General Assembly Session 57 meeting 31

The Acting President

I should like to draw the attention of representatives to the third report of the General Committee, document A/57/250/Add.2.

In paragraph 1 of the report, the General Committee recommends to the General Assembly that consideration of the item entitled "Question of the Comorian island of Mayotte" be deferred to the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly and that the item be included in the provisional agenda of that session.

May I take it that the Assembly approves that recommendation?

The Acting President

In paragraph 2 of the report, the General Committee recommends to the General Assembly that an additional item entitled "South American Zone of Peace and Cooperation" be included in the agenda of the current session.

May I take it that the General Assembly decides to include this additional item in the agenda of the current session?

The Acting President

The General Committee further recommends that the additional item be considered directly in plenary meeting.

May I take it that the General Assembly decides to consider this item directly in plenary meeting?

The Acting President

I should like to inform Members that the item entitled "South American Zone of Peace and Cooperation" becomes item 167.

The Acting President

I give the floor to the representative of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to introduce draft resolution A/57/L.4.

Mr. Dorda (Libya)

The draft resolution that we are submitting to

the Assembly today does not pertain to Libya specifically, but to the whole world. It is not directed at Libya specifically; indeed, it is directed at all other States, particularly the industrialized developed nations that are advanced technologically. Therefore, here we are not defending Libya alone; we are defending the entire international community, and the industrialized developed nations in particular.

We should by no means accept that a parliament of any State can legislate for all of us. When people elect their representatives to a parliament, they elect them so that they will represent them and legislate on their behalf.

Such legislation cannot and must not apply beyond the judicial authority of those countries. We are talking about the parliament of a country insisting that its legislation should apply to the entire world, even though the people who elected those representatives elected them to legislate for their country only. If we accept that practice, then we can only expect further legislation of the same kind. If we comply with such legislation, then we must expect that there will be further legislation with which we have to comply.

We are not against any one State; we are trying only to defend ourselves. Legislation of this nature not only contravenes the principles of international law and the Charter, but goes against all international human rights instruments. It also goes against sustainable development -- a subject on which the international community is holding conference after conference at the summit level. What right does a parliament in any particular country have to legislate to prohibit countries from cooperating among themselves? We do not subscribe to the theory of laissez-faire -- yet those countries that subscribe to it are the very ones who are not allowing us to develop. Those who preach international free trade are the very ones who have legislated to prohibit international trade, cooperation, progress and development.

My country accords priority to geographical factors. Europe is the prime target of the legislation, and my country wishes to emphasize that it is quite satisfied by the level of cooperation that we have with all European States in all fields, including energy, industry, agriculture, services, trade and commerce. We are trying to redouble our efforts to promote such cooperation with neighbouring States, as well.

We are essentially defending the countries -- Japan and the industrialized countries -- that would be deprived by this legislation of the revenue and income that they would daily make in the Libyan market. We are talking not about Libya alone, but about the international community, about values and ideals, about human rights and the United Nations Charter and the principles of international law.

I call on the Assembly to vote in favour of the draft resolution so that in future we can pre-empt all those who seek to undermine international cooperation or to impose their legislation on our peoples, parliaments and representatives.

I wish members every success and call on them to vote for their own interests first and foremost, as well as for the interests of humanity.

Mr. Vallenilla (Venezuela)

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China in support of draft resolution A/57/L.4, entitled "Elimination of unilateral extraterritorial coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic compulsion", just introduced by the Ambassador of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

In adding our support for the draft resolution, I would like to reiterate the position of the ministers of the developing countries, expressed in the Declaration issued on the occasion of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77, held at New York on 19 September 2002. Paragraph 42 of that Declaration states:

"We firmly reject the imposition of laws and regulations with extraterritorial impact and all other forms of coercive economic measures, including unilateral sanctions against developing countries, and reiterate the urgent need to eliminate them immediately. We emphasize that such actions not only undermine the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and international law, but also severely threaten the freedom of trade and investment. We therefore call on the international community neither to recognize these measures nor apply them."

I would also like to recall paragraph 96 of the Plan of Implementation agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 4 September 2002, and endorsed by the heads of State or Government of the international community, in which States agreed to

"Take steps with a view to the avoidance of and refrain from any unilateral measure not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that impedes the full achievement of economic and social development by the population of the affected countries, in particular women and children, that hinders their well-being and that creates obstacles to the full enjoyment of their human rights, including the right of everyone to a standard of living adequate for their health and well-being and their right to food, medical care and the necessary social services. Ensure that food and medicine are not used as tools for political pressure."

I believe that these paragraphs are very pertinent to the work of the Assembly.

Mr. Kazemi Kamyab (Iran)

It is indeed regrettable for all of us in the international community that we have to address an issue that is in itself undermining the very foundation of multilateralism, a principle that is the cornerstone of the functioning of the United Nations system.

The General Assembly adopted successively resolutions 51/22, 53/10 and 55/6, in which it expressed its deep concern at the negative impact of unilaterally imposed extraterritorial coercive economic measures on trade, financial and economic cooperation, including trade and cooperation at the regional level. Such measures simply defy common sense, as they hamper and adversely affect the free flow of trade and capital at the regional and international levels.

Member States, in adopting these resolutions, have categorically expressed their opposition to any use of extraterritorial coercive economic measures or legislative enactments unilaterally imposed by any State. They have also called for the repeal of unilateral extraterritorial laws and sanctions imposed on corporations and nationals of other States.

The promulgation and application of laws or regulations that have extraterritorial implications infringing the sovereignty of other States and the legitimate interests of the entities and persons under their jurisdiction is a clear violation of universally accepted rules and principles of international law and has been strongly rejected on various occasions by the overwhelming majority of States. Coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic compulsion, in particular through the enactment of extraterritorial legislation, not only contravene well-recognized provisions and principles of international law and of the Charter of the United Nations, but also threaten the basic fabric of international peace, security and stability, in clear violation of the sovereign rights of States. They also impede and constrain the settlement of disputes through the promotion of mutual dialogue, understanding and peaceful means.

In an era of rapid and unprecedented change, the world is more than ever in need of peace, security and stability, which must be strengthened in keeping with the collective responsibility of countries and also through, inter alia, respect for sovereignty, rejection of interference in the internal affairs of other States, refraining from compulsion and intimidation, as well as the creation of an enabling environment for replacing conflict and unequal relations with dialogue and negotiations.

These measures have a serious adverse impact on the overall economic, commercial, political, social and cultural life of the targeted countries, diminishing their capacities and exacerbating the challenges they face at this time of globalization and its concomitant traumatic transformations.

Moreover, they are proving to have adverse impacts on technology transfers and on investment risk assessment, thus worsening financial and monetary management, weakening industrial and agricultural infrastructures and undermining the commercial policies of the targeted countries. Such coercive measures strain the actual and potential capacities of targeted countries in the very important areas of health and education -- two basic elements of every social welfare programme. This in itself delays the development of their economic infrastructure and results in the further exacerbation of their regional, social and economic outlook.

The enforcement of unilateral coercive economic measures has inflicted grave and irreparable losses, including a heavy financial and human toll, on the targeted countries. To this effect, the Islamic Republic of Iran, as one of the countries affected, reserves the right to pursue its material and moral claims and to lodge complaints against Governments enacting those measures.

Along those same lines, the Islamic Republic of Iran requests the United Nations to call for the abrogation of those measures through the adoption of concrete actions. All countries should, in a spirit of multilateralism and of sincere observance of international laws and regulations, avoid resorting to and enacting such measures.

Finally, I should like to conclude by expressing my appreciation to the Secretary-General for his report under the agenda item entitled "Elimination of unilateral extraterritorial coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic compulsion". However, we are of the view that his report should, in addition to presenting a compilation of the views of Member States on this issue, contain concrete proposals and recommendations as to how the United Nations system could cope with this fundamental threat to its very foundation.

Mr. Erwa (Sudan)

I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

Allow me at the outset to draw the attention of the Assembly to its resolution 55/6, adopted in this very Hall, which called on the international community to take urgent, effective and rapid measures to put an end to unilateral extraterritorial coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic compulsion.

As the Secretary-General has stated,

"When countries work together in multilateral institutions -- developing, respecting and when necessary enforcing international law -- they also develop mutual trust and more effective cooperation on other issues." (Press release SG/SM/8447)

In this respect, I should like to reaffirm the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, in particular those that call for the development of friendly relations among nations and the strengthening of cooperation in resolving economic and social problems.

In this connection, the Islamic Group would like to reiterate once again that all peoples have the right freely to determine the political orientation they deem appropriate and the ways and means they choose in order to achieve their economic growth and social development.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference would like to express its deep concern over the continued application of unilateral extraterritorial coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic compulsion and their continual adverse effects on trade and on financial and economic cooperation. In this regard, we call upon all States not to recognize or apply unilateral extraterritorial coercive economic measures imposed by any State that are contrary to the recognized principles and provisions of international law.

The Islamic Group has repeatedly called on States that impose unilateral sanctions on the States members of the OIC to desist from such practices, since they contravene the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter. It has expressed solidarity with the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the Islamic Republic of Iran, my own country, Sudan, and other States that suffer from unilateral economic sanctions.

In conclusion, I would like, on my own behalf and on behalf of the Islamic Group, to call once again for the repeal of coercive unilateral sanctions that are used for political and economic compulsion and that disregard the lofty and noble principles embodied in the United Nations Charter. The Group fully supports the draft resolution entitled "Elimination of unilateral extraterritorial coercive economic measures as a means of political economic compulsion", submitted by the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and calls upon all States to support it and vote in its favour.