Summary: April 12, 2004: Statement by Mr. Peter Barcroft, Legal Adviser, Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union. Ad Hoc Committee on the Scope of Legal Protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel (New York)
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour 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 Candidate Countries, Bulgaria and Romania and the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia align themselves with this statement.
Mr. Chairman,
By resolution 58/92 of 9 December 2003, the General Assembly has reconvened this Ad Hoc Committee with a mandate to expand the scope of legal protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, including, inter alia, by means of a legal instrument, and decided that our work shall continue during the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly within the framework of a working group.
Mr. Chairman,
In an ideal world, the need to protect those who themselves seek to protect others and restore peace would not arise. Respect for their noble work would be such that their onerous and often dangerous duties could be carried out without fear of interference, resistance or physical attack. But this will always remain a utopic ideal. We are all familiar with most recent report of the Secretary General, (A/58/187 of July 2003), which lists the 198 civilian personnel who have lost their lives as the
result of malicious acts while performing services for the United Nations since January 1992. Since this Ad Hoc Committee last met just over one year ago, we have witnessed the horrific attack on the UN Headquarters in Baghdad, which resulted in the adoption shortly thereafter of Security Council Resolution 1502 (2003). This atrocity has given the work of this Committee an even greater degree of urgency and importance.
We owe it to all these individuals who have made the ultimate sacrifice, to their colleagues, and to future United Nations and associated personnel, to strive to identify an optimal protective regime which will allow them to make their essential contribution to the work of the United Nations.
Mr. Chairman,
At the outset of our deliberations this week, the EU wishes to emphasize the fundamental importance of securing universal acceptance of the Convention itself. We call once again upon all States that have not yet done so to ratify or accede to the Convention. It is most important in our discussions in the coming days that we do not lose sight of this broader political imperative. We reiterate our agreement with the Secretary-General's Report which notes 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. We also restate our general support in principle for the short-term and long-term measures recommended by the Secretary-General in his 2000 Report aimed at improving the protective regime of the Convention.
Mr. Chairman,
The EU has stated in the past that it considers the requirement of an exceptional risk declaration in order for the Convention to apply to non-peacekeeping operations to be a major limitation to the Convention. We welcome therefore the emerging consensus on this point that was apparent in discussions in the Working Group of the Sixth Committee last autumn.
We have before us this week an informal working paper from New Zealand for an Instrument Expanding the Scope of Legal Protection under the 1994 Convention for the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel. This informal working paper involves an optional Protocol to the 1994 Convention, under which parties will apply the Convention to a number of distinct operations. The EU notes with approval the helpful initiatives undertaken by New Zealand in the past in this Committee in which we
have actively engaged. We are therefore pleased to both welcome and support this revised proposal. A genuine effort has been made to be responsive to the concerns expressed during the Working Group of the Sixth Committee last year and we urge delegations to take due cognisance of this fact.
Mr. Chairman,
The EU is aware of the lingering concerns expressed regarding Article 8 of the Convention, as articulated most recently during the Working Group in the Sixth Committee. We would point out, however, that the provisions of Article 8 must be read in conjunction with those of Article 4 which envisage the conclusion by the host State and the United Nations of an agreement on the status of the operation. In this regard, we wish to note that the New Zealand informal working paper contains a provision
clarifying the respective responsibilities of Host States and UN Personnel.
Lastly, Mr. Chairman, the EU notes the concerns in the Costa Rica proposal put forward in the Working Group of the Sixth Committee last October and expresses a readiness to listen to any arguments or views which States may have on this particular issue.
Mr. Chairman,
The EU looks forward to a constructive and fruitful discussion in this session. We are confident that the coming week will see real progress made by the Committee on this serious matter.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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