CEIRPP meeting – Summary record

COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS

OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 191st MEETING

Held at Headquarters, New York,

on Thursday, 5 November 1992, at 10.30 a.m.

Chairman:                      Mr. CISSE                     (Senegal)

CONTENTS

Adoption  of  the  agenda

Draft  report  of  the  Committee  to  the  General  Assembly  at  its forty-seventh session

Other matters

     This  record  is  subject  to   correction.

     Corrections  should  be  submitted  in   one   of   the   working languages.   They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a  copy of the record.  They should be sent within one week of the date of this document  to the Chief, Official Records Editing Section, Office of Conference Services, room DC2-750, 2 United Nations Plaza.                     

     Any corrections to the record of this meeting and of other  meetings will   be issued  in  a  corrigendum.

                 The meeting was called to order at 11.10 a.m.

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

1.   The agenda was adopted.

DRAFT REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT ITS FORTY-SEVENTH

SESSION (A/AC.183/1992/CRP.2/Rev.1)

2.   Mr. CAMILLERI (Malta), Rapporteur, introducing the draft report of the

Committee to the General Assembly (A/AC.183/1992/CRP.2/Rev.1), said that the

draft had been the object of thorough consideration by the Working Group at

its meeting held on 26 October 1992.  In accordance with established practice,

the annexes, listed in the table of contents, would consist of the original

recommendations of the Committee and the recommendations and declarations

adopted by participants in regional seminars and non-governmental organization

meetings and symposia, preceded by a brief factual introduction.  Since those

documents were already known to the Committee, they had not been circulated

again.

3.   Briefly summarizing the contents of the report, he said that the main

body of the report was in chapter IV, which gave an account of the action

taken by the Committee and the Division for Palestinian Rights in

implementation of their respective mandates.  Chapter VI contained the

Committee's recommendations, which had been drafted taking into account recent

developments.  He trusted that the report could be adopted by the Committee at

the current meeting for submission to the General Assembly as soon as possible.

4.   The draft report was adopted chapter by chapter and as a whole.

OTHER MATTERS

5.   Mr. AL-KIDWA (Observer for Palestine) said that in the year since the

launching of the Middle East peace process in Madrid no significant results

had been achieved.  The Palestinian leadership had addressed messages to the

Secretary-General of the United Nations and to the Presidents of the United

States and the Russian Federation, who were custodians of the peace process,

in which it had called attention to the need for a new impetus to the peace

process.  Also, in the absence of progress, it was important to ensure that

the United Nations continued to discharge its responsibilities towards the

Palestinian people in the occupied territory.

6.   The recent invitation to the Secretary-General to participate officially

in the meetings of the multilateral committees, which were part of the Middle

East peace process, was a welcome development.  There was a need, however, for

greater participation by the United Nations not only in the multilateral

committees but also in bilateral talks and in any other arrangements which

might emerge.

7.   When the Secretary-General had requested his views on the implementation

of General Assembly resolution 46/75 concerning an International Peace

Conference on the Middle East, he had replied that the position of the General

Assembly on the need for an International Peace Conference was correct and

still represented the most effective means of achieving peace in the Middle

East.  While the Palestinian leadership was disappointed that the proposed

Conference had not yet been convened, it would continue to support the current

peace process, provided that the principles set forth in resolution 46/75 were

included in any final settlement.  Moreover, in view of the complex situation

in the Middle East, it still held the view that an International Peace

Conference should be held at a later stage.  That view was similar to the

position adopted on the matter by the Non-Aligned Movement at its recent

summit meeting in Indonesia.

8.   He wished to appeal to the members of the Committee to continue at the

current session to support the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly on

the question of Palestine.  As Chairman of the Arab Group of the Whole for

November, he would welcome the ideas and suggestions of representatives of

other geographical groups.

9.   The CHAIRMAN said that the Committee was ready to support not only the

Palestinians in general but also the work at the United Nations of the

Observer for Palestine.  While the Secretary-General had indicated his support

for the international peace process, the convening of an International Peace

Conference on the Middle East would still be a welcome development.  The reply

of the Observer for Palestine to the letter from the Secretary-General fully

reflected the views that the Committee itself would have expressed on the

matter.  He hoped, lastly, that the appeal by the Observer for Palestine for

support for his work at the United Nations would not go unheeded.

                        The meeting rose at 11.45 a.m.