SPEAKERS CRITICIZE COERCIVE, UNILATERAL MEASURES TAKEN BY CERTAIN STATES AS LEGAL COMMITTEE CONCLUDES DEBATE ON LAW DECADE

Press Release
GA/L/3043

SPEAKERS CRITICIZE COERCIVE, UNILATERAL MEASURES TAKEN BY CERTAIN STATES AS LEGAL COMMITTEE CONCLUDES DEBATE ON LAW DECADE

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) this morning concluded its debate on the United Nations Decade of International Law (1990-1999), a number of representatives criticized coercive and unilateral measures taken by certain States and stressed that international law should be upheld.

The representative of Iran said that the policies and practices of certain States ran counter to accepted norms and principles of international law. There was an increasing tendency to resort to unilateral coercive economic measures which infringed upon the basic principles of a peaceful, democratic and cooperative world.

The representative of Brazil said that possibilities which opened up with the end of the cold war should be translated into concrete expressions, such as the Mongolian proposal on the drafting of guiding principles for international negotiations. That step would help create an atmosphere that rejected the threat or use of force, discriminatory attitudes and arbitrary unilateral acts.

The representative of Ukraine said the benefits for international cooperation were obvious if all States were guided by the principles, norms and regulations universally recognized and agreed upon.

The representative of Cuba said the principle of sovereign equality of States, the right to adopt different economic systems and the right to struggle against colonial domination were being subjected to all manner of distortions. Cuba condemned and denounced the brutal blockade imposed against her for 40 years, he said, adding that it constituted flagrant violation of international law.

In exercise of the right of reply, the representative of the United States said it was regrettable that the representative of Cuba had sought to politicize the debate on the Decade and that his statement was unfounded and meant to score political points.

Replying, the representative of Cuba said that it had every right to make use of the forum of the Sixth Committee or any other body to refer to a unilateral policy that contravened the principles of international law.

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Other statements in the debate on the Decade were made by Algeria, Japan, Sri Lanka, Belarus, San Marino, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Lebanon and Mongolia. The observer of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also spoke.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 21 October, to begin consideration of the item on the establishment of an international criminal court.

Committee Work Programme

The Sixth Committee (Legal) met this morning to conclude its consideration of the item on United Nations Decade of International Law (1990-1999). (For background, see Press Release GA/L/3041 of 14 October.)

Statements

AHCENE KERMA (Algeria) said the United Nations Decade of International Law had come at a time when the world was going through large scale upheavals and had corresponded with the reduction of tensions throughout the world. Particular accomplishments during that Decade had been the establishment of the Convention on the Law of the Sea and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Rules of international law, however, were only effective if they were universal and it was necessary to make sure there was greater participation among States, governments and all world regimes.

On the proposal by Mongolia to develop guiding principles for international negotiation, he said it deserved greater consideration by the Committee. The proposal by the Netherlands and the Russian Federation for the celebration of the centennial of the first International Peace Conference would also encourage the participation of all States to ensure the success and dissemination of international law.

HIROSHI KAWAMURA (Japan) stressed the importance of the rule of law in the realization of an orderly and peaceful international community. It was incumbent upon all States to seek the further dissemination of international law upon which the rule of law was based. In that connection, he emphasized the importance of the Colloquium on the Progressive Development and Codification of International Law to be held at Headquarters on 28 and 29 October. Fully aware of its significance, his Government had made a financial contribution to ensure its success.

He said a symposium on international law recently held in Japan by the Japanese Association of International Law with the participation of foreign and domestic experts in the subject was a great success. His Government intended to make further efforts to promote the implementation of the programme of activities concluding the Decade to enhance the understanding of international law among the Japanese public, as well as overseas.

Japan supported the Secretary-General's proposal that user-fees should be charged for access to the United Nations treaty collection on the Internet, he said. The number of potential subscribers with free access to the texts on-line should be kept to a minimum as long as possible as the legal and administrative practice of the Secretariat in relation to publications dictated. His delegation hoped for the submission of a concrete programme indicating the additional cost for translating United Nations treaties into the official languages.

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Japan supported the draft resolution introduced by the Netherlands and the Russian Federation on the programme of action for the celebration of the centennial of the first International Peace Conference. Commenting on the Mongolian proposal for the drafting of guiding principles for international negotiations, he said Japan believed that the principle of sovereign equality in such negotiations should be respected. The draft resolution on the proposal required careful formulation.

VICTOR KACHURENKO (Ukraine) said that his country, as a new European democracy, was very interested in the further strengthening of international legal order. Examples of that was its recently concluded treaties with the Russian Federation and Romania, as well as the agreement of State borders with Belarus. The benefits for international cooperation were obvious if all States were guided by the principles, norms and regulations universally recognized and agreed upon.

He added that, in relation to the closing of the Decade of International Law, a thorough, multifaceted consideration should be given to issues such as self-determination and the forms of its realization in the context of disintegration and integration of States; the provision of legally binding international security guarantees for States that abandon nuclear weapons; and the elaboration of legal aspects of economic security, especially norms and regulations that would restrain States from resorting to unilateral economic measures for political gains. The progressive development of international law for those problems would facilitate adequate responses to new challenges.

SUMITH NAKANDALA (Sri Lanka), outlining programmes undertaken by his Government to promote international law, said the subject was taught at the newly established Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute and the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies. The University of Colombo and the Open University of Sri Lanka also offered courses in international law. His delegation welcomed the convening of the Colloquium to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the International Law Commission. His delegation hoped its outcome would generate concrete and practical suggestions for enhancing the Commission's work and making it more effective.

Sri Lanka welcomed the establishment of a comprehensive electronic database for United Nations treaties, but felt that the imposition of a user- fee would hinder the free flow of information. He proposed the designation of a national focal point where that facility was available free of charge. That focal point could be a university where international law was taught. Sri Lanka also welcomed the programme of action drafted on the commemoration of the centennial of the first International Peace Conference and looked forward to active participation in the events proposed.

SAEID MIRZAEI YENGEJEH (Iran) said that, despite the encouraging achievements over the last decade, the policies and practices adopted by certain States ran contrary to the accepted norms and principles and that

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should not be overlooked. There was an increasing tendency to resort to unilateral coercive economic measures. While such actions had no foundation in international law, they infringed on the basic principles of a peaceful, democratic and cooperative world. Nations around the world had persistently objected to such unilateral measures and should continue to do so.

SYARGEI SYARGEEU (Belarus), welcoming the introduction of the electronic database by the Secretariat, said it would help achieve savings in the publication of treaty texts. He hoped the texts would be translated into all other working languages of the Organization. Belarus emphasized the holding of the Colloquium which would help countries in transition with the drafting of new laws. He also welcomed the draft programme of activities to commemorate in 1999 the centennial of the first International Peace Conference and hoped the events would be successful. His country firmly advocated the creation of an international criminal court. Belarus would continue to work actively to promote the Law Decade, and to help achieve its objectives through the teaching and national dissemination of information about international law.

NICOLA FILIPPI BALESTRA (San Marino) welcomed the Mongolian proposal on the drafting of guiding principles on international negotiations and said they could have a wide impact on negotiations. His country supported the draft resolution submitted by the Netherlands and the Russian Federation on the centennial of the first International Peace Conference. It was satisfied with its provisions but would welcome improvements proposed by a majority of Committee members.

MARAT OUSSOUPOV (Kyrgyzstan) said the proposal of Mongolia would ensure fair and just participation by parties. A code of conduct of States in international negotiations would create an atmosphere of cooperation and trust. Though it would not solve all problems, it would create political will to follow the rules of international negotiations.

ANTONIO DE AGUIAR PATRIOTA (Brazil) said the end of the cold war had opened up possibilities for more harmonious conduct of international negotiations. Given the sometimes contradictory signals that still loom in the contemporary landscape, there was a need to translate those possibilities into concrete expressions such as the Mongolian proposal. There was merit in adopting a set of principles for international negotiations that were fundamentally based on the United Nations Charter and present United Nations practice. That step would help create an atmosphere that rejected the threat or use of force, discriminatory attitudes and arbitrary unilateral acts.

AKMARAL ARYSTANBEKOVA (Kazakhstan) said her country had ensured the supremacy of international law over the norms of national legislation. Its new criminal code and the direct application of international treaties underscored Kazakhstan's commitment to international law. Her country

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supported the thrust of major international multilateral treaties concerning the environment, disarmament, space and humanitarian laws.

As a newly independent State, Kazakhstan had seen a rapid expansion of inter-State links which had necessitated the search for adequate legal means for their regulation. Aspiration to settle certain problems of inter-State relations underlay, for example, the efforts by Kazakhstan aimed at the earliest elaboration of the legal status of the Caspian Sea. Her country's position on that matter was based on the application of certain provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

BRUNO RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said the principle of sovereign equality of States, the right to adopt different economic systems and the right to struggle against colonial domination were being subjected to all manner of distortions. Questionable decisions were being taken in the name of international law. Cuba condemned and denounced the brutal blockade imposed against her for 40 years, he said, adding that it constituted flagrant violation of international law. The blockade had found new interpretation in the Helms-Burton Act enacted by the United States Congress. The Act constituted one of the most flagrant violations of international customary law. It was being applied extra-territorially against other countries in violation of their domestic laws.

Cuba supported the proposal by Mongolia on the drafting of guiding principles on international negotiations, he said. Cuba renewed its appeal to the Sixth Committee to help revitalize the development and codification of international law. He commended the Netherlands and the Russian Federation for their draft resolution on the centennial of the first International Peace Conference and the programme of action to mark its commemoration.

HICHAM HAMDAN (Lebanon) said that States should create their own national law commissions to work with the International Law Commission in the development of international law. The Colloquium would also help the development of international law and should be a prelude to further efforts to disseminate the rules of international law and treaties. It was also important to continue the utilization of the Internet to disseminate and popularize international law. Many States have already benefited from the collection of treaties and laws on the Internet.

JARGALSAIKHNY ENKHSAIKHAN (Mongolia) said that if the guiding principles concept proposed by his Government were accepted, they would make international negotiations predictable and create new norms of international behaviour. His delegation believed that the exercise of drafting the principles was a worthy undertaking and was prepared to work sincerely and constructively with all delegations on it.

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CAROLYN WILSON (United States), speaking in right of reply, said it was regrettable that the representative of Cuba had sought to politicize the debate on the Decade of International Law. The remarks of the Cuban representative were unfounded and meant to score political points. She hoped that further consideration of the item would be characterized by constructive discussion and efforts to bring the Decade to an appropriate conclusion.

YAMIRA CUETO (Cuba) said that it was not the intention of her delegation to turn the setting of the Sixth Committee into a procedural battleground. She would not go into the substance of the question, but there was no lack of examples to show that Cuba had maintained a consistent position on the Decade. Cuba's only interest was to be consistent with its principles. It had consistently denounced the blockade imposed against her for 40 years and had every right to make use of the forum of the Sixth Committee or any other body to refer to a unilateral policy that contravened the principles of international law.

Cuba did not feel offended by insinuation of negative attitudes, she said, adding that it opposed manipulations and double standards. The United States blockade was a flagrant violation of international law, and Cuba reserved the right to denounce that unilateral policy.

JEAN-PHILLIP LAVOYER, of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said there was a need to further clarify the rules applicable to situations that were insufficiently covered by treaties, such as humanitarian laws. The ICRC was in the process of preparing, with the assistance of experts, a report on customary rules of humanitarian law. Research was being carried out with international sources regarding all aspects of humanitarian law and into ICRC archives regarding some 50 recent armed conflicts. That research should be completed by the end of this year and a final report would be presented to the international community in 1999 at the twenty-seventh International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. The ICRC was also developing for the armed forces a model manual on humanitarian law to serve as a reference tool for military commanders in their decision-making process.

He added that the ICRC took an active part in the work being done by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on involvement of children in armed conflicts with a view to adopting an optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The ICRC believed that the optional Protocol should apply to both government and non-government forces and should set at 18 the minimum age for recruitment in the military. Any direct or indirect participation in hostilities of children under the age of 18, whether voluntary of compulsory, should be prohibited.

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