UNCCP – 31st report

UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES

IN THE NEAR EAST

REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS

CONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR PALESTINE

Note by the Secretary-General

The thirty-first report of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, covering the period from 1 October 1976 to 30 September 1977, the text of which is attached to the present note, was transmitted by the Chairman of the Commission by letter of 30 September 1977 for communication to the States Members of the United Nations in accordance with paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution 512 (VI) of 26 January 1952, and paragraph 3 of General Assembly resolution 31/15 A of 23 November 1976.

ANNEX

Thirty-first report of the United Nations

Conciliation Commission for Palestine

1. In paragraph 3 of resolution 31/15 A of 23 November 1976, the General Assembly noted with regret that the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine had been unable to find a means of achieving progress in the implementation of paragraph 11 of Assembly resolution 194 (III) and requested the Commission to exert continued efforts towards the implementation of that paragraph and to report as appropriate, but no later than 1 October 1977.  The present report is submitted pursuant to that request.

2. In its twenty-fourth 1/ and twenty-fifth 2/ reports, covering the periods from 24 December 1965 to 30 September 1966 and from 1 October 1966 to 30 September 1967, the Commission responded to earlier requests by the General Assembly in its resolutions 2052 (XX) of 15 December 1965 and 2154 (XXI) of 17 November 1966, in connexion with the implementation of paragraph 11 of resolution 194 (III).  In those reports the Commission noted that examination of various ways in which it might be possible to intensify its efforts with any prospect of advancing matters towards the implementation of paragraph 11 of resolution 194 (III) had compelled the conclusion that all the ways envisaged presupposed substantial changes in the situation.  The events which had occurred in 1967 and thereafter complicated an already very complex problem.

3. In the course of 1972, in response to formal requests from interested parties, and after consultation with the Legal Counsel of the United Nations, the Commission decided that those interested parties could have access to certain documents of the Commission 3/ with the understanding that the recipient Governments would continue to treat valuation figures contained therein on a confidential basis.  Copies of such documents would be furnished on the understanding that any expenses shall be borne by the delegation concerned.

4. In accordance with the Commission's decision to make available to the interested parties, upon request, copies of certain documents and materials in its possession, and in pursuance of such a request by Egypt, the duplication work was undertaken and completed in June 1974, at which time copies of the relevant set of documents were transmitted to the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations.  On 31 May 1974, the Commission received a request from Jordan for copies of the same set of documents and the Commission agreed that the Permanent Mission of Jordan be supplied also with the same set of documents as Egypt; it was subsequently supplied to Jordan.  The Commission also agreed to supply the Permanent Mission of Egypt, at its request, with additional sets of microfilm copies of the documents at the Mission's expense.

5. In accordance with a decision taken by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People at its 9th meeting on 30 March 1976, the Chairman of that Committee, by a letter dated 31 March 1976, requested the Secretary-General to invite members of the Commission to communicate to it their views and observations on those aspects of the Commission's work which they considered useful for the work of the Committee.

6. In reply to the Chairman's letter, the Secretary-General, by a letter dated 30 April 1976, transmitted to the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People a statement summarizing the work of the Commission from its inception to date.  In his letter, the Secretary-General stated that the summary had been checked for accuracy by members of the Commission. Subsequently, the summary was issued as a document of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.4/

7. In response to a further request from the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People "to obtain from the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, an inventory of Arab property in Israel and the territories occupied by Israel", the Commission decided that it had no objection to that Committee, an organ of the United Nations, having access to the following documents in the Commission's possession:

(a) Microfilms of land registers received from the Mandatory Government;

(b) RP-1 forms (identification of property parcels including individual valuation figures);

(c) Index of owners' names (which provides means of direct reference to the holdings recorded in the name of each owner).

8. In its last report, the Commission noted that, during the period 1974-1975 there was intensive diplomatic activity towards a Middle East settlement.5/  It noted that that momentum had not been maintained during the year 1976, owing in part to the developments in the area.

9. The Commission notes that the diplomatic activity directed towards finding a just and lasting peace in the Middle East has been resumed and hopes for the fruitful conclusion of the current initiatives and diplomatic efforts being made in this regard.  The circumstances governing the possibilities open to the Commission have remained up to now essentially unchanged.  Nevertheless, the Commission hopes that the situation in the region will improve considerably in the near future, enabling it to carry forward its work more vigorously.

Notes

1/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 32, document A/6451.

2/ Ibid., Twenty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 34, document A/6846.

3/ These documents were the following: microfilms of land registers received from the Mandatory Government; RP-1 forms (identification of property parcels including individual valuation figures); and the index of owners' names (which provides means of direct reference to the holdings recorded in the name of each owner).

4/ Document A/AC.183/4 of 12 May 1976.

5/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 53, document A/31/254, para. 8.

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