QUESTIONS RELATED TO STATE SOVEREIGNTY AND ROLE OF SECURITY COUNCIL IN INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING ADDRESSED DURING ASSEMBLY DISCUSSION

Press Release
GA/9629/

QUESTIONS RELATED TO STATE SOVEREIGNTY AND ROLE OF SECURITY COUNCIL IN INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING ADDRESSED DURING ASSEMBLY DISCUSSION

CORRECTION

In Press Release GA/9629 of 7 October 1999, the second paragraph on page 1, which summarizes a portion of the statement of GELSON FONSECA (Brazil), should read as follows:

“How do we define which measures are justifiably employed in these circumstances?” he continued. While situations like Kosovo and East Timor should not be allowed to happen again, the question was how were they to be avoided. Noting that there was agreement on “rights beyond borders”, he asked, “how do we deal with the dilemmas of outside intervention and the issues it raises concerning the limits of sovereignty and the use of force”? He knew full well that sovereignty was the cornerstone of the relationship between States and would remain so. It was by no means an obsolete concept.

Similarly, the first paragraph on page 3, which is also a summary of the Brazilian representative’s statement, should read:

“How do we deal with the dilemmas of outside intervention and the issues it raises concerning the limits of sovereignty and the use of force?” he asked, noting that there was agreement on “rights beyond borders”. He knew full well that sovereignty was the cornerstone of the relationship between States and would remain so. It was by no means an obsolete concept. A universal approach to humanitarian problems must be attained through a consensual and concerted understanding among States, otherwise selectivity would prevail over the Charter’s most fundamental value – universal participation in building global solutions for the commonwealth of peoples.

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