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17 November 1998

UNITED NATIONS REPORT, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1998

(Iraq, Yugoslavia/War Crimes Tribunal) (770)
UNSCOM OFFICES IN IRAQ REOPEN
The Special Commission overseeing the destruction of Iraqi weapons of
mass destruction (UNSCOM) has reopened offices in Iraq and will resume
monitoring operations November 18, the UN announced November 17.
UNSCOM and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) weapons
inspectors have been returning to Iraq since the crisis with Baghdad
was defused November 16 with the declaration by Iraq that it will
cooperate unconditionally with the UN weapons inspectors and allow
them access to any area of the country the inspectors wish to go.
Another flight will bring in the last group of about 30 Chilean
helicopter crew members, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
With the full compliment of staff back in Iraq, UNSCOM "expects to get
underway with a full range of its activities shortly," Eckhard said.
Monitoring involves keeping watch on specific so-called "declared"
weapons sites in Iraq to ensure that Iraq does not begin manufacturing
the banned chemical and biological weapons and long-range ballistic
missiles. The Special Commission's other activities include the
controversial intrusive, surprise inspections to search for documents
related to Iraq's weapons programs and/or to check sites that could be
possible clandestine storage facilities or manufacturing sites for the
weapons or their components.
The UN also said that all UN humanitarian aid staff who relocated to
Jordan when a military strike appeared likely have now returned to
Iraq.
SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS YUGOSLAVIA FOR TRIBUNAL RECORD
Condemning the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for its failure to
arrest three suspected war criminals, the Security Council November 17
demanded that Belgrade to cooperate with the International War Crimes
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslav Republics.
The Council adopted the resolution by a vote of 14 to
The resolution was adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter which
makes compliance mandatory.
The council condemned the failure of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia to execute arrest warrants issued by the tribunal and
demanded the "immediate and unconditional execution of those arrest
warrants."
The Hague-based court has repeatedly complained to the Security
Council about the "persistent failure" of the FRY to surrender three
Serbs indicted by the tribunal, Mile Mrksic, Miroslav Radic and
Veselin Sljivancanin, for alleged involvement in a 1991 massacre of
260 people in Vukovar, Croatia. Court officials say the three are
known to be in Yugoslavia.
In October the chief prosecutor of the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal
Louise Arbour said that she would launch a new investigation into
alleged atrocities in Kosovo. However, Belgrade will not allow Arbour
and a prosecution team to travel to Kosovo.
Arbour had planned to investigate both Serb military and paramilitary
units as well as the Kosovar Albanian separatists in Kosovo where tens
of thousands of ethnic Albanians were driven from their homes and
hundreds massacred.
After the formal council meeting British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock
asked: "What message is Belgrade sending with this lack of
cooperation? Is it against reconciliation as part of the process in
the Balkans? Is it so completely careless of justice?"
US SIGNS TAMPERE CONVENTION ON RELIEF OPERATIONS
The United States was one of 33 nations signing the Tampere Convention
on Provision of Emergency Telecommunications Resources for Disaster
Mitigation and Relief Operations November 17.
US Ambassador Peter Burleigh, the chief US representative to the UN,
signed for the United States during a brief ceremony in the UN Treaty
Room.
Tampere signatories agree to end excessive import duties and minimize
administrative and political barriers that prevent or delay moving
telecommunications personnel and equipment into disaster areas around
the world. The equipment and personnel help locate disaster victims or
help get food, medicine, and other vital supplies to the victims.
The signatories have formed a working group to standardize
cross-border and security procedures which will then be managed by the
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.
One of the most important instruments of its kind in over a decade,
the convention was negotiated in June in Finland at the urging of the
humanitarian relief community. For the first time, signatories to a
treaty agree to protect telecommunications relief workers and their
equipment.
The humanitarian relief community and others involved in providing
humanitarian aid also hope that the Tampere Convention will lead to a
second treaty protecting all relief workers and victims.