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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-09-24

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Tuesday, September 24, 1996


This 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

  • Sixteen States sign Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signaling end to nuclear arms race.
  • United States is committed to paying off its accrued obligations to the United Nations soon, US President tells General Assembly.
  • European Union says United Nations cannot be expected to stand alone in conflict prevention and maintenance of world peace.
  • UN sanction mechanism needs to be modernised and damage caused by sanctions minimised, Russian Federation says.
  • United Kingdom says least-developed countries should be granted tariff- free access to markets of developed world.
  • Meeting of eminent persons should be convened to explore means of enhancing UN's preventive diplomacy capacity, Prime Minister of Japan tells General Assembly.
  • Egypt says peace in the Middle East will not be comprehensive until a regime for regional security is established.
  • Consideration should be given to problems raised by international traffic and trade in arms, Costa Rica says.
  • UN Secretary-General addresses commemorative meeting of the Movement of the Non-Aligned Countries on 35th anniversary; says the underlying philosophy of non-alignment remains valid.
  • UN Secretary-General meets with Expert on the Impact of Armed Conflicts on Children; expresses appreciation for her work.
  • UN High Commissioner for Refugees excludes 20 Rwandans indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
  • States adopt resolutions to strengthen international safeguards and global nuclear cooperation.
  • International Bioethics Committee to discuss moral issues of genetic research.
  • Renewed conflict breaks out in eastern Zaire, with incoming and outgoing fire; non essential staff is relocated to Nairobi.


Sixteen States, led by the United States, today signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) at UN Headquarters in New York. United States President William Clinton was the first to sign the Treaty, followed, among others, by the representatives from Australia, China, Chile, France, Russia, Norway, Japan and South Africa.

Declaring the Treaty open for signature, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said respectable differences were held by States over various provisions during the Treaty's development, adding States, however, became convinced that it was best to lay those differences aside. "The adoption of this Treaty meets the demand of the great majority of the world's people for a clear signal that the nuclear arms race is coming towards its end", he said.

Dr. Boutros-Ghali said the global community had opted for a world where nuclear weapons would not be considered a choice for the defence of any State.


The President of the United States, William Clinton says the United States was committed to paying off its accrued obligations to the United Nations soon.

Addressing the General Assembly on the second day of the general debate, President Clinton said the US was committed to the reform process that was streamlining operations, reining in its budget, and readying the UN for the demands of a new century. "In this time of challenge and change, the United Nations is more important than ever because our world is more interdependent than ever," the President said.

He said most Americans realised the importance of the UN, "unfortunately, some Americans, in their longing to be free of the world's problems and their preoccupation with our own, ignore our interdependence and the benefits of cooperation".

The President reiterated his call for a coalition of zero tolerance for aggression, terrorism and lawless behaviour, stating that as long as a few countries threaten their neighbours and their people, and support and protect terrorists, they cannot become full members of the family of nations.


The United Nations cannot be expected to stand alone in conflict prevention and the maintenance of world peace, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ireland Dick Spring told the General Assembly.

In a statement on behalf of the European Union, Mr. Spring said the EU welcomed the trend towards closer cooperation and mutual support between the UN and regional organisations.

Outlining existing cooperation between the UN and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Mr. Spring said the EU encourages and supports similar efforts being made in other regions. "The meetings of regional organisations that the Secretary-General has convened in recent years are an important innovation in this regard," he said.


The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Yevgeni M. Primakov told the General Assembly that the UN sanction mechanisms needed to be modernised and the humanitarian damage caused by the sanctions, as well as the damage to the third countries should be minimised.

The Foreign Minister emphasised that the UN should be maintained as the only organisation authorising the use of force, adding that any similar actions taken in circumvention of the UN Security Council should be completely precluded.

Highlighting the Afghan conflict, Mr. Primakov urged the UN to address the conflict in that country. "The Afghan drama, like an endless sequence of internal conflicts in Rwanda and Liberia, is the most convincing argument for the development of UN national reconciliation diplomacy," he said.


The best help the developed world could give to the developing was to buy what the developing countries produce, and the developed world must demolish the barriers maintained against imports from the developing world, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, Malcolm Rifkind told the General Assembly.

He welcomed the proposal put forward by the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation that the least-developed countries be granted tariff- free access to the markets of the developed world. "The best hope that the poor have for sustained economic development is to be given the freedom to export. The freedom to sell", he said.


The Prime Minister of Japan Ryutaro Hashimoto said his country was gravely concerned at the current situation in Iraq, and expressed the hope that Iraq would listen to the opinion of the international community and comply in good faith with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Addressing the General Assembly, Mr. Hashimoto said the UN had the potential to fulfil, in a practical manner, an extremely effective function through preventive diplomacy. He proposed that a meeting of eminent persons be convened to explore means of enhancing the UN's preventive diplomacy capacity.

Mr. Hashimoto said Japan, as a leading donor, would work to further enhance its Official Development Assistance (ODA).


The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, Amre Moussa told the General Assembly that peace in the Middle East would not be comprehensive and would not be lasting until a strict regime for regional security was established.

Calling for a regime based on arrangements that provide equal security for all parties with minimum levels of armament, Mr Moussa urged the Security Council to take specific steps to establish a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

Reiterating his country's confidence in the Secretary-General, Mr. Moussa said the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the Arab League attached high priority to seeing the Secretary-General presiding over the UN Secretariat for the second term.


The realisation of peace and democracy in Central America proved that willingness and patience are able to overcome all negative legacies of history, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica, Fernando Naranjo- Villalobos told the General Assembly.

He said consideration should be given to the problems raised by the international traffic and trade in arms. On the issue of the UN reform, the Foreign Minister said new vitality must be given to the General Assembly, both regarding the need to ensure the principle of universality.


Saluting the leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement, Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has said today the underlying philosophy of non- alignment remains valid, pointing out that now is the time for its renaissance.

Addressing the commemorative meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement on its 35th anniversary, Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali said that, having the culture of democracy among nations at its core, the Non-Aligned Movement is living proof that a culture of democracy among nations contributes to both development and peace, and has made clear that it was determined to play a positive and independent role in world affairs.

"I see three main dimensions of our work: the struggle for development; the search for peace; and strengthening the United Nations itself, as an effective mechanism for development and peace," he added.


UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali met with his Expert on the Impact of Armed Conflicts on Children, Graca Machel, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General Sylvana Foa said. The Secretary-General expressed his appreciation for the valuable work Ms. Machel and her team had produced, and stressed the importance of keeping the momentum generated by this important study with regard to the treatment of children in situations of armed conflict as a distinct and priority concern of the international community, she added.

Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali has already referred to the study in his annual report on the work of the Organisation, and will make a statement in the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural (Third Committee) on 11 November, when the study will be considered by the Committee, the Spokesman indicated. The Secretary-General was asked by the General Assembly to contribute a study on the impact of armed conflicts on children. He asked Ms. Machel to serve as his Expert in the preparation of the study, the Spokesman recalled.


The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has announced that it was excluding from refugee status 20 Rwandans indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in connection with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. UNHCR has also urged governments to take the same measure if these Rwandans sought asylum.

The 20 Rwandans are believed to be among those behind the execution and planning of the genocide in which more than 500,000 Rwandans were killed. Some of these Rwandans are in the custody of the tribunal, including three who were arraigned in the Tanzanian town of Arusha in June, while others are known to be in Europe and Africa.

Meanwhile, the ICTR is preparing to start its first trials in Arusha, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General Sylvana Foa said. Four of the 20 indicted are detained in special cells of the Tribunal; three of the four were detained in Zambia last year, and extradited to Arusha last May. The fourth was arrested in Kenya last Friday, and then extradited to Arusha.

There are now three judges in Arusha who constitute a trial chamber, the Spokesman added. The first trial is scheduled for 26 September, the second for 17 October, and the third for 7 November. The date for the fourth trial has not yet been decided.


States meeting at the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have adopted resolutions to strengthen international safeguards and global cooperation in areas of nuclear safety and technical assistance. Other adopted resolutions include those related to nuclear inspections in Iraq; safeguards in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; safeguards in the Middle East; African Nuclear-Weapon- Free zone; and illicit trafficking in nuclear materials.

The conference, which concluded today in Vienna, was attended by Ministers and high-level governmental delegates from the 124 Member States of the IAEA.


The International Bioethics Committee (IBC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will hold its fourth session next week at its Headquarters in Paris to discuss bioethics and women, ethical, issues related to food and plant biotechnology, a draft of its Declaration on the Human Genome and other questions.

The session will open with addresses by French President Jacques Chirac, and UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor. The programme includes a discussion chaired by Corinne Lepage, French Minister of Environment, on food, plant biotecnology and ethics, which will consider questions such as whether the use of biotechnology in agriculture will widen the gap between the industrialised and developing countries.

The President of the IBC Legal Commission and Uruguayan Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Hector Gros Espiell, will present a draft of the Declaration on the Protection of the Human Genome for approval by IBC members. The draft declaration affirms that genetic research must respect the dignity, freedom and rights of individuals, and treats other moral issues connected with such research.


Renewed conflict broke out yesterday evening for four hours in Bukavu, eastern Zaire, with constant incoming and outgoing fire, including mortars and rockets, according to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General Sylvana Foa. In view of the deterioration of the situation, the designated official in charge of security for Bukavu has recommended that non-essential staff in the area be relocated to Nairobi.

More than fifty people have been relocated to Nairobi, most of them are from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO), and non-governmental organisations (NGO's), the Spokesman explained. The camps around Bukavu have about 300,000 refugees.


For information purposes only - - not an official record

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


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