CEIRPP meeting – Summary record

COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS

OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 169th MEETING

Held at Headquarters, New York,

on Friday, 2 March 1990, at 10.30 a.m.

Chairman:                                   Mrs. DIALLO                      (Senegal)

CONTENTS

Adoption  of  the  agenda

Election  of  a  Vice-Chairman

Draft  programme  of  work  for  1990

Report by the Chairman on the Preparatory Meeting for the North American NGO       

Symposium held in New York on 22 and 23 January 1990                          

Report on the Latin American and Caribbean Seminar and NGO Symposium held at Buenos Aires from 5 to 9 February 1990                                         

African Seminar and NGO Symposium to be held at Freetown, Sierra Leone, from 2 to 6 April 1990                                                                 

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,  Department  of   Conference  Services,  room  DC2-0750,  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 11.15 a.m.

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

1.   The agenda was adopted.

ELECTION OF A VICE-CHAIRMAN

2.   The CHAIRMAN said that, if she heard no objection, she would take it that the Committee wished to elect Mr. Alarcón de Quesada (Cuba) a Vice-Chairman of the Committee.

3.   It was so decided.

4.   Mr. ZAMORA (Cuba) expressed gratitude on behalf of Mr. Alarcón de Quesada

(Cuba) for his election as a Vice-Chairman and said that the Cuban delegation would continue to do everything possible in order to achieve the objectives of the Committee.

DRAFT PROGRAMME OF WORK FOR 1990 (A/AC.183/1990/CRP.1/Rev.1)

5.   Mr. BORG OLIVIER (Malta), Rapporteur, said that the Working Group had considered the first draft of the programme of work at a meeting in January 1990. There had been a useful exchange of views on the various activities to be held under the auspices of the Committee in 1990, in view of the continuing intifadah in the occupied Palestinian territory and the urgent need to break the current deadlock and arrive at a negotiated solution to the question of Palestine in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions.  The revised draft programme of work (A/AC.183/1990/CRP.1/Rev.1) took into account the comments made in the Working Group and had already been distributed to the members of the Committee.

6.   At its meeting on 9 January 1990, the Committee had briefly exchanged views on the increase in the tasks performed by the Division for Palestinian Rights and had requested the Working Group to consider that matter and formulate suitable recommendations.  At its meeting on 18 January, the Working Group had considered the question, taking into account the relevant information.  The Working Group had taken note of the fact that over the past three years the work-load of the Division had increased considerably, particularly with regard to its work with non-governmental organizations. With the establishment of regional NGO co-ordinating committees, the Division now had to deal with six such committees on a regular basis.  The number of non-governmental organizations on the mailing list had risen from about 100 in 1983 to over 850.

7.   Owing to the intifadah, the volume of the monitoring reports, bulletins and publications issued by the Division had increased.  Furthermore, in the past two years, the Committee had received additional assistance from the Division in a number of areas.  The Working Group had also taken note of the fact that, in accordance with the responsibilities entrusted to the Committee by the General Assembly, the Committee planned to intensify its efforts to heighten public and official awareness of the facts relating to the question of Palestine and promote the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East.  The Working Group had concluded that, subject to the Committee's approval, the Chairman should bring that matter to the attention of the Secretary-General and request him to take such action as he might consider appropriate to strengthen and restructure the Division for Palestinian Rights so that it might continue to discharge its mandate fully and more effectively in consultation with and under the guidance of the Committee.

8.   Mr. ZACHMANN (German Democratic Republic) said that his delegation fully supported the programme of work for 1990, which focused on concrete steps to promote the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East and ensure the safety of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories. The German Democratic Republic would continue to participate actively in the work of the Committee to safeguard the right of the Palestinian people to

self-determination and thus bring about a settlement of the Middle East conflict as a whole.  All sides must demonstrate the necessary political will and a sense of realism in that regard in order to start the negotiating process.  Lastly, he once again expressed his country's firm solidarity with the Palestinian people.

9.   The CHAIRMAN said that, if she heard no objection, she would take it that the Committee wished to adopt the draft programme of work for 1990.

10.  It was so decided.

11.  The CHAIRMAN said that, in accordance with established practice, the Bureau would continue to meet whenever necessary in order to finalize the arrangements for the various activities to be organized by the Division for Palestinian Rights.  As proposed by the Working Group, she would convey to the Secretary-General the Committee's concern regarding the increase in the work of the Division and the need to provide the Division with adequate staffing resources.

12.  It was so decided.

13.  Mr. TERZI (Observer for Palestine), referring to paragraph 12 of the programme of work for 1990, stressed the importance of the visits to the capitals of States members of the Security Council, in particular the five permanent members, in order to promote intensified efforts towards the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East.  The draft study on Palestinian children, referred in paragraph 26, should be available for consideration at the UNICEF World Summit for Children to be held in the spring of 1990.  Referring to paragraph 29 (e) on "Israeli settlements in Gaza and in the West Bank (including Jerusalem)", he inquired whether the Secretariat could provide the Committee with updated information for its consideration of the question of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967.  His delegation was alarmed at the statements made by the Government of Israel that settlements were required for State security.  That was a further obstacle to the process under way to promote the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East.

14.  Mr. MIRZA (Chief, Division for Palestinian Rights) said that the draft study on Palestinian children would be available in time for the UNICEF World Summit for Children.  The Division gave priority to the question of Israeli settlements in Gaza and in the West Bank and would try to complete the study as soon as possible and submit it to the Committee with all the relevant information.

15.  The CHAIRMAN said that the Secretariat would do everything to ensure that the members of the Committee received all the necessary information and documentation. She would take into account all the pertinent aspects of the question in her statement to be made on behalf of the Committee to the Security Council.

REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN ON THE PREPARATORY MEETING FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN NGO

SYMPOSIUM HELD IN NEW YORK ON 22 AND 23 JANUARY 1990

16.  The CHAIRMAN said that the Preparatory Planning Meeting for the 1990 North American Regional NGO Symposium on the Question of Palestine had been held on 22 and 23 January 1990 at United Nations Headquarters, and the Committee delegation to the Meeting, which she had had the honour to head, included the other members of the Bureau, Ambassador Oscar Oramas-Oliva (Cuba) and Ambassador Noor Ahmad Noor (Afghanistan), Vice-Chairmen of the Committee, Ambassador Alexander Borg Olivier (Malta), the Committee's Rapporteur, and Mr. Zuhdi L. Terzi (Observer for Palestine).  The Preparatory Meeting had been attended by members of the North American Co-ordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine (NACC), who had been elected by the North American Regional NGO Symposium on the Question of Palestine, held in New York in 1989.

17.  At the request of NACC, invitations had been extended to the representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to brief the NGOs on the activities of their respective organizations with regard to the Palestinian people living in the occupied Palestinian territory.

18.  In her statement, she had emphasized that the Committee's priority objective was to intensify its efforts to bring about the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 44/42.  She had stressed the Committee's desire to improve its co-operation with the North American NGO community and to seek ways and means of reaching out more effectively to the North American public, for example by participating in NGO-sponsored conferences outside New York City.

19.  The Committee delegation had had an opportunity to exchange views with the members of NACC on the draft programme which NACC had proposed for the NGO Symposium, and Working Paper No. 2 was the result of that joint effort.  In Working Paper No. 2, it had been proposed that the first panel should stress the need for breaking the impasse and moving towards Palestinian-Israeli peace.  That panel would consider the various dimensions of the peace process from the perspective of the international community, Palestinian policy, Israeli government policy, United States government policy and United States-Israeli relations, and it would be addressed by speakers directly involved in each of those areas.  The second panel would consist of Palestinians from the occupied territory and an Israeli from the

peace movement and would provide updated information on the intifadah.

20.  A number of workshops had also been proposed.  The workshops would focus on organizing specific constituencies in North America around issues of particular concern, such as settlements, immigration, human rights violations with particular attention to children, and United States aid to Israel. Persons from the occupied territory and from the relevant United Nations agencies would be invited to contribute their expertise to those workshops.

21.  In view of the many administrative arrangements that the Secretariat would have to undertake, she suggested that the Committee should approve Working Paper No. 2 as a whole in order to enable the Secretariat to begin preparations for the Symposium.

22.  It was so decided.

REPORT ON THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN SEMINAR AND NGO SYMPOSIUM HELD AT BUENOS AIRES FROM 5 TO 9 FEBRUARY 1990

23.  Mr. BORG OLIVIER (Malta), Rapporteur, said that the Committee delegation which had attended the United Nations Latin American and Caribbean Regional Seminar and NGO Symposium on the Question of Palestine, held at Buenos Aires from 5 to 9 February 1990, had been composed of Mr. Oscar Oramas-Oliva (Cuba), Vice-Chairman of the Committee and leader of the delegation, who had acted as Seminar Chairman; Mr. Dragoslav Pejic, Permanent representative of Yugoslavia, who had served as Vice-Chairman; Mr. Zuhdi L. Terzi, Permanent Observer for Palestine; and himself, who had served as Vice-Chairman and Rapporteur.

24.  The Seminar and the Symposium had been very successful.  The papers presented by the experts were of the highest quality and had led to lively discussions on the various subjects, and all participants had expressed the greatest satisfaction at the results of the meeting.  That had been the first time that the Committee had held a combined event for the governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental community of the Latin American and Caribbean region.  It had also been the first time that the Committee had organized a symposium for NGOs in that region.  The Seminar and the Symposium had held four joint meetings for panel presentations and discussions on the following topics:  the urgency of convening the International Peace Conference on the Middle East; the intifadah in the occupied Palestinian territory and its impact on the achievement of a comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflict; the role of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the social, cultural, economic and political development of the Palestinian people; and

the mobilization of public opinion in the Latin American and Caribbean region for the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

25.  Fourteen eminent panelists from the region, as well as from Israel, the

Palestinian occupied territory, Spain and from NGO co-ordinating committees had presented papers on those topics, which had been followed by lively and interesting discussions.  Time had also been set aside for several NGO meetings.  Two NGO workshops had met to discuss the topics "Mobilization and networking by NGOs to ensure the protection of, and promote assistance to, the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation" and "NGO activities to further mobilize public opinion for the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people".  Seven resource persons had shared their expertise regarding the needs of the Palestinian people under occupation and the possibilities for NGO action with the participating NGOs.

26.  The Seminar and Symposium had aroused a great deal of interest and had received substantial press and television coverage.  A large number of participants had attended the meetings, including representatives of 34 Governments, Palestine, various United Nations bodies and international organizations and 27 NGOs accredited to the Committee.  Several other NGOs had also attended the proceedings as members of the public.

27.  The conclusions and recommendations adopted by the Seminar and the Declaration of the NGO Symposium were balanced and constructive documents; at the same time, they were permeated by a sense of urgency and anxiety over the continuing stalemate in the peace process.  They took account of the current, crucial stage in the struggle of the Palestinian people to attain its inalienable rights and provided a sound basis for action at the governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental levels.

28.  The participants in the workshops had considered modalities for joint action by Latin American and Caribbean NGOs and had committed themselves to undertaking various projects in solidarity with the Palestinian people.  The NGOs had been able to establish a co-ordinating committee for the Latin American and Caribbean region, which would facilitate contacts and exchanges in future.

29.  The Declaration of the NGO Symposium and the conclusions and recommendations of the Seminar had been circulated by the Secretariat.  If the Committee agreed, they would be annexed to the annual report of the Committee to the General Assembly, and the report of the Seminar and NGO Symposium would be issued in due course as a publication of the Division for Palestinian rights.

30.  It was so decided.

31.  Mr. EL-SAID (Department of Public Information) said that the Department of Public Information had organized the North and Latin American and Caribbean Regional Journalists' Encounter on the Question of Palestine at Buenos Aires from 12 to 14 February 1990.  About 35 high-level journalists from North and Latin America and the Caribbean region, including a number of Argentine journalists, had attended.

32.  The Encounter had proved very successful in achieving its purpose.  The debates had been lively, frank and objective.  All participants had praised the United Nations for taking the responsibility for disseminating balanced and impartial information on the subject.  Most had expressed the view that the participation of an official Israeli representative would have been more stimulating.  The moderator had explained to them that the Department of Public Information had repeatedly invited Israeli officials to participate in the United Nations public information activities on the question of Palestine but that they had declined.

33.  In addition, three national journalists' encounters on the question of Palestine had been held at Mexico City, on 2 February; at Santiago, on 15 February; and at Port of Spain, on 20 February 1990.  The purpose of the encounters had been to provide an opportunity for the largest possible number of local journalists and foreign correspondents to meet with experts on the subject for a brief discussion of the various aspects of the Palestinian question.  An average of 40 to 60 journalists, foreign correspondents, senior officials, foreign diplomats and NGO representatives had attended each encounter.  National television had covered the encounters and had interviewed the panelists individually.

34.  A new series of national encounters would be held at Oslo, London, Belgrade, Tokyo, Manila, Bangkok and New Delhi.  The Asian and Pacific Regional Journalists' Encounter would be held at Singapore from 26 to 28 March 1990.

AFRICAN SEMINAR AND NGO SYMPOSIUM TO BE HELD AT FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE, FROM 2 to 6 APRIL 1990

35.  The CHAIRMAN said that a planning mission of the United Nations Secretariat had visited Freetown in early January, and the Bureau had proceeded with a number of arrangements, including initial selection of panelists and contacts with the African NGOs, in order to ensure the success of the event.  The result of the Bureau's preparatory work was before the Committee in Working Paper No. 3.  If there were no other comments, she would take it that the Committee wished to take note of Working Paper No. 3.

36.  It was so decided.

37.  The Chairman said that the Bureau would continue with further preparations and would keep the Committee informed of developments.  The delegation of the Committee to the African Regional Seminar and NGO Symposium would consist of Mr. Alexander Borg Olivier (Malta), Rapporteur of the Committee; Mr. Guennadi Oudovenko, Permanent Representative of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Mr. Tom Ogbaleh Kargbo, Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone, Mr. Zuhdi L. Terzi, Permanent Observer for Palestine; and herself.

OTHER MATTERS

38.  Mr. TERZI (Observer for Palestine) said that the Government of the United

States had issued a report on violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation, and he suggested that the Committee should consider circulating it as a document of the General Assembly and Security Council.

39.  The CHAIRMAN thanked the observer for Palestine and said that the Committee would take the appropriate steps.  She said the Preparatory Meeting for the International NGO Meeting was scheduled to be held at Geneva on 26 and 27 March 1990.  The meeting would be attended by members of the International Co-ordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine, who would draft a programme for the International NGO Meeting and European NGO Symposium to be held at Geneva from 27 to 31 August 1990, in consultation with the Committee delegation.

40.  The Government of Sweden had agreed to the holding of the European Regional Seminar at Stockholm from 7 to 11 May 1990.  A planning mission of the United Nations Secretariat was due to visit Stockholm the following week. The Bureau had begun preparations in consultation with the Permanent Mission of Sweden and the Division for Palestinian Rights.

                           The meeting rose at 12.20 p.m.