Detention of four Georgian minors by the de facto authorities of South Ossetia
Bernard Kouchner’s visit to the Middle East
Iran/ Nuclear
Colombia/ Venezuela
Guinea
Sudan
North Korea/ Nuclear
Detention of four Georgian minors by the de facto authorities of South Ossetia
France is concerned by the detention on November 4 of four Georgian minors, aged from 14 to 17, by the de facto authorities of South Ossetia. Diplomatic initiatives at various levels have been undertaken.
France underlines the need to take into consideration the specific rights of underage detainees in accordance with international standards, in particular the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 20th anniversary of which we are commemorating today. France urges all parties, particularly Russia, to use their influence to secure the release of these four minors.
France strongly urges all parties to address incidents of this kind within the framework of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism agreed during the international discussions in Geneva. It urges all of the participants of these meetings to comply with the timetable and regrets that some of them, for example the European Union Monitoring Mission, have decided not to honor their commitments by refusing to be represented there on November 18.
France reaffirms its attachment to respect for Georgia’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders.
Bernard Kouchner’s visit to the Middle East
Bernard Kouchner visited the Middle East from November 17 to 18.
He met in Amman with the President of the Palestinian Authorities Mahmoud Abbas, the Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dhahabi and his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Joudeh.
In Israel he met with President Simon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his counterpart Avigdor Lieberman. He will also meet Tzipi Livni, the parents of Gilad Shalit and many leading figures from civil society.
He informed all of his Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian meeting partners that France believes there is an urgent need to resume negotiations aimed at creating a viable, independent and democratic Palestinian State, living in peace alongside Israel, with secure and recognized borders, based on the UNSC resolutions and the Arab peace initiative. To achieve this, France reaffirmed its support for the Palestinian Authorities and its President Mahmoud Abbas, and its conviction that President Abbas is, for Israel, a genuine partner for peace.
The visit took place within the context of the announcement of the construction of new settlements in Gilo. The minister underlined that this decision was unfortunate. The resumption of the peace process remains our priority.
Bernard Kouchner also signed an agreement with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society to contribute €2 million in funding for the rehabilitation of the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza, which was severely damaged during the events of last winter. The signing of this agreement demonstrates France’s continued mobilization to support the people of Gaza and our concrete commitment to improving their living conditions. The minister stated that a lot of hopes rested on the swift implementation of this agreement. The French authorities are remaining in close contact with the Palestinian Authorities concerning this matter.
Did the minister obtain any assurances from the Israelis?
We have to consider the issue in its entirety. When we call for dialogue, for a peace process, that also includes expectations from both sides. This visit was important because the main message was to urge all sides to resume the process of dialogue and to make the necessary efforts for the dynamics to resume and bring the various actors together by trying to move in the same direction. Bernard Kouchner made a significant contribution by conveying this message to all sides. We must continue to work in this direction, continue the exchanges, and continue to convey the messages. That is what we are mobilizing our efforts to achieve.
What was the main message of this visit?
We must continue to try everything to ensure that the process of dialogue, negotiations resume.
Is this desire realistic? There seems to be such a situation of deadlock.
We believe in peace. We are seeking dialogue and the resumption of negotiations. We must not give up, we must continue to fight for peace. That is what France will continue to do. We are aware of the obstacles and the problems but that is not a reason, at least not for us, to give up.
There is a diametrically opposed position. The Palestinian position is that the resumption of the negotiations is dependent on the freezing of settlements. There was a striking example a few days ago with the approval to build almost 1000 housing units. The Israeli position demands the resumption of negotiations without any conditions, either on the objective or the means. Do you think we can try to reconcile these two positions? Do you have any proposals to start this process?
Concerning the construction of housing, Bernard Kouchner gave his opinion. […] He was very clear. Our main objective now is to convince all sides that there is no alternative to peace and the resumption of dialogue.
Once the principle has been put forward, what can we do?
This is the first step. The various parties must be convinced. The complicated part of the current situation is to be able to convince all sides that there is no other choice. Once they are convinced themselves, they will then take action. For the moment the work consists in making these parties see that there is no other solution than to resume dialogue and the peace process. Once dialogue has been initiated, we always find scope for progression, areas of agreement. We are unfortunately not at this stage; we are still at the stage where we are initiating the process and that is why we are pushing hard in this direction.
Egypt has expressed ideas over the last few days which consist in proposing a time limit for the negotiations and defining the objective of the process, replacing the Palestinian conditionality. Does this proposal seem acceptable to you?
We talked about Turkish mediation, Syrian ideas, etc. last week. Anything that can make a positive contribution to this vital resumption of negotiations, anything that can help in this direction is welcome. These ideas help create a general movement that will prompt all sides to come together and present the options. If these contributions can help to end the current deadlock, they are welcome. This must as much of a joint effort as possible.
A meeting is taking place today in Brussels on the Iranian nuclear issue. What are the proposals that have been put on the table?
The “E3+3” political leaders (Germany, China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and the EU High Representative) met today in Brussels to examine the actions to be taken with regard to the Iranian nuclear program following the October 1 meeting in Geneva with Iran.
We are disappointed by the lack of a positive response from Iran to the proposals made by the “E3+3” in Geneva.
- although the IAEA inspectors have visited the Qom enrichment facility, we have taken note of the IAEA Director General’s evaluation according to which Iran should have declared the construction of this facility much earlier to the Agency and has not complied with its international obligations. The construction of this new enrichment facility is in violation of several UN Security Council resolutions. The IAEA Board is due to examine this issue next week.
- Iran has not responded favorably to the IAEA draft agreement regarding the supply of nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor (TRR).
We are strongly urging Iran to make serious efforts to restore the international community’s confidence in the nature of its nuclear program by implementing the demands of the IAEA Board of Governors and the Security Council, in particular the suspension of its sensitive nuclear activities, by cooperating with the Agency without any restrictions and by giving a positive response to the proposals made by the Six. That remains our main objective.
The “E3+3” agreed that a new meeting should take place very soon in order to finalize our evaluation and decide on the next steps in accordance with the two-pronged approach based on dialogue and firmness.
You made a statement yesterday indicating that France is opposed to a technical meeting. What is the situation about that?
That was very clearly rejected by the Iranian party. The work now involves political efforts both in terms of evaluation and the consequences to be drawn from this situation. I am not prejudging the outcome of the meeting in Brussels which is currently taking place.
Could France consider new sanctions against Iran?
We are going to compare all points of view. Concerning sanctions, the principles are clear; dialogue and firmness is the two-track approach that we have been using from the outset. No anticipation, no speculation, let’s stay with the facts for now. A meeting is taking place in Brussels to analyze, evaluate and examine the consequences to be drawn.
We are closely monitoring the current situation at the border between Colombia and Venezuela and we are disappointed by the continuing tension between these two countries.
Together with our EU partners, we urge the two countries to engage in dialogue in order, with the support of the regional organizations if necessary, to restore confidence.
The mediator Blaise Compaoré proposed a transition period in the presence of Mr. Camara over a period of about 100 days. What is France’s reaction to this proposal?
The mediator is carrying out his mediation efforts and he is doing so in conditions that are not easy.
Let me reaffirm our priorities. We would like full light to be shed on the massacres of September 28, that those responsible for these massacres be identified and that their crimes do not go unpunished. Based on this first principle we not only recommend but strongly suggest and support the establishment of an international commission of inquiry on what happened in the Conakry stadium on September 28.
The second principle of our position concerns the transition. Guinea is in a period of transition; what happened that day clearly complicated the transition process a great deal and we would like this transition process to take place as quickly as possible and above all in a constructive way so that elections can be held.
We hope this transition period will make it possible to shed light on what happened and also to prepare for free and democratic elections which are now really needed in Guinea.
Given the most recent information that we have received from Ouagadougou, the most important thing is to determine the position of the “Forces Vives de Guinée” since they have a key role to play.
As far as I know, they have not yet voiced their opinion. Let’s wait a bit, a meeting is scheduled to take place between the mediator and the “Forces Vives” today, we will see what comes out of it, obviously without forgetting the members of ECOWAS and the African Union.
At this stage, I want, above all, to reaffirm the basic principles of our position on this issue.
Can you talk to us about the Franco-Qatari initiative in Sudan?
You are aware of the close cooperation that we have with Qatar, obviously with regard to bilateral relations but also concerning major regional and international issues. Regarding Sudan, we endorse the Qatari facilitation efforts which support the mediation carried out by the African Union and the UN regarding Darfur.
I would also like to respond to the questions that have been put to us regarding the North Korean issue. We were asked what we thought of the recent North Korean statements claiming that there are no proliferation activities in North Korea, either in their territory or towards third countries. I just wanted to say on this issue, that we are concerned by North Korea’s role in the development in the Middle East of programs of weapons of mass destruction and means of delivery, particularly in the ballistic field.
It is vital that the intentions expressed by the North Korean authorities be translated into actions and we will be careful to ensure that the DPRK complies with all of its international obligations.