Summary: October 13, 2003: Statement on behalf of the European Union by Professor Giuseppe Nesi, Legal Adviser of the Permenent Mission of Italy to the United Nations. Sixth Committee - Scope of Legal Protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel Item 157 (New York)
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union. The acceding countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, the associated countries Bulgaria and Romania, align themselves with this statement.
Mr. Chairman,
The EU pays tribute to the victims of the heinous attack on the UN Headquarters in Baghdad, where the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and 22 other UN officers and associated lost their lives. The EU strongly condemns such acts of violence against an Organization that is dedicated to the maintenance of international peace and security. The EU once again reiterates that such attacks are unjustifiable and intolerable and requests that strong measures be
taken to arrest, prosecute and punish those who are responsible for such attacks. These atrocious acts not only caused the lost of human lives but also violated the principles and objectives of the UN Charter and seriously jeopardized the efforts of the UN to help the Iraqi people rebuild their country.
Mr. Chairman,
The EU would like to raise its concern over the information contained in the most recent report of the Secretary-General (A/58/187): since January 1992, "198 civilian personnel have lost their lives as a result of malicious acts while performing services to the Organization. Only in 21 of those cases has the Member State concerned advised the Secretariat that it has taken legal action to bring the perpetrators to justice". Furthermore, the EU wishes to draw the attention to the address of the
Secretary-General to the General Assembly last month in which he urges Member States to take more effective measures to protect the security of UN staff, referring specifically to legal measures.
Mr. Chairman,
The Convention on the Safety of UN and associated personnel was adopted by the General Assembly in 1994. It entered into force in 1999. Since the primary responsibility for the security and protection of UN and associated personnel rests with the States hosting UN operations, we agree with the Secretary-General's Report that the strength of the Convention's protective regime lies in the largest possible adherence to the Convention and on the readiness to implement its provisions.
Mr. Chairman,
The EU reiterates its support for the short-term and long-term measures recommended by the Secretary-General in his 2000 Report, aimed at improving and enhancing the protective regime of the 1994 Convention. In the debate in the Ad Hoc Committee in March this year, many delegations showed great interest in this matter, as confirmed by the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee (A/58/52). On that occasion it was generally agreed that every effort should be made to strengthen the safety and security of
UN and associated personnel, which were of major concern to the international community. The EU would like to reiterate that it attaches great importance to strengthening the safety and security of personnel engaged in UN peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, particularly since the EU and its member States are among the most important contributors to such operations.
Mr. Chairman,
As on previous occasions, the EU considers the requirement of an exceptional risk declaration to be a major limitation to the Convention and supports the disposal of this requirement. In our view, the 1994 Convention should apply automatically, without distinction, to any operation conducted under UN authority and control.
In this regard, at the last meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on the item under discussion today, in last March, the EU supported the proposal presented by New Zealand concerning a draft optional Protocol to the 1994 Convention. In our view, the New Zealand proposal, which extends the automatic application of the Convention to all UN operations and presences, enhances considerably the protection of UN and associated personnel in the field. More specifically, the draft Protocol would dispense with
the requirement of a "declaration" as a condition for the applicability of the 1994 Convention and would automatically include in the protective regime of Convention all operations conducted under United Nations authority and control in the same way that peacekeeping operations are. At the March meeting the EU presented an amendment to the New Zealand proposal which aimed at further clarifying the scope of Article 1 of that proposal, in order to facilitate discussion.
At this stage of our negotiations, the EU would like to express its wish that the working group be able, during the present session, to make real progress on this delicate and urgent matter. The EU stands ready to continue to negotiate its proposal as well as other parts of the draft Protocol.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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