Pres-n s ReleasT» i e Secretary-General Department of Public Infoimation - News Coverage and Accreditation Service - New York

SG/T/2199 13 August 1999

ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL IK , 11-13 AUGUST

The Secretary-General left New York on Wednesday, 11 August, for , to participate at a ceremony commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. He spoke at the event, which was sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross, on Thursday morning.

The Secretary-General told those gathered for the ceremony that, "In this final year of the final decade of a century of war, genocide and immense suffering, we do not meet in celebration of the respect for these conventions. We cannot say that civilian populations have been spared in the conflicts of the last decade. And we should not believe that the next fifty years will require any less determination and commitment on our part to limit the suffering of civilians in war".

He noted that the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former and Rwanda had breathed new life into the Geneva Conventions by actualizing the concepts of accountability and individual criminal responsibility. The creation of the International Criminal Court, he said, was further evidence of the commitment to global justice. He expressed hope that its Statute would be universally accepted. (For text of statement, see Press Release SG/SM/7095 of 12 August.)

Fifteen dignitaries, including Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Secretary-General Kofi Annan, signed an appeal to all peoples and governments to shield the wounded, prisoners and civilians from the "agony of war". It calls on the world to reject the idea that war is inevitable and to eradicate its underlying causes.

Among his appointments during the day, the Secretary-General met with Prince Hassan of Jordan, as well as, with the newly elected Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals, Carla Del Ponte. He introduced the Prosecutor to the Geneva press corps. In response to a question on , the Secretary-General said that, obviously, justice must be done there, but he emphasized that justice was not revenge. Since both sides would have to live together, reconciliation would be necessary, he said.

Later in the day, the Secretary-General met with Carl Bildt, his Special Envoy for the Balkans. He had met earlier with Yves Berthelot, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe; with Issa Diallo, his Special Representative for Angola, and with Celso Amorim, Permanent Representative of to Geneva.

Today, the Secretary-General departed Geneva for a summer holiday.

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