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 Secretary-General’s statements and programme, upcoming activities in Geneva, refugees in Chad, asylum seekers from Uzbekistan, the need for increased aid to Africa, and migration and development, among other issues.

Spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) participated in the briefing.

The Secretary-General

Ms. Heuzé opened the briefing by drawing attention to the Secretary-General’s statement yesterday to the Summit of the African Union in Sirte, Libya, the text of which was available in Press Room 1. A transcription of the Secretary-General’s subsequent encounter with the press in Sirte was available for those interested.

From Libya, the Secretary-General would be travelling to London to deliver an important address on the Millennium Development Goals at St. Paul’s Cathedral on 6 July 2005. From there, he would travel to Scotland where he would, on 8 July, attend the Summit of the Group of Eight industrialized countries (G8) and participate in a session on aid to Africa. The Secretary-General would be returning to New York at the end of the week.

Activities in Geneva and New York

Ms. Heuzé drew attention to a number of upcoming activities taking place in Geneva in the month of July. The fourth and final plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament devoted to a particular issue – this time, on Negative Security Assurances – would take place on Thursday, 7 July 2005. The meetings to discuss four key issues identified by Ambassador Chris Sanders of the Netherlands in his “Food for Thought” non-paper were being held in response to a proposal made by the President of the Conference, Ambassador Wegger Strommen of Norway.

The 84th session of the Human Rights Committee would be held from 11 to 29 July 2005. Ms. Heuzé recalled that the Committee was comprised of 18 independent experts who were mandated to monitor the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and two optional protocols. The Committee would be considering State reports from Yemen, Tajikistan, Slovenia, the Syrian Arab Republic and Thailand.

The working group on indigenous peoples would be holding a public meeting from 18 to 22 July in Room XX at the Palais des Nations.

The 43rd Graduate Studies Programme, organized by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, had begun yesterday with an opening statement by the Director-General. The programme provided an opportunity for more than 80 outstanding postgraduate students from all over the world to deepen their understanding of the United Nations. Each year, a representative of the press addressed the students and this year Jan-Dirk Herbermann, President of the Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU), would be doing so.

Ms. Heuzé concluded by informing journalists that from 11 to 15 July 2005, a meeting on small arms would be taking place at Headquarters in New York, officially entitled the United Nations Second Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. Ms. Heuzé noted that Switzerland was an important actor in this process. For those interested, an 82-page brochure on the subject was available on request as well as an information fact sheet.

Human Rights

José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights announced that the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Mr. Leandro Despouy, would be going to Ecuador from 11 to 15 July 2005. Those who had been following the situation in Ecuador were aware that there had been a crisis in the judiciary in that country, which had led to an even greater crisis at the highest levels of the executive branch. During his visit, Mr. Despouy would try to define a set of criteria for the appointment of a UN observer who would assist in the forthcoming restructuring process of the country’s supreme court. A press release on Mr. Despouy’s visit would be issued soon.

Mr. Díaz added that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia, Mr. Peter Leuprecht, was calling on the Government of Cambodia to cancel an agreement to grant 10,000 hectares of State land to a private company in a province in the north-east of the country. In addition to the 10,000, the company had been promised a further 189,999 hectares of land.

Other

Ron Redmond of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) informed journalists that UNHCR staff in remote southern Chad was rushing to relocate an estimated 10,000 refugees who had fled unrest in the Central African Republic (CAR) since early June. The refugees were currently scattered among 17 villages near the Chadian town of Gore and might as soon as by mid-July be cut off from help by the onset of the rainy season. Pending their relocation, UNHCR had been distributing emergency supplies to the refugees. Mr. Redmond said a decision was expected today on relocating the refugees to a central site where assistance could be more easily provided. Among the options being considered was relocation of the 10,000 new arrivals to Amboko camp near Gore, which already hosted some 13,000 CAR refugees and could hold up to 27,000 people. Additional information was available in a briefing note at the back of the room.
On Uzbekistan, Mr. Redmond said that a high-profile Uzbek human rights activist, Mr. Lutfullo Shamsuddinov, had been arrested by police in the Kazakh capital, Almaty, on 4 July 2005, along with six of his dependents, following a request from Uzbek authorities to extradite him. Mr. Shamsuddinov had sought asylum in Kazakhstan after the 13 May events in Andijan, Uzbekistan. After a thorough refugee status determination process, he and his dependent family members were recognized as mandate refugees on 24 June. His case had been submitted to a government for urgent resettlement and UNHCR had received word from the government that it was willing to consider the request. UNHCR was extremely concerned at the arrest of a refugee under its mandate and urged the Kazakh authorities not to forcibly return Mr. Shamsuddinov to Uzbekistan.

Another 29 Uzbek refugees in Kyrgyzstan were also in detention following a similar request for extradition by the Uzbek authorities. UNHCR had organized a meeting on 1 July 2005 for urgent resettlement of the 29 refugees, as well as for humanitarian evacuation of some 450 other Uzbeks who had sought refuge in Kyrgyzstan. A positive response had been received from a number of governments. In response to a question from a journalist, Mr. Redmond said that he had heard news reports quoting the Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan as saying that the asylum seekers would not be deported. UNHCR welcomed the statement but it was not clear whether the assurances had yet been made directly to UNHCR.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) noted that Africa was in the spotlight at the moment with the Live 8 concerts last Saturday and the G8 Summit at Gleneagles this week. She posed the rhetorical question: “why does Africa need help?” The answer: because Africa has never been worse off. While the rest of the developing world had achieved progress in some areas in the fight against poverty and hunger, the situation in Africa continued to deteriorate. One out of every three Africans (out of a total population of 852 million) suffered from malnutrition. Africa was experiencing the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world today with the triple threat of food insecurity, HIV/AIDS and the weakening of the capacity of government. Ms. Berthiaume cited a number of figures, including the following. Eight million people in the region, half of which were in Zimbabwe, were threatened by hunger. HIV/AIDS killed 2,000 teachers each year in Zambia. In Lesotho, it had killed one-third of health care workers. A total of 8 million African farmers, more than the total number of farmers in Europe and North America, had died from HIV/AIDS. Each year, 6 million Africans died from preventable causes, such as malnutrition, the lack of potable water, HIV/AIDS, tuberculoses and malaria.

Despite the alarming situation, Ms. Berthiaume said there was a lack of support from donors, particularly for those countries who were very poor but did not attract the kind of attention typically generated by conflicts or natural disasters. WFP had received less than one-fifth of the funds required for Africa (USD 67 million out of USD 405 million). An amount USD 105 million was urgently needed for the next five months but only USD 20 million had been received. Much was expected of the G8 meeting this week, not least a plan of action to raise the level of engagement and financial support from the participating countries.

Ms. Heuzé added that in addition to increased aid, it was important to also consider the responsibility of developing countries themselves. She drew attention to the letter from the Secretary-General to the Heads of State and Government of the G-8, made available last week in the Press Room, which highlighted, inter alia, the need for “a national strategy, which must include stronger governance, implacable war against corruption, and policies to stimulate the private sector, generate employment and maximize domestic resources.”

On Somalia, Ms. Berthiaume said that WFP had suspended all transportation of food aid by boat following the hijacking on 27 June 2005 by Somali pirates of one of WFP’s boats carrying aid for 28,000 victims of the tsunami. The decision would be reviewed depending on the liberation of the boat and its crew and the 850 tons of aid. Multiple contacts were being pursued to negotiate their freedom, including through the local authorities, influential chiefs, and the transitional federal government, with the direct involvement of the Vice Minister responsible for maritime transport and the Foreign Minister. This was the first time in the history of WFP that one of its boats had been seized by pirates.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that poverty and development in Africa, issues high on the agenda of the G8 Summit in Scotland, could not be addressed effectively without factoring in the effects of migration. The latest report in IOM’s Migration Research Series, Migration and Development: New Strategic Outlooks and Practical Ways Forward, focused on case studies of Angola and Zambia. Both countries ranked among the poorest and most indebted countries in the world and both suffered from a lack of qualified labour in key sectors of their economies and public administration. The situation was exacerbated by a rapidly increasing brain drain. Among the report’s recommendations was the expansion of schemes aimed at retaining skilled nationals and involving the diasporas in private sector activities. Further information was provided in a briefing note at the back of the room.

Ms. Pandya also briefly mentioned the launch of an information campaign in Zimbabwe this month on cross border mobility, irregular migration and HIV/AIDS; the release of an IOM psychosocial study of child trafficking victims in Cambodia; and a workshop on biometrics and migration that would be hosted by IOM in Geneva on 8 July 2005. Journalists were welcome to attend. Those interested were requested to contact Ms. Pandya.

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