Briefing note, 27 March 1998

27 March 1998


John Mills, media officer for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the High Commissioner would be spending the day at the meeting of the Administrative Committee on Coordination. The Commission on Human Rights, meanwhile, would today be focusing on indigenous issues, migrant workers and minorities. It would also finalize its agenda item on religious discrimination.

This afternoon the Commission should be voting on six draft resolutions. The results of the voting would be put in the press room as soon as they were available. The drafts dealt with the Middle East, Western Sahara and the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights. At 12.30 p.m. the Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products, Zohra Ksentini, would hold a briefing in press room one. She made the point in her report (E/CN.4/1998/10) that Africa and other developing countries continued to be the chief areas of concern, but that she was now receiving information of new countries being involved, including Russia, the Baltic States, Ukraine, Georgia, Slovenia, Romania, Poland and Albania.

Mr. Mills said his office was putting in the press room a provisional early list of when Special Rapporteurs would be in Geneva. Yesterday afternoon, the report of the Special Rapporteur on his mission to Mexico had become available, as had the report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers relative to his mission to Belgium.

Responding to a question, Mr. Mills said the High Commissioner was very concerned about the persistent difficulties the Secretary-General's Investigative Team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was experiencing. She had issued a statement earlier this week on the fact that they were forced to leave Mbandaka. She had expressed the hope they would not face the same problems as they tried to deploy to Goma.

A correspondent suggested Mr. Mills' language appeared as "euphemistic" as the language used the previous day the United States Permanent Representative, Ambassador Richardson. Was the High Commissioner not taking at face value that one team had been effectively kicked out and that the rest of the group would be thrown out by May? he asked. Mr Mills responded by saying "Let me make this point very clearly: there was nothing `euphemistic' or positive about the High Commissioner's statement earlier this week". He said the statement expressed profound concern about the pattern of obstacles and delays being encountered. It also said the situation was now such that there was reason to doubt the Team's ability to complete its work by the end of May. The end of May was when the Team's mandate -- as agreed between the Secretary-General and the Government -- expired. There had been no decision yet whether to negotiate an extension of that mandate.