REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the biweekly press briefing, which provided information on the situation in Lebanon, the second interim report of the Independent Inquiry Committee investigating allegations of corruption surrounding the Oil-for-Food Programme for Iraq, the annual session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, the response of humanitarian agencies to yesterday’s earthquake in Indonesia and the launch of three reports – namely UNDP’s human development report for the Arab world, a report on Trafficking in Human Beings in South Eastern Europe, and a study in Bangladesh that shows that injury is now a leading killer of children over one year of age – among other issues.

Spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) participated in the briefing.

Lebanon

Ms. Heuzé opened the briefing by informing journalists that the Secretary-General had issued a statement on the bombing in Lebanon, in which the “the Secretary-General condemns the continued bombings in Lebanon, where an explosion in Beirut last Saturday killed two people and injured at least eight others… The Secretary-General believes this latest violence must stop, and that Lebanese should be allowed to decide the future of their country free of violence and intimidation.” Journalists were informed that the statement was available in the Press Room and the Documentation Centre in English and French, along with an update on the Lebanon Inquiry. Late Thursday, the Secretary-General had transmitted to the Security Council the report of the Mission of Inquiry on the circumstances, causes and consequences of the February 14 bombing in Beirut.

Volcker report

Ms. Heuzé then informed journalists that Paul Volcker, Chairman of the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) investigating allegations of corruption surrounding the Oil-for-Food Programme for Iraq, would come to UN Headquarters at 9:00 a.m. New York-time to present the IIC’s second interim report to the Secretary-General. In the afternoon, the Secretary-General would issue a statement on the report, which would be presented to the press. It was hoped that copies of the statement would be available in Geneva at the same time.

Human Rights

Commission on Human Rights:

David Chikvaidze, Media Liaison Officer for the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights, informed journalists that the Expanded Bureau of the Commission on Human Rights had met this morning and considered the issue of time management. It was agreed that the Commission was doing well in this regard and was, in fact, ahead of schedule. However, as a result, some NGOs had missed their slots in the schedule. The Expanded Bureau had therefore decided that those NGOs who had been scheduled to speak during item 9 and had missed their slots would be welcome to register themselves on the list of speakers under items 10 and 11.

The Expanded Bureau had accepted a request of the Permanent Representative of Germany to accommodate on the list of speakers Mr. Rainer Funke, a member of the German Parliament and Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid. He would address the Commission under item 11 on Monday, 4 April, late in the morning.

The Expanded Bureau had reconfirmed that its weekly meeting with NGOs would take place at 2:00 p.m.

Mr. Chikvaidze said that this morning, the Commission would continue its consideration of agenda item 9, which would conclude with three interactive dialogues, with Mr. Vitit Muntarbhorn, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Mr. Adrian Severin, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus; and Mr. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.

The Commission would then take up consideration of agenda item 10, entitled “Economic, social and cultural rights”, with the presentation of reports and interactive dialogues with Mr. Miloon Kothari, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living; Mr. Paul Hunt, Special Rapporteur on the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; and possibly also Mr. Okechukwu Ibeanu, Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights; and Mr. Vernor Muñoz Villalobos, Special Rapporteur on the right to education.

No new draft resolutions had been tabled.

Ms. Heuzé announced three press conferences in Press Room 1, by:
Mr. Vitit Muntarbhorn, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, today at 2:00 p.m.;
Mr. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, on Wednesday, 30 March 2005 at 10:30 a.m.; and
Mr. Jean Ziegler, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the right to food, on Thursday, 31 March 2005 at 11:30 a.m..

High Commissioner for Human Rights:

Jose Luis Diaz, Spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that a report on Trafficking in Human Beings in South Eastern Europe would be launched on Thursday, 31 March 2005, at 10:30 a.m. The report was a joint effort of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), OHCHR and the Organization fro Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). A media advisory was available at the back of the room. The OHCHR expert speaking at the launch would be Ms. Madeleine Rees, the Head of OHCHR’s office in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Earthquake in Indonesia

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the first situation report following the earthquake off the west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island yesterday would be available in about one hour. No figures were yet available on the number of deaths or the damage suffered as a result of the earthquake. At 5:30 a.m. this morning, two helicopters with advance interagency missions had left, one for Simeulue and the other for Nias, along with another helicopter from the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) heading for Nias. The missions would evaluate the need, if requested by the Indonesian Government, for a United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team – a stand-by team of disaster management professionals that could be deployed within hours to carry out rapid assessment of priority needs.

There were currently 1,000 international staff and 250 international organizations on the ground in Sumatra. The United Nations therefore had humanitarian personnel and relief materials in place.

Ms. Byrs provided figures on the populations of the areas most directly affected by the earthquake and advised journalists that a map of the epicenter of the quake was available at the back of the room. The current estimated population of Simeulue Island was 77,751, which included an estimated 18,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). No estimate of the population of Nias Island was available but an estimated 122 people had died there in the tsunami in December. There were an estimated 1,780 IDPs in Nias. The population of Banyak islands, which were located between Nias and Simeulue, was estimated at 5,000.

Ms. Byrs said that twenty search and rescue teams were on standby in the region, ready to be deployed if the Government requested assistance. Moreover, OCHA with the support of WFP was currently coordinating a meeting with humanitarian relief partners – including UNICEF, Concern, CARE and others – to prepare the necessary actions.

Ms. Brigitte Leoni of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) of OCHA introduced John Harding, also of ISDR, who briefed journalists on the state of early warning systems in the region. He recalled that following the 26 December tsunami, the countries in the region had agreed to establish an Indian Ocean Early Warning System, based on national tsunami centres and the systematic exchange of data. A number of these countries had already announced their intention to launch national tsunami warning systems, which would require the upgrading of ocean and seismic observing systems, as well as regional and national communications systems.

Mr. Harding said that it had been agreed at an intergovernmental meeting in Paris from 3 to 8 March 2005 that the coordination of the Early Warning System would be carried out by an intergovernmental body established under the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. The Paris meeting had also agreed to put an interim tsunami early warning system in place, requiring the immediate upgrading of observation systems in the Indian Ocean and the provision of seismic and other advisory information. It had been agreed that this information would be available as of 1 April. All countries in the region had been requested to designate focal points by 29 March.

With regard to yesterday’s earthquake, Mr. Harding said it was too early to establish whether the interim system functioned properly, especially as it had occurred before the starting date of the system. However, it was clear that information – mostly from national seismic monitoring centres – had been provided to authorities in the region through a number of networks, enabling preventive evacuations in Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Asked whether the threat of a tsunami was now over, Mr. Harding responded that readings indicated that there would not be another large tsunami and that this information had been provided to Governments in the region.

Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that a boat from UNICEF had arrived at Simeulue about a half-an-hour ago, carrying tents and emergency relief materials, as well as additional personnel. UNICEF already had an active presence there. The airport on Simeulue was situated on other side of island, making it difficult to get materials by that route to the affected areas. In Nias, materials would probably also be delivered by boat since the airport had been damaged and was only able to receive helicopters.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that two WFP teams had been sent to Nias and one to Simeulue to evaluate the damage caused by the earthquake. The results were expected within a matter of hours, once the teams returned to Banda Aceh, from where they were dispatched. According to preliminary reports, the situation in Nias was serious. A total of 15 quakes, i.e. the primary earthquake followed by 14 “after shocks”, had been felt there since yesterday. As a result, as Mr. Personnaz had mentioned, 150 metres of tarmac at the airport had been damaged, rendering it only partially operational. Approximately 100 buildings had been destroyed and the priority for the moment was the evacuation of the most seriously injured and the search for those buried under the rubble.

Ms. Berthiaume said that WFP had enough food and other relief materials available on the island of Sumatra in order to be able to respond to this emergency. She recalled that WFP had already provided aid to 22,000 victims of the 26 December tsunami on the island of Simeulue and 2,000 on Nias. In total, aid had been provided to approximately half-a-million victims in Indonesia.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that at the request of the Governor of Sumatra, IOM was preparing to send up to 20 trucks loaded with aid materials to Nias, including water, milk and other food items and medical supplies. In addition, two IOM emergency doctors were on standby in Banda Aceh to join air relief missions to Nias.

A journalist recalled that the Indonesian Government had asked UNHCR to leave the country and wondered whether the decision to do so would be reversed following the latest emergency. Ron Redmond of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) responded that it was indeed the case that the Government of Indonesia had expressed the opinion that UNHCR’s programme was no longer needed in Banda Aceh. Since UNHCR was not a disaster relief organization, it had agreed to phase out its presence and to hand over its programme. The last UNHCR staff had left last Friday. UNHCR still maintained an office in Jakarta and was prepared to help if requested to do so by the Government. But for the moment, its operation had been phased out. Consultations with donors were going on to decide what to do with the US$ 33 million, out of a total of US$ 40 million, that remained unspent from the funds donated to UNHCR.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that a new update on the Marburg virus outbreak in northern Angola would be available towards the end of the day, probably between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m., following a teleconference with WHO’s Africa Bureau. The number of cases was expected to rise since detection of cases was now much more effective than before. Experts from various countries had been dispatched to Angola to do analysis on the ground. As of 24 March, there were 102 reported cases, including 95 deaths. Responding to a question from a journalist, Ms. Chaib said that WHO had not issued any travel restriction advisories for Angola.

Asked about the outbreak of avian flu in the Democratic People’s Republic (DPR) of Korea, Ms. Chaib said that the authorities of the DPR of Korea had indeed announced an epidemic of avian flu among chickens and that WHO had been in dialogue with the Government’s Minister of Health since last week. WHO had offered the Government assistance in preparing its response to the epidemic. Nevertheless, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) was the agency dealing most directly with the authorities on this issue since, for the moment, it involved only cases in animals.

Mr. Personnaz of UNICEF announced that there would be a press conference on Wednesday, 30 March, at 11:30 a.m. in Press Room 3, to introduce a new study carried out in Bangladesh that showed that injury, rather than disease, was now a leading killer of children over one year of age. The study had been prepared by UNICEF in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh and The Alliance for Safe Children.

Jean Fabre of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reminded journalists that an advance briefing on UNDP’s human development report for the Arab world would be held on Wednesday, 30 March, at 12 noon in Room III. The report was embargoed until 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, 5 April 2005, when it would be launched in Amman, Jordan. The report would be made available at the briefing in Arabic and English, with a summary in French. In addition to those three languages, press materials would also be available in Spanish, German and Italian.

Mr. Redmond of UNHCR informed journalists that UNHCR would this afternoon be releasing a detailed set of comments on the proposed Asylum Procedures Directive which European Union (EU) states had agreed upon in April 2004. The directive regulated how decisions on asylum claims were made and set minimum standards for procedures. The 59-page document, and a four-page summary, provided an elaboration of the concerns raised by UNHCR a year ago, particularly with regard to the rules governing the designation of “safe” countries and those which allow EU countries to deport certain categories of asylum seekers before their appeals had been heard.


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