BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR UN PEACE-KEEPING, DISPUTE SETTLEMENT MUST BE ESTABLISHED, SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON CHARTER TOLD

Press Release
L/2756

BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR UN PEACE-KEEPING, DISPUTE SETTLEMENT MUST BE ESTABLISHED, SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON CHARTER TOLD

A General Assembly declaration should be adopted to provide basic principles for United Nations peace-keeping missions and mechanisms for preventing and settling crises and conflicts, the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on Strengthening of the Role of the Organization was told this morning. Today's meeting heard statements on the questions of maintaining international peace and security, United Nations sanctions and the Trusteeship Council.

Calling the Committee's attention to a working paper his delegation had submitted on the draft declaration, the representative of the Russian Federation said it was meant to codify the criteria, principles and general United Nations practice that would guide the Security Council and regional organizations and agencies in solving conflicts and disputes. Despite its 50-year existence, the United Nations did not have a concrete set of written guiding principles on how to go about tackling the new kind of conflicts that plagued many parts of the world, such as ethnic, religious and other types of intra-State disputes. The increase of such conflicts had caught the international community unprepared.

The representative of Egypt said that another working paper from the Russian Federation, on sanctions, should be examined thoroughly, and the Secretary-General's proposals on assistance to third States considered comprehensively and not selectively. The problem of those States could not be solved unless they were handled comprehensively, he added. Meanwhile, the Special Committee should examine Charter provisions that had not been applied in the best fashion, while those that had been marginalized should be used. Those included Articles 31, 44 and 109.

[According to article 31, any United Nations Member that was not a Security Council member might take part, without a vote, in the discussion of any question before the Council whenever the latter considered that the interests of that Member were specially affected. Article 44 provides that when the Council decided to use force it shall, before calling upon a non- Council member State to provide forces, invite that State, if the State so

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desires, to take part in the Council decisions on the use of that country's contingents. Article 109 contains provisions on reviewing the Charter.]

The representative of Chile said that a cut in the Committee's session could be proposed, if it was no loner interested in some of the issues before it. He expressed concern at the waste of meeting time, particularly in the light of the Organization's financial difficulties.

The Committee will meet again at a date and time to be announced.

Statements

NABIL ELARABY (Egypt) said that the General Assembly had established five working groups to cover different aspects of the work of the United Nations to strengthen and enhance its work and institute reforms and enhance its efficiency. Those were goals that had motivated the Special Committee's creation in the 1970s. Since the mandates of the working groups were broad and might take time to fulfil, wide negotiations should start on examining the future of the Special Committee. The functions of the Committed might be expanded to deal with issues such as the relationship of the different organs of the United Nations. The Committee should examine those Charter provisions that had not been applied in the best fashion, while those that had been marginalized should be used. They included articles 31, 44 and 109.

[According to article 31, any United Nations Member which was not a member of the Security Council might take part, without a vote, in the discussion of any question before the Council whenever the later considered the interests of that Member were specially affected. Article 44 states that when the Security Council had decided to use force it shall, before calling upon non-Council Member States to provide forces, invite the State, if the State so desires, to take part in the Council decisions on the use of contingents from that Member State. Article 109 contains provisions on reviewing the Charter.]

He said that some progress had been made regarding the Charter provisions on providing assistance to third States affected by the sanctions imposed on other nations. Those included the calls for consultations between third States and the Security Council before the implementation of sanctions. He welcomed the calls for periodic review of the sanctions to examine ways to help third States, when they sought assistance. The call for improving the capacities of the sanctions committees was also welcome. However, more effort should be made to alleviate the effects of sanctions on third States. For instance, regional and financial institutions should be invited to help third States. The proposals in the Secretary-General's report on assistance to third States should be examined comprehensively, not selectively.

The working paper from the Russian Federation on sanctions deserved thorough examination, he said. Due regard should be paid to paragraph 7 of General Assembly resolution 50/52, which called on the Special Committee to contribute to the revitalization of the Organization's work and to discuss how to help the Assembly's working groups in that field. Therefore, the Committee Chairman should hold consultations with the relevant working groups. He called for thorough examination of the Libyan paper on strengthening the role of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and security.

CARLOS CRISOTOMO (Chile) said he was concerned about the way the Committee's meetings had been held. Many hours of work had been wasted, since the meetings had begun late and ended earlier than scheduled. That fact was

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particularly regrettable in the light of financial difficulties facing the Organization. If some of the matters before the Committee were no longer of interest to it or if there was duplication of certain issues, then a reduction in the session of the Committee ought to be proposed.

On the affect of sanctions on third States, he said resolution 50/51 was a step forward in alleviating the problems faced by those States. In the Organization's attempt to forge a response on the matter, the document submitted by the Russian Federation was interesting. It rightly emphasized that the purpose of sanctions could not be to hurt third States. Its comments on humanitarian assistance were also noteworthy.

On Sierra Leone's proposal to create a dispute settlement service, he said the creation of such a mechanism would not necessarily meet the goals sought. In fact, the means to settle disputes already existed in the international arena. The decision whether to seek assistance in dispute settlement was a political matter and the creation of the mechanism would not alter that fact. Indeed, the Security Council already had the power to call on conflicting parties to settle their disputes.

On the matter of publication of the repertories, he said those volumes were a reliable history of the Organization and the delay of almost a decade in their publication was a matter of concern. He suggested the avoidance of duplication and the adoption of a computer model for their publication. In addition, publication ought to start from the year 1990 going back to prior years.

VLADIMIR FEDOROV (Russian Federation) expressed gratitude to the suggestion from Egypt on how to enhance the work of the Committee, adding they deserved attention. There was need to adapt the United Nations and its bodies to developments in international relations. The task of the Committee was to promote the development of the Charter's provisions.

There was an accumulated practice in the ways and means for adapting the Charter to the new and changing realities of the world, he continued. It included the development and adoption of General Assembly declarations, the adoption of Security Council decisions that developed Charter provisions and the attainment of agreements on their interpretation. There were some Charter provisions that had not been developed and they should be put into effect, as many of them had been left on the margin for half a century. While negotiations had been held on some of them, for political reasons they had not been implemented.

He said his delegation had submitted some suggestions, in a working paper, on the need to present objective criteria on the application of sanctions and welcomed some of the views delegations had expressed on it. The issues raised should be carefully considered, as they sought to provide objective conditions on when sanctions might or might not be applied. Those

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criteria would be helpful and would allow the Committee to solve issues connected with the adverse and destructive effects of sanctions on third States and their civilian populations and industrial infrastructure.

Sanctions should not be aimed at damaging third States as that would violate the Charter, he said. The Special Committee should continue studying the matter related to sanctions even though it was the subject of discussions in some working groups established by the General Assembly. Damage to third States should be considered further and the Committee should be the main body for elaborating the Charter's general provisions.

The Russia Federation, he said, had also submitted a working paper containing a draft General Assembly declaration on basic principles for the work of United Nations peace-keeping missions and mechanisms for preventing and settling crises and conflicts. The draft was meant to confirm the criteria and principles and generalize the United Nations practice in those fields. It could help the Security Council and regional organizations and agencies in solving conflicts and disputes. Further, it would provide a concrete document that would guide activities in those fields, something the Secretary-General had been asking for.

Despite its 50 years of existence, he said, the United Nations did not have concrete set of written guiding principles on how to go about tackling the new kind of conflicts that were erupting in many parts of the world. Those disputes and conflicts included ethnic, sectarian and other types of quarrels within States all over the world. That development had caught the international community unprepared. Many regional organizations and agencies were searching for ways to address those conflicts. The preparation or adoption of the declaration would not harm the rights of any State or the prerogatives of any United Nations body. He was ready to work with all delegations on the proposed draft declaration.

On the Trusteeship Council, he said that there was no legal basis for abolishing it or giving it any more power and no basis for changing the Charter on that score. The preparation of handbook and repertories on United Nations practice was important to the Russian Federation. Sierra Leone's proposals's on establishing a dispute settlement service could be considered by the Committee.

Documents Considered by Committee Members

Members of the Special Committee this morning commented on two working papers from the Russian Federation. One of the working papers was on the implementation of provisions of the United Nations Charter, including Article 50 on assistance to third States adversely affected by sanctions, while the second paper was a draft declaration on basic principles and criteria for the work of United Nations peace-keeping missions. The Committee also had before it a Libyan paper on strengthening the role of the United Nations in

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maintaining international peace and security and proposals from Sierra Leone on the establishment of a dispute settlement service.

The working paper on the implementation of provisions of the United Nations Charter, including Article 50 on assistance to third States adversely affected by sanctions, states that the "threshold" for applying sanctions against those who obstinately ignore United Nations demands should be high and precise criteria should be taken into account. The criteria suggested include a real threat to peace and security, exhaustion of all other means, assessment of probable consequences and ensuring that the reaction is commensurate with the threat.

Any sanctions imposed must be a part of a long-term search for a political settlement of the conflict, the paper says. The sanctions must reflect the strategic objectives of the international community and not those of only a few members, plus take into account the political and physical price of such actions. In order to be justified and effective, sanctions should adhere strictly to the provisions of the Charter, it states. "They should be based not on political expedience but on the solid basis of international law and should be implemented as prescribed by the Charter, in accordance with the principles of justice and international law."

The paper goes on to say that from the point of view of international law and justice, the sanctions should not have the unspoken objective of causing damage to third States, for that would undermine the very idea of the sanctions. The proposals on the subject put forward by various States, the United Nations bodies and other international organizations, contained in the report of the Secretary-General (A/50/361) and the summary of the General Assembly's subgroup on the question of the United Nations-imposed sanctions deserved very close attention.

Included among proposals seeking to mitigate the affect of sanctions on third States was a proposal recommending consultations with potentially affected States and assessment of the potential impact of sanctions on them, the paper states. Other proposals related to: monitoring the effect of sanctions; the possibility of establishing a time-frame for the application of sanctions; improving the method of work and transparency of the Security Council and the sanctions committees; and assistance to third States affected by sanctions.

Particular attention should be given to the concept of "humanitarian limits" of the sanctions, according to the working paper. Also, the possibility of including in Security Council decisions a temporary suspension of sanctions in exceptional circumstances to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe should be considered. In addition, the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to the population of target-countries should be considered, especially in the case of potentially unstable and least developed countries.

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The working paper with a draft General Assembly Declaration on the basic principles and criteria for the work of United Nations peace-keeping missions and mechanisms for preventing and settling crises and conflicts (A/AC.182/L.89) would have the Assembly solemnly proclaim the need to observe certain basic principles and criteria in conducting peace-keeping missions, instruments and mechanisms, including fact-finding missions, observer groups, missions of representatives of the Secretary-General and observer missions.

The basic goal of the mechanisms, according to the draft, will be to help establish contacts between parties to a conflict and organize talks between them. The formulation of mandates of the mechanisms by the Security Council and other United Nations bodies should conform with international law and avoid including elements that would prejudice the impartiality of the mechanisms. Their mandates must be based on the United Nations Charter, Council decisions and bilateral and multilateral agreements.

The Libyan paper on strengthening the role of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and security (A/AC.182/L.90) states that the Committee should consider means for strengthening the General Assembly's role in realizing international cooperation in the maintenance of peace and security, based on the Charter Articles 10, 11 and 14, since peace and security are the common responsibility of all United Nations Members. It should propose ways to enhance the relationship between the Assembly and the Security Council, based on Articles 15 and 24 and within the framework of the two organs' work in strengthening peace and security.

The Committee should develop criteria to help guarantee that the Council's composition reflected the United Nations general membership and ensured equitable geographical distribution. It should then look for ways to enhance the Council's role in maintaining peace and security. The negative effects of applying the rule on the necessity of unanimity among the Council's permanent members, how to limit its use and measures to repeal it should be considered.

In an annex to a September 1995 letter addressed to the United Nations, on the Dispute Settlement Service (document A/50/403), the Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone states that the Service could be a permanent subsidiary for coping with the peaceful settlement of disputes. Devolving from the General Assembly, it would be a subsidiary to and report to that body annually. Its foundation is based on the peacemaking provisions of the Charter's Chapter VI and should not be confused with peace-enforcement operations relating to the collective security aspects of Chapter VII.

According to a March 1994 introductory statement attached to the letter as an appendix, the Service envisages a mechanism that will be placed at the United Nations disposal, respond to requests from parties in dispute by making available and offering services to them to help resolve their disputes through

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good offices, conciliation or mediation. The Service would have a two-part structure comprised of Administrators and a Roster. Administrators will consider requests for extending settlement services. The Roster will draw upon a pool of potential settlors whose expertise in dispute settlement will afford parties a choice of personalities who will enjoy their confidence.

The annex states that the Service is based on the peacemaking provisions of the United Nations Charter, mainly in Article 33. The proposal is actually a challenge to the lack of a permanent subsidiary mechanism to take advantage of the options provided for in that Article. Diplomatic procedures are available for using the options, but a structured, self-triggering entity is lacking to carry them out, the annex says.

The annex describes the Board of Administrators, one from each of the five regions, as a body that would have roots in the regions of the United Nations system and possibly developing substructures of its own, appropriate to a specific region, and where early warning possibilities could emerge concerning sensitive dispute situations. Such a relation, coupled with the availability of settlors from the Roster having particular expertise in the basic problems of an area, could contribute to the growing interest and emphasis on regional approaches within the Organization.

The Secretary-General or his representative is also involved as an ex officio member of the Board of Administrators before or after the Service has been activated and where his advice and opinions can be given. He and any of the Administrators could be requested to serve as a settlor later in a dispute. The services could be achieved without disturbing the constitutional balance of the main organs of the Organization and they could not be invoked to prevent the Security Council from exercising its powers. The Council has the option of mandating the use of the Service for its own purpose without being subjected to any limitations. The offering of services by the Service may be prevented by the Council under Article 27, paragraph 2, of the Charter, which indicates that the offer can be stopped by a vote of any nine or more Council members. A veto is not involved since the matter is procedural.

As for the financial matters of the Service, a comparison with funding required for peace-keeping or Chapter VII peace-enforcement obligations would make the Service's budget look minor, states the annex. First, after accepting the services, the parties shall bear all costs of subsequent dispute-settlement sessions. Second, parties with financial difficulties could ask for help from the Secretary-General's fund for those seeking similar aid to appear before the International Court of Justice. Third, the Administrators in New York would not be remunerated. Fourth, the Service did not require the creation of any new organ or Secretariat unit. The Office of Legal Affairs could be used for secretarial services and as repository of the Roster of Settlors and for its wide dissemination.

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