REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information about United Nations operations in Iraq following the Tigris bridge disaster, preparations made by the United Nations system with regards to a possible contribution towards search and rescue operations in the area affected by Hurricane Katrina, and the conclusion of High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour’s visit to China. Speaking were representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, WIPO, WHO, WFP, OCHA, UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM, WTO, and WMO.

Iraq
The United Nations mission in Iraq has begun to provide aid to Iraqis after the recent Tigris bridge disaster, which, according to the most recent information, had caused the death of over 1’000 people. The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General Steffan de Mistura noted yesterday that the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has provided oxygen units to nine Baghdad hospitals, and enough health kits to treat 1,000 people. UNAMI is also supplying large amounts of emergency drugs and is organizing special financial support for the families of all the victims.

Lebanon
The head of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and of 20 other people on 14 February 2005 in Beirut announced today that he would seek an extension of its three-month mandate to complete its work, as Security Council resolution 1595 allows him to do so, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said. Mr. Detlev Mehlis, told a news conference in Beirut yesterday that the inquiry had made progress on several fronts but the case was not closed. As of today, the Commission has identified and interrogated five suspects, whose statements are currently being examined. Mr. Mehlis statement was available in the press room.

World Summit
For those journalists going to New York to cover the World Summit from 14-16 September, media procedures were available in the press room, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said, reminding the journalists that even with a press accreditation from the United Nations in Geneva, they would need to get accreditation for the Summit. She asked journalists to give her their names, which she would then transmit to New York, as this would facilitate the procedure of accreditation.

Geneva
The Conference on Disarmament held its plenary session yesterday, and a press release was available, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said. Sergei Ordzhnokidze, the Director-General of the Office of the United Nations at Geneva, was meeting today with the ambassadors of the Group of Eastern European States, to hold informal discussions on issues of mutual interest and concern. Similar dialogues have taken place, or are being planned, with other regional groups.

The French Minister of Culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, will officially unveil on Monday 5 September at 5 p.m. at the Geneva headquarters the Gobelins tapestry titled “Peace”, created in 1930 for the Palais des Nations, and a short ceremony will take place in the Hall opposite the Council Chamber, in the presence of the Director-General.

The Director-General of UNOG and Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, Sergei Ordzhonkidze, will open on 6 September 2005 a seminar, in which will participate Hans Blix, President of the Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction. The seminar, organised jointly by UNIDIR and the Commission, will take place from 1:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Council Chamber, and its theme will be Reviving Disarmament, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said, noting that it was open to journalists and that for more information they could contact Nicolas Gerard on 022 917 1149.

In the context of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations, a Press Conference would be held on Monday at 11 a.m. with the Director-General and Ms. Martine Brunschwig Graf, President of the Geneva State Council. Further, an exhibition of photographs, will be formally opened on 6 September at 11 a.m. at the Palais Wilson. The Director General and representatives of the Administrative Counsel of the Town of Geneva will be present at the opening, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said.


Human rights
Praveen Randhawa said High Commissioner Louise Arbour concluding today a five-day official visit to China. During the visit she met with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Justice, as well as other senior Government officials, and held talks with the President of the Supreme People’s Court, and met with Chinese non-governmental organizations, academics, representatives of the United Nations agencies in China and members of the diplomatic community. On 29 August the High Commissioner took part in the commemorations for the 10th anniversary of the Beijing Conference, hosted by President Hu Jintao. The following day, she opened the thirteenth annual Workshop on the Asia-Pacific Framework for Regional Cooperation in Human Rights along with the Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan. On 31 August, she signed a memorandum of understanding on technical cooperation, focussing on helping China to create the conditions for the ratification of the ICCPR, and implement recommendations of the CESCR.

Today, 2 September, the High Commissioner held a press conference in Beijing at which she highlighted the progress and challenges at the end of her visit. She was very encouraged at the level of engagement with China’s emerging civil society. Regarding economic and social rights, the High Commissioner said her office would work closely with China to assist in the implementation of the recommendations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. During her visit, the Chinese Government indicated that it was strongly committed to shifting the focus of development beyond pure economic and material well-being to putting people first. The High Commissioner commended that as encouraging, and noted that China had done a significant amount of work towards creating conditions for ratifying the ICCPR.

During the talks with Chinese officials, Ms. Arbour raised a number of concerns. She welcomed the anticipated resumption of the jurisdiction of the Supreme People’s Court in the review of all capital punishment cases. She also raised a number of individual cases illustrating the changes that needed to be made. She called on China’s support for the Secretary-General’s reform initiative specifically regarding the creation of a Human Rights Council.

Others

Samar Shamoon, speaking for WIPO said that on Wednesday 7 September there would be a press conference, on the international patent system and on the international trademark system. There is a diplomatic conference coming up to revise trademark law treaty, and statistics on the latest use of Madrid protocol, which allowed trademark owners to register for international trademark protection would be available. Journalists were asked to sign up for the meeting.

Fadula Chaib, speaking for WHO, said regarding the activities of the WHO subsequent to the bridge disaster in Iraq, a press release was available on how the WHO was helping to overcome tragedy. Following a request from the Iraqi Ministry of Health, WHO had helped find and send oxygen cylinders to 9 principal hospitals in Baghdad. Each of these hospitals would receive about 100 oxygen cylinders, which would help about 2’700 patients daily. WHO was also purchasing 50’000 USD worth of drugs and medical supplies. Emergency psychological support was also going to be required, and WHO was supporting the National Council on Mental Health in Baghdad to this effect. In response to a question on the cholera epidemic in West Africa, Ms. Chaib said that at present there was cholera in more than 8 countries in Africa, with approximately 32’000 cases, including more than 500 deaths. The rainy season had made the situation worse, but migratory fluxes had also contributed to the rapid growth of the phenomenon.

Simon Pluess, speaking for the WFP, spoke about the high-jacking of the MV Semlow off Somalia. There had been a new round of contacts between the parties concerned, and although a release had been planned on 5 August, this had not taken place. The WFP had received a request from third parties to change the port of discharge of the ship. The food had been destined to tsunami victims. It was hoped the ship would be released with its food and cargo soon and that a solution had been found. Despite the high-jacking, WFP had sent two shipments of food to Somalia in August and if the shipment was released soon, it would be trucked down to previously unreachable areas.

Elisabeth Byrs for OCHA and Damien Personnaz for UNICEF spoke jointly about the situation regarding Hurricane Katrina and its effects on New Orleans, saying that Secretary-General Kofi Annan has offered the help of United Nations to the United States of America Government. An OCHA taskforce had been created in New York and in Geneva, Ms. Byrs said, to plan a coherent and rapid response including UNICEF, the WHO, UNHCR, UN/HABITAT, WFP and OCHA. OCHA had also sent out a general alert to the UNDAC teams, who evaluated and coordinated aid in the case of natural disasters. A situation report should be published today to list the assistance available at the moment from countries. Damage was currently estimated to be at about 25 billion USD, and this figure came from estimates of losses of insured goods.

Damien Personnaz said that UNICEF was saddened to see that once again it was the most vulnerable people who suffered from the hurricane, and it was estimated that between one third and one quarter of those who had had their lives disrupted were children. It was too early to quote exact figures, but between 300 and 400 thousand children were probably homeless. Although their physical needs were mostly provided for, they would need psychological help. Hundreds of schools had been destroyed, damaged, or at least closed, and it would take time before they could open again.

Jennifer Pagonis, speaking for UNHCR said Afghanistan had signed the refugee convention, and this was especially significant for a country that for decades was the origin of one of the largest populations of refugees and asylum seekers in the world. The accession took effect this week and would enshrine in international law the country’s long-standing tradition of asylum. Throughout its recent troubles, Afghanistan had kept its doors open to other refugees, notably those from Central Asia. According to media reports and non-governmental sources, a Cameroonian boy had died in the Spanish North-African enclave of Melilla on 28 August. UNHCR was expressing its consternation at this death, and trusted that the enquiry announced by the Spanish authorities would serve to shed light on the events. The incident highlighted the dramatic situation along the Spanish enclave borders where economic migrants were mixed in with people fleeing persecution, war and violence who needed international protection. In response to a question on what UNHCR could do to aid the post-Katrina recovery, Ms. Pagonis said that UNHCR’s mandate was refugees from violence and persecution, not natural disasters.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy, speaking for the IOM said thousands of demobilised former UNITA soldiers in Angola and their dependents struggling to survive in one of the poorest countries in the world will be assisted through a pilot IOM program under an agreement just signed with the Angolan Government. A photo diary of an Ethiopian female victim of trafficking was being launched today by IOM in Addis Ababa in an attempt to raise awareness of the trafficking phenomenon in the country. To combat trafficking of young people made homeless by the tsunami, IOM had brought together this week, on Wednesday, business experts and more than 100 young Sri Lankans affected by the tsunami to discuss job and training opportunities as well as ways to avoid becoming ensnared in trafficking and other dangers.

K. Rockwell, speaking for the WTO said that one meeting would be held next week at the WTO, on Tuesday, and it would be a meeting of the dispute settlement body. Nuj Naseer would give a briefing on it next week in the Palais des Nations. Concerning the activities of the new Director-General, Pascal Lamy, he would be meeting on Monday the French Minister of Agriculture, Dominique Busserau; on Friday he would travel to Bern for an official visit where he would meet important personalities of the Swiss Government. On Saturday, he would travel to Milan to participate in the Global Progressive Forum. He made a short statement on Thursday, and planned to have a lot of consultations with as many people as possible in the next few days, and would have a press conference over the next few weeks.

Mark Oliver, speaking for the WMO, said the Secretary-General of WMO, Mr. Michel Jarraud was signing a Technical Cooperation Agreement to manage and sustain water resources in Mexico with the Mexican Government. One of the main aims of the accord was to tackle dwindling ground water reserves in five major regions in central and northern Mexico, as pilot studies warned that these areas could dry up within 15 years. An embargoed press release was available.

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