Right of peoples to self-determination – GA Third Cttee debate – Summary record (excerpts)

Third Committee

Summary record of the 34th meeting

Held at Headquarters, New York, on Monday, 3 November 2008, at 3 p.m. 

 Chairman:  Mr. Majoor ………………………………………………………………. (Netherlands)

 later:   Mr. Margarian (Vice-Chairman) …………………………………. (Armenia)

 later:   Mr. Majoor (Chairman) ……………………………………………. (Netherlands)

Contents

Agenda item 62: Elimination of racism and racial discrimination (continued )*

(a)   Elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance ( continued)

(b)   Comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action ( continued)

Agenda item 63: Right of peoples to self-determination (continued)*

*   Items which the Committee has decided to consider together.

The meeting was called to order at 3.15 p.m.

  Agenda item 62: Elimination of racism and racial discrimination ( continued) (A/63/123)

 (a)   Elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (continued) (A/63/18, A/63/306 and A/63/473)

 (b)   Comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (continued) (A/63/112 and Add.1, A/63/339 and A/63/366) 

  Agenda item 63: Right of peoples to self-determination (continued ) (A/63/254, A/63/325 and A/63/281-S/2008/431)

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27.  Ms. Yan Jiarong (China) …

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28.   The right of peoples to self-determination was a sacred political right. Peoples had the right to defend themselves against foreign aggression, occupation and interference in order to safeguard their national sovereignty, independence and dignity. The international community should protect and promote that right, in accordance with the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and international law. To that end, her delegation supported the Palestinian people in their struggle to realize their right to self-determination and called on the international community and all the parties concerned to work towards the early attainment of lasting peace and stability in the Middle East.

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43.  Mr. Attiya (Egypt) said that the inalienable right of self-determination, which had been reaffirmed by many international instruments, included the right of resistance to foreign occupation. Israel was depriving the Palestinian people of their inalienable right to establish an independent State, while claiming to be the only democracy in the Middle East. Democracy and occupation, however, could not coexist.

44.   The international community should divest itself of politicization and selectivity and stop applying double standards to the issue of human rights, especially the right of self-determination. The Human Rights Council should investigate and deal with the human rights violations committed by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The balanced report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (A/63/273) had identified numerous Israeli violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, particularly the rights to freedom of expression and assembly and the right to mental and physical health. The United Nations should play a larger role in the context of the Quartet, especially in confidence-building, in order to promote the attainment of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, including a full withdrawal from the occupied territories and the establishment of a Palestinian State.

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46.   Mr. Rezvani (Islamic Republic of Iran) …

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47.   Many unwarranted and misleading remarks had been made in some Western political circles and media, and by the Zionist regime, about the statements of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who had simply raised two important issues: first, the need to study certain assertions concerning different aspects of the Holocaust, and, second, if such incidents occurred, why the Palestinian people had to pay with their lives and livelihoods for crimes for which they were in no way responsible. If commemorations were to be held, the crimes against the Palestinian people should also be on the global agenda, and Israel should be prevented from continuing what one of its own officials had recently described as a holocaust against the Palestinians.

48.   It was ironic to hear references to an “absolute disregard for the Charter of the United Nations” from the Israeli occupation regime, which had violated all the United Nations human rights provisions and all the obligations arising from international humanitarian law by inflicting atrocities on the Palestinian people.

49.   Turning to his statement, he recalled that at its sixtieth special session, held in January 2008, the Human Rights Council had adopted resolution S-6/1, in which it had demanded that the occupying Power, Israel, lift immediately the siege it had imposed on the occupied Gaza Strip, restore continued supply of fuel, food and medicine and reopen the border crossings. The Council had also called for immediate protection of the Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in compliance with human rights law and international humanitarian law.

50.   That resolution had been met with nothing but Israeli defiance and, moreover, refusal to comply with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice concerning the construction of a separation wall. Non-cooperation by the occupying Power must be responded to by concrete measures.

51.   Mr. Elshakshuki (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) said that his country condemned …

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53.   Foreign occupation, in the form of illegal settlements, was a new kind of racism, a crime against humanity and a serious threat to international peace and security. His country was deeply concerned at the suffering of the Palestinian people, which had been aggravated by the building of a racist separation wall despite the resolutions of the international community.

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58.   Mr. Shukla (India) said that the forthcoming Durban Review Conference would provide a welcome opportunity to combat racism more effectively. India had steadfastly supported the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle for the exercise of their inalienable rights and for the right to live in an independent and sovereign State, at peace with Israel. It therefore welcomed all efforts that would advance the dialogue between the two parties so that a just, fair and mutually acceptable solution could be found.

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The meeting rose at 6.05 p.m.

This record is subject to correction. Corrections should be sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned within one week of the date of publication to the Chief of the Official Records Editing Section, room DC2-750, 2 United Nations Plaza, and incorporated in a copy of the record.

Corrections will be issued after the end of the session, in a separate corrigendum for each Committee.