A Comprehensive Action against Terrorism
Sixth Committee (Legal)
By Vikram Sura with V. Maria Morgan

Israelis survey the ruins of buildings in Jerusalem, 1948. (UN Photo) 55 Years of the Sixth Committee Then and Now ... in 1947 Need for greater use by the United Nations and its organs of the International Court of Justice - The Assembly “draws the attention of States which have not yet accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court”, and recommends that States submit their legal disputes to it. Plans for the formulation of the principles of the Nürnberg (Nuremberg) Charter and Judgement - The Assembly directs the International Law Commission to formulate the principles of international law recognized in the Charter of the Nürnberg Tribunal, and “prepare a draft code of offences against the peace and security of mankind”. Draft convention on the crime of genocide - The Assembly “declares that genocide is an international crime, entailing national and international responsibility on the part of individuals and States”. War criminals - The Assembly “reasserts that trials of war criminals and traitors, like all other trials, should be governed by the principles of justice, law and evidence”. On the future government of Palestine - The Assembly recommends the adoption and implementation of the plan of partition with the Economic Union with regard to the future government of Palestine. ... in 2001 Measures to eliminate international terrorism - The Assembly strongly condemns all acts of terrorism as “criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed”. States are called upon to enact appropriate domestic legislation to ensure that the jurisdiction of their courts enables them to bring to trial the perpetrators of terrorist acts. International convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings - The Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee meets from 25 February to 1 March to elaborate a mandate for negotiation of the convention. Establishment of an International Criminal Court - The Assembly welcomes the work accomplished by the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court. With 47 States so far ratifying the Court’s Statute, it is likely that the 60 required for its entry into force could be achieved next year. Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts - The Assembly takes note of the articles on the Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts, and commends them to the attention of Governments without prejudice to the question of their future adoption or other appropriate action. Source: UN Yearbook 1947-1948

Marcel Fortuna Biato, a senior Counsellor with the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations, compares the International Criminal Court (ICC) to a “legal atomic bomb”. “The Court is effective in so far as it acts as a deterrent to the most serious violations of human rights”, he told the UN Chronicle. “It’s an educational exercise too; in so far as nations internalize the Charter, it will allow them to better deal with their own problems.” On its establishment the ICC is expected to tackle penalties arising from crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and crimes of aggression.

The Sixth Committee’s work assumed greater significance after the terror attacks on 11 September 2001. In 28 meetings, it submitted 21 recommendations to the General Assembly, which were all adopted without a vote. Aside from the terrorism-related issues, the establishment of the ICC was a key issue in the Committee. Also discussed were the safety and security of UN peacekeeping personnel, the report of the International Law Commission, an international convention against the cloning of human beings and a Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

As an example of the complexity of the legal issues that the Sixth Committee dealt with, Mr. Biato posed a hypothetical question: “If you have a Spanish galleon in Brazilian waters carrying an English load brought by a Dutch merchant, whose right is it to get what?” The Sixth Committee will find the answer.

Mr. Biato said a significant fact about the ICC would be its “complementary system”. This meant that the Court, on its own, would be able to call upon the parties to a dispute to oblige their commitments under the charter of the ICC. “It sets up uniform rules and regulations for cooperation among States”, he said. The Rome Statute, upon which the ICC would be based, had been signed by 139 nations by the deadline of 31 December 2000. Out of the 60 notifications needed for the Statute to enter into force, 52 are in place.

However, there was a logjam in the Committee on the question of whether the Court could deal with crimes of aggression or not. One reason behind this is the concern of some that States may be included as aggressors. “That’s the problem”, said Mr. Biato. “It’s a very complicated issue. There is no typification of the crimes of aggression. If a war happens, which side would you believe is the aggressor?” Nonetheless, the Chairman of the Sixth Committee, Ambassador Pierre Lelong, said: “The establishment of the International Criminal Court is becoming a reality with every passing day.”

Ambassador Pierre Lelong, Permanent Representative of Haiti and Chairman, Sixth Committee. (Chronicle Photo)

Diplomats who spoke to the Chronicle said that after 11 September finalizing legal instruments against terrorism rose on the priority chart, and the Committee considered the draft resolution on “measures to eliminate international terrorism”. UN records show that this item was first included in the agenda of the 27th session of the General Assembly in 1972. Unlike last year when the Assembly voted 150 to none, with two abstentions, this year it was passed unanimously. “The unanimous approach demonstrated in this manner is a testimony of the strong determination of the international community to suppress this dangerous phenomenon”, said Ambassador Lelong. According to the resolution, the Assembly decided that a working group within the Sixth Committee’s ambit should elaborate, among others, a draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

In this tone of consensus, one of the new and “very urgent issues” the Committee discussed, said Mr. Biato, was the review of the Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel. “The Committee discussed enlarging the scope of circumstances of conflict”. States during civil wars did not have entire control over the situation. Who should be held responsible was the question the Committee faced. According to the resolution as adopted, the Assembly “recognized the need to consider the safety and security of locally recruited personnel, who are particularly vulnerable and account for the majority of casualties”.

Also considered was the report of the International Law Commission (ILC) on responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts. “This achievement is likely to be very influential, for these articles deal with the fundamental structure of international law,” said Ambassador Lelong.

One clause that stood out in the ILC report, which the Committee finally recommended, states that the right to self-determination was “essentially that of a people to seek independence from colonial rule, and that no right to secession was thus authorized in the post-colonial era”. One could find a correlation to this in a Third Committee resolution on “Universal realization of the right of peoples to self-determination”, which says “special attention must be given to the violation of human rights, especially the right to self-determination, resulting from foreign military intervention, aggression or occupation”.

One of two new resolutions introduced at the initiative of France and Germany was on cloning of human beings. “A particular serious problem in terms of identity and human dignity has arisen by the announcement by certain laboratory researchers that they intend to attempt in the near future the reproductive cloning of human beings”, said Ambassador Lelong.

Jean Luc Florent, who represented France in the Committee, told the Chronicle: “I foresee only one obstacle. The main risk is not the principle - the delegations on the Sixth Committee are in favour of it. Some, however, say that the scope of the Convention must be broadened to include all cloning technologies using human embryos.” Barring that obstacle, Mr. Florent said, by 2003 the outlines of a convention on cloning could emerge. The Assembly adopted the resolution on an “international convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings” and called for the setting up of an Ad Hoc Committee to elaborate the proposed international convention.

The Committee was of the opinion that cloning “was a threat to human dignity” and that a convention should also consider the “therapeutic purposes of cloning”, and a more “neutral title for the convention should be adopted since an outright ban might serve to drive the research underground”.