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 attended by Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Secretary-General’s Activities

Ms. Heuzé said a number of statements by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon were available in the press room, including a statement in which he strongly condemned hostilities between rebels and Sudanese Armed Forces in North Darfur, and another on the situation in Sri Lanka.

The Secretary-General was currently in Madrid chairing a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr. Luis Zapatero on the food crisis. Tomorrow, the Secretary-General would go to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum until 30 January 2009, before leaving for Addis Abeba to attend an African Union Summit. The Secretary-General would make a Press Conference from Davos on Thursday 29 January 2009 at 10 a.m. and a second on Friday 30 January 2009 at 10 a.m.

Geneva Activities

Turning to a recent incident at the Palais des Nations, during which ARTE journalists had been asked to leave a public meeting, Ms. Marie Heuzé underscored that all public meetings were open to the press, be it written-, radio- or TV-.

This morning the Conference on Disarmament had held a public meeting and two States had been on the list of speakers, namely: Nepal and the Republic of Korea, said Ms. Heuzé. Also today, Mr. Francis Gurry, the new Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization was giving a press conference at the WIPO Headquarters.

The Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review was also planned to resume its work on Monday 2 February until 13 February in Room XVII, noted Ms. Marie Heuzé. The following countries were scheduled to present their reports: Germany, Djibouti, Canada, Bangladesh, the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, China, Nigeria, Mexico, Mauritius, Jordan and Malaysia.

This afternoon the United Nations were also organizing a ceremony in memory of the victims of the Holocaust in the Assembly Room at 5 p.m.

Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay had issued a statement today on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in which she addressed three issues, the gross human rights abuses by the Lord’s Resistance Army the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the possible effects of the joint military counter-operations on civilians in North Kivu, and the need for accountability for massacres and other horrific abuses committed by the CNDP under the leadership of Laurent Nkunda.

The High Commissioner expressed deep consternation about a continuous stream of gross human rights abuses committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as her concern that the current joint operation by Congolese and Rwandan government forces against FDLR rebels may endanger civilians. “The violations committed by the LRA are grotesque,” said Ms. Pillay. “I’m also concerned that the joint military counter-operations, unless properly planned and executed, could lead to further human rights abuses being perpetrated against the civilian population who are, in effect, caught between the conflicting parties.” The High Commissioner called on all participants in the various conflicts in the troubled eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to respect human rights and international humanitarian law and called for accountability measures to be included in efforts by the international community to bring about a peaceful settlement of the crisis.

The High Commissioner also expressed concern over the situation in North Kivu province where thousands of Rwandan troops have deployed in recent days, in preparation for joint action with the Congolese army to disarm the Rwandan Hutu rebels of the FDLR, who have been responsible for committing massive human rights abuses against civilians over the past 14 years. Ms. Pillay said that the protection of civilians should be the top priority as this operation is planned and carried out, recalling how similar actions in the past have resulted in widespread harm for civilians. “I am particularly concerned by reports that the Congolese-Rwandan operation to flush out FDLR-rebels has already impacted negatively on the ability of MONUC peacekeepers, as well as various UN agencies and humanitarian organizations, to protect and assist the civilian population in some areas,” Ms. Pillay said.

Mr. Colville said that in comments on a third conflict that has caused chaos and bloodshed in the region, Ms. Pillay welcomed recent calls by MONUC and others for the reintegration of CNDP forces into the FARDC, as an important step towards securing peace in North and South Kivu. However, she said, it is imperative that this process should include accountability for massacres and other horrific abuses committed by the CNDP under the leadership of Laurent Nkunda and Bosco Ntaganda, pointing out that the former is suspected of crimes against humanity, and the latter has already been indicted by the International Criminal Court. Mr. Nkunda was taken into custody by the Rwandan authorities last week. “Members of the CNDP are accused of authorizing or committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, along with the leaders of a number of other groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo,” said Ms. Pillay. “There should never be impunity for crimes of this gravity.”

Situation in Gaza

Dorothea Krimitsas of the International Committee of the Red Cross said that one-month after the beginning of the conflict in Gaza, emergency aid was definitely still very much needed and still not sufficient to build an environment which would enable the people there to live a dignified life. The ICRC was still carrying out emergency assistance; some of their health personnel were still present in Gaza. They were also continuing to conduct assessments in hospitals and provided the Ministry of Health stores with medicines and various equipments. They also continued to escort Palestinian technicians to conduct repairs at wastewater treatment plants and on the electrical infrastructures in the Gaza Strip. The ICRC and Palestinian Red Crescent teams had also continued to carry out assessments throughout the Gaza Strip and according to their findings to date, 650 houses had been partially destroyed and 884 totally destroyed. Various aid equipment had been distributed to up to 30’000 people.

Answering to a journalist who asked whether the ICRC had now more freedom of movement and had more luck to cross the boarders into Gaza, Ms. Krimitsas said that that it changed from day-to-day and they still had sometimes difficulties to get into Gaza.

Ms. Marie Heuzé said that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs continued to assess the global needs for the reconstruction in Gaza.

Ms. Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that the United Nations appeal for Gaza was of US$ 530 million and US$ 105 million had been received until now. Another US$ 2 million had been promised but had not been received yet. Also, John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator would give a press conference on the situation in Gaza on Monday 2 February 2009 in Geneva.

Madagascar

Ms. Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that the Tropical Strom Eric and the Cyclone Fanele, which had hit Madagascar on 21 January 2009, had affected some 40,400 persons on the island. The cyclone had hit the western coast of Madagascar and the city of Mondorova, which had been destroyed by 80 percent. Some 30,000 were persons were now without shelter in the area. The region near Menabe had also been severely hit and some additional 63,000 persons were under risk, because of ongoing torrential rains. A new contingency plan that had been put in place by the authorities in Madagascar, in the wake of last year’s cyclone, had worked very well this time however the Cyclone had taken meteorologists by surprise has it had rapidly formed.

Refugees

Mr. Ron Redmond of the United Nations Refugee Agency said that UNHCR was deeply concerned about the continued forcible return by the Kenyan government of Somali asylum seekers. The latest incident had occurred last week when Kenyan authorities forcibly returned three Somali asylum seekers who had entered the country in northeastern Kenya. These persons had been among several Somalis whose vehicle had been intercepted by the border police. According to border offices, the driver had refused instructions to stop and the police had opened the fire wounding three passengers. The fate of the other 26 passengers was unknown to UNHCR. The three wounded had been interviewed by UNHCR and they had said that they had fled the fighting in Mogadishu and had come to Kenya to seek asylum. UNHCR had officially informed the local authorities and had requested that they be handed over to the Kenyan Department of Refugee Affairs. However by 21 January 2009, according to hospital officials, six policemen that turned up a the Health Centre, where the three asylum seekers had been undergoing medical treatment, had ordered them into a police van and drove to the border. Later that day, the authorities had confirmed that they had been returned to Somalia. UNHCR had brought to attention of the Kenyan Government similar incidents of refoulement of Somali asylum seekers in 2008 and called upon the Somali authorities to fully respect the principle of non-refoulement, as enshrined in the 1951 Geneva Convention.

Turning to the recent attacks by the so-called Lord’s Resistance Army in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Redmond said that during the weekend, a UNHCR team had went to the South Sudan village of Lasu, 50km form the DRC border, after having received by local authorities information of new arrivals. The UNHCR team had registered 680 people, most of the from DRC village of Aba. They said they had fled their homes after an LRA attack. The number of refugees in Lasu was actually estimated at up to 2,000. Their team had found out that many parents had gone back to the DRC in search for food for their children; many of those children had gone several days without eating. Most of the refugees were living in the open under trees and were largely relying on the generosity of the local population, but far outnumbered it and it also had limited footstock. World Food Programme was dispatching a one-food month ration today, while UNHCR was reviewing emergency assistance to the refugees. One of the UNHCR team had also gone to Ezo, further west toward the border where some 2,000 Congolese refugees had arrived there some weeks ago, following LRA attacks. All refugees were accommodated in huts in a spontaneous camp and lacked food, clean water, drugs and medical care. WFP was also planning to send food to them as children were showing signs of malnourishment.

A group of indigenous people had fled Colombia’s north-eastern department of La Guajira to neighbouring Venezuela, said Mr. Redmond. This was one of the latest incidents following growing insecurity forcing Colombia’s indigenous people to flee. This was quite worrisome, because many indigenous people in Colombia had been forced to flee their ancestral homeland and the situation was continuing.

The last group of Sudanese refugees which had been in Iraq since the late 1980s had been evacuated form their makeshift desert camp in Iraq to an emergency transit center in Timisoria, Romania, operated jointly by UNHCR, the Romanian Government and the International Organization for Migrations to provide a temporary heaven for refugees which were in danger in a third country before their resettlement, said Mr. Redmond.

Global Employment Trends

Ms. Corinne Perthuis, of the International Labour Organization said that a press conference would take place Wednesday 28 January 2009 in Press Room III to launch, as every year, their report on the Global Employment Trends. As this year was special, issues such as employment, unemployment, and the situation of poor workers and those that would become poor workers in 2009 took a special importance in this report.