TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL HAS FULFILLED MANDATE, SHOULD BE ABOLISHED, SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON CHARTER TOLD

Press Release
L/2755

TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL HAS FULFILLED MANDATE, SHOULD BE ABOLISHED, SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON CHARTER TOLD

The United Nations Trusteeship Council should be abolished, as it had fulfilled its mandate, the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on Strengthening the Role of the Organization was told this afternoon. Today's meeting dealt with the questions of the Trusteeship Council, the maintenance of peace and security and United Nations sanctions.

Speaking on the Trusteeship Council, Malaysia's Permanent Representative said that Member States must be ready to disband structures whose raison d'être had ceased to exist. Regarding sanctions, he called for the examination of the creation of an independent appeals mechanism to consider impartially whether a party had met a sanctions regime's conditions. The mechanism's opinion did not have to be binding on the Security Council, since its primary task would be to give independent and impartial opinions.

The implementation of sanctions "has occasionally given rise to a perception that sanctions are a political tool", he said. The mechanism could help avoid that perceptive. Its membership, which could remain ad hoc, could be drawn from among the judges of the International Court of Justice and other eminent jurists.

Although sanctions were useful responses to threats to peace and aggressive acts, their implementation had placed third States, for instance, in severe economic hardships that had not been adequately ameliorated, he said. He supported the proposals made by developing countries to address the problem.

With migrant labour a vital sector in her nation's economy, the representative of the Philippines called attention to how sanctions on areas other than trade hurt the labour sectors of some third countries. The Philippines sent abroad large numbers of workers, many of whom worked or had been scheduled to do so in countries under sanctions. One country had been asked to cut its diplomatic missions in United Nations Member States, under the terms of sanctions imposed upon it. That was a problem for the Philippines, as the reductions would necessarily be reciprocal. With more

Committee on Charter - 2 - Press Release L/2755 213th Meeting (PM) 28 February 1996

than 20,000 Filipino workers in the sanctioned country, a cut in the staff of the Philippine Embassy there would have been untenable. Moreover, the sanctions had also barred direct air links with that State, necessitating more costly, circuitous access to it.

She expressed the hope that the effect of sanctions on migrant labour would be reflected in the reports of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly and the Security Council. The formulation, implementation and assessment of sanctions could be improved since the fairness, consistency and efficacy of recent ones had been questioned.

The foundations of United Nations peace-keeping should be reviewed and strengthened, she added. The legal basis of those operations was incomplete. An additional chapter to the Charter could be organized, detailing the scope and objectives of peace-keeping and reflecting peace-keeping as a legitimate endeavour. Guiding principles should be developed for peace-keeping involvement in intra-State conflict, she said. An agreement on a definition of the breach of international peace and security and clearer tasks for peace- keeping missions were necessary.

Concerning Sierra Leone's proposal on the establishment of a dispute- settlement service, she said that it might label a situation as a potential or actual dispute, thereby making the parties more adversarial and complicating matters. Such a formal framework might make dispute settlement less flexible, prompting parties to shy away from addressing their dispute.

When the Committee met today, it had before it a report from the Secretary-General containing written comments from Member States on the Trusteeship Council's future (document A/AC.182/L.88). Malaysia stated that it should be disbanded. Antigua and Barbuda also stated there was no reason to retain the Council. At a time of severe financial constraints, efforts should be made to contract the United Nations rather than expanding it.

Under General Assembly resolution 50/52, the Special Committee had been requested to consider proposals on the Trusteeship Council. By the terms of resolution 50/55, the Assembly had requested the Secretary-General to invite Member States to submit, not later than 31 May 1996, written comments on the future of the Council. He was requested to submit to the Assembly, before the end of its fiftieth session, a report containing comments made by Member States on the subject.

The Special Committee will meet again at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, 29 February.

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