SANCTIONS SHOULD NOT BE PRIMARY MEANS OF SETTLING DISPUTES, COMMITTEE ON CHARTER TOLD
Press Release
L/2753
SANCTIONS SHOULD NOT BE PRIMARY MEANS OF SETTLING DISPUTES, COMMITTEE ON CHARTER TOLD
19960226 Sanctions should not be imposed as a primary means of settling disputes, since the frequent imposition of sanctions in recent years had increased the number of adversely affected third States and complicated the problems faced by developing countries, the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization was told this morning.The representative of China, one of eight speakers this morning, said the number of third States affected by the unintended consequences of sanctions imposed under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter had increased. A procedure for consultations between third States and the Security Council should be set up, he added. Furthermore, agencies for early warning and dispute settlement would reduce the need for the imposition of sanctions.
Since the suspension of sanctions did not mean an end to the problems faced by third States, other proposals to mobilize help for such States should be considered, the representative of Ukraine said. Special trade preferences to affected countries should be introduced temporarily, and some quotas that had belonged to target States ought to be allocated to third States. In addition, private foreign investments to affected countries should be promoted, and a special regime to help the most affected third State to participate in restoring economic ties and reconstructing the economy of a previously sanctioned State should be considered.
The representatives of Romania, Greece, Iran, United States, Jordan and the Czech Republic also made statements.
The Special Committee will meet again at a time and date to be announced.
Committee Work Programme
The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization met this morning to consider proposals concerning the maintenance of international peace and security and the peaceful settlement of all disputes. With regard to maintenance of international peace and security, the Committee will continue to consider the question of the implementation of the provisions of the Charter relating to helping third States affected by sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter, including the implementation of the provisions of General Assembly resolution 50/51, adopted on 11 December 1995.
Assembly resolution 50/51 stresses that, in formulating sanctions regimes, due consideration should be given to the potential effects of sanctions in third States. It requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the Security Council and its sanctions committees carried out their work expeditiously. It requests him, among other things, to make arrangements in the Secretariat for assessing information on the effects of sanctions on third States and for providing advice to the Security Council on the specific needs and problems of those States.
The resolution further requests the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at its fifty-first session on the implementation of the above mentioned paragraph. In addition, it requests him to report on possible guidelines to be used by the Secretariat for coordinating information on international economic or other assistance potentially available to the third States. The United Nations system, international financial institutions, other international organizations, regional organizations and Member States are invited to continue to consider and address special economic problems of third States affected by sanctions.
(According to Article 50 of the United Nations Charter, if preventive enforcement measures against any State are taken by the Council, any other State, whether a Member of the United Nations or not, confronted with special economic problems arising from those measures, has the right to consult the Council with regard to a solution of those problems.)
Statements
AUREL PREDA (Romania) said there was no denying the right of the Security Council to adopt sanctions under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. However, the necessity of finding solutions to the adverse affects of sanctions on third States could not be denied either. The issue of effects of sanctions on third States had become increasingly important as a large number of States had continued to be affected.
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The practical possibilities of an efficient application of Article 50 should be further explored, he said. If all the third States affected by the negative consequences of sanctions had the right to address the Security Council for consultations, it was obvious to presume that those consultations would have results and would lead to some practical and equitable solutions for such States. Unfortunately, the problems confronting third States persisted. Romania, along with Bulgaria, Greece, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, had addressed a letter to the Secretary-General in which it had proposed several steps for alleviating the long-term negative impact of sanctions on third States.
He said the Secretary-General's report had included proposals aimed at the harmonization of different views on the subject. The exchange of views ought to be continued to find pragmatic and realistic solutions. Romania appreciated the adoption of General Assembly resolution 50/51 last year and was also appreciative of the interpretation of that resolution by the European Union, whose intervention had been presented to the Special Committee by the representative of Italy in its current session.
VASYL G. KORZACHENKO (Ukraine) said that General Assembly resolution 50/51 provided a solid basis for protecting the special economic interests of third States suffering from the implementation of preventive or enforcement measures taken by the Security Council in accordance with Chapter VII of the Charter. The special economic problems should be met with appropriate steps conducive to the actual needs. The resolution provided for regularly assessing a sanctions regime by the Council, enhancing and streamlining the work of the sanctions committees, facilitating access to them by representatives of States confronted with special economic problems, and improving their effectiveness and transparency.
He said he looked forward to the report the Secretary-General would submit to the fifty-first session of the Assembly on the implementation of the resolution's provisions. However, a number of proposals concerning a mechanism to implement the provisions of the Charter related to helping sanctions-affected third States had not been reflected in the resolution. Their consideration and implementation would help solve those problems, while not violating or hurting the effectiveness of sanctions regimes.
The special role of the international financial institutions should be more carefully exploited, he continued. There were a number of additional possibilities in which their capacities could be used to facilitate the protection of the special economic interests of third States. Also, since the suspension or termination of sanctions did not mean that the problems of those States had been solved, other proposals to mobilize help for such States, especially those not requiring additional funding from international donors, deserved special attention. In particular, special trade preferences to affected countries should be introduced temporarily, some of the quotas that
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had belonged to the target States should be allocated to the affected third States, and private foreign investments to affected countries should be promoted through an appropriate system of investment guarantees.
He said a special regime to help the most affected third State to participate in restoring economic ties and reconstructing the economy of a previously sanctioned State should be introduced. The imposition, alteration or termination of sanctions might serve as a trigger to begin consultations between States concerned and relevant national and international authorities about the possible ways of implementing those measures. The working paper of the Russian Federation, submitted at a previous meeting, dealt mostly with the concept of the "humanitarian limits" of the sanctions. Further discussion on that subject in the Special Committee should not be linked to the deliberations on the question of assistance to third States.
ZHANG KENING (China) said some of the ideas put forward by Member States in their interventions in the Committee's current session had been constructive. China sought, at the present stage, to present its preliminary view on various matters before the Committee. The question of the unintended adverse impact of sanctions on third States had been constantly examined. In recent years, the number of affected third States had increased. China believed that sanctions should not be imposed as a primary means of settling disputes. The frequent use of sanctions had also increased the number of affected third States and the problems faced by them. Especially acute were the problems encountered by developing countries.
One solution to the problems faced by third States was to provide them with the right to consult with the Security Council, he continued. A procedure should be set up wherein the third State could consult the Security Council. Due to the financial difficulties of the United Nations, assistance from international institutions for third States might need to be explored. However, in any assistance provided, those most directly affected ought to be given priority. In cases where immediate assistance could not be provided, social and economic help over the long-term could be provided.
He reiterated that the Security Council ought to take into account the possible effect of sanctions on third States whenever it considered the application of sanctions on target States, he said. Commenting on the working paper submitted by the Russian Federation, he said it was fairly comprehensive and had future reference value for the Committee. Referring to the proposal put forward by Sierra Leone on the establishment of a dispute-settlement service, he said China had also found that proposal constructive. He believed that if agencies were set up for early warning and dispute settlement, the need for sanctions would be reduced. However, the proposal had to be examined in more detail.
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On the question of repertory and repertoire, he said, though China was aware of the financial difficulties facing the Secretariat in publishing those documents, the publications were important to many Member States. The two publications were used widely in the research institutes in Member States, and China hoped they would be continued. Noting that the current session was open to all States, he said that would bring new life to the Special Committee.
MARIA YONDIKAKIS-TELALIAN (Greece) said that her delegation's views had been expressed by the representative of Italy who had spoken for the European Union. Greece had been affected by the sanctions imposed on the former Yugoslavia. She stressed that resolution 50/51 was a serious step towards addressing the problem of third States. The report of the Secretary-General had presented some useful solutions that should be carefully considered and examined by the Committee.
Regarding the Russian working paper, she said that the identification of legal criteria to be considered before the imposition of sanctions would be helpful. Such consideration would help enhance the work of the Organization in the search for the peaceful settlement of disputes. Her country would cooperate with the Russian Federation on the issues it had raised. The issue of third States affected by sanctions should remain a priority of the Committee.
SEYED HOSSEIN ENAYAT (Iran) said that the resolution was a valuable framework for assisting third States affected by sanctions. The implementation of the resolution should also be accompanied by the identification of new solutions, which should include a permanent monitoring system, a consideration of the humanitarian aspects and a consideration of the proposals of the Secretary-General. He supported the working paper introduced by the Russian Federation.
On the establishment of a dispute-settlement service, he said that the proposal by Sierra Leone had stimulated useful debate. The service would be based on the peacemaking provisions made by the Charter of the United Nations, but there were also ambiguities. The creation of that bureaucracy would not be in keeping with recent policies of the United Nations on administrative matters.
JOHN ARBOGAST (United States) said that working paper from the Russian Federation seemed to address issues that were, by and large, outside the scope of the Committee's mandate and would be better addressed in other forums. The issue of sanctions was being addressed in more than one forum, and the work being done should be monitored to ensure that it proceeded rationally and efficiently. On the work of the Committee, General Assembly resolution 50/51 was a solid step forward in considering the issue of sanctions. The appropriate posture of the Committee would be to allow the dust to settle on the implementation of resolution 50/51 and consider the report that was
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expected from the Secretary-General, which would contain guidelines for future consideration.
WALID OBEIDAT (Jordan) said that progress had been made in adopting resolution 50/51. That progress should be consolidated and built upon, and a mechanism for implementation should be sought. He thanked the Russian Federation for the document it had submitted on countries for which provisions were established to consider the damage caused by sanctions. A detailed machinery on interpreting Article 50 should be established, linking it with consideration of when sanctions would be lifted when their conditions had been met.
Mr. MIKLUKA (Czech Republic) thanked the Russian Federation for its working paper on assistance to third states adversely affected by sanctions imposed under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The Czech Republic was fully prepared to examine the paper. However, it did not think it advisable to expand the debate beyond the provision of assistance to third States. A number of questions raised in the working document were related more to target States. At the current stage, it was not advisable to deal with that issue. In addition, several paragraphs pertained to conditions under which sanctions were originally imposed. He was not certain that the General Assembly wanted the Special Committee to examine that matter.
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