SecCo report to GA/Middle East situation – GA debate – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Official Records

General Assembly
Sixty-second session

47th plenary meeting
Monday, 12 November 2007, 10 a.m. 
New York

The meeting was called to order at 10.30 a.m.

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Agenda items 9 and 122

Report of the Security Council (A/62/2)

  Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters

 The President: Today the Assembly will consider the item entitled “Report of the Security Council”. I hope that our consideration of the item will contribute to strengthening relations between the General Assembly and the Security Council so that together both bodies can better promote the values and principles of the United Nations.

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  I now give the floor to the President of the Security Council, His Excellency Mr. Marty Natalegawa, to introduce the report of the Security Council.

  Mr. Natalegawa (Indonesia): …

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  The situation in the Middle East and the Palestinian question continued to be considered on a monthly basis. There were seven open debates on the situation, two of which were at the ministerial level. In November 2006, a draft resolution was introduced by Qatar but not adopted, owing to the negative vote of a permanent member. In December, there was a comprehensive report of the Secretary-General on the situation in the Middle East and the peace process over the past 10 years.

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 Mr. Heller (Mexico) (spoke in Spanish ): My delegation wishes to thank you, Mr. President, for having convened this meeting, and to thank the President of the Security Council, the representative of Indonesia, for his presentation of the report (A/62/2) today.

  The delegation of Mexico wishes to indicate that although it recognizes the efforts made to facilitate consultations on the content of the Security Council report, that document does not, unfortunately, include substantive information on its actions on the various items under examination during the period from August 2006 to July 2007.

  We believe that the presentation of the report must not be a mere step, but the means by which the Council collaborates with the General Assembly, in which all Member State are represented, and that the Council should report in a detailed manner on the fulfilment of its responsibility in the maintenance of international peace and security. Mexico insists once again that the capacities of the Council and of the Assembly with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security are concurrent, as clearly stated by the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory, transmitted to the Assembly by document A/ES-10/273 of 13 July 2004.

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  Mr. Hoang Chi Trung (Viet Nam): …

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  The statistics provided in the Council’s report show a growing trend in its activities, both in scope and dimension. They also remind us that conflict and tensions are still prevalent in many regions around the world, a fact that requires the international community to show further determination and provide more resources to bring those conflicts to satisfactory resolutions. We are particularly concerned with the cycle of escalating violence and the elusive peace process in the Middle East and the fragile peace processes in some African countries, while non-traditional threats such as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction continue to pose serious threats to international peace and security.

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 Mr. Al-Jabri (Saudi Arabia) (spoke in Arabic ): …

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  The unjustified manner in which the veto is currently being used is a challenge for all of us and calls for our attention. The misuse of the veto has resulted in the continuation of the chronic problem of the Middle East, which has lasted for more than 60 years. Resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly have been adopted but not implemented because of this unjustified use of the veto, which has prevented the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

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  Mr. Argüello (Argentina) (spoke in Spanish ): …

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  We are following with concern the most grave incidents affecting international peace and security and, in particular, we would like to draw attention to the situation in Darfur, in Somalia and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We do hope that the upcoming Annapolis conference will make real progress aimed at achieving a just and legitimate solution to the conflict in the Middle East within international law, as established by the various resolutions of the Security Council. We are aware of the gravity of situations that place restrictions on freedoms and that violate human rights in many countries.

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 Mr. Mansour (Tunisia) (spoke in French ): …

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  On questions of substance, the report of the Security Council shows that that organ has acted with determination to address a number of conflicts around the world, and in particular on the African continent. That enhances the Council’s authority and role in the maintenance of international peace and security.

  But the efforts of the Council fall short of expectations in the Middle East. Frustration at the Council’s repeated failure to become more involved in settling the question of Palestine and to shoulder its responsibilities in that area poses a serious threat to the region and to the authority of the Council itself.

The meeting rose at 1 p.m.

This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the interpretation of speeches delivered in the other languages. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room C-154A. Corrections will be issued after the end of the session in a consolidated corrigendum.