AD HOC COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED TO STRENGHTEN LEGAL REGIME FOR SECURITY OF INTERNATIONAL STAFF CONCLUDES THIRD SESSION

Ad Hoc Committee on Scope of                               

 Legal Protection under Convention                         

 on Safety of UN Personnel                                 

ad hoc committee established to strenghten legal regime for security

of international staff concludes third session

The Ad Hoc Committee established by the General Assembly to strengthen the existing legal regime for security of international staff concluded its work this afternoon, adopting a draft report on its week-long third session.

Concerned over the rising toll of casualties and increasing dangers faced by United Nations staff, the Assembly established the Ad Hoc Committee on the Scope of Legal Protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel by resolution 56/89 of December 2001.  The Convention was adopted by the Assembly in December 1994 and entered into force on 15 January 1999.  It prohibits any attack against United Nations and associated personnel, their equipment and premises, and imposes upon States parties the obligation to ensure the safety and security of such personnel.

During its current session, the Ad Hoc Committee, which was reconvened by the Assembly also in 2002 and 2003, was mandated to focus on expanding the scope of legal protection under the Convention, including by means of a legal instrument.

The report adopted this afternoon (document A/AC.264/L.7) describes the proceedings during the session and outlines the Ad Hoc Committee’s deliberations on specific issues, including the relation between a possible protocol and the 1994 Convention; the definition of United Nations operations; responsibilities of host States and United Nations personnel; and the Convention’s relation to international humanitarian law.

Under its current terms, the Convention is not applicable to operations that have not been declared to be exceptionally risky by the General Assembly or the Security Council.  In practice, no declaration has ever been made to that effect.  The Convention is also not applicable to humanitarian non-governmental organizations which have not concluded “implementing/partnership agreements” with the United Nations or its specialized agencies, though in practice they are in no less a need for such protection.  The Convention is, finally, not applicable, and was never intended to apply, to humanitarian non-United Nations operations.

At the time of the creation of the Ad Hoc Committee, the Secretary-General proposed, as an optimal solution, a protocol, which would dispose of the need for a “declaration” and dispense with the need for establishment of a link between a humanitarian non-governmental organization and the United Nations as a condition for protection under the Convention.

Among the matters addressed during the session was a revised proposal by New Zealand (to be included as an annex to the Committee’s draft report (document A/AC.262/2004/DP.1)), which presents a draft optional protocol that would supplement the Convention, making it applicable to “all United Nations operations established pursuant to a standing or specific mandate of a competent organ consistent with the Charter... and conducted under United Nations authority and control for the purposes of delivering humanitarian, political or development assistance”.  The proposal also attempts to clarify respective responsibilities of host States and personnel engaged in United Nations operations.

Also discussed was a revised proposal by Costa Rica (to be annexed to the draft report as document A/AC.264/2004/DP.2 and Corr.1) seeking to clearly delineate the scope of application of international humanitarian law, which regulates conduct during hostilities, and the regime of the Convention, which, while dealing with the protection of non-combatants, does not fully address various situations that might arise in conflict zones.  A corrigendum to the proposal was introduced by Costa Rica’s representative.

The report of the Ad Hoc Committee contains a recommendation by the terms of which the Assembly would renew its mandate for 2005 in order to continue its work to expand the scope of legal protection under the Convention, including, inter alia, by means of a legal instrument.

Prior to action on the report as a whole, the document, introduced by the Committee’s Rapporteur, Mahmoud Samy (Egypt), was first adopted paragraph by paragraph, as orally amended.

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