Right of peoples to self-determination – SecGen report (excerpts)

RIGHT OF PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION

Report of the Secretary-General

CONTENTS

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* A/48/150 and Corr.1.

I.  INTRODUCTION

1. In its resolution 47/82 of 16 December 1992, the General Assembly, inter alia, called upon all States to implement fully and faithfully all the relevant resolutions of the United Nations regarding the exercise of the right to self-determination and independence by peoples under colonial and foreign domination; reaffirmed the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial domination, apartheid and foreign occupation, in all its forms and by all available means; reaffirmed that the practice of using mercenaries against sovereign States and national liberation movements constituted a criminal act, and called upon the Governments of all countries to enact legislation declaring the recruitment, financing and training of mercenaries in their territories and the transit of mercenaries through their territories to be punishable offences and prohibiting their nationals from serving as mercenaries, and to report on such legislation to the Secretary-General; expressed its appreciation for the material and other forms of assistance that peoples under colonial rule continued to receive from Governments, organizations of the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations, and called for a substantial increase in that assistance; and decided to consider the question at its forty-eighth session under the item entitled "Right of peoples to self-determination".

2. In its resolution 47/83 of 16 December 1992, the General Assembly, inter alia, reaffirmed that the universal realization of the right of all peoples, including those under colonial, foreign and alien domination, to self-determination was a fundamental condition for the effective guarantee and observance of human rights and for the preservation and promotion of such rights; requested the Commission on Human Rights to continue to give special attention to the violation of human rights, especially the right to self-determination, resulting from foreign military intervention, aggression or occupation; and requested the Secretary-General to report on that issue to the Assembly at its forty-eighth session under the item entitled "Right of peoples to self-determination".

3. In its resolution 47/84, also of 16 December 1992, the General Assembly, inter alia, urged all States to take the necessary steps and to exercise the utmost vigilance against the menace posed by the activities of mercenaries and to ensure, by both administrative and legislative measures, that the territory of those States and other territories under their control, as well as their nationals, were not used for the recruitment, assembly, financing, training and transit of mercenaries, or for the planning of activities designed to destabilize or overthrow the Government of any State and to fight the national liberation movements struggling against racism, apartheid, colonial domination and foreign intervention or occupation.

4. Accordingly, the Secretary-General, in a note verbale dated 30 April 1993, invited all States to communicate to him any relevant information they might wish to submit for inclusion in the report he was requested to prepare pursuant to paragraph 6 of Assembly resolution 47/83 and paragraph 26 of resolution 47/82.

5. The present report contains a summary of action taken by the Commission on Human Rights at its forty-ninth session and by the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 1993 and replies received from Governments as at 1 September 1993.  Any additional replies will be reproduced in an addendum to the present document.

II.  SUMMARY OF ACTION TAKEN BY THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN

RIGHTS AT ITS FORTY-NINTH SESSION AND BY THE

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL AT ITS SUBSTANTIVE SESSION OF 1993

6. At its forty-ninth session held from 1 February to 12 March 1993 the Commission on Human Rights considered the item entitled "The right of peoples to self-determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation" at its 4th to 11th and at its 29th and 42nd meetings.  The debates are reported in the relevant summary records (E/CN.4/1993/SR.4-11, 29 and 42).  The Commission adopted four resolutions, which related to the situation in occupied Palestine (resolution 1993/4), the use of mercenaries as a means of impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination (resolution 1993/5), the situation of human rights in Cambodia (resolution 1993/6) and the question of Western Sahara (resolution 1993/17).

7. At its substantive session of 1993, the Economic and Social Council, by its decision 1993/254 of 28 July 1993, after having taken note of Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/6 on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, approved the Commission's requests to the Secretary-General contained in that resolution.

JORDAN

[Original:  English]

[21 July 1993]      

The Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan informed the Secretary-General that the Jordanian Penal Law No. 16 of 1960 contains the following provisions pertaining to crimes which contravene international law:

Article 118, according to which an individual may be put under temporary arrest for a period of no less than 5 years if:

The individual contravenes the arrangements taken by the State to ensure its neutrality in time of war;

The individual concerned undertakes actions or writings or speeches not permitted by the Government, in such a manner that these actions or writings or speeches expose the Kingdom to the danger of hostile actions, or disturb the Kingdom's relations with a foreign State, or expose the Kingdom's citizens or their material belongings to acts of reprisal or vengeance.

Article 119, according to which:

Any individual who organized or prepared or assisted in the Kingdom's territory any attempt to change the standing regime of a friendly State by force, or change its Constitution by force is penalized by temporary arrest.

Article 120, according to which any individual who recruits in the Kingdom, without the Government's consent, soldiers in order to fight for the interests of a foreign State is penalized by temporary arrest.

The text of the above-mentioned provisions of the Jordanian Penal Law in the original Arabic, as they appeared in issue No. 1487 of the Jordanian official Journal, dated 1 May 1960, was enclosed.*

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* Available for consultation in the files of the Secretariat.