REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also addressed by Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UN Refugee Agency.
Secretary-General’s Trip to Washington
Ms. Heuzé said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be going to Washington, D.C. today, where he will meet U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House. He is scheduled to go to Capitol Hill, where he will have discussions this afternoon and Wednesday morning with leaders of both houses of the U.S. Congress -- Democrats as well as Republicans. A public speech by the Secretary-General hosted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies is scheduled for this afternoon. Copies of his speech will be placed in the press room as soon as it is available.
Geneva Activities
Ms. Heuzé said the Committee on the Rights of the Child opened its forty-fourth session yesterday at the Palais Wilson. It started its work with a review of the initial reports of Costa Rica on the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on children and armed conflict, and on the sale of children, child pornography and child prostitution. Today, the Committee is reviewing the second periodic report of Kenya. The Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs of Kenya, Moody Awori, is in Geneva on this occasion and he met yesterday with the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Sergei Ordzhonikidze. The Director-General and the Vice-President discussed a wide range of issues, including regional peacekeeping and mediation efforts and, in particular, the present crises in Sudan and Somalia. Mr. Ordzhonikidze reiterated the United Nations’ appreciation for the steadfast support provided by the Government of Kenya to the Organization, whether as host to some of its offices and programmes or as troop contributor to several peace-keeping operations. The Vice-President stressed the importance attached by his Government to the whole range of United Nations activities, including development assistance in the social and economic fields and the promotion of human rights, as reflected by his participation in the 44th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
On Wednesday, the Committee on the Rights of the Child will be meeting behind closed doors as its consideration of the report of the Maldives has been postponed to a future session. On Thursday, the Committee will consider the second periodic report of Mali, and it will take up the third periodic report of Honduras on Friday, 19 January. The background press release on the Committee’s work is available, as well as two press releases from its meetings yesterday.
Ms. Heuzé said that the Conference on Disarmament will open the first part of its 2007 session on 22 January. Usually the Conference meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but because of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Conference will hold it’s plenaries next week on Monday 22 and Wednesday 24 January starting 10 a.m.
New Documents
Ms. Heuzé said the Secretary-General’s latest report on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, is available in the Documentation Centre.
A note to correspondents is available at the back of the room on an evacuation exercise which will be held this week at UNOG.
A press release issued by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is available and it carries some interesting statistics, Ms. Heuzé said. UNIFIL now has 11,570 peacekeepers in Lebanon from 27 countries. Since the end of the ceasefire on 14 August, UNIFIL deminers have destroyed a total of 20,262 explosive ordnance. In the week of 6 to 13 January, UNIFIL has destroyed 1,403 explosive ordnance. The press release is available.
Human Rights
José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said journalists should have received yesterday the statement of High Commissioner Louise Arbour in which she expressed regret over the execution in Baghdad of Awad Hamad Al-Bandar and Barzan Ibrahim Al-Hassan, who had been charged with crimes against the civilian population of Dujail, Iraq. The High Commissioner reiterated her concerns about the fairness and impartiality of the Dujail trial before the Iraqi High Tribunal and recalled that under international law the application of capital punishment was only possible under narrow, strictly regulated circumstances. “The imposition of the death penalty after a trial and appeal proceedings that do not respect the principles of due process amounts to a violation of the right to life”, she said. “Those responsible for serious human rights violations must be brought to justice, and this is crucial for effective national reconciliation”, the High Commissioner said. “But, to be credible and durable, the fight against impunity must be based on respect for international human rights standards and the rule of law, and must not come at their expense”.
Mr. Díaz said the UN Mission in Iraq is this morning releasing in Baghdad its ninth report on the human rights situation in the country. The report covers the months of November and December 2006. The report will be available on the website of the Office shortly, and a press release is available at the back of the room. The release says that for the period covered, 6,376 civilians were killed and at least 6,875 were wounded in acts of violence. That puts the total of the figure of civilian casualties for 2006 at 34,452 dead and 36,685 injured. The report said that the situation was particularly difficult in Baghdad where most casualties and unidentified bodies which are daily recorded also bear signs of torture. The report lists revenge killings, lack of accountability for past crimes and impunity for current human rights violations as root causes of the violence.
Mr. Díaz reminded journalists that the High Commissioner will visit Nepal from 19 to 24 January. She will be travelling throughout the country and will be meeting with the Nepalese Government officials, civil society representatives and the UN community. Ms. Arbour is scheduled to inaugurate a national women’s campaign for equity, partnership and justice, and participate in a conference on transitional justice in South Asia. There will be more details on the visit later.
Mr. Díaz said the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin, issued a statement today in which he welcomed the decision of the Government of the United States, in a letter dated 20 December 2006, to invite him to undertake a country visit in the spring of 2007. He said he had sent a letter to the Government suggesting dates for the second half of May 2007. The Special Rapporteur intended to examine, in depth, issues regarding the detention, arrest and trial of terrorist suspects and the rights of victims of terrorism or persons negatively impacted by counter terrorism measures in the United States.
Asked if there was anything new on the Human Rights Council mission which had been mandated to go to Darfur, Mr. Díaz said that the members of the inquiry mission were still being chosen.
Other
Jean-Michel Jakobowicz of the Economic Commission for Europe reminded journalists that there will be a press conference on Wednesday, 17 January on the occasion of the first meeting of States parties to a protocol on water and health which is jointly monitored by UNECE and WHO. It will be held at 2 p.m. in Room III.
Patrick McCormick of the United Nations Children’s Fund said UNICEF is today issuing a stocktaking report on children and AIDS. It is now a year since UNICEF and its partners launched their Unite for Children, United against AIDS campaign. The campaign has succeeded in getting the faces of children and young persons on the AIDS agenda. However, they have been less successful in translating this into large-scale programmes in order to make a dent in the still horrible statistics. The report and a press release are available and speak about progress made in preventing mother-to-child transmission, access to treatment, preventing new infections and supporting orphans and vulnerable children.
Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said there will be a telebriefing today with David Heymann, Acting Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases at WHO, and Keiji Fukuda, Coordinator of WHO’s Global Influenza Programme on avian influenza issues. The telebriefing will be held at 1:30 p.m.
The partners in the initiative against measles will be announcing a historic victory in the fight against measles in a teleconference on Thursday, 18 January at 3:30 p.m. Geneva time. Ms. Chaib said a press release with more details will be issued shortly.
Ms. Chaib said WHO’s Executive Council will meet from 22 to 30 January at WHO Headquarters. A note to the press with details of the issues which the Council will be discussing will be available shortly. And concerning rift valley fever in Kenya, as of 12 January, 220 suspected cases, including 82 deaths have been reported in the north east of the country. More figures are available in the press release at the back of the room.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said there will be a press conference at noon on Wednesday, 17 January in Room III concerning the “kick off” of the 2007 Consolidated Appeals. She recalled that the Secretary-General announced the Consolidated Appeals on 30 November to help 27 million persons in 29 countries at the cost of $ 4 billion. The “kick off” of the Consolidated Appeals will be held in Geneva starting 10 a.m. tomorrow. More than 250 persons from donor countries, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations and the Red Cress and others will be attending.
Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency said since the repatriation to Afghanistan started in 2002, more than 1 million Afghan returnees from Pakistan and Iran have built homes with UNHCR assistance. Shelter is one of the most pressing needs of returning Afghans. UNHCR's shelter programme is designed to help the most vulnerable returned refugees and internally displaced people across the country.
Since March 2002, over 3.7 million Afghan refugees have returned home with UNHCR assistance - including nearly 150,000 in 2006. The vast majority - over 3.6 million - are from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran. At least 500,000 internally displaced Afghans have been assisted to return home in the last five years. An estimated 3.4 million Afghans remain in exile in Pakistan (2.46 million) and Iran (over 900,000).