Responding to Israeli criticism of UN Special Coordinator Terje Roed Larsen, UN Relief and Works Agency Commissioner-General Peter Hansen and High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, the Secretary-General said he never had intended to make any of them part of the team. He said he found it unfortunate that there has been such public objection to their participation. All three, he said, are extraordinary international civil servants who have worked very hard, adding, "I am rather disappointed that they have been attacked so publicly." Larsen, he said, was being attacked for reporting what he saw, and never even used the word "massacre" to describe recent events. Hansen was carrying out his work for UNRWA, and he and Larsen both have voiced their concerns on humanitarian access. Robinson was given a mandate by the Commission on Human Rights to go to the area. He added that she had not made any statement on the situation in Jenin to which anyone could take exception. He concluded, "One should not undermine the work of these excellent officers." The Secretary-General added that the fact-finding team will be able to talk to anyone on the ground capable of providing information, including Hansen and Larsen. Asked about Larsen and Hansens recent comments on indiscriminate firing by Israel, the cutting of water supplies, and other issues, the Secretary-General said, "I have myself indicated that, in this conflict, the red lines have been blurred and there are no red lines in this conflict." However, he cautioned, the team has been named, and he and other UN officials would withhold comment while the team goes about its work. Asked what could be done to remove Israels suspicion about the United Nations, he noted the recent resolutions passed by the Security Council and stressed that it had played a constructive and impartial role. The recent actions by the Council should reassure Israel that the Council is not against Israeli interests, he said. As for the work of UN officials, he stressed, "They are impartial, but they are not neutral." He said they would speak out when they see one side or the other doing actions that were wrong.

On the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Asked how the parties move forward following the deadlock in the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, the Secretary-General noted that the South African Government is urging the parties to leave a small team behind to continue discussions. He hoped that their work would continue. Annan added. "It is essential to bring all parties into the agreement." Otherwise, he said, "we are not going to see speedy resolution."

On Cyprus

Asked about prospects for a breakthrough in the Cyprus peace talks, the Secretary-General said he was still looking forward to the end of June to see substantial progress in the talks. He hoped that both leaders would work hard to make progress by then.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS TODAY

MIDDLE EAST

UN Special Coordinator Terje Roed Larsen met with Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in Beirut, and discussed the two discussed the grave situation in the region and the rising tension along the Blue Line.

The priority for the UNRWA is the clearing of unexploded ordinance in the Jenin Camp. Over the few days, eight civilians and aid workers were injured in the camp when unexploded ordnance and/or pipe bombs were detonated accidentally. In view of the large number of remaining ordnance/bombs on site, the Agency is calling for additional de-mining experts and bomb squads to assist the team currently on site. Other international teams in Jenin include engineers, doctors, search and rescue experts and disaster response team from Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom and the United Nations. The U.S. government is providing 800 tents, water purification equipment and other necessary in-kind relief items which will be used to shelter the families from the camp who lost their dwellings. The Palestinian Authority has allocated a piece of land adjacent to the camp to be used as a temporary site where the tents will be set-up for the families who lost their homes.

On Sunday evening, the Secretary-General issued a statement in reaffirming his full confidence in Larsen's work. "I am disturbed by the recent public criticism of my Special Coordinator, Terje Roed-Larsen, by representatives of the Government of Israel," he said. "Mr. Roed-Larsen, in his many years of working to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has always conducted himself with objectivity, professionalism and compassion. In the course of his efforts, Mr. Roed-Larsen has developed useful and constructive relations with representatives of both parties." He added, "I applaud the work done by Mr. Roed-Larsen and all UN personnel in the region, particularly in the recent difficult weeks, and I wish to reiterate my full confidence in Mr. Roed-Larsen."

SECURITY COUNCIL

The UN Security Council is holding consultations today on Liberia and Burundi. Amb. Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore, the chair of the Liberia Sanctions Committee, will brief on the Panel of Experts Report on Liberia sanctions, which was made public last Friday. The council was also set to receive a briefing on the situation in Burundi from Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Danilo Turk.

BRETTON WOODS INSTITUTIONS

The Secretary-General today addressed the high-level meeting of the Economic and Social Council with the Bretton Woods Institutions, saying that he hoped the unprecedented level of collaboration between the UN, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization would continue, based on the common vision of the Millennium Declaration and the Monterrey Consensus on financing for development. He said the world economy was "slowly recovering from its worst performance in a decade.

On Sunday in Washington, World Bank President James Wolfensohn presented a new development compact for education, called "Education for All," at the spring meetings of the Bretton Woods Institutions, to help counties meet the Millennium Development Goal of having every child in primary school by 2015. Under the initiative, the Bank suggested that average yearly spending on education in 47 poor countries would need to increase from $7.4 billion now to $16.4 billion by 2015. The Bank added over the weekend that many developing countries are not on track to reach the Millennium Development Goals.

ANNAN'S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVES

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, received the certified results yesterday of the 14 April presidential election. The result, which was delivered by the board of Commissioners of the Independent Electoral Commission, will now be submitted to the Secretary-General.

The Special Representative to the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, made an official visit to Iran over the weekend and is today in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan to participate at a roundtable on Transition and Human Security in Central Asia. Brahimi is expected back in Kabul either late Tuesday or Wednesday morning.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji, accompanied by the Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Daniel Opande, his deputy, Maj. Gen. Martin L. Agwai, and other senior military officers today traveled to a village in Kenema District to witness a military training exercise organized by the Russian Aviation Unit serving with the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL). The exercise, whose aim was to demonstrate the combat readiness and capabilities of the MI-24 Hind Helicopter, was conducted in three phases.

The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Kosovo Michael Steiner travels today to New York in order to address the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

AFGHANISTAN

A nationwide campaign to vaccinate children against polio in Afghanistan was held from April 16-18. Initial data from days one and two in major cities, such as Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif, show a coverage of more than 100 percent. In Bamiyan, cave to cave vaccinations were conducted in the mountains. The next phase of the campaign is scheduled to take place on May 26-28. The overall target population is approximately 5.8 million children.

AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA

The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today released a new report, "Coordinates 2002", on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The report is the first consolidated view of the three diseases and says that they can be prevented and treated with the right intervention.

EARTH DAY

Today is Earth Day on Monday and this morning the UN Environment Programme, the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Earth Day Network hosted a celebrity breakfast. Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, gave the keynote address to an audience, which included actors Kevin Bacon and Susan Sarandon and artist Peter Max, who also decorated the tent used for the occasion, and members of the business and political communities. This afternoon, UNEP, in conjunction with the WILD Foundation (the International Wilderness Leadership Foundation), will host an event called "Ark in the Park,"on the plight of endangered species. The event will feature Broadway star Anne Hampton Callaway with the UN International School Choir and students of the Ross School of East Hampton wearing masks representing the different endangered species.

PAYMENTS/SIGNINGS

Today, El Salvador became the 68th Member State to pay its 2002 regular budget contribution in full with a payment of more than $199,000

Tunisia, this morning, signed the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Tunisia became the 101st country to sign the Optional Protocol on children in armed conflict and the 96th to sign the Optional Protocol; on the sale of children.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General United Nations, S-378 New York, NY 10017 Tel. 212-963-7162 Fax. 212-963-7055

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