Mideast situation/Palestine question – OAU Council of Ministers resolutions – Letter from Cameroon (excerpt)

Letter dated 19 August 1996 from the Permanent Representative of

Cameroon to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

In my capacity as representative of the current Chairman of the Organization of African Unity, I have the honour to forward herewith, to be circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under item 42 of the provisional agenda, the resolutions adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity at its sixty-fourth ordinary session and the resolutions and declarations adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government at its thirty-second ordinary session, which were held at Yaoundé from 1 to 5 July 1996 and from 8 to 10 July 1996, respectively (see annexes).*

                                          (Signed)  Paul Bamela ENGO

                                                       Ambassador

                                           Permanent Representative of Cameroon

                                                  to the United Nations

                                          Representative of the current Chairman

                                           of the Organization of African Unity

_______________

*The annexes are being circulated in the languages of submission only.

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ANNEX I

Resolutions adopted by the Council of Ministers

of the Organization of African Unity at its

sixty-fourth ordinary session

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CM/Res.1654 (LXIV)

RESOLUTION ON THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting at its Sixty-Fourth Ordinary Session in Yaounde, Cameroon, from 1 to 5 July, 1996,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the Question of Palestine as contained in Document CM/1951 (LXIV),

Recalling the relevant resolutions adopted by previous sessions of the Council of Ministers and the Assembly of Heads of State and Government on the Question of Palestine,

Reaffirming the legitimacy of the struggle being waged by the Palestinian People under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, their sole legitimate representative, to recover their occupied territories and exercise their inalienable national rights, including the right to return to their homeland, to self-determination and to an independent State, incorporating East Jerusalem in conformity with pertinent resolution of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, in particular resolution No. 3236 (XXIX),

Appreciating the continued peace efforts for the achievement of a just and comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian Question on the basis of Security Council Resolutions 242, 338, 478 and the legitimate national and political rights of the Palestinian people,

Expressing its satisfaction with the participation of the Organization of African Unity by monitoring the Palestinian election on 20 January 1996,

Further expressing its satisfaction with the resolution adopted by the National Palestinian Council in its Twenty-First Session concerning the amendment of the National Charter,

Also expressing its satisfaction with the first ever legislative and Presidential Elections held under the Palestinian National Authority as an important step and additional impetus in the forthcoming negotiations on the issues deferred to the final stage:

1. REAFFIRMS that the Palestinian Question is at the core of the Middle East conflict, while the issue of East Jerusalem forms the core of the Palestinian Question and that a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Palestine calls for:

a) The withdrawal of Israel from all the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, recognition and respect of the inalienable national rights of Palestinian people in accordance with General Assembly resolution 3236 (XXIX) and the relevant UN resolutions;

b) Cessation of all acts of violence by all parties, which are calculated to derail the ongoing peace negotiations between Israel and PLO;

c) The release of all prisoners in accordance with the agreement between Israel and the PLO and the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949;

d) Cessation of activities aimed at establishing new Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and the need to dismantle the existing ones, put an immediate end to the confiscation of Palestinian land in and around Jerusalem and all other occupied Palestinian and Arab territories, and repeal immediately all the confiscation orders and arrangements made by Israel and that no such action be taken in the future so as to comply with the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council;

2. REAFFIRMS the need to resolve the problejm of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons on the basis of the principles of human rights and in accordance with the provisions of the relevant UN resolutions, particularly General Assembly resolution 194 (1948) and Security Council resolution 237 (1967) considering that the right to return constitutes one of the basic principles for achieving comprehensive and just peace in the region;

3. EXPRESSES ITS APPRECIATION AND SUPPORT for the “Land for Peace” principle, pursuant to Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), and for the Declaration of Principles signed in Washington on 13 September 1993 by PLO and Israel as an important step towards the implementation of the principle of “Land for Peace”, which should be speedily followed by similar measures on the Palestinian and other tracks;

4. APPRECIATES the determination of the Israeli Government and the PLO to forge ahead with the peace negotiation despite numerous setbacks;

5. ENCOURAGES Israel and the PLO to continue the peace process and ASSERTS the need to adhere to the provisions of the agreements concluded by the parties and to take measures to implement these agreements without delay and within the timeframe, pursuant to the Declaration of Principles signed in Washington and all other related agreements;

6. EXPRESSES ITS APPRECIATION for the efforts being exerted by all other parties during the bilateral and multilateral talks and ENCOURAGES them to persevere in their efforts to reach a just and peaceful solution to the Palestinian question;

7. REAFFIRMS ITS SOLIDARITY with the PLO and the Palestinian National Authority and CALLS UPON the donor community and international organizations and investment institutions to provide the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction, with economic and financial assistance, to enable it to exploit and develop the resources of the Palestinian territories and rehabilitate Palestinian national institutions as well as the infrastructure of the Palestinian national economy;

8. INVITES Member States to continue extending their necessary solidarity with the PLO at the forthcoming negotiations on issues deferred to the final stage in order to ensure the transfer to the Palestinian National Authority of all powers and responsibilities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem;

9. REAFFIRMS the need to abide by the UN resolutions especially the recent General Assembly resolution A/RES/50/22 of 12 December 1995 calling on Member States not to transfer their diplomatic missions to Jerusalem;

10. REQUESTS the OAU Secretary-General to monitor developments on the question of Palestine and report thereon to the next session of the OAU Council of Ministers.

CM/Res.1655 (LXIV)

RESOLUTION ON THE MIDDLE EAST

The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Sixty-Fourth Ordinary Session in Yaounde, Cameroon from 1 to 5 July 1996,

Having considered the report of the OAU Secretary-General on the Situation in the Middle East as contained in Document CM/1952 (LXIV),

Guided by the principles and objectives enshrined in the Charters of the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity and by the common determination of the Arab and African peoples to pull their resources in safeguarding their sovereignty and restoring their fundamental inalienable rights,

Recalling all the relevant resolutions of the OAU Assembly of Heads of States and Governments and the Council of Ministers on the situation in the Middle East,

Taking note of the recent political changes in the Middle East brought about by the change in leadership in certain key States,

Recalling also that the Palestinian question is at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East and that the issue of Eastern Jerusalem is the core of the Palestinian question:

1. WELCOMES recent positive developments in the Middle East and EXPRESSES its unflinching support for the efforts being made on all tracks to find a just and comprehensive solution to the question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions, particularly Security Council resolutions 242, 338, 425, 465 and 478 based on the principle of “Land for Peace”;

2. EXPRESSES its full support for the Arab countries in their efforts to put an end to the Israeli occupation and establish a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East;

3. REAFFIRMS that the questions of East Jerusalem and Palestine are at the centre of the Arab-Israeli conflict and that there can be no just and lasting solution in the Middle East unless Israel withdraws from all Palestinian and Arab territories, including East Jerusalem, the Syrian Golan Heights and Southern Lebanon and unless the Palestinian people are allowed to exercise their inalienable national rights;

4. REAFFIRMS its support for resolution 681 of the UN Security Council calling for the implementation of all the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention concerning the protection of civilians during wars in the case of the Palestinian people residing in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem;

5. URGES all parties in the Middle East to desist from launching armed attacks and perpetrating all acts of violence to allow the peace process to continue;

6. STRONGLY URGES the United Nations and the international community to ensure Israel’s full compliance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the International Atomic Agency on the use of its nuclear installations for peaceful means and to persuade that country to open those installations for international supervision and to submit to the Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency a comprehensive report on its stockpiles of nuclear weapons;

7. DRAWS THE ATTENTION of the Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency to the potential risks of radiation from the Israeli Deymons and other nuclear reactors in the absence of any international supervision of the Israeli nuclear programme and as a result of Israel’s refusal to adhere to the Convention on the Non-Nuclear proliferation;

8. REAFFIRMS its support for the proposal of H.E. Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, on declaring the Middle East a zone free from nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction;

9. REQUESTS the OAU Secretary-General to closely monitor the situation in the Middle East and to report thereon to the next session of the Council of Ministers.

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