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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-03-21United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSThursday , 21 March 1996This document is prepared by the Central News Section of the Department of Public Information and is updated every week-day at approximately 6:00 PM. HEADLINES
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has expressed concern over a decision of the Russian DUMA to revoke the dissolution of the former Soviet Union. In a statement through his Spokeswoman in Geneva, the Secretary- General said the resolution, adopted by the Russian DUMA, is at variance with the universally recognized norms of international law, embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. The Secretary-General said the resolution is not in accordance with the established regional cooperation mechanism, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the members of which are fully recognized and independent Member States of the United Nations. He however expressed confidence that efforts to develop and strengthen regional cooperation in the area will be carried out in conformity with internationally accepted procedures. In Paris today, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali met with French President Jacques Chirac in what has been described as a "useful and extremely positive" meeting. UN Spokesman Ahmad Fawzi says they discussed a number of topics: first and foremost was UN reform and the financial crisis of the Organization. They reviewed negotiations between the United Nations and Iraq on the oil- for-food formula. They also discussed United Nations activities in the former Yugoslavia and other items on the agenda of the Security Council namely a number of African problems and the question of Western Sahara. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has said the political will to eliminate racial discrimination must be stronger on the eve of the new century. In a statement marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination being observed today, the Secretary-General said this is why human beings and their rights must be placed at the centre of the concerns of all States and peoples. Dr. Boutros-Ghali said the commemoration awakens us to the resurgence of racist ideologies and practices, particularly in the economic and social spheres, to the persistence of the subtle forms of racism and racial discrimination that assume the shapes of nationalism or of national or continental preference. He said it also reminds us that the world is not free from xenophobia, hatred and ethnic conflict. In Geneva, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territories says he is unable to obtain Israeli cooperation to fulfil his mandate. Hannu Halinen told the Commission on Human Rights that as a consequence, he is only able to visit Gaza which is now the headquarters of the Palestinian self-rule authority. He said measures taken by Israel, including closure of its borders due to security incidents as well as the issue of prisoners and detainees are violations of human rights. The policy of closure amounts to collective punishment in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, he said. It creates severe restrictions on the freedom of movement and the freedom of education as well as health concerns. Furthermore, it has an adverse effect on the fragile economic situation, leading to further deterioration in living conditions of the Palestinian population, he added. The representative of Palestine Nabil Ramlawi told the Human Rights Commission that the Palestinian people had hoped that the current peace process would lead to an improvement in the human rights situation. To the contrary he said, it has deteriorated. The closure of the Palestinian territories has led to the deaths of a number of civilians and has created a state of hunger among the general population. But Israeli Ambassador Yosef Lamdan said that Israel was at war against terror and was exercising its right of self-defence. He said no self- respecting government would act differently. Israel rejected the assertions that the measures it has been obliged to take are collective punishment or violation of human rights. The measures adopted, including the closure of territories are designed exclusively to prevent armed terrorists prepared to commit suicide from infiltrating into Israel, he said. Areas of cooperation between Ukraine and the United Nations were the focus of discussion today between President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine and the Director-General of the UN Office in Geneva, Vladimir Petrovsky. A statement issued in Geneva today, said particular emphasis was placed on the problems of refugees, international assistance in mitigating the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, providing assistance to the European countries in transition, as well as the Ukrainian contribution to the budget of the United Nations. The two officials also discussed the activities of European regional organizations, including cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), in the area of preventive diplomacy. Mr. Petrovksy outlined the work of the Geneva-based United Nations agencies and bodies and stressed the valuable contribution of Ukraine to United Nations efforts, in particular in the fields of disarmament, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. The Commission on the Status of Women would call upon governments to prevent those who traffic in women and girls from misusing tourism and advanced information technology, including cyberspace. A draft resolution introduced in the Commission by the Philippines calls for addressing the root factors that encourage the trafficking of women and girls for prostitution and other forms of commercialized sex, and for allocating resources to provide comprehensive programmes designed to heal victims of trafficking. Another draft resolution introduced by Costa Rica, on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, would have the Commission recommend a series of measures aimed at eradicating the feminization of poverty as set out in the Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing last September. Such measures would include promoting women's rights to access to economic resources, including inheritance. The Commission would stress that the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, should play a central role in enhancing assistance for developing countries in order to achieve the Platform's objectives. The Secretary-General has learnt with great satisfaction that the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG), was temporarily suspending offensive military operations. The URNG says it was doing so as a contribution to progress in the peace process. The Secretary-General is also satisfied by the response of the Guatemalan President who is issuing instructions to the army to cease counter-insurgency operations. Meanwhile, the Guatemalan Government and the URNG are currently engaged in complex negotiations on both social and economic issues, a UN Spokesman said today. Both parties agree that a broad agenda of social and economic progress are a necessary component of a lasting peace. On that basis it is felt that conditions exist to bring the negotiations on that issue to a fruitful conclusion. Another round of negotiations in this connection is scheduled to be held in Mexico next week. Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Alvaro de Soto is in El Salvador at the request of President Calderon Sol to assess the state of implementation of the peace accords in that country. This is the third visit in recent months, aimed at accelerating compliance with the outstanding elements in the accords. So far, Mr. de Soto has held meetings with the President and his advisers, the Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional (FMLN) and other key political actors. The President has reaffirmed his government's commitment to completing implementation of those areas still outstanding in the peace accords, according to a UN Spokesman. These include constitutional and legislative reform, the land transfer programme and the issue of rural human settlements. The reform of the administration of justice is proceeding exceedingly slowly and problems also remain with the public security sector. While efforts will be made to complete the accords before 30 April, the President acknowledged that there would be elements still pending in some of those areas. Five United Nations staff members have been kidnapped in Somalia on Thursday, a UN spokesman has confirmed. The UN workers had just flown into Mogadishu and were picked up at the airfield. Negotiations are still continuing with their captors. The spokesman said an appeal has already been made to the captors to release the staff members expeditiously and unharmed. Four of the staff members are from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the fifth from the World Health Organization (WHO). For information purposes only - - not an official record From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgUnited Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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