Taliban
23 May -- United Nations officials today decried a reported
proposal by the Taliban which would require all non-Muslims in Afghanistan
to wear identity labels on their clothing.
A spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Mr. Annan
was "dismayed" by the proposal, which "would constitute a grave violation of
human rights, and recalls some of the most deplorable acts of discrimination
in history."
The Secretary-General appealed to the Taliban leadership to
reject the idea, and "to focus their efforts on alleviating the suffering of
their people, who yearn for peace and security," his spokesman said.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson,
and the Director-General of the UN Educational, Cultural and Scientific
Organization (UNESCO), Koichiro Matsuura, also issued a statement expressing
outrage over the proposed edict.
The joint statement, released in Geneva and Paris, noted
that the decree "harks back to the darkest periods of human history."
"Prescribing how certain groups of people should dress or
otherwise singling them out so that they can be easily identifiable is at
best discriminatory," the two officials observed. "Similar practices in the
past -- from Nazi Germany in the 1930s to Rwanda in the early 1990s -- have
led to the most horrible crimes."
Mrs. Robinson and Mr. Matsuura said the edict's stated aim,
namely the protection of minority groups, could best be achieved through the
strict observance of internationally recognized human rights principles.
The two officials declared that the proposed edict "brings
home in a most forceful way the urgent need to address bias and
discrimination, which are at the root of major human rights violations."
* * *
Great Lakes
23 May - A delegation of the Security Council that is currently on a
trip to the Great Lakes region of Africa held talks with the Burundian
leaders in Bujumbura today, underscoring the Council's awareness of the link
between the situations in Burundi and in the neighbouring Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC).
"We will not allow for a solution to the conflict in the DRC
to be had at the expense of Burundi," said the mission's leader, Ambassador
Jean-David Levitte of France, after the Council delegation had met for an
hour this morning with the signatories of the Arusha accords.
The Arusha accords, originally signed in August 2000,
address the root causes of the conflict in the country, such as exclusion
and genocide, as well as the tragic consequences of the war, including the
plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people.
Stressing that "there is no military solution" to the
Burundi crisis, Ambassador Levitte said the Council would plead for peace
and for the establishment of democratic institutions that would fully
protect minority rights.
He also noted that Burundi was present for the first time as
an observer during a joint meeting in Zambia on Tuesday night of the Council
and the Political Committee of the Lusaka Agreement, which concerns the DRC
conflict.
According to a UN spokesman, after talks with the
signatories of the Arusha accords, the Council mission met with Burundian
President Pierre Buyoya at the Presidential Palace, and then flew to Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania, to meet with the leadership of the National Liberation
Front, one of two armed Hutu rebel groups that have not yet signed the
Arusha accords.
* * *
Environment
23 May -- Efforts to protect the environment and safeguard
human health took a major step forward today as a new treaty banning the
world's most dangerous pesticides was opened for signature at a United
Nations-sponsored meeting in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs) bans a dozen of these toxic substances, which travel through the
environment far beyond their original source and endure for years or even
decades. The pollutants, which include pesticides, industrial chemicals and
hazardous by-products of combustion, are known to become concentrated in the
fats of animals and to build up in the breast milk of nursing mothers. POPs
can kill, cause birth defects or generate diseases such as cancer.
The treaty was negotiated under the auspices of the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP). According to a spokesman for the agency, 90
countries signed the treaty at the Stockholm meeting today, and Canada
ratified it. Fifty ratifications are required for the Convention to enter
into force.
The Convention sets out control measures covering the
production, import, export, disposal, and use of POPs. Governments are to
promote the best available technologies and practices for replacing existing
POPs while preventing the development of new POPs. They are required to draw
up national legislation and develop action plans for carrying out their
commitments under the treaty.
While the control measures will apply to an initial list of
12 chemicals, a POPs Review Committee will consider additional candidates
for the POPs list on a regular basis. This will ensure that the treaty
remains dynamic and responsive to new scientific findings.
The 12 initial POPs banned under the treaty are aldrin, chlordane, DDT,
dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene, polychlorinated biphenols
(PCBs), hexachlorobenzene, dioxins and furans.
* * *
UN/US
23 May -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan will pay an official visit to
the United States capital tomorrow to discuss matters of mutual concern with
key Congressional leaders, including those charged with foreign policy, his
spokesman announced today.
Spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in New York that Mr. Annan
will start his meetings in Washington, D.C., by holding discussions with
members of the House of Representatives, including its Minority Leader,
Richard Gephardt.
Mr. Annan will then meet with the Chairman of the House
International Relations Committee, Henry Hyde, and other members of that
body, including the ranking minority member, Tom Lantos.
"After a private lunch, the Secretary-General will meet with the
editorial board of The Washington Post before going to the Senate side of
the Hill, where he will meet with members of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee," Mr. Eckhard said. "These will include Chairman Jesse Helms and
ranking Minority Member Joseph Biden."
According to the spokesman, the Secretary-General is also
scheduled to hold discussions with Democratic Senate Leader Tom Daschle and
with members of the Senate Appropriations Committee before returning to New
York in the evening.
* * *
UNHCR
23 May - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud
Lubbers today identified steps for a more coordinated international effort
to help the world's estimated 20-25 million internally displaced persons
(IDPs).
Speaking at an international conference on IDP issues in
Oslo, Norway, Mr. Lubbers said the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) was ready to
continue its IDP-related work, but that other humanitarian agencies should
also get more involved.
The High Commissioner said UNHCR's involvement in crises of internal
displacement, within a collective UN mechanism, should depend on three basic
criteria: formal authorization from the Secretary-General, the consent of
the State involved, and the availability of adequate financial resources.
While emphasizing the primary responsibility of States to protect
their own citizens, Mr. Lubbers stressed the importance of a clear system
for allocating responsibility among UN and other humanitarian agencies for
the provision of help to internally displaced people in dire need. He also
said humanitarian involvement in internal displacement situations must be
accompanied by an effort to resolve the political problems that cause the
crises in the first place.
According to UNHCR, the many civil wars and internal
conflicts of the past decade have led to an explosion in internal
displacement. Currently, internally displaced people account for roughly
one-fourth of the agency's more than 21 million beneficiaries.
* * *
Myanmar
23 May - An envoy of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
will visit Myanmar next week to help facilitate the process of
democratization and national reconciliation there, a UN spokesman said today
in New York.
Razali Ismail, Mr. Annan's Special Envoy for Myanmar, will hold
discussions with Government officials and representatives of the National
League for Democracy, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Mr. Razali's mission, from 1 to 4 June, will be his fourth official
trip to Myanmar. It follows a visit last month by Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, who
reported cautious optimism after attending three days of talks with
Government and opposition party leaders.
Returning from that trip at the beginning of April, Mr. Pinheiro
said that the Myanmar authorities had spoken with him about the possibility
of having democratization, a civilian government and the guarantee of basic
freedoms in the country. Mr. Pinheiro stressed that he was working to
support Mr. Razali's efforts in trying to facilitate a dialogue between the
Government and the opposition with the involvement of national minorities.
* * *
Disarmament
23 May -- The outgoing President of the Conference on
Disarmament said today that the prevailing international security
environment was unfavourable for the work of the Geneva-based body, and
reported that consensus on its work programme was still out of reach.
Speaking at the conclusion of his four-week term as
President, Ambassador Hu Xiaodi of China noted that international attention
in the disarmament arena is now focused on whether the Anti-Ballistic
Missile (ABM) Treaty would be preserved and strengthened, or whether
countries would move beyond the constraints of that 30-year-old pact.
The answer to that question, he said, would have an
extensive effect on the Conference which, as the sole multilateral
disarmament negotiating forum, was bound to be affected by aspects of
international strategic stability.
Reporting on consultations held during his presidency,
Ambassador Hu said there was widespread concern among delegates about the
inability of the Conference to move forward, adding that he had no
breakthrough to report, as there was still no consensus on a work programme.
The Conference has remained deadlocked because of disagreements over its
work programme in successive recent years.
Established in 1979, the Conference on Disarmament works
strictly on the basis of consensus on matters that touch the national
security interests of States. The Conference has a limited membership of 66
and a unique relationship with the United Nations General Assembly, which
takes its recommendations into account. The Conference, however, defines its
own rules and develops its own agenda.
* * *
UNMEE
23 May -- As Eritrea celebrated today the 10th anniversary
of its independence, the head of the United Nations mission in the area
conveyed his congratulations to the country on the milestone and pledged UN
help in solidifying peace.
"This day of national celebration was reached through great
sacrifices by all Eritrean people, who fought for freedom and laboured to
rebuild their country," said Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's Personal Representative. "In the course of your long struggle,
and in the 10 years since, the people of Eritrea have shown tremendous
determination and national pride."
The statement, which was released by the UN Mission in
Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), hails the fact that peace between the two
countries is starting to take root. "Peace is necessary for national
development, for Eritrea to fulfil its hopes and aspirations, and for its
people to flourish," said Mr. Legwaila.
"UNMEE celebrates this day with you," he said, pledging to
support Eritrea's efforts "to build a future marked by peace, independence
and prosperity."
* * *
Senegal/Gambia
23 May - More than 2,200 people have fled to Gambia in the past few
days following an upsurge of fighting in the neighbouring Senegalese
province of Casamance, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said in a statement
issued today in Geneva.
The first group of refugees reportedly crossed into southern
Gambia on 18 May. The same day, UNHCR staff and officials from the Gambia
Immigration Department travelled down to the border, some 200 kilometres
south-east of the capital, Banjul.
The influx of refugees comes amid reports of intensified
fighting in Casamance Province between government forces and rebels of the
separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), UNHCR said.
The majority of those fleeing the fighting so far have been
women and children. UNHCR staff on the border reported that the refugees
were exhausted, but appeared generally to be in good health.
According to UNHCR, the refugees say they fled from villages
in the northern part of the troubled Casamance region after government
troops launched a search operation for rebels. Gambian border authorities
confirmed Tuesday that more refugees were streaming into the small West
African nation.
Over the weekend, UNHCR began transferring the refugees from
a makeshift site to a transit camp at Kwinella, in Kiang Province, some 70
kilometres north of the border.
The civil conflict in Senegal's southern Casamance Province
began in 1982 and has simmered on since then, sometimes erupting into
all-out war. It is one of Africa's "forgotten" civil conflicts, UNHCR said.
Several peace agreements between the Government of Senegal and the
separatist MFDC rebels have broken down in the past, with hard-line elements
in the MFDC insisting on independence from Dakar.
* * *
Afghanistan
23 May -- Extremely concerned at the plight of some 70,000
Afghan refugees living in an insecure, makeshift site in Pakistan, the
United Nations has begun providing them with temporary emergency assistance
pending a more permanent decision on their relocation.
"Regardless of their ultimate fate, we cannot let this
helpless population live without the basic support they need and deserve,"
Onder Yucer, the UN Resident Coordinator for Pakistan, said today, referring
to the Afghans camped at a site called Jalozai in the country's North West
Frontier Province.
While various UN agencies are assisting the refugees, the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is serving as the focal point of aid
operations. UNHCR has increased its efforts to improve conditions at
Jalozai, in part by upgrading a neighbouring hospital and providing supplies
to local health centres.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is providing food assistance
to some 12,000 families at the site. "For the first time at Jalozai, people
will not be afraid of going hungry tomorrow and the days after," said WFP's
Acting Country Director for Pakistan, Jeff Taft-Dick.
Focusing its attention on the very young, the UN Children's
Fund (UNICEF) has provided measles vaccines in a bid to prevent another
outbreak of the disease, which spread through the camp in January. UNICEF
has also provided 30,000 sachets of oral rehydration salts and 5,000 bottles
of intravenous infusion used to prevent dehydration and stroke.
Keen to ensure that appropriate reproductive health services
are available to women in the camp, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is
providing equipment and care through local non-governmental organizations
(NGOs).
For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) is setting
up a task force in collaboration with the provincial authorities to monitor
overall efforts by the UN, NGOs and the national government. The task force
will also aim to anticipate and prevent the outbreak of epidemics in the
area.
* * *
Decolonization
23 May -- The United Nations today opened a three-day
decolonization seminar in Havana, Cuba, aimed at reviewing conditions in
small island territories that are governed by other States.
"Decolonization is clearly one of the great success stories
of the last half-century, and we must see the process through to its end,"
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message to the Caribbean regional
seminar.
Mr. Annan said the meeting, which was organized by a UN
special committee on decolonization, "provides us with a unique opportunity
to recommit ourselves to the goal of assuring that all peoples can exercise
their right of self-determination in accordance with the relevant General
Assembly resolutions."
The General Assembly originally established the special
committee to monitor the implementation of its 1960 Declaration on the
Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. The
Secretary-General recalled that since the adoption of that milestone text,
"more than 80 million people have attained independence," but, he added,
"there are still 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories remaining, worldwide."
Participants are expected to assess the situation in those
Territories with a particular focus on their constitutional evolution
towards self-determination. The seminar aims to identify areas where the
international community could increase its participation in assistance
programmes and adopt a comprehensive approach to ensuring political and
sustainable development in the Territories.
The seminar is being held within the framework of the Second
International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2001-2010), and
coincides with the Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing
Territories, which begins on 25 May.
The 17 remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories are: Western
Sahara, American Samoa, East Timor, Guam, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Tokelau,
Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland
Islands/Malvinas, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St. Helena, Turks and Caicos
Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands.
* * *
WHO
23 May -- In a joint effort to provide essential medicines
at affordable prices, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Swiss
pharmaceutical company Novartis today signed an agreement in Geneva aimed at
providing developing countries with a new treatment for malaria at cost.
Novartis will supply the new therapy, called Coartem, to WHO
for use in developing countries where parasites are resistant to chloroquine
and other common malaria treatments. Each tablet will cost approximately 10
cents, amounting to less than $2.50 per full treatment for adults and
considerably less for children.
According to WHO, chloroquine is totally ineffective in
treating malaria in over a dozen African countries and is of only marginal
effectiveness in a further 20 States. "The clock is ticking," said WHO
Director-General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland at today's ceremony. "The day
will soon come when chloroquine is totally ineffective throughout the
continent."
As part of the agreement, WHO will appoint a group of
experts to review requests for supplies and to distribute the drug through
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as governments in
malaria-endemic countries. Specially designed packs of Coartem have been
developed to facilitate proper use by children and people who cannot read.
Dr. Brundtland observed that some developing countries will need
help to purchase Coartem even at cost, but she expressed confidence that
with efforts now under way to establish a global fund to fight infectious
diseases "this combination therapy will save the lives of a large number of
people, especially children, who otherwise would die from lack of effective
medication."
"We must insist that the days of using poor anti-malarial drugs for
poor people are over," the Director-General stressed.
WHO estimates that every year malaria afflicts over 300
million people and kills 1 million. Despite efforts to combat the disease,
malaria continues to account for at least 20 per cent of under-five
mortality in Africa, and constitutes 10 per cent of the continent's overall
disease burden.
* * *
East Timor
23 May - Three days of consultations between the East Timor
Transitional Administration, employers, workers and members of civic society
have yielded an agreement on a draft labour code, UNTAET, the UN
Transitional Administration in the territory, said today in Dili.
The code, comprising four proposed regulations, will cover
termination of employment, administration, minimum wage fixing, labour
relations, vocational traineeship, and occupational safety and health.
"Ten demands have been raised by East Timorese labour and
political leaders and most of them have been incorporated in the draft
regulations, which will now be handed over to UNTAET's Office for the
Principal Legal Adviser," UNTAET said in a statement.
It is expected that the final draft will be forwarded to the
East Timor Transitional Cabinet by the middle of next month. If endorsed,
the regulations will then be referred to the National Council for its
consideration.
The first round of consultations between the Division of
Labour and Social Services, employers and workers was held in January. Over
100 people from various East Timorese civic groups have been consulted on
the matter, UNTAET said.
* *** *
|
Власть
