CALLS FOR BURDEN-SHARING MECHANISM TO EASE SANCTIONS EFFECTS ON THIRD STATES, AS SIXTH COMMITTEE CONTINUES DISCUSSION OF REPORT OF CHARTER COMMITTEE

20 October 1998

Press Release
GA/L/3075

CALLS FOR BURDEN-SHARING MECHANISM TO EASE SANCTIONS EFFECTS ON THIRD STATES, AS SIXTH COMMITTEE CONTINUES DISCUSSION OF REPORT OF CHARTER COMMITTEE

19981020 States Less Likely to Follow Sanctions Regime Without Assurance Economic Sacrifice Will be Alleviated, Says United Republic of Tanzania

The unequal impact of Security Council sanctions on third States and ways to mitigate adverse effects continued to be one of the major issues discussed this morning as the Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its consideration of the report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization.

The representative of Turkey told the Committee that his country was still suffering from the effects of the sanctions on Iraq and continued to face difficulties in dealing with the sanctions committees of the Security Council. As yet, there had been no reply from the Council to Turkey's application on damages as a third State, he said.

The representative of the United Republic of Tanzania cautioned that Member States could be less reliable allies in following sanction regimes when there was no assurance that the substantial economic sacrifices they might make would be alleviated by a burden-sharing mechanism. He called for a specific mechanism for the adjudication of claims submitted by third States, saying it was too important a matter to be left to consultations alone.

The representative of the United States said sanctions were in fact a "last resort" step which was never taken lightly, precisely because of such factors as the potential effects on third States. Those States included the United States whose bilateral trade could decrease as much as 91 per cent depending on whether the sanctions were considered limited, moderate or extensive.

Statements were also made by the representatives of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Japan, Algeria, Yemen, Namibia, Iran, Russian Federation, Hungary, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Poland, Viet Nam, Sudan and Georgia.

The Committee will meet again this afternoon at 3 p.m. to conclude discussion of issues contained in the report of the Charter Committee.

Committee Work Programme

The Sixth Committee (Legal) met this morning to continue consideration of its agenda item entitled "Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization". (For background information on the report as well as others before the Committee, see Press Release GA/L/3073 dated 16 October 1998.)

Statements

CHOE MYONG NAM (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said the temporary or long-lasting serious effects of sanctions on the social, economic, financial and trade sectors of third States had long given rise to concern among the international community. The increased frequency and resort to sanctions was of particular concern. He endorsed the call for establishing a permanent mechanism as a means to achieve just and fair solutions of such situations.

Reform should not only enhance the power of the General Assembly and the democratization and transparency of the Security Council, it should also focus on the "rectification of the wrongful history of the United Nations", he said. "My delegation wishes to draw the attention of the Committee to the fact that the name and flag of the United Nations have been abused by United States forces disguised as 'United Nations Command' for almost half a century since the Korean War in 1950." The Council resolution of 1950 on the matter had been adopted without the presence of the Soviet Union and had not mentioned even a word about the establishment of the 'United Nations Command'.

ROBERT B. ROSENSTOCK (United States), on a point of order, said delegates should stick to the item before the Committee.

Mr. CHOE (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) replied that he was referring to reform of the United Nations in general. His delegation was interested in rectifying matters of historical interest. Continuing with his speech, he said the United States had misled public opinion and abused the name and flag of the United Nations in pursuit of its political and military strategy on the Korean peninsula. The Special Committee on the Charter and the Sixth Committee should pay due attention "to the rectification of this unlawful abuse".

YESIM BAYKAL (Turkey) said he strongly supported actions to minimize the collateral damage of sanctions. He encouraged assessing possible adverse effects prior to sanctions, consultations with potentially vulnerable non- target States and further improving procedures and methods of the Security Council and its sanctions committees. He hoped the expert group on sanctions would not produce more recommendations which would never be implemented or lead to further studies.

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While there had been positive developments in the Security Council and the sanctions committees, the results were not satisfactory, he continued. Turkey was still suffering from the effects of the sanctions on Iraq and continued to face difficulties in dealing with the sanctions committees. There had been no reply to Turkey's application on damages as a third State. Transparency in the work of the Council and it sanctions committees would help to mitigate the adverse effects of sanctions on third States.

HIROSHI KAWAMURA (Japan) stressed the importance and the necessity of dealing with the question of effects of sanctions on third States. Japan welcomed the results of the meeting of the ad hoc expert group on the subject. It was necessary now to debate its recommendations. It would be useful for an assessment to be made of the impact of sanctions on the target country. He stressed that measures to deal with the effects of sanctions on third States should not hamper the effectiveness of the sanctions.

He also stressed the importance of the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council for Member States and the wider public. His delegation was concerned about the delay in their publications, particularly those relating to the work of United Nations organs. He urged the Secretariat to find a practical solution to the problem using existing resources. On the question of the consequences of the increasing workload of the International Court of Justice, he said the Court must have adequate resources. It was absolutely necessary that the Committee responded to the Court's appeal for more resources, while bearing in mind the Organization's financial difficulties. He said the issue should be raised in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

He said the efficiency of the Special Committee on the Charter could be enhanced by improvements in its work methods. He endorsed its recommendations that its session should be held towards the end of the first half of the year. He favoured shortening the Special Committee's session to ten days, on an experimental basis, beginning from next year. However, he stressed that his proposal in no way represented a questioning of the importance of the Charter Committee. He said delegations sponsoring proposals should submit them well in advance of sessions of the Special Committee.

AHCENE KERMA (Algeria) said the Special Committee had a role to play in the reform and revitalization of the United Nations, particularly in the legal field. It was important that the Special Committee pursued its work in harmony with other bodies working on the same issues, to avoid duplication. His delegation would like a permanent solution to be found to the question of effects of sanctions on third countries, which was a reality that was making sanctions counter-productive. Ad hoc measures to deal with the problem were not enough, and a permanent solution should be found. At the meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Durban, South Africa, members had called for a mechanism to deal with the problem.

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He paid tribute to the Secretary-General for his efforts to find a solution to the problem by convening the ad hoc expert group. He said the time had come for a thorough examination of the whole issue of sanctions -- how they were applied and their effects. The adoption of sanctions was an extreme measure which should be applied after all other avenues for a peaceful resolution of the problem had been exhausted. There should be a time-frame for their implementation and they should be lifted once the objectives were achieved.

The Special Committee should study the practical means of strengthening the resources of the International Court of Justice Court, he said. Favourable consideration should be given to the Court's request for more resources to meet its increasing workload. He encouraged the Secretary- General to pursue efforts to improve the early publication of the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council.

AHMED ABDULLAH AL-AKWAA (Yemen) said his delegation attached importance to the recommendations of the ad hoc expert group on the effects of sanctions on third States. Yemen supported the proposal on establishing criteria for imposing and implementing sanctions. His country also supported the establishment of funds to alleviate the suffering of third countries. Sanctions must not be abused, he said, adding that their use had resulted in violations of human rights. Yemen continued to suffer because of its compliance with sanctions imposed on other States. He called for international assistance for States affected by their compliance with sanctions.

He commended Sierra Leone for its proposal on peaceful settlement of disputes presented to the Special Committee at its session. He said peace was the basic tenet of Yemen's foreign policy. His delegation supported the request of the International Court of Justice for an increase in its resources to help it deal with its increased workload. He said some other aspects of the Court's work might require amendments to the Charter. Any action would demand a two-thirds majority of the entire United Nations membership, not only those present and voting. He said that resources spent on the Trusteeship Council should be devoted to meet the needs of developing countries.

MARTIN ANDJABA (Namibia) said sanctions had grave consequences beyond the intended target States and caused indiscriminate harm to human life and damage to property. Their imposition should be approached with great prudence and resorted to after all other peaceful measures had been exhausted. He supported the proposal to establish a trust fund to assist third States.

While he appreciated the role the financial institutions could play in evaluating and mitigating the economic, trade and financial effects of sanctions, a permanent resolution to the problem rested with the United Nations. That responsibility could not be passed on to financial

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institutions, he said. The cost of preventive or enforcement measures should be borne by the international community at large, on a more equitable basis.

SAEID MIRZAEE YENGEJEH (Iran) said that due to the technical nature of a number of issues raised in the ad hoc expert group's report on minimizing damages from sanctions, the report should be carefully examined by the Charter Committee and other relevant committees of the United Nations to arrive at final conclusions. Time was ripe for a thorough examination of the sanctions regime, taking into account what the regime originally intended to achieve and how it had functioned in practice. Some important elements needed to be considered for revision. First, since sanctions were designed to modify a State's behaviour, they should be used only as a last resort when all other options enshrined in the Charter were exhausted. Their adverse effects on the most vulnerable segments of populations should continue to receive due attention. Also, sanctions could not and should not be enforced for an unlimited period of time and must be lifted as soon as their main objective was realized. The Organization was entrusted with a clear mandate to apply coercive economic measures only when a threat or breach of peace occurred.

He went on to emphasize the substantive difference between Charter-based sanctions and unilateral economic measures by individual States against others which had no basis in international law. Governments around the world had denounced the application of unilateral sanctions, which in recent years had been on the rise. He recalled that the General Assembly had repeatedly denounced economic coercion as a means of achieving political goals. The assembly had urged the international community to eliminate the use of unilateral measures against developing countries not authorized by relevant organs of the United Nations. His country supported the working paper submitted by the Russian Federation which would usefully complement the provisions of the Charter and provide the Security Council with clearer and objective criteria on the imposition, implementation and lifting of sanctions.

Concerning proposals relating to the settlement of dispute procedures, his delegation said that the Charter Committee must be mindful of Article 33 of the Charter on the settlement of disputes through peaceful means chosen by the parties. He emphasized that the principle of free choice, as laid down in article 33, was a fundamental principle of international law. It entitled the parties to a dispute to agree on such peaceful means as may be appropriate to the circumstances and nature of their dispute. Addressing the proposals relating to possible amendments to the Statute of the International Court of Justice and the extension of its jurisdiction to disputes between States and intergovernmental organizations, he called attention to a General Assembly resolution which indicated that it would not undertake any measure leading to the amendment of the Court's Statute. Given the increasing workload of the Court, it seemed unwise to increase the Court's burden by expanding its contentious jurisdiction. Its efficiency should be improved through employing electronic techniques, both in its internal working system and the dissemination of information on the Internet.

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ALEXANDRE V. ZMEEVSKI (Russian Federation) said it was now time to apply all the experience acquired by the United Nations in the area of sanctions. The Secretariat might monitor the effects of sanctions and, in the most serious cases, the Secretary-General could appoint a special representative to assess the situation. Concerning the report of the ad hoc group of experts on sanctions, he recommended that the Secretary-General prepare a further report on responses by Member States and other bodies to the conclusions arrived at by the experts. Also, the mandate of the group of experts should be renewed to allow them to continue their important work.

The Special Committee could also usefully develop guidelines for the imposition and lifting of sanctions, he continued. The role of humanitarian organizations vis-a-vis sanctions, and the possible adjustment of sanctions depending upon their human impact deserved further study. Turning to the matter of the Trusteeship Council, he said the ideas about its future were rather controversial and required further study. Some of those proposals would in effect create a new United Nations organ.

JANOS GOROG (Hungary) said the recommendations of the ad hoc expert group which examined the effects of sanctions on third States should be considered by the General Assembly and the Security Council. On the issue of the consequences of an increase in the workload of the International Court of Justice, he said the Court should always be given the necessary means to perform its functions. Failure to do so would diminish the importance of the peaceful resolution of international disputes through law. That would be regrettable given the marked increase in the recourse of States to the Court.

Having been a party to a case before the Court, he said Hungary had a vested interest in the unimpeded execution of the Court's functions. Hungary hoped the General Assembly would honour the legitimate requests of the Court in the preparation of the next biennial budget.

VLADIMIR SOTIROV (Bulgaria) said efforts, both from within and outside the United Nations system, must address more specifically and directly the issue of economic assistance to third countries. Bulgaria appreciated the continuing attention by intergovernmental and regional organizations, in particular the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union, to the needs of affected States for assistance in providing good governance; and in developing regional transport, energy and communication infrastructure. However, the assistance rendered until now was still far from adequate to meet the losses suffered as a result of the implementation of sanctions.

He attached great importance to a framework for identifying and assessing the effects of sanctions on third states, and means of providing international assistance to third States. He supported the idea of establishing a special mechanism to allow the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to mobilize new and additional resources from all

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potential funding sources to provide emergency financial support to the affected third States on exceptional and concessionary terms.

MILAGROS BETANCOURT-CATALA (Venezuela) said her country attached particular importance to the work of the Special Committee, of which it was a member. Sanctions should be imposed as a last resort and only when it was determined that international peace and security was threatened. The recommendations of the ad hoc expert group on effects of sanctions on third countries were important. The Special Committee should devote more time to the report at its meeting next year with a view to making recommendations to the General Assembly.

The Russian Federation's proposal on the need for a criteria for imposing and implementing sanctions was a valuable contribution to discussions of the subject, particularly its human rights aspects, she said. On the other Russian Federation proposal on a declaration of principles for United Nations peacekeeping missions, she said other bodies were examining the issue and their efforts could be undermined. The Sierra Leone proposal on the establishment of a dispute prevention and early settlement service was an ambitious one. Venezuela agreed with others that it was premature to raise the issue at present.

ROBERT B. ROSENSTOCK (United States) said his delegation would go along -- so long as there was no conflict with other imperatives -- with the Special Committee's recommendation that its future sessions should be scheduled later in the first half of any given year. He said the Special Committee needed to make adjustments in its schedule, in line with what existing situations justified. As part of a real effort to make the best use of its limited resources, the Special Committee must be able to distinguish among those matters which had true potential for a significant contribution and those that did not.

He said his delegation commended the participants in the expert group meeting for their valuable work which, among other things, pointed up the difficulties inherent in developing a standard methodology for assessing third country effects of sanctions. It also commended the Secretary-General for the excellent report on the meeting and other aspects of the Article 50 provisions on the subject. He said the time was definitely not ripe for consideration by a working group of the kind of report presented by the expert group. Especially important would be the views of the international financial and trade institutions. Their hands-on expertise would help to effect practical approaches to the problems encountered by some States in providing certain types of information identified by the expert group.

Contrary to the suggestion implicit in some statements by delegations, he said Security Council decisions to impose sanctions were in fact a last resort, or near to last resort, step. It was a step taken in an attempt to change behaviour that could not be tolerated by the international community --

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a step taken as an alternative to the use of force or to maintain peace and security. It was never one taken lightly, precisely because of such factors as the potential effects on third States. That included the United States, whose bilateral trade decreased up to 91 per cent depending on whether sanctions were considered limited, moderate or extensive.

Regarding the future of the Trusteeship Council, he said his delegation continued to share the view that the most appropriate step would be to eliminate it and amend the Charter accordingly. The United States shared the view of the European Union that should it prove impossible to speed up the process of producing the repertory of the General Assembly and its organs and the Security Council, respectively, the Secretary-General should consider the possibility of outsourcing the work to interested academic institutions. That step could be taken on a one-time basis only, and solely for the purpose of catching up with the backlog. Responsibility for future volumes would continue to lie with the Secretariat.

He said his delegation's decision "not to dignify the absurd remarks of the delegation of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea with a reply", should not be understood as acquiescence in a legally worthless and preposterous attempt to rewrite history.

PIOTR OGONOWSKI (Poland) called on the international community to find viable ways to alleviate the unwanted effects of sanctions regimes. To that end, the conclusions contained in the report of the ad hoc group of experts should be given further consideration. The question of finding remedies to the problems faced by third States as a result of sanctions was not only a problem of the affected States, but it concerned the effectiveness of the sanctions regimes in general. It would be increasingly difficult to maintain the effectiveness of such regimes if they had serious consequences beyond the target country. The international community should not lose sight of the aim of the applications of sanctions, which was to maintain or restore international peace and security. To achieve such a purpose, sanctions had to be effective.

Addressing peacekeeping operations, he said although their legal basis was established in the Charter, a particular operation normally necessitated the creation of an additional legal framework adequate to the needs of the situation. In considering that issue, the Charter Committee should avoid encroaching upon the competence of other bodies which had responsibility in that field. The creation of a dispute prevention and early settlement service would further enhance the international community's capability to prevent conflicts.

In considering the increase in the workload of the International Court of Justice, he said the increasing use in international agreements to refer potential disputes to the Court's jurisdiction indicated the need to provide it with sufficient means. He noted that the Court operated differently than

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the other United Nations organs and that it had limited possibilities to generate savings; it had however taken significant steps to improve its efficiency. He added that efforts to reduce the backlog in the preparation of the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and the Repertoire on the Practice of the Security Council needed to be significantly increased.

TUVAKO N. MANONGI (United Republic of Tanzania) said the issue of assistance to Member States adversely affected by sanctions was very important for two reasons. First, the ability of the Security Council to impose sanctions to maintain international peace and security was contingent upon the degree of support the regime received from Member States. Second, Member States called upon to enforce sanctions against targeted States were less likely to be reliable allies when there was no assurance that the substantial economic sacrifices they were to undertake were not to be alleviated by an established burden-sharing mechanism.

Failure to take practical measures to address fundamental issues underlying the operation of Article 50 on imposition of sanctions could do real damage to the international leadership, credibility and interests of the Security Council, and, indeed to the United Nations, he said. No credible coalition could be established if members assumed that the sanctions regime they were called upon to support would leave their economies in difficulty, without mitigating compensatory arrangements. In supporting a specific mechanism for the adjudication of claims submitted by third States, he said it was too important a matter to be left to consultations alone. The proposal for a fund to help affected States also deserved serious attention.

PHAM TRUONG GIANG (Viet Nam) said sanctions should in no way be considered and applied as a means to solve conflicts, nor as a punitive measure. Authorization of a sanction, whenever imposed by the Security Council, must always be accompanied by a financial arrangement mandated by the Council to assist third States possibly affected by the sanction. A permanent solution to the matter should be sought, particularly, the establishment of an effective mechanism and a fund to provide relief to third countries. Viet Nam attached great interest to the proposal by the Secretary-General on convening a meeting of an ad hoc group of experts to study a methodology for assessing the consequences incurred by third States. That group should ensure adequate participation of experts from those third States and reflect equitable representation of geographical regions and different legal systems.

He welcomed a paragraph by paragraph reading, next year, of the revised Russian proposal on criteria for sanctions. He also said that the Special Committee on the Charter should play a more active role and make greater contributions to the ongoing process of reform. The Committee, with its special mandate and open-ended nature, could contribute greatly to the process of restructuring the Organization.

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OMER DAHAB (Sudan) said that the establishment of the International Court of Justice showed the resolve of the international community to establish a mechanism to ensure peaceful settlement of disputes. It was an honour for Sudan to be among those few countries that had accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. Considering the increase in the volume of cases before the Court, emphasis should be put on overcoming its financial difficulties. The General Assembly had the duty to take an appropriate decision to that end.

Speaking about the issue of sanctions, he said that it would be useful to scrutinize the figures provided by the Russian Federation regarding their rate of success, and called on the Committee to approve a draft resolution on the proposal to conduct a study of cases when the Security Council invoked Chapter VII of the Charter. He also commended the proposals regarding the establishment of a definite time-frame for the implementation of sanctions and the imposition of sanctions only as a final measure after all means of peaceful settlement had been exhausted. The use of sanctions for the purpose of changing a lawful regime or existing political order in a country was not permissible.

As sanctions had a devastating effect on the development and the very existence of the developing and underdeveloped States, he said that those countries should receive due attention. Attention should also be paid to the effect of sanctions on children and on the human rights situation in the countries directly affected by sanctions, as well as in third countries. As questions had been raised on the competence of the Special Committee on the Charter to tackle the issues under its consideration now, he reconfirmed his conviction that the Sixth Committee had competence to tackle those issues and address them through the Special Committee. Coordination between different working groups within the United Nations system should be entrusted to the office of legal affairs.

GOCHA LORDKIPANIDZE (Georgia) said that, as Chapter VII of the Charter vested the Security Council with broad discretionary powers, the scope of application of the powers of the Council extended well beyond mere inter-State disputes. Internal conflicts could become a threat to international peace and security, as well. Aggressive separatism also presented a threat, which undermined sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and endangered peace and security in a whole region. That was the case in Abkhazia, Georgia.

Sanctions should be imposed only in the event of a real and objectively verified threat to international peace or a breach of peace. Due consideration should be given to the practice where the Security Council supported measures undertaken at the national level and recommended additional measures, if necessary. Notwithstanding complex consequences of sanctions, concerns that they should not be instrumental in changing an existing political order seemed overestimated. It was very difficult to establish a

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clear correlation between sanctions and changing of a lawful regime or existing political order, and sometimes a political order could constitute a breach of international peace, as had been stated in Namibia's advisory opinion.

Sanctions should be limited by principles of proportionality and norms of international humanitarian law, he continued, and attempts to clarify principles of "humanitarian limits" deserved support. In the course of imposing sanctions, the obligations of the international community to support the affected States should be clearly stipulated. Due regard should be given to the proposal of Guatemala to extend contentious jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice to disputes between international organizations and States. That would bring international organizations within effective reach of international law. The International Court of Justice should be provided with all the necessary resources to carry out the task allocated to it under the Charter.

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