REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section, chaired the briefing which also heard from Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Human Rights Council

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said this morning, the Human Rights Council was concluding its discussion on the incitement to racial and religious hatred and the promotion of tolerance. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Mehr Khan Williams, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of religion or belief Asma Jahangir, and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Doudou Diene presented reports yesterday afternoon on the subject.

After concluding this discussion, the Council would start its discussion with the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Paul Hunt; the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler; and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders, Hina Jilani.

This afternoon, the Council would open its discussion with the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Juan Miguel Petit; the Independent Expert on the effects of economic reform policies and foreign debt on the full enjoyment of all human rights, Bernards Andrewe Nyamwaya Mudho; and the Chairperson/Rapporteur of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination, Benavides de Perez.

The discussion of the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Miloon Kothari, which had originally been scheduled to be held this afternoon, would now be taken up on Monday, 25 September in the afternoon.

Committee on the Rights of the Child

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Committee on the Rights of the Child was today reviewing the reports of Jordan and Viet Nam. Next week, the Committee would be mainly meeting behind closed doors and it would put out its final conclusions and recommendations on the reports which it had considered this session on Friday, 29 September.

New Documents

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said there were a number of new documents and statements in the press room and the Documentation Centre. They included the statement of the Secretary-General in which he welcomed the extension, by the African Union Peace and Security Council, of the mandate of the African Union Mission in the Sudan until 31 December 2006. And his statement on the situation in Thailand in which he appealed for a prompt return to civilian, democratic rule and the holding of new elections as quickly as possible. There was also the embargoed statement of the Secretary-General to Foreign Ministers belonging to the Group of 77 which will be held in New York this morning, New York time, on the sidelines of the General Assembly’s meetings.

In the Secretary-General’s latest report on Afghanistan, which was released yesterday in New York, Mr. Annan praised impressive strides including the new National Assembly which had demonstrated independent, reformist and democratic credentials. He said the upsurge in violence in Afghanistan over the past few months represented a “watershed” and was the most severe threat to the country’s transition to peace since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. He called for greater military and diplomatic efforts to counter the insurgency. In light of the situation, Mr. Annan welcomed the expansion of the International Security Assistance Force to the south of the country, adding that elements of a strategy to tackle the insurgency were emerging from discussions led by the Government and members of the international community.

Human Rights

José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said according to the latest reports from UN human rights volunteers and monitors in Sudan, the Government’s military campaign against rebel movements in north Darfur was continuing and it was causing hardship for civilians, due mainly to indiscriminate aerial bombardments by Government aircrafts on villages in that region. For example, an estimated 400 new internally displaced persons had arrived in the Rwanda camp in North Darfur, fleeing attacks which took place on 9 and 10 September in the locality of Tabarat. People regularly attributed these aerial bombardments to the now-infamous white planes that dropped bombs on villages in what was reported to be an indiscriminate manner. The attacks caused civilians to flee as well as death and injury. The monitors also reported ongoing sexual and gender-based violence in south Darfur. In Gereida, women were made vulnerable to attacks by members of armed militias as they conducted income-generating activities. This was so typical it sounded almost like a cliché: women who were forced to go out of camps for internally-displaced persons to collect firewood or to engage in commerce, and then became vulnerable to attacks because they lacked the necessary protection.

Mr. Díaz said that in indication of what could happen if there was a will to prosecute this kind of gender-based violence, the monitors cited a case where a soldier was convicted of raping an 11-year-old girl and he was sentenced to five years imprisonment. The court heard testimony from the victim, a child witness and an adult, and considered a medical report that confirmed that the victim had been raped. This showed that there could be action against this kind of abuse when there was a will. In addition to the lack of will, the judicial infrastructure in Darfur was also lacking to carry out such prosecutions.

In response to a question, Mr. Díaz said that all indications pointed that such aerial bombardment attacks were continuing and they were targeting the rebels who did not join the peace agreement.

In response to a question on the number of persons who had been killed in Darfur, Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that Jan Egeland, the Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs, had estimated that 250,000 persons had been killed.

Other

Samar Shamoon of the World Intellectual Property Organization said WIPO’s Assemblies of Member States would open on Monday, 25 September, through to 3 October. The Member States would take stock of WIPO’s work over the past year and provide the directions for the coming year. All of the documents were on the website and she would be happy to set up any interviews for journalists.

Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organization said this was the height of the ozone season and this time, WMO was turning its attention to the Antarctic. WMO’s latest bulletin showed that the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic was bigger than that of last year and was rivalling the two largest times of all times on record, that in 2000 which was the largest and 2003 which was the second largest.

Geir Braathen of the World Meteorological Organization said the area of the ozone hole that was affected by low ozone values had increased. The cyclone had low temperatures and these speeded up the reaction which depleted the ozone layer. This year, the large Antarctic cyclone was largely stable and it centred around the Pole. This confirmed that although ozone depleting substances were decreasing slowly, the world could still over the next couple of decades expect to see recurring ozone holes of the size that were seen now.

Michael Bociurkiw of the United Nations Children’s Fund said the issue of camel jockeys had been discussed over the past two days in a review meeting in Abu Dhabi which involved child protection experts and government representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Pakistan and Sudan. The review meeting issued recommendations for multi-country cooperation to sustain ongoing reintegration of affected children in their places of origin. A high-level UNICEF delegation joined to evaluate achievements and remaining gaps in the context of efforts carried out in the past 12 months to support and to reintegrate children involved in camel racing. The first phase of cooperation with the UAE Government was nearing an end. Children had been found and registered, and there were no more children in UAE temporary shelters. Now they were entering a second phase where they were looking for alternatives to enhance and expand coverage. There were still many children who had returned to their places of origin but who had not been helped. The UAE Government confirmed its commitment to help communities where camel jockeys came from to develop the infrastructure in those communities.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said concerning the humanitarian situation in Niger, exceptional rains from July to September had affected 43,000 persons in five regions. The resulting floods had had serious implications for the health situation. At least 214 cases of cholera had been registered in the last three weeks, causing 18 deaths. Urgent measures had started to stop the spread of cholera. UNICEF had sent medicines, while WHO had sent a team to evaluate the situation. A UN-Red Cross-NGO task force was in place to follow the situation. Urgent needs included food, treated mosquito sheets and covers. Niger was covered by the UN appeal for West Africa which had raised $ 30 million for that country.

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said at least 22 smugglers' boats carrying more than 2,100 people across the Gulf of Aden had been reported by authorities in Yemen since the beginning of September. Thirty-nine people have reportedly died making the perilous journey, many of them by drowning, and another 53 were reported missing. UNHCR had dealt with hundreds of survivors over the past weeks, and taken more than 1,400 of them to the May'fa reception centre, where they received assistance, food and medical care. UNHCR also took care of asylum seekers and refugees in its refugee camp near Aden.

Mr. Redmond said last week, UNHCR had expressed concern over a funding shortfall for its South Sudan repatriation operation. Since then, it had received much-appreciated contributions from the United States and Canada that would help UNHCR overcome the immediate shortfall this month. But UNHCR still lacked more than $15 million for the last quarter of the year. The United States provided $7 million the repatriation and reintegration of South Sudanese refugees, while Canada contributed $630,000 to be used mainly for mine action work.

UNHCR continued to receive new Somali refugees in Kenya, Mr. Redmond said. It also strongly condemned a bomb attack this week on a Serb returnee family in the town of Klina/Kline in Western Kosovo, seriously wounding four persons. UNHCR was also concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Catatumbo region of north-eastern Colombia where violence had intensified, leading to another wave of forced displacement from one of the areas hardest hit by the Colombian conflict.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said a new report has shown that while immigration has largely had a positive effect on the Irish economy, the country needs to have a long-term immigration strategy including better provisions for the integration of migrants into society if Ireland is to continue benefiting from migration. This week in Timor-Lesete, IOM and its local NGO partner BELUN have initiated a forum for dialogue called “come and share your thoughts together” for internally displaced persons and communities of the village of Hera, 20 kilometres outside of Dili. And in Afghanistan, IOM was this week launching an eight-week UK-funded public information campaign to raise awareness among potential Afghan migrants about the dangers associated with irregular migration.

Jean-Luc Martinage of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies was urgently appealing for 33.5 million Swiss Francs to assist the Sudanese Red Crescent Society in meeting immediate and longer-term needs for three million beneficiaries deeply affected by 20 years of widespread conflict. Health needs were among the most important priorities in Sudan and the Federation aimed to improved health facilities and train new volunteers whose role was critical to the country. Another key action would be to strengthen the capacity of the Sudanese Red crescent to carry out disaster preparedness plans and to help returnees who had had to leave their homes for other parts of the country or to neighbouring countries.