United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-10-08

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, 8 October 1997

HEADLINES

• Security Council imposes sanctions against junta in Sierra Leone and demands that it relinquish power.
• United Nations Secretary-General recommends continuation of Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission.
• UN Compensation Commission pays out almost $569 million to claimants who suffered losses during Persian Gulf War.
• 19 States sponsor draft resolution urging that UN decolonization unit be transferred back to Department for Political Affairs.
• UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs says many "natural" disasters are caused by development problems.

By unanimously adopting resolution 1132 (1997), the Council decided that all States shall prevent the sale or supply to Sierra Leone of arms and related mat‚riel, including weapons, ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, and paramilitary equipment or spare parts. The resolution also provides that all States shall prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of members of the military junta and adult members of their families, except for "verified humanitarian purposes".

Under the resolution, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is authorized, in cooperation with the democratically elected Government of Sierra Leone, to ensure strict implementation of those measures. Where necessary, ECOWAS is authorized to halt inward maritime shipping in order to inspect and verify their cargoes and destinations.

The Council set up a committee to monitor the sanctions under the same resolution. Among its tasks, the committee will "consider and decide expeditiously" on requests for petroleum and petroleum products that are exempted under the resolution, that is those applications by the democratically elected Government of Sierra Leone and those by other governments or by United Nations agencies which are designated for humanitarian purposes or for the ECOWAS Military Observer Group (ECOMOG).

Addressing the Council, the Ambassador of Sierra Leone, James Jonah, thanked the members for the text, which he said far exceeded his delegation's expectations. But he expressed concern about the extent to which the military junta in Freetown would take the Security Council's actions seriously, given the fact that it had shown "a high degree of recklessness" in dealing with the international community. "This may be due to the fact that since the coup d'‚tat, they have come under the spell of discredited politicians and so-called elder statesmen who have consistently misled them." For example, Ambassador Jonah said, the junta had been told that the Security Council would reject the sanctions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOWAS) and would not call for the restoration of the legitimate Government.

Assessing the situation in Sierra Leone in a letter to the President of the Security Council on Tuesday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said there was evidence that "the junta is planning for a prolonged stay in power". The Secretary-General notes that the sanctions may be seen as measures intended to promote a peaceful resolution of the situation. "At stake is a great issue of principle, namely, that the efforts of the international community for democratic governance, grounded in the rule of law and respect for human rights, shall not be thwarted through illegal coups", the Secretary- General wrote.

In his latest report on UNIKOM, the Secretary-General says that the Mission continued to contribute to the maintenance of calm and stability in the demilitarized zone. The situation along the border is generally quiet, according to the report, and the Mission has received the cooperation of the Iraqi and Kuwaiti authorities in discharging its duties.

Over the six months covered in the report, there was a decrease in the number of violations in the demilitarized zone compared with the previous period. According to the report, which covers activity up to 23 September, UNIKOM recorded 87 violations in that six-month period, slightly less than half of the previous 161.

Two thirds of the cost of the Mission, equivalent to some $33.1 million, is to be funded through voluntary contributions from the Government of Kuwait, according to the Secretary-General. As of 31 August, unpaid assessed contributions to the Special Account for UNIKOM since the inception of the Mission through 31 October 1997 amounted to $11.9 million, or some 5 per cent of the assessment for the Mission. The report further notes that the unpaid contributions for all peacekeeping operations amounted to $1.9 billion.

The Commission made available $568,972,563 to 75 governments and three international organizations for distribution to 228,575 successful claimants whose claims related to their departure from Iraq or Kuwait, as well as individuals claiming losses of up to $100,000.

The funding for the payments came from a 30 per cent share of the revenue derived from Iraqi petroleum sold under the "oil-for-food" mechanism established under Security Council resolution 986 (1995).

As part of his package of reforms, the Secretary-General had transferred the decolonization unit out of the Department of Political Affairs to the newly established Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services. The draft resolution urges that the unit remain in the Department of Political Affairs.

In recent days, several speakers have criticized the transfer of the decolonization unit, saying that it denied the political essence of the matter and undermined the Organization's decolonization programme. A number of speakers shared the view of Chile's representative, Juan Larrain, who said on Wednesday that the transfer would have a negative impact, "because it drastically alters the political substance of the unit's work".

The draft resolution was introduced by the representative of Papua New Guinea on Wednesday in the General Assembly's Fourth Committee, which deals with special political issues and decolonization. The Committee will be briefed by the Under-Secretaries-General of the two departments in question on Thursday before considering the draft on Friday.

Commemorating the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction on Wednesday under the theme water: too much... too little... leading cause of natural disasters, DHA said that development patterns which ignore sustainable water management are exposing communities to greater risks of floods and drought.

Noting that desertification affects one fourth of the earth's land and costs $42 billion each year in lost productivity, the Department says the problem is largely due to poor land management practices, including overgrazing, deforestation, over-cultivation, and poor irrigation and drainage.

The Department adds that floods are growing more quickly than other disasters, noting that rapid development changes local ecosystems, increasing flood risks. For example, the use of concrete has changed the capacity of soil to absorb water, leading to flash floods.

In his message for the Day, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that there is a clear case for international cooperation in reducing the loss of life, property damage and economic and social disruptions caused by natural disasters and environmental emergencies. He called on the international community to pledge to intensify work on the promotion of an ethos of disaster prevention in order to build a safer world for the twenty-first century.

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

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