United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-06-23

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS KILLING OF HOSTAGE IN IRAQ

Secretary-General Kofi Annan was appalled by the murder on Tuesday of Mr. Kim Sun-Il, who was taken hostage in Iraq on June 17. In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, the Secretary-General condemned in the strongest terms this heartless crime, which no political or other cause can justify.

The Secretary-General extended his sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Kim Sun-Il and the Government of the Republic of Korea. He reiterated his appeal for the immediate and safe release of all hostages being held in Iraq.

Also on Tuesday, Philippine Foreign Minister Delia Domingo Albert, in her capacity as President of the Security Council, condemned the killing. She said that, in the face of such evil, the world must stand united against the scourge of international terrorism that continues to plague our global community.

FORCE IS NOT A SOLUTION IN MIDDLE EAST, SECURITY COUNCIL TOLD

Security Council members held this morning an open meeting for their periodic briefing on the situation in the Middle East.

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast said events in the past month showed yet again how desperately the people of the Middle East need a political solution to their long conflict. Force, Prendergast said, will achieve neither a viable and independent Palestinian state nor a secure and recognized Israel.

He encouraged the parties, the region and the wider international community to play their part. On the planned Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Prendergast stressed that involvement of the international community will be crucial to an effective hand-over, in terms of significant donor support for the Palestinians as well as in the political and the security aspects. This could make the difference between success and failure.

In conclusion, he said, to choose the rocky road to peace is to take the difficult road, the road less traveled. But the alternative is a continued long, slow, inevitable descent into a landscape full of violence, hatred and bloodshed.

Immediately following the open briefing, Council members moved into closed consultations to continue their discussion on the Middle East.

ICC RESOLUTION WITHDRAWN IN SECURITY COUNCIL

The Security Council also discussed today in consultations the latest US draft resolution concerning exemptions from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

[After consultations adjourned, US Ambassador James Cunningham and other Council members said that the United States had withdrawn that draft resolution from further consideration.]

Asked about the Secretary-Generals views on the last draft resolution, the Spokesman said that he had no comment, and that the Security Council was aware of the Secretary-Generals views on the issue. He noted that the Secretary-General does not normally give his views on resolutions that are being considered by the Council, but he had made an exception in this case because he felt an important principle was at issue.

SECURITY COUNCIL VOICES CONCERN AT VIOLENCE IN DR CONGO

On Tuesday afternoon, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Jean Marie Guehenno briefed the Security Council on recent political and military developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Following the consultations, the Security Council issued a presidential statement in which Council members reiterated their grave concern at the continued violence and instability in the DRC, urged all parties to remain committed to the peace process and to respect the Government of National Unity and Transition and warned all parties against any attempt to seize power by force.

The Council also urged neighboring states, not to interfere in the DRC, and specifically urged Rwanda not to support armed groups led by Laurent Nkunda or Jules Mutebutsi and to use its influence to de-escalate the current crisis.

In addition, the statement asked the Secretary-General to determine the need for a possible rapid reaction capability for the UN mission in the DRC. Regarding the deaths of civilians and human rights abuses in the eastern DRC, the Security Council stated that those incidents be fully investigated and called for those responsible to be held to account.

Also related to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, confirmed his decision to start investigations into grave human rights abuses allegedly committed in the DRC.

The Office of the Prosecutor has been analyzing closely the situation in the DRC since July 2003, initially with a focus on crimes committed in the Ituri region. The Courts jurisdiction extends to crimes committed after 1 July 2002, when the Rome Statute of the ICC came into force.

SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS LEADERS OF COTE DIVOIRE

The Security Council mission to West Africa is in Cote dIvoire today. Earlier today, the Ambassadors held separate meetings with President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister Seydou Diarra.

In speaking to the press afterwards, on behalf of the Security Council, French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said they discussed the issues that are preventing the application of the Linas-Marcoussis accord and the process of national reconciliation.

He added that the UN had lived up to its commitment by sending in peacekeepers to Cote dIvoire. It is now up to the various Ivoirian parties to live up to their commitments.

UN REPORTS CONTINUING MILITIA ATTACKS IN DARFUR, SUDAN

UN and NGO staff on the ground in Darfur, Sudan, report continuing attacks on villages in South Darfur, where Janjaweed militias attacked, looted and burnt six villages on Monday, reportedly killing six civilians.

Army and police elements in the area did not intervene to prevent the attacks, and other reports of banditry and acts of violence continue to be received, including in North and West Darfur. There is also increasing concern about the safety of humanitarian workers.

Despite this uncertain security environment, the aid community in Darfur continues to focus on preparing for possibly reduced access during the rainy season, which has already begun. Aid groups have been pre-positioning of food, non-food and shelter items. The groups also stress that it is necessary to organize and assist camps that have sprung up, especially with aid in the form of clean water and sanitation.

FOOD SHORTAGES COULD ARISE IN BURUNDI THIS AUGUST

The Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that food shortages could begin in Burundi in August, which could last up to five months. According to an alert system that brings together UN agencies, the Burundi Government and non-governmental organizations, shortages have resulted from the early arrival of the dry season and a subsequent sharp drop in bean production.

UNICEFs nutritional surveys, conducted this year, indicate that in the north-eastern provinces of Ngozi, Kayanza and Bubanza, prevalence rates for acute malnutrition in children from six months to five years have reached 10 percent. Chronic malnutrition within the same group has reached 61 percent.

MIDDLE EAST QUARTET ENVOYS TO MEET THURSDAY IN EGYPT

On Thursday, UN Middle East Envoy Terje Roed Larsen will join envoys from the United States, the European Union and Russia for a meeting of the Middle East Quartet in Taba, Egypt.

The Envoys are expected to discuss their action plan and other steps to be taken in support of the Egyptian initiative, which plans, among other things, for the training of Palestinian security forces.

Meanwhile today, Larsen met with Egyptian presidential envoy Omar Suleiman at the start of his mission to Israel the Palestinian territories. Larsen and Suleiman discussed ways to enable the parties, Israelis and Palestinians, to seize the current opportunity and turn the Israeli withdrawal initiative into a new beginning of the peace process.

UN MISSION TO HELP ENSURE FREEDOMS UPHELD IN AFGHANISTAN

Jean Arnault, head of the UN Mission in Afghanistan, today participated in a launch, with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, of an exercise to ensure that freedom of organization, freedom of movement and freedom of opinion are upheld as the country prepares for elections.

Arnault said the verification exercise would help the Afghan Government to identify where the problems are in implementing those freedoms, who is behind them and how they should be corrected.

UN TO INCORPORATE GLOBAL COMPACT INTO INTERNAL OPERATIONS

Under-Secretary-General for Management Catherine Bertini today announced that she has initiated a project to integrate the principles of the Global Compact into the UNs internal operations.

The Secretary-General had asked Bertini to make the United Nations a leading example of responsible corporate citizenship in its administrative practices. She has organized specialized working groups within the UN system to ensure that the Global Compacts nine human rights, labor and environmental principles are explicitly integrated into UN administrative practice.

Bertini will be among the participants Thursday as the Global Compact Leaders Summit takes place at UN Headquarters. That Summit, which will be opened by the Secretary-General, will bring together representatives from governments, business and civil society to take stock of the Global Compact and chart its future course.

ANNAN URGES STATES TO DEFEND UN CHARTER

The Secretary-General has called on States to unite in defense of the principles of the UN Charter and international law, while working to find ways to make the UN more effective in producing collective responses to the threats of our age.

The Secretary-General made the comment in a message to the Third Forum for Debate on "The Role of the UN in the 21st Century and the Primacy of International Law," in Salamanca, Spain, today, delivered on his behalf by his Special Adviser Alvaro de Soto.

The Secretary-General also said that the existing institutions to enforce the law must be strengthened, which is why the establishment of the International Criminal Court is a landmark in efforts to build peace and respect for human rights.

WHO ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR ALTERNATIVE MEDICINES

Alternative medicines remain largely unregulated, and as a consequence consumers need to be informed and given the tools to access safe and effective treatment.

It is for this reason that the World Health Organization has released a new set of guidelines for national health authorities to develop reliable information for consumer use of these medicines. WHO says that as their use increases, so do reports of adverse reactions.

For example, in China, a country where traditional treatments are widely used, there were almost 10,000 known reported cases of adverse drug reactions in 2002 alone, up from 4,000 between 1990 and 1999.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNAN MARKS CENTENNIAL GRADUATION FOR STUYVESANT SCHOOL: The Secretary-General this morning addressed the one hundredth graduation of New Yorks Stuyvesant High School, saying that there can be no nobler face that any country could show to the world than that schools multi-cultural student body.

TRIBUNAL PRESIDENT CALLS FOR FULL COOPERATION: The President of the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Judge Theodor Meron, today visited the Potocari Memorial Cemetery, where he called on the Bosnian authorities to cooperate fully with the Tribunal. He said, It is simply unacceptable that the authorities in the Republika Srpska have yet to arrest and transfer any individual on their territory who has been arrested by the Tribunal.

WHO ISSUES CHILDRENS HEALTH ATLAS: The World Health Organization has released the first-ever Atlas of Children's Environmental Health and the Environment. The Atlas brings together a range of facts about the effects of environmental risks to children's health, which, when taken together, paint a graphic picture of the reasons for over three million annual deaths in children under age five worldwide.

UNICEF LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN WITH COPA AMERICA: This years America Cup or Copa America as the soccer tournament is known throughout the region is being dedicated to the children of the host country Peru. To coincide with the July tournament, the official sponsors of the event and UNICEF, the UN Childrens Fund, have launched a campaign called You Win Children which includes a series of activities aimed at promoting childrens rights and development.