POINT DE PRESSE DU SERVICE DE L'INFORMATION (en anglais)

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was attended by Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Meteorological Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Trade Organization, the Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the UN Refugee Agency, the World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration and the International Labour Office.

Human Rights Council

Ms. Heuzé said consultations were continuing in New York on human rights reform, especially the issue of replacing the Commission on Human Rights with the Human Rights Council. Jan Eliasson, the President of the General Assembly, was continuing his bilateral consultations. He hoped to be able to present to the membership a text sometime next week in line with his letter of 8 February to Member States. This should provide sufficient time to ensure a smooth transition at the Commission session scheduled to start on 13 March.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Heuzé said the Conference on Disarmament yesterday held its weekly plenary during which the Russian Federation and China presented a revised compilation of comments and suggestions on the working paper on prevention of an arms race in outer space. Starting next week, the Conference would start its thematic debate on nuclear disarmament. Available were press releases on the plenary in English and in French.

Consultations on the convening of the Internet Governance Forum, which will conclude today, were seeking to develop a common understanding among all interested parties on the nature and character of the Forum. The consultations follow a request by Member States at the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society last November. In the “Tunis Agenda,” States invited the United Nations Secretary-General “to convene a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue”, whose first meeting should be held in 2006, and welcomed Greece’s offer to host the first meeting in Athens. Ms. Heuzé said Nitin Desai, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Adviser for the World Summit on the Information Society and Chairman of the consultations, would brief journalists at 11:30 a.m. today.

A round table meeting on the situation in Bhutan was held on 15 and 16 February in Geneva on a wide range of challenges facing the country and to seek support from Bhutan’s main development partners for its 10th five-year plan. The round table meeting was organized with the support of the United Nations Development Programme. Background press releases had been put in the press room and a roundup would be available later today on the results of the meeting.

There would be a press conference by UN-HABITAT on Monday, 20 February, at 11:30 a.m. on the Kilimanjaro Initiative. The press conference would be given by Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, and Timothy Challen of the Kilimanjaro Initiative.

Statements by the Secretary-General and his Activities

Ms. Heuzé said available in the press room were the remarks of the Secretary-General following his monthly luncheon with Security Council members. Concerning the report by five Independent Experts of the Commission on Human Rights on the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, he said the five experts obviously gathered their own information and also did the analysis and came up with their conclusions. The Secretary-General said there was a lot in the report, and he could not say that he necessarily agreed with everything in the report. But the basic point was that one could not detain individuals in perpetuity and that charges had to be brought against them or else they should be released.

The Secretary-General and President Tassos Papadopoulos had agreed to meet on 28 February in Paris in order to review the situation in Cyprus and discuss ways of moving forward the process of reuniting Cyprus.

The Secretary-General was establishing a new, high-level panel that would explore how the UN system could work more coherently and effectively around the world, in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment.
The panel was to be co-chaired by the Prime Ministers of Norway, Mozambique and Pakistan. It had 15 members in all.

Questions

Asked if the United Nations had commented on the Haiti elections, Ms. Heuzé said there had by statements made by the Secretary-General and the head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Asked if they mentioned allegations of fraud in the elections, Ms. Heuzé said they did not. Both statements were in the press room.

A journalist noted that the Secretary-General had said he did not necessarily agree with everything in the report on the Guantanamo Bay detention centre and asked if that was not a conflict with the report. Ms. Heuzé recalled that the Independent Experts of the Commission on Human Rights were independent of the UN.

Human Rights

José Luis Díaz, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said High Commissioner Louise Arbour would be going to the Russian Federation on Sunday, 19 February. Upon her arrival, she would meet with representatives of the UN agencies in Russia and of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) dealing with human rights. On Monday, 20 February, she would go to Nazran in the Republic of Ingushetia where she would meet with the authorities and non-governmental groups. On Tuesday, 21 February, the High Commissioner would go to Grozny in Chechnya where she would spend the day and hold a number of meetings with officials. On Wednesday, 22 February, the High Commissioner would visit Beslan where she would meet with survivors of the attack on School Number 1. On Thursday, 23 February, the High Commissioner would be back in Moscow where she had a scheduled meeting with President Putin, Foreign Minister Lavrov and other senior officials. On Friday, 24 February, the High Commissioner would travel to Saint Petersburg, where she would meet with the Governor and NGOs. She would return to Geneva on Saturday, 25 February. A detailed press release would be issued later this afternoon.

In response to a question, Mr. Díaz said he had not had a chance to discuss with the High Commissioner her views on the report on Guantanamo Bay. The High Commissioner was coming back from London this morning. She had said that she did not endorse all the conclusions of the report, but that she saw no alternative to the closing down of the detention centre in Guantanamo Bay. He believed that was the important part of her remarks.

A journalist said there was still interest in a briefing with the authors of the Guantanamo Bay report, and Mr. Díaz said he would reiterate the request.

Other

Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organization said that the final global average figures for 2005 should be available next week. An advisory would be sent out and a expert would come to give a briefing. The exact date would be announced next week.

Mr. Oliver said WMO’s first-ever greenhouse gases bulletin would be issued in March. It would detail the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere annually. The first bulletin would cover the 2004 figures, and the figures for 2005 would be issued later this year.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said she did not have a lot of details about the landslide in central Philippines. An emergency meeting had been held at OCHA this morning to see what information was available. The landslide had hit the village of Guinsaugon in the south of the Philippine island of Leyt. Eyewitnesses said only three houses were left standing after the landslide and all other houses were destroyed, including the local school. According to the Philippine Red Cross, there were 200 people confirmed killed and 1,500 were missing, but these figures had not been independently confirmed. OCHA had not received any requests for international aid from the Government of Philippines.

Ms. Byrs said that on Tuesday, 28 February at noon, Dennis McNamara, Special Advisor on Displacement to the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, would brief journalists about his mission to Liberia.

Josep Bosch of the World Trade Organization said next week, trade and environment negotiations would be held on 21 and 22 February. Concerning WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, he would be meeting with Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Affairs, on 20 February. On 22 February, he would be meeting with United States Senators, led by the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Jean-Michel Jakobowitz of the Economic Commission for Europe said the annual session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe would meet on Tuesday, 21 February, to decide on ways and means to implement the reform which it had adopted last December. It would be chaired by Marek Belka, the new Executive Secretary of the UNECE. A press release with more details was available.

Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children’s Fund said 33.5 million children would be vaccinated against measles during a three-week public health campaign in Bangladesh. The campaign would start on 25 February, and it was the largest public health mobilization effort in the history of Bangladesh. Measles was the fifth leading cause of death among children under five in Bangladesh, killing an estimated 20,000 children annually. A media release was available.

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said a new influx of more than 2,500 refugees from the Central African Republic had crossed over into southern Chad this week, fleeing violent attacks by bandits, armed rebels and security forces in the lawless, northern part of the Central African Republic. There had been a significant increase in refugees from the Central African Republic crossing into Chad this year, with some 4,300 crossing since January. They were finding refuge in a Chadian village near the border, but their living conditions were extremely tough. A UNHCR team was in the village and it planned to transfer the refugees to a refugee camp. Some 45,000 refugees from the Central African Republic were already living in camps in southern Chad.

Mr. Redmond said a UNHCR airlift of emergency and relief supplies for more than 50,000 Sahrawi flood victims in western Algeria was scheduled to begin today from Jordan. A UNHCR emergency team had arrived in Tindouf yesterday to reinforce the team already on the ground which was working with other agencies around the clock to provide temporary solutions for the homeless people.

UNHCR was urgently seeking information on 11 Uzbek asylum seekers who were forcibly deported to their homeland this week by Ukrainian authorities. UNHCR was extremely concerned over their fate and insisted that they be treated humanely. UNHCR deplored the actions of the Ukrainian authorities in forcing the asylum seekers back to their home country which contravened its international obligations.

Simon Pluess of the World Food Programme said WFP would begin assisting some 60,000 Sahrawi refugees in the desert area near Tindouf. Those refugees had had their homes washed away by three days of torrential rains, and their food stocks had been damaged or completely destroyed. A one-month distribution of food commodities would begin. WFP had been supporting these refugees since 1986, and it was currently helping some 90,000 people. Conditions were quite hard in these camps.

Mr. Pluess said WFP was announcing today the end of its food aid to Albania. The official closure would be on 28 February. This decision was largely based on the fact that there was an improved food security situation in Albania. A news release was available.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said
in Pakistan, ongoing public protests over the re-publication of cartoons in the western media depicting the Prophet Mohammad were curtailing IOM relief operations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and North West Frontier Province. Although aid deliveries had been restricted, the overall emergency shelter needs of those affected by the earthquake had largely been met and the cold winter weather was beginning to break. In Tajikistan, a cooperation agreement signed between IOM and the Tajik government this week would allow greater interaction between the two parties on combating human trafficking in the country. The agreement enabled IOM to officially become a member of the country's Inter-governmental Commission on Counter-Trafficking made up of 15 ministries, with full voting rights.

Mr. Chauzy said reaching out to the diaspora to engage them in the development of their countries of origin had moved to the top of the agendas of sending countries. A new IOM pilot project, being launched today in San Salvador during a conference on "Migration and the Private Sector" organized by the Regional Conference on Migration, would work with hometown associations created by the Salvadorian diaspora in the United States, especially in Washington and Los Angeles, the cities with the largest Salvadorian communities.

Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Office said the ILO collection of clothes for young victims of the earthquake in Pakistan had culminated in 33 tonnes which had now arrived in Pakistan and were being distributed.

Ms. Perthuis said the Maritime Session of the International Labour Conference was continuing at the Palais des Nations. The closed debate should conclude today and on Monday 20 February, there would be an open plenary at 10 a.m., which would be followed by the public debate. There would be a vote on the new Maritime Labour Convention on Thursday 23 February and ILO hoped it would be adopted. There would be a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

International Women’s Day was commemorated on 8 March, Ms. Perthuis said. This year, ILO was joining forces with the International Olympic Committee and the theme would be on women and sports. ILO would hold a round table on the subject. A press release would be sent out.