Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination – Third Cttee report (excerpts)

Right of peoples to self-determination

Report of the Third Committee

Rapporteur: Mr. Juraj Priputen (Slovakia)

I.  Introduction 

1.   At its 3rd plenary meeting, on 19 September 2001, the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the General Committee, decided to include in the agenda of its fifty-sixth session the item entitled “Right of peoples to self-determination” and to allocate it to the Third Committee. 

2.   The Third Committee held a substantive debate on the item at its 26th to 28th, 30th, 36th, 41st, 42nd, 47th and 50th meetings, on 31 October and on 1, 5, 9, 15, 16, 21 and 27 November 2001. An account of the Committee’s discussion is contained in the relevant summary records (A/C.3/56/SR.26-28, 30, 36, 41, 42, 47 and 50).

3.   For its consideration of the item, the Committee had before it the following documents:

 (a)   Report of the Secretary-General (A/56/295);

 (b)   Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination (A/56/224);

 (c)   Letter dated 11 October 2001 from the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting the documents of the ninth extraordinary session of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, held at Doha on 10 October 2001 (A/56/462-S/2001/962);

 (d)   Letter dated 21 November 2001 from the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting the Declaration adopted by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 at their twenty-fifth annual meeting, held at United Nations Headquarters on 16 November 2001 (A/56/647).

4.   At the 26th meeting, on 31 October, an introductory statement was made by the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the question of the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination (see A/C.3/56/SR.26). 

5.   At the same meeting, the Committee engaged in a dialogue with the Special Rapporteur, in which the representatives of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Cuba took part (see A/C.3/56/SR.26).

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III.   Recommendations of the Third Committee

17.   The Third Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the following draft resolutions:

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Draft resolution III
The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination

  The General Assembly,

 Aware that the development of friendly relations among nations, based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, is among the purposes and principles of the United Nations, as defined in the Charter,

 Recalling the International Covenants on Human Rights,¹¹ the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,¹² the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples¹³ and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993,¹⁴

  Recalling also the Declaration on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations,¹⁵

 Recalling further the United Nations Millennium Declaration,¹⁶

  Expressing hope for an immediate resumption of negotiations within the Middle East peace process on its agreed basis and for the speedy achievement of a final settlement between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,

 Affirming the right of all States in the region to live in peace within secure and internationally recognized borders,

 1.  Reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State;

 2.  Expresses the hope that the Palestinian people will soon be exercising their right to self-determination, which is not subject to any veto, in the current peace process;

 3.  Urges all States and the specialized agencies and the organizations of the United Nations system to continue to support and assist the Palestinian people in their quest for self-determination.

Notes

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 ¹¹   Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.

 ¹²   Resolution 217 A (III).

 ¹³  Resolution 1514 (XV).

 ¹⁴   A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.

 ¹⁵   See resolution 50/6.

 ¹⁶  See resolution 55/2.