REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information about the Oil-for-Food Programme, the 2005 World Summit, the Iran nuclear issue and the humanitarian situation in Niger. Spokespersons for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme and the International Organization for Migration participated in the briefing. Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees were present but made no announcements.


Oil for Food Programme Investigation

The Director read the statement made yesterday by the Secretary-General's Chef de Cabinet, Mark Malloch Brown, at a press conference at United Nations Headquarters on the Oil-for-Food Programme Investigation.

“The Secretary-General yesterday received the Third Interim Report from the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil for Food Programme from Chairman Paul Volcker and his two fellow IIC members Richard Goldstone and Mark Pieth. He is deeply concerned by the conclusions it reaches about Benon Sevan, the former Executive Director of the United Nations Office of the Iraq Programme and Alexander Yakovlev, a former United Nations procurement officer.

The IIC has recommended that the Secretary-General accede to any properly supported request from an appropriate law enforcement authority for a waiver of immunity from criminal prosecution for both Mr. Sevan and Mr. Yakovlev. The Secretary-General, as he has made clear many times, will do so.

With respect to broader UN procurement practices, following a series of reforms put in place since the late 1990s, the United Nations recently commissioned an independent review of procurement practices from the US National Institute of Governmental Purchasing. That review, which was completed last month, strongly supported the thrust of the reforms and made a number of additional technical recommendations. As part of its investigation of Mr. Yakovlev, OIOS will separately make recommendations for further reforms, particularly regarding strengthened supervision and controls over individual procurement officers. The Secretary-General intends to act expeditiously to implement those recommendations.

The Secretary-General also notes the IIC’s commitment to publish its comprehensive report in early September including recommendations for action. That report will include an overall assessment of the Oil for Food programme and specific conclusions about the role of Security Council, the UN Secretariat and the Secretary-General and UN agencies. He very much looks forward to that report, not least in the strong expectation that it will clear up any remaining questions concerning his own conduct."

2005 World Summit

Mrs. Heuzé announced that the newly revised draft outcome document to be discussed by global leaders at the General Assembly 2005 World Summit at United Nations Headquarters from 14 to 16 September was made available in the documentation centre. The text will be reviewed in advance of the Summit on 22 August upon the return of General Assembly President Mr. Jean Ping.

Iran

Mrs. Heuzé drew attention to the statement of the Secretary-General which refers to his conversation with the newly elected President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, about the Iranian nuclear programme and the negotiations with the EU-3 [France, Germany and the United Kingdom]. In his statement, the Secretary-General urges restraint and encourages the continuation of the ongoing process and hopes both sides will remain engaged in search for an acceptable solution.

Human Rights

David Chikvaidze, Media Liaison for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights and the Treaty Bodies reported that on Monday, 8 August, the Sub-Commission had continued its consideration of item 5 (Prevention of discrimination) and had heard the presentation by Mr. Alfonso Martinez of the report of the Working group on indigenous populations. Under re-opened item 3, Ms. Motoc had presented the report of the Working Group on the administration of justice. Then, under item 6 (Specific human rights issues) Ms. Warzazi, Special Rapporteur on traditional practices affecting the health of women and the girl child, had introduced her report.

Yesterday afternoon, the Sub-Commission members had met in closed session to discuss in detail draft proposals tabled under item 2, 3 and 4. Discussion on several draft proposals led to the postponement of some of them in order to get the consensus during the plenary. During the public meeting that followed, the Sub-Commission took action on some of the drafts. The remaining draft proposals under item 2, 3 and 4, as well as those tabled under item 5, 6 and 1, were to be discussed on Wednesday.
A chart detailing action on resolutions was available in the back of the room.

Today, the Sub-Commission was hearing several presentations; those included one by Ms. Motoc, Special Rapporteur on human rights and the human genome; by Mr. Bossuyt who was presenting the report of the Working Group on contemporary forms of slavery; Mr. Biro and Ms. Motoc, who were presenting their joint working paper on human rights and non-State actors; Mr. Alfredsson and Mr. Salama, who were presenting their joint working paper on the evaluation of the content and delivery of technical cooperation in the field of human rights; and Ms. Koufa, who would be presenting the report of the working group to elaborate detailed principles and guidelines concerning the promotion and protection of human rights when combating terrorism.

Late yesterday, the last four draft proposals had been received. Three of these drafts were on item 5: draft resolution L.45 entitled “Working group on indigenous populations”; draft resolution L.46 entitled “Second international decade of the world’s indigenous people”; draft resolution L.47 entitled “The legal implications of the disappearance of States and other territories for environmental reasons, including the implications for the human rights of their residents, with particular reference to the rights of indigenous”, which decided, among other things, to appoint Ms. Hampson as Special Rapporteur with the task of preparing a comprehensive study on the issue. It mentioned that if, for whatever reason, Ms. Hampson’s appointment was not endorsed by the Commission on Human Rights or ECOSOC, Ms. Hampson was to prepare an expanded working paper anyway. The experts also came up with a draft decision on Item 1 -L.48 - entitled “Role of an independent expert body within the reform of the UN human rights machinery”. The decision requested that the chairman of the Sub-Commission transmit the annex to the Chairman of the Commission and to the High Commissioner, in order to ensure a large distribution in particular to Permanent Missions in Geneva and New York.

A concluding press conference by the Bureau of the Sub-Commission would be held on Thursday, 11 August at 3:30 p.m. in Salle III. It will focus on the results of the 57th session and special focus would be on the reform proposals of the Sub-Commission, among other issues.

Turning to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Mr. Chikvaidze reported that last Friday, 5 August, the Committee resumed its consideration of the 16th periodic report of Zambia. For the second time in the history of the Committee, a national human rights institution, the Zambian Human Rights Commission, had been invited to address the Committee in plenary. Yesterday, Monday, 8 August, the Committee had continued its consideration of the 8th to 16th periodic report of Barbados and in the afternoon it started examining individual communications (in a closed meeting) and, later, had reconvened in a public plenary in order to discuss draft general recommendation 31 on the prevention of racial discrimination in the administration and functioning of the criminal justice system. This morning, members of the Committee were to continue discussing draft general recommendation 31. At 12.00 hours, they would review the implementation of the Convention in Malawi without a report (review procedure). In the afternoon, the Committee would start considering the 8th to 16th periodic reports of Tanzania, thereby resuming its dialogue with this State party after seventeen years.

Niger

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme announced that the Programme had finalized its distribution plan for 2.5 million people in Niger and that yesterday the first free food distribution took place at the village of Tolkobey, 90 kilometers from Niamey. This marked the beginning of distributions on a large scale. Ms. Berthiaume referred to a report from Médecin sans Frontière which stated that a peak of 1,647 severely malnourished children was registered in the week of 24 to 30 July.

In response to a question, Ms. Berthiaume said WFP was getting all the cooperation it needed from the Government of Niger. She reminded correspondents that on 25 November last year the Government issued an urgent appeal for more than 78,000 tonnes of food.

Other

Jemina Pandya of the International Organization for Migration announced that a group of 5,000 internally displaced people returned to their homes in Sudan's Western Bahr el Ghazal province at the weekend. An IOM staff member was among those who accompanied the group to help those unable to walk and to provide medical assistance.

Responding to a question, Ms. Pandya stated that 43 of the internally displaced persons died on the trek home, 24 of whom died in a truck accident at the beginning of the operation before IOM was involved. She added that 33 babies were born during the trek.

Ms. Pandya also announced that the IOM and the Libyan Government today signed an agreement for the opening of an IOM Office in Tripoli. (More information was made available in a press briefing note).

In response to a question, Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the latest update on the "swine virus" in Sichuan Province in China was posted on the WHO website on 3 August. The Chinese Ministry of Health was also providing regular updates on the situation through press material. Given the interest of the press, Ms. Chaib agreed to set up a press conference with Margaret Chang of the WHO to speak on the subject, as well as on the Avian flu and other related matters. [It was later confirmed that the press conference would take place on Friday, 12 August following the regular bi-weekly briefing].

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