REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information on the Volcker report, relief efforts for tsunami-affected countries, the Secretary-General's report on Darfur, the floods in Guyana, human rights and other issues. Spokespersons for the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Telecommunication Union, the International Organization for Migration, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the International Labour Office, the Economic Commission for Europe and the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development participated in the briefing.
Volcker Report Presented to Secretary-General
The Director said the Secretary-General had yesterday received the initial report of the Independent Inquiry Committee in the Oil-for-Food Programme from Paul Volcker, the Chairman of the Committee. The Secretary-General said Mr. Volcker had said that "the findings do not make for pleasant reading", and he agreed, adding that they made especially uncomfortable reading for all who loved the Organization and had done their best to serve it over the years. The Secretary-General said colleagues faced serious accusations in the report. He said he had made clear when he set up the inquiry that appropriate action, with full regard for due process, would be taken against individuals or entities found to have violated the rules or procedures of the UN. Accordingly, he had initiated disciplinary proceedings against Joseph Stephanides, the person named in the report who was still on active duty, and against Benon Sevan, the former head of the Office of the Iraq Programme, against whom the report contained extremely troubling evidence of wrongdoing. Mr. Sevan had retired from active duties but had, until now, been kept on staff at a token salary to ensure his availability to the Inquiry.
The Secretary-General's statement added that he had made clear from the outset that no one found to have broken any laws would be shielded from prosecution. He stood by that pledge. Should any findings of the Inquiry give rise to criminal charges, the United Nations would cooperate with national law enforcement authorities pursuing those charges, and in the interests of justice he would waive the diplomatic immunity of the staff member concerned. The Secretary-General said that he was very glad to note the finding that United Nations budgeting, accounting, and administration were in general disciplined in maintaining the use of funds for Programme purposes. He also took note of the findings that the initial procurement process for companies to carry out banking and inspection services fell far short of the standards of fairness, objectivity and transparency required by the Charter and by United Nations rules, and that the management controls and systems set up for the programme were, in many cases, inadequate to the task.
In the press conference, Mr. Malloch Brown said in response to questions that there was a tremendous difference between $ 21 billion, the figure that had been talked about of missing oil revenues, and the allegations of perhaps $160,000 reaching the pockets of a UN official. He noted that there was a huge difference in scale, and that oil smuggling had been the major source of illegal revenue for the former Iraq regime -- oil smuggling outside the control of the UN but very much in the open sight of members of the Security Council.
The Director recalled that the Iraq Sanctions Committee was created by Security Council resolution 661 of 1990 to be responsible for the implementation of the Oil-for-Food Programme.
Relief Efforts for Tsunami-Affected Countries
The Director recalled that the press release announcing that the Secretary-General had offered to former U.S. President Bill Clinton the position of his Special Envoy for Tsunami-affected Countries and that President Clinton had accepted had been placed in the press room. The Secretary-General said he was confident that President Clinton would bring energy, dynamism and focus to the task of sustaining world interest in the vital recovery and reconstruction phase following the tsunami disaster that hit South Asia on 26 December 2004. He believed that no one could possibly be better qualified for this task.
The Director noted that in a video message to the MTV/UNICEF fundraiser concert for victims of the tsunami in Bangkok, the Secretary-General said that the tsunami affected countries would need support for the long term. He had urged participants to give generously.
In Geneva, the Director said a Concert for Peace had been held at the Palais des Nations yesterday, organized by UNOG and Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, had been held to culminate collections of money and emergency goods for the victims.
Ron Redmond of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said that UNHCR's tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia's Aceh province were focused both on getting emergency shelter and supplies to devastated villages which were still isolated, as well as laying the groundwork for the rebuilding of entire communities. In Sri Lanka, more than 160,000 people had received UNHCR plastic sheeting amid ongoing distribution of non-food relief items. UNHCR was also conducting a survey to learn more about the specific needs of internally displaced persons.
Michael Williams of the United Nations Environment Programme said that UNEP had a team working on the environmental implications of the tsunami. The results of the work of the team would be released in February in Nairobi during a meeting of the Governing Council of UNEP.
Gary Fowlie of the International Telecommunication Union said that last week, ITU had sent 14 portable satellite terminals at the request of Sri Lanka to that country to assist in their telecommunication rehabilitation effort.
Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said that following his tour of tsunami devastated areas of Sri Lanka, IOM Director General Brunson McKinley was currently in Jakarta meeting Indonesian government officials and representatives of donor governments. Mr. McKinley was visiting to consult and exchange with the Indonesian government and IOM donors the organization's activities in the emergency phase as well as the needs in the mid and long-term in this rapidly evolving recovery phase.
Mr. Chauzy said that in Sri Lanka, residents in emergency shelter camps run by IOM on the south coast of the island were being trained in how to care for and maintain their camp areas. IOM lorries were still carrying food, water, personnel, medical supplies and other relief items to the disaster zones.
Darfur
The Director said that in a report to the Security Council, the Secretary-General had formally recommended that the United Nations establish a peace-support mission in southern Sudan and had called on Member States to contribute more than 10,000 troops and 700 civilian police to the operation. The Secretary-General said that during its seven-year mandate, the peace-support mission would face daunting logistical challenges and the area covered by the mission was so large that one of the six proposed operational sectors was the size of Austria and the other was equal to the state of New York.
In the report, the Secretary-General said that he recommended that the Security Council, acting under Chapter VI of the Charter, authorize the deployment of a multidimensional United Nations peace support operation with a mandate in line with the recommendations contained in the present report and with adequate resources, including troop strength of 10,130.
Joint Inspection Unit Elects Chairman and Vice-Chairman
The Director said that the Joint Inspection Unit, the only system-wide, external oversight body of the United Nations system, had held its winter session from 24 to 28 January in Geneva and had re-elected Inspector Ion Gorita (Romania) as its Chairman and Inspector Deborah Wynes (United States) as its Vice-Chairman for the current year. In addition to the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman, the Unit had eight other members.
Elections in Iraq
The Director noted that the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq Ashraf Qazi had yesterday stressed the need for all Iraqis to take part in shaping their country's future as he continued talks with political leaders following Sunday's elections in which voter turnout in Sunni areas had been particularly low.
Human Rights
José Luis Díaz, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, recalled that earlier this week, High Commissioner Louise Arbour had issued a statement expressing serious concern over the situation in Nepal following the dismissal of the Government there. Since then, the situation appeared to have deteriorated from a human rights point of view. The High Commissioner was alarmed by disturbing reports of arrests throughout the country of political leaders, unionists, students and other members of civil society. It was the understanding of the Office that these people were being held in arbitrary and often unacknowledged detention without access to legal counsel, their families or international representatives. These actions constituted serious human rights violations. Such arrests should be brought to an immediate end and people who had been detained should be processed in full transparency, with unhindered and full access to their families, lawyers, as well as representatives of the national human rights commission and appropriate international representatives.
The High Commissioner, Mr. Díaz continued, noted that it was of utmost importance that the security forces carried out their functions in strict compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law, and to the extent that they should be answerable before the law. It was also the understanding of the Office of the High Commissioner that all the media had been placed under state control. He reminded journalists that the High Commissioner had been in Nepal last week and had seen for herself Nepal's vibrant civil society, especially its human rights defenders, including the National Human Rights Commission and the media, who played a crucial role in protecting human rights in the country. Their ability to continue their indispensable work, freely and safely, must be ensured.
Finally, the Office wished to recall that basic human rights could not be suspended under any circumstances, not even in time of public emergency. These non-derogable rights included the right to life and the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, as well as fundamental principles of fair trial and freedom from arbitrary detention.
Answering another question, Mr. Díaz said that the High Commissioner had met with the King of Nepal during her visit last week. She had come out of that meeting feeling that the King had heard her concerns and had taken what she had said on board. It had been difficult for the Office to maintain its contacts with its senior human rights advisor in Kathmandu. He was still working and keeping the Office abreast of developments as conditions permitted.
In response to another question, Mr. Díaz said that as far as he could tell, the expatriates in Nepal were not under the same constraints as the Nepalese. But again, information was still sketchy.
In conclusion, Mr. Díaz said he would be sending shortly to journalists a statement from six UN human rights experts expressing continuing concern about the situation of Guantanamo Bay detainees. The Experts said in their statement that these inmates were completing their third year of virtually incommunicado detention, without legal assistance or information as to the expected duration of their detention, and in conditions of detention that, according to numerous observers, amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. The Experts pointed to a number of positive developments in the courts in the United States which could improve the situation or at least facilitate access of the detainees to U.S. courts. They added however that these developments were insufficient to dispel the serious concerns that the mandate holders had.
Guyana Floods
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that available at the back of the room was the latest situation report on the floods in Guyana as well as a map showing the affected areas along the coast which was where the majority of the population lived. The situation was alarming, partly because some drainage channels were overgrown or blocked by garbage. The health risks in the flood-affected areas were a major concern as families had been exposed to these contaminated waters for more than two weeks.
Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said that the World Food Programme had started distributing high energy biscuits to 2,200 children living in 43 shelters in Guyana. Many homes remained flooded 20 days later. Staple food was available in the market, but there was a considerable increase of the prices. Even though most of the interviewed families had received food aid from the government, church or private initiatives, the frequency and quantity of food was insufficient.
Other
Christine McNab of the World Health Organization said that the open-ended intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control would be concluding its one-week session today. The briefing scheduled for 11:30 a.m. would not be possible as the meeting would not have concluded yet. One of the recommendations which had come out of the meeting so far was the recommendation pertaining to where the Secretariat would be based. The recommendation from this meeting, which would next go to the Conference of States Parties who had ratified the treaty, was for it to remain in Geneva at WHO.
Ms. McNab said that available at the back of the room was a joint media release on a meeting in Geneva of representatives of Afghanistan, India and Pakistan which were the last three countries on the Asian continent that still had polio. Last year, polio cases in the three countries were slashed by 45 per cent and similar momentum this year should put an end to the transmission of polio.
Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Office said available was a press release on the reaction of Juan Somavia, the Director-General of ILO, on the situation in Nepal. The Director-General urged King Gyanendra of Nepal to "take all necessary steps to ensure the personal safety of the trade union leaders and members of the unions concerned". In a letter to King Gyanendra, Mr. Somavia expressed "deep concern" about information that a royal decree had suppressed all trade union rights and banned meetings. The Director-General expressed his trust that King Gyanendra will take all necessary steps to ensure the personal safety of the trade union leaders and members of the unions concerned.
Ms. Perthuis said that also available was a press release on a new ILO study on the sports footwear industry making greater progress in implementing worker-friendly codes of conduct than the apparel and retail sectors.
Jean Michel Jakobowicz of the Economic Commission for Europe said that available in the press room was a note to the press about a new ECE publication on water which was available in all the languages of the United Nations. Also available was a press release on the latest data concerning robots and how robot investments were surging to record levels.
Michael Williams of the United Nations Environment Programme said the first meeting of the chemicals review meeting, which was part of the Rotterdam Convention, would be held in Geneva from 11 to 18 February to launch a process for reviewing a number of new chemicals and pesticides which could later on be added to the trade watch list.
Mr. Williams reminded journalists that the Kyoto Protocol would come into force on 16 February. A press release would be issued next week.
Peter Ungphakorn of the World Trade Organization said that on 8 February, WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi would be holding a preparatory meeting for the 14 February Trade Negotiations Committee. On 10 February, he would open the joint WTO/APEC Trade Facilitation Round Table. There were a large number of regular meetings next week. Among other things, three weeks of negotiations on services would be starting. The Trade Facilitation Negotiating Group would be meeting on 9 February.
Gary Fowlie of the International Telecommunication Union said that available at the back of the room was an information note outlining the second Preparatory Committee meeting for the World Summit on the Information Society which would be held at the Palais des Nations from 17 to 25 February. Expectations for that meeting centred around three documents: one which would reaffirm the political commitments made in Geneva and outline solutions to bring the benefits of the information society to all of humanity; a report from the UN Working Group on Internet Governance; and an expected report from the Task Force on the Financial Mechanisms needed to put in place the connectivity goals.
Catherine Sibut Pinot of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said that next week, there would be a meeting of experts from 7 to 9 February on the new and dynamic sectors. There would also be a meeting connected to preparations for the second part of the World Summit on the Information Society.
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