Press Briefing - 30 March 1999

José Luis Diaz, media and information officer for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, announced that today, the Commission on Human Rights had a very long day since it would be meeting until midnight. It would debate issues such as racism, the right to development, and the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine. Today's guest speakers were Augustin Kontchou Kouomegni, Minister of State in charge of External Relations of Cameroon; and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, Ignatius C. Olisemeka, who would be speaking this afternoon.

Also this afternoon, the Independent Expert on the right to development, Arjun Sengupta, would speak to the Commission, said Mr. Diaz. At 9 p.m., it would be the turn of the Special Rapporteur on the situation in the occupied Arab Territories, Hannu Halinen, to present his latest report (E/CN.4/1999/24).

In response to a question asked at the last briefing, Mr. Diaz said the Commission's Bureau would set the deadlines for the submission of draft resolutions as it debated the different items. So far, the Commission had set a deadline for the submission of draft resolutions on items 4 and 5, which dealt with, respectively, the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the right to self-determination. The deadline for submission of draft resolutions on those items was 9 April.

Mr. Diaz said the new programme for the presentation of reports by the Special Rapporteurs had been put in the press room. According to that programme, the discussion of the situation in specific countries would start tomorrow, when reports on Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Equatorial Guinea would be introduced by the relevant experts.

According to the programme of briefings (also in the press room), the Rapporteurs on Iraq and the occupied Arab Territories would speak to correspondents tomorrow, said Mr. Diaz. Max Van der Stoel, the Special Rapporteur on Iraq, would brief at 12.30 p.m., and Mr. Hannu Halinen, the Rapporteur for the occupied Arab Territories, would brief at 3 p.m.

A correspondent asked whether the deadline for draft resolutions on item 9 (specific countries) would still be examined on 16 April. He also asked whether it would be possible to notify correspondents in the press room the moment a draft resolution was officially submitted to the Commission. Mr. Diaz replied that this would be done. In response to the first question, he said the deadlines were set according to how long the discussion on the specific items lasted, but it could be assumed that the 16th was probably a good guess given that the discussion would start tomorrow.

In response to another question, Mr. Diaz said Palestinian and Israeli representatives would speak to the Commission today. One would have to look at the list of speakers to see at what approximately what time they would do so.

Another question was asked as to when the report on Sudan would be available, and Mr. Diaz said that it should come out before Thursday, when the Special Rapporteur, Leonardo Franco, was scheduled to address the Commission.

A correspondent noted that recently, when civilians had been killed by British and American forces in Iraq, the High Commissioner for Human Rights had expressed regret. He wished to know what was the High Commissioner's reaction now, when the same forces were involved in Yugoslavia and civilians had been killed. Mr. Diaz replied that the High Commissioner had issued a statement on this issue last Friday. The High Commissioner greatly regretted that the situation had come to this point, and the fact that civilians were suffering.

Asked about the High Commissioner's response to a Russian proposal that those responsible for the killing of civilians should be judged by an international court, Mr. Diaz said that this was an issue that would have to be addressed by the whole of the international community.

A correspondent asked about the application of the 1948 Convention on Genocide ion the light of a statement by a German Government Minister that what was occurring in Kosovo amounted to genocide. Mr. Diaz said he would have to look into the issue and get back to correspondents.

Later correspondents were told that according to article 6 of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, "[p]ersons charged with genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction". The International Criminal Court, once established, will also be able to prosecute cases of genocide. The Security Council has declared that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has jurisdiction over the territory of the former Yugoslavia, including Kosovo. In a 26 March letter to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, ICTY Prosecutor Louise Arbour wrote: "It is my intention to investigate all serious violations of international humanitarian law that merit prosecution in the international forum, particularly those involving attacks on the civilian population. Meanwhile I believe that everything must be done to deter the commission of future crimes. I therefore look to you to exercise your authority over your subordinates; to exercise your leadership in order to prevent the commission of further crimes; and to take all necessary steps to punish any of your subordinates who commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in Kosovo."