REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons and representatives of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the International Organization for Migration. Representatives from the World Meteorological Organization and the International Telecommunication Union were also present, but had no announcements to make.

Secretary-General’s Statements

Beijing Olympics

Ms. Heuzé said that it should come as no surprise that she would begin the briefing on the theme of the Olympics, with the 2008 Summer Games opening in Beijing today, and drew attention to the appeal made by the United Nations Secretary-General and the General Assembly for the observance of the Olympic Truce. The text of that message was available in the Press Room. The Secretary-General had highlighted the importance of observing the Olympic Truce, which called for a worldwide cessation of hostilities during the Games, noting that, “though limited in duration, this Truce has unlimited potential.” It could provide a pause in which to reflect and a “window to provide relief for suffering populations”, the Secretary-General had observed.

A number of questions were put to Ms. Taveau of UNICEF regarding UNICEF’s position on young children involved in Olympic events. Ms. Taveau responded that UNICEF took a firm stance against heavy training for children, lamenting the lack of formal outside guidelines for ages or number of hours for training. There were certain regulations regarding children’s training, but those had been developed by the Olympic Committee itself. Key to UNICEF’s position was to ensure that training for children did not interfere with their schoolwork.

South Ossetia (Georgia)

On other subjects of concern, with regard to the worsening situation between Georgia and South Ossetia, Ms. Heuzé said, as was known the Security Council had met yesterday but did not take a decision on this matter. In a statement, the Secretary-General had expressed his serious concern about the mounting violence in South Ossetia (Georgia), and he had urged the parties to refrain from any action that could further escalate the situation and threaten the stability of the region.

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), expressing UNICEF’s concern over the reports of fighting in South Ossetia, Georgia, said UNICEF called upon those involved to take every possible measure to ensure the protection and care of children who might be caught up in any violence, recalling that the Convention on the Rights of the Child placed an emphasis on the need to take all feasible measures to ensure the protection and care of children who were affected by armed conflict.

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said UNHCR was closely following the situation in South Ossetia, where thousands of people were reported to be on the move following a week of violent clashes. Russian border officials had informed a local UNHCR office that people had been arriving to North Ossetia-Alania in the Russian Federation throughout the night, with the Russian Federal Migration Service estimating that “thousands of people” had now made this trip. In addition, according to non-official sources, some 400 people had moved from South Ossetia to other parts of Georgia.

Reports on the conditions on the ground were trickling out of South Ossetia, Mr. Redmond said. “This morning, a UNHCR staff member [in South Ossetia] reported that many buildings and houses have been destroyed and that only military personnel are moving on the streets. Water is also in short supply. Most transport has stopped and shops are running out of food.”

Anna Nelson of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that ICRC would be issuing a press release later this morning on South Ossetia and Georgia in which ICRC would call for the opening of a humanitarian corridor to enable ambulances to evacuate the wounded and to enable civilians to be evacuated out of the conflict zone. Currently ambulances could not move, hospitals were reported to be overflowing, surgery was taking place in corridors, and people were hiding out in their basement without electricity or means of communication. In addition, ICRC was calling on all sides to respect international humanitarian law and to not target civilians. ICRC had local staff in the area, but was not able to communicate with them because electricity had been cut off. No figures on dead or wounded were yet available.

Bakassi Peninsula Transfer Ceremony

On a positive note, Ms. Heuzé noted the successful conclusion of negotiations on the status of the Bakassi Peninsula, which had often been held in Geneva. The final transfer of authority in the Bakassi Peninsula from Nigeria to Cameroon was scheduled to take place on 14 August, in implementation of the 2002 ruling of the International Court of Justice and the 2006 Greentree Agreement. The Secretary-General had issued a statement welcoming the event and explaining that as he was not able attend the 14 August ceremony, he intended to send a senior official to lead his delegation. “For the United Nations, this will be a landmark event ... that should serve as a model for the negotiated settlement of border disputes elsewhere”, the Secretary-General had concluded.

Geneva Activities

Turning to the activities in Geneva, Ms. Heuzé said that the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee was ending the first week of its two-week first session. The closing meeting would be held on Friday, 15 August.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was also in the middle of its three-week session, concluding this morning its consideration of the report of Austria. This afternoon, the Committee would take up the report of Switzerland, and would finish its examination of the situation in that country on Monday morning. Next week, on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, 11 and 12 August, the Committee would take up its final country report for this session, considering the situation of Sweden. The Committee would then meet in private session to adopt its concluding observations on the reports considered at this session, including Ecuador, Namibia, Togo and Russia in addition to those cited, which would be released at the end of the session, on Friday, 15 August.

Ms. Heuzé also announced that the Conference on Disarmament would hold its next public plenary next week on Thursday, 14 August, at 10 a.m.

Human Rights

Rupert Colville of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said OHCHR had serious concerns about the decision of the authorities in Texas to proceed with the execution of Mexican national José Ernesto Medellín by lethal injection on 5 August, despite an order to the contrary by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. At the time of his arrest, Mr. Medellín had not been informed of his right to consular assistance in accordance with international treaty obligations under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The ICJ order also remained valid for another 50 Mexican nationals on death row in the United States whose situation was similar to that of Mr. Medellín.

The finality of the death penalty made it essential that it was applied with scrupulous attention to safeguards set down international law, Mr. Colville underscored. One of those safeguards was that foreign nationals should have access to consular services.

On another subject, Mr. Colville said that OHCHR warmly welcomed the announcement by Australia of its decision to issue a standing invitation to all Special Rapporteurs and other Special Procedures that wished to visit the country. Australia was the sixty-second State to issue such a standing invitation.

Zimbabwe

Ms. Taveau noted that, despite difficult political situation, UNICEF continued its work in Zimbabwe, with UNICEF’s nationwide Child Health Days campaign ongoing during this week, from Monday to Friday. Child Health Days aimed to reach Zimbabwe's 2 million under-five children with immunization and vitamin A coverage. During the campaign health workers and volunteers conducted outreach activities to schools, community centres and mobile clinics across the country. Children, even in hard-to-reach areas were immunized against tuberculosis, measles, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, haemophilus influenza and polio.

While continuing its work in Zimbabwe, UNICEF remained seriously concerned about the impact on children of the current ban prohibiting non-governmental organizations from operating in communities. The ban, imposed on 4 June, had now been in effect for over two months, posed serious problems for the humanitarian community working in Zimbabwe, which were exacerbated by the galloping inflation and the food crisis that the country was currently facing, Ms. Taveau said.

Sri Lanka

Mr. Redmond said UNHCR was deeply concerned over the safety of thousands of families fleeing fierce fighting in the north of Sri Lanka as the conflict between Government forces and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) reached new heights. Although exact figures were sketchy, more than 12,000 families had been reported to have been displaced in July alone. Most recently, United Nations access to the majority of 10,000 internally displaced families in Karachchi had been cut off because of security concerns. Accommodations for the displaced families were already said to be exhausted in some areas and a majority were staying out in the open. Supplies of food, shelter materials, water and sanitation equipment and fuel for transportation of civilians were running dangerously low, with efforts to replenish those stocks were being hindered by the strict restrictions on the transport of goods into the region.

UNHCR was calling on both parties to take immediate steps to ensure the protection of those affected; to allow freedom of movement for those seeking safety; and to ensure that that the internally displaced were neither targeted nor located near military targets. UNHCR also called on the Authorities to allow unhindered passage for essential supplies as soon as possible, Mr. Redmond said.

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples / Colombia

Mr. Redmond said that on the eve of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (Saturday, 9 August) UNHCR was drawing attention to the plight of indigenous groups at risk of violence and forced displacement in Colombia. There were around 1 million indigenous people in Colombia, from 80 different groups with 60 different languages, nearly all of them having been victims of forced displacement or having been threatened by it as a result of armed conflict. According to a national indigenous association, 18 of the smaller indigenous groups were at risk for disappearing altogether. Every year, an average of 10,000 to 20,000 indigenous people in Colombia were registered by the authorities after being forced to flee from their lands.

Other

Simon Schorno of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that ICRC had just issued an update on the situation in Yemen, in particular for people affected by conflict in northern Yemen. Copies were available at the back of the room. He was the new media contact for Middle East issues at ICRC and his telephone numbers could be found on the update.

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recalled that at UNCTAD XII three women heads of businesses from developing countries had been awarded “women in business 2008” awards. Those prize winners had been invited to participate in a workshop in Zurich on 14 August on promoting development through the creation of businesses by women. An information note on the workshop was available at the back of the room, as well as a meeting programme.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that Russian pop star, Valeriya, and IOM would hold a press conference to announce new collaboration between the two on Tuesday, 12 August, at 11.15 a.m. in Room III. Valeriya had been made a goodwill envoy for IOM in the Russian Federation.

Ms. Heuzé said available at the back of the room was a Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) press release on the operationalization of a new UNECE advisory body aimed at promoting a healthy and transparent real estate market – the Real Estate Market Advisory Group – which had been created in early 2008. In the coming year, the Advisory Group intended to develop guidelines on the management and regulation of the real estate market, with a view to protecting UNECE Member States against the shockwaves created by the United States sub-prime mortgage crisis.