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United Nations Daily Highlights, 96-11-29

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, 29 November 1996


This document is prepared by the Central News Section of the Department of Public Information and is updated every week-day at approximately 6:00 PM.

HEADLINES

  • Security Council extends mandate of UN Support Mission in Haiti.
  • International Criminal Tribunal hands down first sentence.
  • United Nations continues to attach utmost importance to promotion of Palestinian social and economic development, UN Secretary- General says on International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People.
  • Understanding and awareness of HIV/AIDS must be translated into positive action and more effective public policy response, says UN Secretary-General on AIDS Day.
  • UN High Commissioner for Refugees urgently seeks US$236 million for Bosnia repatriation.
  • Special Political and Decolonisation Committee approves draft resolution on cessation of all Israeli settlement activities.
  • General Assembly calls for repeal of unilateral economic sanctions against nationals, companies of third countries.
  • Iraq called on to ensure equitable distribution of humanitarian supplies by text approved in Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee.
  • Legal Committee approves text on electronic database to disseminate treaty information.
  • UN Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution addresses growing problem of aviation fuels pollution.


The Security Council, in a unanimous resolution today, decided to extend the mandate of the UN Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH) until 5 December 1996. According to the resolution, the Council also decided to remain actively seized of the matter.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today sentenced Drazen Erdemovic to ten years in prison for crimes against humanity. This is the first sentence handed down for a crime against humanity by an international court since the trials in Nuremberg and Tokyo.

According to the summary of the judgement, Erdemovic participated in the murder of 1,200 unarmed civilians over a five hour period on 16 July 1995. The Court said Erdemovic was responsible for the murder of some ten to 100 people.


The United Nations continues to attach the utmost importance to the promotion of Palestinian social and economic development, UN Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said today on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. He added that this was essential in order to alleviate the impact of the closure, to improve living conditions and to create solid foundations for the achievement of a lasting peace.

The Secretary-General acknowledged that this issue was very close to his heart, and stated that this annual commemorative event provided an opportunity to remind the international community that the question of Palestine, which was at the centre of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East, remained unresolved despite the many efforts made over the years.

"The establishment of an elected Palestinian administration over Gaza and parts of the West Bank earlier this year was a significant advance along this road. It is now of the utmost importance not to dissipate those achievements, but to build on them in order to fulfil the hopes of all the peoples of the region for a future of peace and security", Dr. Boutros- Ghali said.

The resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations had been an encouraging development, Dr. Boutros-Ghali said adding that it was essential to the parties to abide by agreements already reached. He noted, however, that the proposed construction of new settlements in the West Bank and Gaza posed a serious threat to the continuation of the peace process.

Speaking at the commemorative event, the President of the General Assembly, Ambassador Razali Ismail said that the viability of a Palestinian homeland was now progressively being diminished by policies of continued closure, repression and restricted movement that denies the rights of Palestinian people. He noted that this in turn affected the much expected inflow of financial and other resources so necessary for development which had not materialised.


In a message to mark the observance of World AIDS Day, on 1 December UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has said the challenge of World AIDS Day was to translate understanding and awareness of HIV/AIDS into positive action and a more effective and coordinated public policy response around the world. He added that today, more than ever, the global challenge of HIV/AIDS demanded an informed, considered and generous response from us all.

Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali stated that some 22 million people were living with HIV/AIDS, while the total number of worldwide AIDS-related deaths had reached 6 million. He pointed out that these were appalling statistics, but there was nothing inevitable about the global spread of HIV.

"In the developing world, the challenge remains greater. Over 90 per cent of all new HIV infections occur here, and programmes to prevent the spread of the infection have so far met with limited success. In addition, new anti-viral therapies and treatments remain extremely costly and beyond the means of the vast majority of AIDS sufferers in the developing world," the Secretary-General said.

Under the auspices of the President of the fifty-first General Assembly, Ambassador Razali Ismail and co-sponsored by the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UN-AIDS) and the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), World AIDS Day will be observed at UN Headquarters on 2 December. This year's theme for World AIDS Day is "One world. One hope."


The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said it urgently needed $239 million for its 1997 programme for the former Yugoslavia that centres on the return of refugees and displaced people. The amount sought by UNHCR is part of a $544 million consolidated appeal by eleven UN agencies launched today by High Commissioner Sadako Ogata.

The High Commissioner said that unless contributions come in, UNHCR will be unable to start its programme for Bosnia-Herzegovina and neighbouring republics. "1997 is the second year of peace in Bosnia. UNHCR wants to make it the year of return and organised repatriation," she added.

The 1997 UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal aims to promote the repatriation, return and local integration of refugees and displaced persons and to ensure that the basic humanitarian needs of the population are met. The UN humanitarian programme for 1997 is designed to meet the objectives of the two-year stabilisation period established following the September elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina.


The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonisation) of the General Assembly has approved a draft resolution which will have the General Assembly demand the complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities. The draft resolution would have the Assembly stress the need for full implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994) which called upon Israel to prevent illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers and to guarantee the safety of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory.
The General Assembly has called for the immediate repeal of unilateral extraterritorial law which impose sanctions on the companies and nationals of other States. Adopting a resolution to that effect by a vote of 56 in favour to 4 against (Federated States of Micronesia, Israel, United States and Uzbekistan), with 76 abstentions, the Assembly also called upon all the States not to recognise unilateral extraterritorial coercive measures or legislative acts imposed by any States.

The representative of Libya, Mohamed A. Azwai, introducing the draft resolution, said the Assembly had expressed concern about the harmful effects of coercive economic measures and had appealed to the international community to put an end to such actions. He added that those practices continued and this year the United States enacted laws punishing non- American companies investing more than $40 million in petroleum resources in Libya and Iran.

The representative of the United States, Edward W. Gnehm Jr., explaining his country's position before the vote, said the Government of Lybia would have Member States believe that the draft was about free trade and the right of States to choose their own models of economic development. In truth, he pointed out, it was aimed at distracting attention from Lybia's support for international terrorism and its obstinate refusal to comply with its obligations under Security Council resolutions.


The General Assembly would urge the Iraqi Government to cooperate with the United Nations to ensure medicines, food and other humanitarian supplies, purchased with Iraqi oil proceeds were distributed equitably and on a non- discriminatory basis, according to the terms of a draft resolution approved by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) of the Assembly.

Security Council resolution 986 (1995) and the May 1996 agreement between Iraq and the Secretary-General authorised the sale of up to $2 billion worth of oil over a six month period to purchase essential food and medical supplies.


The General Assembly would welcome the objective of developing a comprehensive electronic database to disseminate treaty information through such means as on-line access, according to a draft resolution approved without a vote by the Sixth Committee (Legal). The Assembly would also ask the Secretary- General to continue according priority to implementing the computerization programme in the Secretariat's Treaty Section.

The Assembly would also endorse the proposed dissemination of treaties via the Internet, and would recognise that such access to treaty-related information was particularly valuable in countries where the cost of maintaining complete collections of treaties in bound volume form was relatively high.


At its fourteenth session held 25 to 28 November, the Executive Body for the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) Convention on Long- range Transboundary Air Pollution addressed the growing problem of air pollution caused by aviation fuels. The combustion of these fuels gives off carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O) in the form of vapour, and sulphur dioxide (SO2).

Moreover, it generates a number of other pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulates. The high temperatures in the combustion chamber also lead to the formation of nitrogen oxides (NOx). "The world's current fleet of 400,000 aircraft is responsible for 2 to 3 per cent of our planet's air pollution. This share may very well double or triple by the year 2015," said Lars Nordberg of the UN/ECE.

The Protocols to the UN/ECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution already recommended specific technologies to control the emissions from traffic, but until now these recommendations have dealt almost exclusively with road vehicles, such as cars, mopeds, and lorries. The Executive Body for the Convention is now increasingly turning its attention to other sources of emissions, such as tractors, construction equipment, lawnmowers, ships and aircraft.


For information purposes only - - not an official record

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org


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