REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the biweekly press briefing, and informed correspondents about meetings in Geneva of the Commission on Human Rights and the Conference on Safeguarding Space Security. She announced the two International Days, World Water Day and World Tuberculosis Day. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also announced World Meteorological Day.

Spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), World Health Organization (WHO), the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also participated in the briefing.

Commission on Human Rights - Report of the Secretary-General

Ms. Heuzé opened the briefing by informing journalists that the Report of the Secretary-General in response to proposals contained in the Report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change would be made available in Geneva on Monday 21 March. The Secretary-General will address the General Assembly at 10 a.m. in New York, i.e. 4.00 p.m. Geneva time.

The Service will provide on request copies of the Report on Monday morning, she said, under strict embargo until 4 p.m. Geneva time.

Disarmament - space security

Ms. Heuzé announced the holding of an important disarmament event on 21and 22 March, namely, the Conference on “Safeguarding Space Security: Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space”. Its objective was to: safeguard the benefits derived from peaceful activities in space, to introduce the concept of “space security”, and to advance consideration of the prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS) by the Conference on Disarmament (CD).

Sergei Ordzhonidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, would be opening the Conference, whose initiators were Hu Xiaodi, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of China to the Conference on Disarmament, Anton Vassiliev, Minister Plenipotentiary, Deputy Head of Delegation, Mission of the Russian Federation to the Conference on Disarmament, and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).

A press conference would take place on 22 March at 11.45 a.m., immediately following the bi-weekly briefing. All details and speakers are contained in the press conference announcement.


World Water Day

Moving to World Water Day (22 March), which was being marked in Geneva with a lot of exposure. Ms. Heuzé told journalists that the theme this year would be “Water for Life”. It would be the start of the International Decade for Action 2005-2015 as proclaimed by the General Assembly at its 58th session in 2003. The statement of the Secretary-General was made available yesterday, she said.

Fadela Chaib of WHO informed journalists on her agency’s role in the Decade. WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook would be issuing a statement on Monday on the importance of universal access to potable water to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality.

The costs to public health were enormous: 1.8 million people, of which 90 per cent were children under five, died every year of diarrhoeal water-borne diseases. That translated to 30,000 children a week.

It was later confirmed that Dr. Jamie Bartram, Coordinator, Water, Sanitation and Health, WHO, would give a press conference on World Water Day: International Decade for Action "Water for Life" 2005-2015 on Monday, 21 March 2005 at 10 a.m.

Round table on human security

Ms. Heuzé informed correspondents that on 23 March in room V at 3.00 p.m., a round table entitled “Human security for all: a tribute to Sergio Vieira de Mello”, would take place to present a book edited by Kevin M. Cahill. The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Sergei Ordzhonikidze will open the Round Table.
Panelists would include Lord David Owen, Major Tim Cross, Dennis McNamara and Kamel Morjane. A note to correspondents was available.

World Tuberculosis (TB) Day

Ms. Heuzé announced that World Tuberculosis Day would fall on 24 March. In his message, the Secretary-General said that huge obstacles remained, particularly in Africa, where the HIV/AIDS epidemic was driving TB. The Secretary-General’s message was available.

Ms. Chaib of WHO said that the agency had compiled a TB index for 22 countries in its Global Tuberculosis Control Report. The countries hardest hit were India and China, where 60 per cent of cases were found. The Report would be launched in Geneva, Paris, London (by the WHO Director-General) and Tokyo.

On 23 March, Dr. Chris Dye, WHO medical expert and author of the report, would give a press conference on World TB Day and the launch of the Report.

World Meteorological Day

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced World Meteorological Day 2005, which will celebrate the entry into force of the Convention creating WMO on 23 March 1950. In 2005, the theme of the Day would be “Weather, climate and sustainable development”.

Director-General’s programme

Sergei Ordzhonidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, yesterday met with Kassymzhomart Tokayev, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. The Director-General and the Minister exchanged views on a wide range of issues, including the situation in Kazakhstan and CIS, as well as disarmament-related matters.

Also yesterday, he met Mr. Eduard Kukan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovakia. The Director-General and the Minister exchanged views on a wide range of issues, including the Conference on Disarmament, preparations for the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, and matters related to cooperation in Europe.

Human rights

Commission on Human Rights

David Chikvaidze, Media Liaison Officer for the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights, told journalists that the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights had completed its High Level Segment yesterday and had moved to room XVII today for the rest of the session

The fourth and last day of the High Level Segment saw three meetings held (including one over the lunch period) in order to accommodate the number of dignitaries speaking. This year, record number, 88 dignitaries spoke.

Turning to the resolutions tabled, Mr. Chikvaidze said that so far there had been two.
Libya had tabled the first (on behalf of the Arab Group).

Palestine and Egypt had submitted the first resolution of the Commission (L.2) on14 March entitled "Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan". The draft had been submitted under item 8 of the Commission's agenda (Item 8 - Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine).

Yesterday, the Office had received another draft resolution (E/CN.4/2004/L.3) from Lebanon entitled "Human rights situation of the Lebanese detainees in Israel" under item 9 (Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world). The Co-sponsors were Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Both draft resolutions were available on the OHCHR Website.

This morning the Expanded Bureau had met and decided to take up the question of Sudan on 8 April under item 3 (Organization of the work of the session). The question of Colombia would be considered under the same item on 13 April. An additional meeting will be arranged in order to accommodate Colombia and not disrupt a meeting on national institutions under item 18 (Effective functioning of human rights mechanisms).

The Expanded Bureau decided to accommodate the request of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Rachel Mayanja, to address the Commission under item 12 (Integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective scheduled for 5 and 6 April). The request of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo, Soren Jessen-Petersen, to address the Commission would also be accommodated, under item 3 on Tuesday, 22 March, under item 3.

This morning, the Commission started the consideration of item 4 (Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and follow-up to the World Conference on Human Rights). The High Commissioner introduced her annual report contained in document E/CN.4/2005/12. An advance, edited version was put on the web yesterday, said Mr. Chikvaidze. A general debate was now underway.

Under item 5 (The rights of peoples to self-determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation), Ms. Shaista Shameem, Special Rapporteur on the use of mercenaries as a means of impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination, will be the first Special Rapporteur to have an interactive dialogue of the 61st session of the Commission. The consideration of item 5 would continue in the afternoon, he said.

Turning to events next week, Mr. Chikvaidze announced that a panel discussion on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination would take place on Monday, 21 March 2005 n room XXI from 1 to 3.00 p.m. It would focus on discrimination and hate crimes. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had organized the commemoration. The High Commissioner would take part and the Director-General of UNOG would be delivering the message of the Secretary-General. Mr. Doudou Diene, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance would also be part of the panel.

Briefings by Special Rapporteurs

Mr. Chikvaidze announced that Professor John Dugard, Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory would give a general briefing on Wednesday 23 March at 2.00 p.m. in room XXVII and a press conference following that, in Press room 1, at 3:00 p.m.

Coming back to a question from the last briefing, on the Report of the former Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights on Iraq, he said that the Report was part of the documentation for CHR 61 (E/CN.4/2005/004). It was before the members of the Commission and it was entirely up to them to propose whatever action they may wish to contemplate.


High Commissioner for Human Rights

José Luis Diaz, Spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that the High Commissioner had presented her Report outlining the activities of the Office for the past year. It also outlined the challenges and opportunities for the future.

Among those opportunities, he said, the High Commissioner recalled that the Report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, dealing with reform of the Organization, had reserved a central role for human rights. The report on the realization of the Millennium Development Goals had also considered human rights as key.

Mrs. Arbour had also identified formidable challenges in her Report (E/CN.4/ 2005/12), in particular, she wrote, “we are witnessing in some quarters the erosion of some of the clearest and most well-established of the human rights norms” referring to the prohibition of torture. “Recently torture has resurfaced as a critical international human rights issue as well-publicized instances give the impression not only that the practice is increasing across a range of Member States but also that the existence of the absolute prohibition of the use of torture is being questioned”, continued Mrs. Arbour.

She called on States to ratify, as a way to combat torture and make it history, the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. Upon coming into force, the Optional Protocol would provide for a system of regular visits by independent international and national bodies to places of detention as a way of preventing torture.

Another challenge she identified was how to move from the standards-setting phase in human rights to the implementation phase of those principles, he said. Translating human rights into reality at the country level would therefore be a priority for the Office.

A journalist asked if the US had ratified the Optional Protocol on torture. Mr. Diaz said it had not. Six countries had done so -- Argentina, Albania, Denmark, Liberia, Malta and the United Kingdom. Asked if there were statistics chronicling the rise in cases of torture since 9/11, Mr. Diaz said it would be hard for him to provide a comprehensive listing of torture cases, but he, and journalists, could check the annual reports of the Committee against Torture, of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, for example, to see the cases they listed or trends that they had identified.

Finally, questioned about Mexico’s complaint on the Office’s stance concerning a draft convention on the right of the disabled, Mr. Diaz said he had not seen any official complaint from Mexico. The Office had always supported the work for a convention on the rights of the disabled and continued to do so. He would check about the reported cancelling of a seminar on disability rights and get back to the journalist.


UNHCR

UNHCR said it was deeply concerned about yesterday's deportation of some 180 people aboard two flights from the Italian island of Lampedusa to Libya, with an Italian police escort. UNHCR, which has a senior staff member on the island, had requested access to the reception centre. “In other words, it is far from clear that Italy has taken the necessary precautions to ensure that it is not sending back any bona fide refugees to Libya, which cannot be considered a safe country of asylum” said the agency.

Turning to Switzerland, UNHCR said it regretted the adoption of the new Swiss asylum law. “It is one of the strictest pieces of legislation in Europe, and comes at a time when the number of asylum seekers arriving in Switzerland has already fallen to its lowest level since 1987” said the agency.


PB050318E