REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Peacebuilding Commission

Ms. Heuzé said that following the Secretary-General’s press conference and his meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran yesterday, the Secretary-General had left Geneva for New York where he would today be addressing the first meeting of the Peacebuilding Commission, at 10:30 a.m. New York time. Ms. Heuzé recalled that the Commission had been established on 20 December 2005 by the General Assembly and the Security Council. The Commission would fill a critical gap within the United Nations and the global system by providing a coordinated, coherent and integrated approach to post-conflict peacebuilding and by facilitating dialogue amongst key players concerned with countries emerging from conflict.

The Commission was composed of 31 Member States in the form of an Organizational Committee, which would address country-specific situations. The membership included: seven members of the Security Council, including the five permanent members; seven members of the Economic and Social Council, elected from regional groups, with consideration to those countries that had experienced post-conflict recovery; seven members elected by the General Assembly, giving due consideration to regional representation and countries with experience in post-conflict recovery; five major troop contributing countries (TCCs), selected by and among the top 10 TCCs; and five major financial providers selected by the 10 top financial providers. Ms. Heuzé listed the countries selected or elected in each category.

Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikize, Director General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), left Geneva yesterday for New York to participate in the first meeting of the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission.

Launch of World Drug Report

Ms. Heuzé said that the annual World Drug Report 2006 would be launched in Washington, D.C., on Monday, 26 June 2006. A press kit was available that included an executive summary of the report. Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, would be sounding a warning about three key weaknesses in the global drug control situation at the launch, namely: that cocaine consumption in Western Europe was reaching “alarming” levels; that opium production in Afghanistan could rise again this year despite a welcome decline in 2005; and that the consumption of cannabis, the world’s most abused illicit drug, continued to increase. Asked whether the report would be made available to journalists today, Ms. Heuzé said that unfortunately it would not be distributed before Monday. The report would be released to the press everywhere at the same time, at 12 noon Geneva time on Monday, 26 June 2006. [Later, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna sent UNIS the password protected URL to access the full report under strict embargo until 12 noon Geneva time on 26 June.]

Geneva activities

Ms. Heuzé said that a press release was available on the upcoming meeting of the United Nations Compensation Commission, which would take place from 27 to 29 June 2006. She would see with Joe Sills whether it would be possible to organize a press briefing on 29 June.

H.E. Mr. François Rivasseau, Permanent Representative of France to the Conference on Disarmament, and President-designate of the Review Conference of States Parties to the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), would be briefing the press at 4:30 p.m. in Press Room I at the close of the 14th session of the Group of Governmental Experts of the States Parties to the CCW.

Press releases and background materials had been made available on the Small Arms Review Conference, to be held in New York from 26 June to 7 July 2006.

Human Rights

José-Luis Diaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, was at that moment addressing the Human Rights Council. The Council had before it the annual report of the High Commissioner, which had already been given to the Commission on Human Rights at its last session, as well as reports of the High Commissioner on specific situations, such as on the situation in Guatemala, as well as the report of a team that went to Kyrgyzstan to look into the killings in Andijan last May. The High Commissioner’s statement to the Council would be followed by an interactive dialogue with Council members later this morning and in the afternoon.

Mr. Diaz highlighted the following passages from the High Commissioner’s statement:

§ “…poverty continues to the most serious, invidious and widespread human rights violation that we must confront.”

§ “Next to poverty, discrimination constitutes another widespread source of disempowerment and of denial of rights, freedom and dignity.”

§ The High Commissioner also addressed discrimination and “The proliferation of acts and expressions contributing to the exacerbation of cultural and religious tensions… The use of harmful stereotypes and the perpetuation of myths that demonize, ridicule, or insult deep-rooted religious feelings and a profound sense of identity, must be denounced as vigorously as the right to champion unpopular ideas must be asserted and protected.”

§ The High Commissioner went on to address how human rights must be at the forefront of efforts to counter terrorism. “It is vital that at all times Governments anchor in law their response to terrorism. To suggest otherwise, to disregard the law or to carve out improper exceptions, as has been attempted by many Governments, would lead to a steady erosion of fundamental rights and, ultimately, undermine the legitimacy of Government action itself. Of particular concern in recent years has been the increasing challenge to the absolute prohibition on torture that has emerged in the context of counter-terrorism activities. In the face of that reality, the obligation of non-refoulement, which requires that no individual be returned to a country where the real risk of torture and ill-treatment is present, cannot be seen as a mere legal nicety.”

§ “Moreover, the reported existence of secret detention centers where suspects are held incommunicado, is also of grave concern. Such practices also have a corrosive effect on the rule of law and human rights, and create an environment ripe for other abusive conduct.”

The High Commissioner went on to address a number of specific situations, including the following:

§ “… I regret that my Office was unable to complete a comprehensive assessment of the facts related to the killings of possibly several hundred persons in May 2005 by Uzbek military and security forces in the town of Andijan.”

§ “Lack of access is also a grave concern with respect to the serious human rights situation in the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea. Reports from refugees, who have escaped the country, describe dire conditions in labour camps, grave food shortages and a lack of the most basic freedoms, such as freedom of expression, religion and assembly.”

§ “In Myanmar, the marked worsening of the humanitarian situation is a cause for mounting international concern.” The High Commissioner took the opportunity to salute Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, whose birthday fell on 19 June, the opening day of the Human Rights Council.

The High Commissioner concluded her statement by saying that the sombre assessment of the human rights situation around the world “should not freeze us with impotence. Targeted, but comprehensive interventions and early responses to unfolding crises prevent escalation of harm and contribute to redress.”

Mr. Diaz said OHCHR would be marking the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on Monday, 26 June 2006, with a number of activities. A joint statement of the High Commissioner, the Committee Against Torture, the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture would be issued on the day. There would also be a press encounter with the High Commissioner and Dr. Jose Quiroga, Medical Director, Program for Torture Victims in Los Angeles, California, at 1:30 p.m. in Room III, to launch a publication entitled “Rebuilding Lives”. The book presented the experiences of torture survivors and the efforts of those who work to rehabilitate them. A note was available containing more information on the publication and excerpts from the book, giving personal testimonies of the survivors of torture.

Other activities included a reception at 6:30 p.m. in the Salle des Pas Perdus, where there would also be an exhibition, supported by the Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, of artworks by torture survivors. There would be a retrospective display, in the lobby of Palais Wilson, of donated artworks and artifacts created by victims of torture over the past 25 years. Mr. Diaz recalled that 26 June 2006 marked the 25th anniversary of the Voluntary Fund.

Timor-Leste

Jennifer Pagonis of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that UNHCR was about to begin the second wave of dispatching relief supplies to Timor-Leste. On Monday 26 June, a DC-10 chartered aircraft carrying 63 tons of shelter supplies was scheduled to depart Amman, Jordan, bound for a staging point in Darwin, Australia, before being transferred to a container ship heading for Dili on 6 July, arriving the following day. Supplies were also being shipped from Dubai, which would arrive 18 July, bringing the supplies shipped by UNHCR to a total of 353 tons. The supplies would help up to 30,000 of the 145,000 displaced in the country.

Yesterday, UNHCR had completed construction of the camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) at Dili airport with a total of 581 tents now pitched at the site. Some 4,600 people had already moved into the site. UNHCR had also started distributing goods to some 78,000 IDPs in districts outside Dili. Further details were available in the briefing notes.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that despite growing political tension, distribution of aid continued without interruption. This week some 120 tons of rice from Government warehouses had been distributed to more than 20 IDP camps around Dili. Since 5 June 2006, IOM had delivered nearly 700 tons of rice to an estimated 70,000 IDPs in Dili. Rice deliveries had also been made to displaced families at the Comoro airport. Working with NGO partners, IOM was beginning to manage the sprawling IDP site at the airport, which had spread beyond the airport perimeter. To ease the pressure on overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions at other IDP sites in Dili, a new camp was set to open at the stadium in Dili next week.

Simon Pluess of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that WFP had recently conducted a food security mission in Timor-Leste, which had revealed that many families had been locked in their homes during the violence and had had difficult access to food. In addition, many farmers, who were now harvesting their vegetable crops, were unable to transport their produce to markets in Dili and elsewhere due to the continuing insecurity. WFP expected that the lean season would come earlier than usual this year in Timor-Leste, which would exacerbate the food insecurity. Mr. Pluess added that WFP was expanding its operations in Timor-Leste. So far it had assisted approximately 82,000 people in and around Dili; WFP was now hoping to a further 78,000 outside the capital.

Other

Mr. Pluess said that while there was some real hope for a lasting political solution in Nepal, the country was suffering one of its worst droughts in history. Government-collected weather data showed that his past winter had been the driest since 1960. Two very bleak succeeding harvests was provoking an extended hunger gap, which WFP was trying to close with an emergency operation that was expected to reach some 225,000 people. Many of the affected areas were located in some of Nepal’s most remote locations and these were areas that suffered from chronic food insecurity, even in normal years. WFP was already providing food to hundreds of thousands of women and children in these areas, as well as 105,000 Bhutanese refugees in the country. The emergency operation would cost US$ 3.2 million, of which only 28% were currently covered through WFP’s own funds. WFP was urging the donor community to provide funding for the operation.

Mr. Chauzy drew attention to a medical evacuation programme that IOM was operating in Iraq, in cooperation with the International Islamic Relief Organization. Six Iraqi childen had recently been evacuated to neighbouring Jordan for essential medical treatment under the programme, including a four-year-old girl who already had successful open-heart surgery this week. Since January 2006, IOM had helped 150 Iraqis to be evacuated to neighbouring countries for treatments currently unavailable in Iraq due to lack of staff, equipment and medicine. More than 6,000 Iraqis were currently on the Ministry of Health’s list of patients in need of life-saving medical treatment unavailable in Iraq.

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that Indonesia continued to suffer heavy losses due to natural disasters. On Monday, 19 June 2006, torrential rains and landslides had resulted in the loss of 209 lives, according to the latest estimates. An additional 71 were missing. There were still areas in the South Sulawesi region that were inaccessible. Approximately 1,800 homes had been flooded, resulting in the displacement of 7,500 people. Aid was being dispatched to the victims.

Turning to the consequences of the recent earthquake in Indonesia, Ms. Byrs said that owing to the lack of funding and firm commitments from donors, the WFP food pipeline to the victims could not be ensured beyond the end of July. If no new contributions were received immediately, food assistance to the most needy and vulnerable would be drastically reduced. Funding was also still needed to provide emergency shelter for over 300,000 homeless people. It was estimated that only 48% of the homeless would have received emergency shelter assistance by the end of July. The appeal launched on 1 June 2006 (US$ 103 million requested) was only 14.9% funded. Further details were available in a note at the back of the room.