Question of Palestine – Final documents of NAM Ministerial Meeting of the Co-ordinating Bureau – Letter from Zimbabwe (excerpts)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Forty-fourth session

Items 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32,

33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 104, 1105, 106, 108, 110, 111, 112, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 127, 137, 136, 137, 138, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148 and 149 of the provisional agenda*

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECLARATION ON THE

GRANTING OF INDEPENDENCE TO COLONIAL
COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES

RETURN OR RESTITUTION OF CULTURAL PROPERTY

TO THE COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF

PEACE SHORT-TERM, MEDIUM-TERM AND LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN BANGLADESH

JUDGMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

OF 27 JUNE 1986 CONCERNING MILITARY AND NICARAGUA: NEED FOR IMMEDIATE COMPLIANCE

POLICIES OF APARTHEID OF THE GOVERNMENT OF

SOUTH AFRICA

QUESTION OF THE COMORIAN ISLAND OF MAYOTTE

LAW OF THE SEA

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE

CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND ON

THE STRENGTHENING OF THE ROLE OF THE

ORGANIZATION

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RELATIONS WITH

THE HOST COUNTRY

SECURITY COUNCIL

Forty-fourth year

Letter dated 19 July 1989 from the Charge d'affaires a.i. of the

Permanent Mission of Zimbabwe to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

I have the honor to forward the enclosed final documents of the Ministerial Meeting of the Co-ordinating Bureau of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Harare, from 17 to 19 May 1989, with the request that they be circulated as an official document of the General Assembly under items 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 101, 104, 105, 106, 108, 110, 111, 112, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 127, 135, 136, 137, 138, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148 and 149 of the provisional agenda, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) C. J. TSOKODAYI

Charge d'affaires a.i.

ANNEX

Final documents of the Ministerial Meeting of the Co-ordinating Bureau of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Harare from 17 to 19 May 1982

Contents

I. POLITICAL DECLARATION

II. ECON0MIC DECLARATION

III.  SPECIAL DECLARLATION ON NAMIBIA

IV. REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CO-ORDINATING BUREAU OF

THE MOVEMENT OF NON-ALIGNED COUNTRIES ON ACTIVITIES OF THE

MOVEMENT DURING THE PERIOD OCTOBER 1988 TO MAY 1989

V. REPORT OF THE RAPPORTEUR GENERAL

XVII. SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

131. The Ministers expressed concern over the deterioration of the situation in the Middle East as a result of the continued Israeli occupation of Palestine, the Syrian Golan and parts of southern Lebanon and the policy and practices manifested by Israel's expansionist acts of aggression in the region, which posed a dangerous threat to international peace and security.

132. The Ministers reaffirmed the active solidarity of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries with the Arab countries which were victims of Israeli aggression and with the just struggle of the Palestinian people, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), their sole legitimate representative, for the restoration of their usurped national rights and the recovery of the occupied territories.

133. The Ministers also reaffirmed their governments' commitment to supporting the Arab Front-line States and the PLO in the face of Israeli threats and aggression, as well as their struggle to liberate their territories.

134. The Ministers recalled that the Harare Summit had reaffirmed that the question of Palestine was the core of the Middle East crisis and the root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Ministers condemned any accord or treaty that violated or infringed on the rights of the Palestinian people as recognized by the Non-Aligned Movement, in accordance with international law, the United Nations Charter and relevant resolutions. They also condemned any initiative that would violate those rights and obstruct the liberation of Jerusalem and of the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories and prevent the Palestinian Arab people from exercising their inalienable rights. They condemned unilateral and partial solutions.

135. The Ministers once again emphasized that a just and comprehensive peace in the region could only be based on Israel's total and unconditional withdrawal from all the Palestinian and other occupied Arab territories, including Jerusalem, and the restoration of all the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to return to their homeland, the right to self-determination without foreign intervention and the right to establish their own independent and sovereign State in their national territory on the basis of United Nations General Assembly resolution 3236 (XXIX), of 22 November 1974, and other relevant United Nations resolutions.

136. The Ministers stressed the urgent need to convene the International Peace Conference on the Middle East, in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolution 43/176, of 15 December 1988 and other relevant United Nations resolutions. They reaffirmed the call for the convening of the International Peace Conference under the auspices of the United Nations with the participation of all parties to the conflict, including the PLO, on an equal footing, and the five permanent members of the Security Council, based on Security Council resolution 242 (1967), of 22 November 1967, and 338 (1973), of 22 October 1973, and the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination. The Ministers also reaffirmed the following principles for the achievement of comprehensive peace:

(a) The withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and from the other Arab territories.

(b) Guaranteeing arrangements for security of all States in the region, including those named in General Assembly resolution 181 (II), of 29 November 1947, within secure and internationally recognized boundaries.

(c) Resolving the problem of the Palestinian refugees in conformity with General Assembly resolution 194 (III), of 11 December 1948, and subsequent relevant resolutions.

(d) Dismantling the Israeli settlements in the territories occupied since 1967.

(e) Guaranteeing freedom of access to Holy Places, religious buildings and sites.

137. The Ministers strongly condemned the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian and other occupied Arab territories, the Judaization of Jerusalem and its proclamation as the capital of Israel and reaffirmed that all such measures carried out with a view to altering the political, cultural, religious, demographic and other features of the Palestinian and other Arab territories were illegal, null and void.

138. The Ministers agreed to request the United Nations to take effective steps with a view to enforcing the immediate and total withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the occupied Arab territories. The Ministers resolved that in the event the occupying power, Israel, fails to carry out the above process, the Security Council should assume its responsibilities under chapter seven of the Charter.

139. The Ministers condemned Israel for its continued occupation of the Syrian Arab Golan, its defiance of pertinent United Nations resolutions, particularly Security Council resolution 497 (1981) which was unanimously adopted) and its flagrant violation of the provisions of the Hague Convention of 1907 and the Geneva Convention of 1949 on the Protection of Civilians in Time of War. They reiterated that Israel's decision of 14 December 1981 to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Arab Golan was null and void and was considered an act of aggression under Article 39 of the Charter of the United Nations.

140. The Ministers condemned the arbitrary practices imposed by Israel on the inhabitants of the occupied Syrian Arab Golan, aimed at destroying their cultural and historical roots and their Syrian-Arab identity.

They also condemned the illegal measures of establishing Jewish settlements and changing the demographic and socio-economic structure of the occupied Syrian Golan. They therefore called upon the Security Council's permanent members to examine effective ways and means of holding the International Conference in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and all its relevant resolutions. They also emphasized the Security Council's responsibility to provide an adequate institutional framework for guaranteeing compliance with agreements stemming from the Conference.

141. The Ministers reiterated their total support for the struggle of the Syrian Arab Republic to liberate its occupied lands. They hailed the continued resistance of the Syrian Arab inhabitants of the Golan against Israeli occupation and oppression and called upon the Security Council to take effective measures, including the imposition of sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, in order to achieve the immediate withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Syrian Arab territories.

142. The Ministers condemned the "strategic alliance" between the United States of America and Israel and emphasized that such an alliance strengthened the expansionist regime of Tel Aviv, which seeks to destabilize the region, and encouraged it to pursue and escalate its aggression. They condemned in particular the United States' policy of developing military industries in Israel as well as involving Israel in its Strategic Defense Initiative Program. In that regard, they considered that alliance to constitute a threat to peace and security in the Middle East and the world.

143. The Ministers expressed deep appreciation to the African States for rejecting the agreement concluded between the UNDP and Israel on 22 February 1988 in violation of General Assembly resolution S-9/1, of 5 February 1982, and for refraining from receiving any assistance from Israel under the UNDP. They condemned Israel's attempts to infiltrate developing countries' markets on the pretext of channeling United Nations technical assistance. They called on the UNDP to revoke that agreement rather than merely freeze it.

144. The Ministers strongly condemned Israel's exploitation of the natural resources and wealth of the Palestinian and other occupied Arab territories, in defiance of the Hague and Geneva Conventions and the principles of permanent sovereignty of States over their natural resources and wealth, and they called upon all States and international bodies to abstain from recognizing Israel's authority and to refrain from any co-operation with it.

145. The Ministers reaffirmed their adherence to the resolution adopted at the Seventh Summit Conference, held in New Delhi from 7 to 12 March 1983, urging Non-Aligned countries to work for a boycott of Israel in the diplomatic, economic, commercial and financial, military and cultural fields and in the sphere of maritime and air transport, and they called upon the Security Council to enforce the provisions of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations in order to oblige Israel to put an end to its occupation of Palestine and other Arab territories and to enable the Palestinian people to recover their national rights, in conformity with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and other international fora and the recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, adopted by the General Assembly.

146. The Ministers expressed their full support for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East aimed at reducing tensions and increasing security in the region, in conformity with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, in particular resolution S-10/2, of 30 June 1978. In view of this, they appealed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations to adopt concrete measures within the framework of the United Nations in order to create favorable conditions for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon–free zone in the Middle East. To that end, they welcomed the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of resolution 43/65, which, inter alia, requested the Secretary-General to undertake a study on effective and verifiable measures which would facilitate the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, taking into account the circumstances and characteristics of the Middle East, as well as the views and suggestions of the parties of the region, and to submit this study to the General Assembly at-its forty-fifth session. They urged the States of the region to submit to the Secretary-General their views and suggestions on the subject.

147. The Ministers condemned Israel for continuing to pursue a nuclear military policy, undermining all efforts exerted to achieve this objective, which would never be attained unless Israel complied with United Nations resolutions requesting Israel to join the Nuclear Arms Non-Proliferation Treaty, to allow its nuclear installations to be subject to full-scope safeguards by IAEA, to destroy its nuclear arsenal and delivery systems and to cease their production.

148. The Ministers stressed the urgent need to adopt appropriate measures to counter the threat posed to Africa's regional security by the close co-operation between Israel and the apartheid regime of South Africa in the military, economic and nuclear fields and their contribution to the perpetuation of the illegal occupation of Namibia and the strengthening of the aggressive and repressive apparatus of the criminal apartheid regime against the people of South Africa and the neighboring States.

149. The Ministers vigorously condemned the new terrorist assault by Israel on 16 April 1988 against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Tunisia, in flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, international law and norms of conduct, as a result of which Mr. Khalil Al-Wazir ("Abu Jihad"), Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization, was assassinated together with other Palestinian and Tunisian nationals. In this regard, they noted that that new aggressive act, which followed the one committed against Tunisia on 1 October 1985, proved once more the total disregard by Israel of Security Council resolution 573 (1985), and they expressed their support for and solidarity with the people and Government of Tunisia and the PLO. They also recalled Security Council resolution 611 (1988), condemning the 16 April 1988 aggression and urging member States to take measures to prevent such acts against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States, and they expressed their determination to take appropriate steps to ensure its implementation.

XVIII. ISRAELI AGGRESSION AGAINST IRAQI

NUCLEAR INSTALLATIONS

150. The Ministers recalled their condemnation of Israel for its armed aggression against the peaceful Iraqi nuclear installations, which was also a violation of the IAEA system of safeguards and the inalienable right of peoples to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes. The Ministers again requested the Security Council to take effective measures to ensure the implementation of Security Council resolution 487 (1981), which, inter alia, called upon Israel urgently to place its nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the IAEA. The Ministers noted that Israel had not, as yet, adequately committed itself not to attack or threaten nuclear installations in Iraq or elsewhere, including installations subject to the safeguards of the IAEA. The Ministers therefore requested that additional measures be taken to effectively ensure that Israel would undertake not to strike or threaten nuclear installations in Iraq or elsewhere in contravention of the Charter of the United Nations. The Ministers also urged that the item on "The armed Israeli aggression against the Iraqi nuclear installations and its grave consequences for the established international system concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and international peace and security" be retained on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly until Israel complies with Security Council resolution 487 (1981).

XIX. THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

151. The Ministers warmly welcomed the major victory achieved by the Palestinian people at the Intifadah session of the Palestine National Council (PNC), held at Algiers in November 1988. The Political Communiqué issued on 15 November 1988 and the significant initiatives contained therein offer a positive contribution to the endeavors to achieve a comprehensive, just and durable peace in the Middle East. The Declaration of Independence of the State of Palestine marks yet another achievement and a further contribution towards peace and stability in the region.

152. The Ministers welcomed the Declaration of the Formation of the Provisional Government of the State of Palestine and took note that the PNC has vested the powers and responsibilities of the Provisional Government in the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation organization.

153. The Ministers, furthermore, welcomed the decision of the Palestine Central Council on 3 April 1989 to elect Mr. Yasser Arafat President of the State of Palestine.

154. The Ministers welcomed the State of Palestine as a member in the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries.

155. The Ministers called upon all members of the Non-Aligned Movement who have not yet done so, to recognize the State of Palestine and to expedite the proper procedures to establish full diplomatic relations with the new State. In this context, they urged all members of the Non-Aligned Movement to support the admission of the State of Palestine as a full member in the organs and agencies of the United Nations organization.

156. The Ministers welcomed the Peace Initiative proclaimed by President Yasser Arafat on 13 December 1988 at the Plenary Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations and endorsed this initiative.

157. The Ministers saluted the heroic Intifadah (uprising) of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, which represents a further step in their struggle against repression, tyranny and acts of State terrorism by the occupying power, Israel. They praised the courage and determination of the Palestinian people to liberate their homeland and praised the Palestinian freedom fighters in their just struggle. The Ministers expressed satisfaction over the contribution the Intifadah made to the consolidation of Arab solidarity.

158. The Ministers reaffirmed their support of the following principles for the achievement of comprehensive peace in the Middle East:

(a) the withdrawal of Israel from all the territory of the State of Palestine, including Jerusalem, occupied since 1967, and from all the other occupied Arab territories;

(b) guaranteeing arrangements for security of all States in the region, including the State of Palestine, within secure and internationally recognized boundaries;

(c) resolving the problem of the Palestine refugees in conformity with the Right of Return and United Nations General Assembly resolution 194 (III), of 11 December 1948, and subsequent resolutions;

(d) dismantling the Israeli settlements in the territories occupied since 1967; and

(e) guaranteeing freedom of access to Holy Places, religious buildings and sites.

159. Towards the achievement of the comprehensive peace in the Middle East, the Ministers called for the urgent convening of the International Peace Conference, under the auspices of the United Nations, with the participation of all parties to the conflict, including the Palestine Liberation Organization, on an equal footing and with equal rights, and the five permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations, based on Security council resolutions 242 (1967), of 22 November 1967, and 338 (1973), of 22 October 1973, and the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination without external interference. In this context the Ministers reaffirmed their endorsement of General Assembly resolution 43/176, of 15 December 1988, which was adopted almost unanimously, with the exception of the USA and Israel.

160. The Ministers called upon the members of the Security Council, and in particular the-five permanent members, to take cognizance of the positive initiatives by Palestine and the international community and to meet with a view to consider measures needed to convene the International Peace Conference in the Middle East, including the establishment of a preparatory committee, and to consider guarantees for security measures agreed upon by the Conference for all States in the region, including the State of Palestine.

161. The Ministers called upon the United Nations, in discharge of its responsibilities and duties, to assume immediate supervision over the territory of the State of Palestine, including Jerusalem, which has been under occupation by Israel since 1967, for a limited transitional period as a step in the peace process.

162. The Ministers once again strongly deplored the fact that the Palestinians and other Arabs of the Israeli-occupied territories have been denied all forms of legal protection and were victims of repressive legislation, the "iron-fist" policy, arbitrary mass: arrests, torture, displacement of persons, expulsion and the destruction of homes, in flagrant violation of their human rights and of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1989.

163. The Ministers reaffirmed their rejection of all Israeli policies and practices aimed at altering the geographical features of the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories, including Jerusalem, or at altering the demographic structure therein, particularly Israel's plan to displace and transfer Palestinian refugee camps to new sites. They reiterated their demand to all nations not to recognize such alterations and to cease and sever any co-operation with Israel that might encourage it to pursue its policies and practices in violation of Security Council resolution 465 (1980).

164. The Ministers rejected and opposed all measures and action by Israel, the occupying power, to impose any process, including the so-called elections, upon the Palestinian people in the occupied territory of the State of Palestine, including Jerusalem. They called upon the international community to declare all such measures null and void, as such measures constitute a flagrant violation of the relevant international conventions as well as the inalienable right of the Palestinian 'people to self-determination without external interference.

165. The Ministers reaffirmed that the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries as a whole had undertaken to give its support to the Palestinian people in their just struggle for the liberation of their homeland and the recovery of their inalienable national rights in Palestine.

166. The Ministers condemned Israel, the occupying power, for refusing to abide scrupulously by its obligations arising from the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949. They requested all member States to respect and to ensure respect by Israel of the Convention. They condemned Israeli policies and practices of State terrorism which violate the human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied territory, including the right of freedom of worship, and in particular the policy and practice of the killing of defenseless Palestinians, as well as the torturing, wounding, the use of chemical gas, mass arrests and detention of youths, the beating and harassing of children and the deportations. They further condemned the policy and practice of the continued acts of oppression and desecration by Israel and Israelis against Islamic and Christian Holy Places, the closing of schools, the demolishing of houses and uprooting of trees and the suppression of economic structuring and development.

167. The Ministers urged the United Nations Security Council to convene to consider ways and means to effectively implement the recommendations to provide protection for the safety of Palestinians in the occupied territory, contained in the report of the Secretary General (S/19443) submitted in accordance with Security Council resolution 605 (1987).

168. The Ministers called upon the United Nations Secretary-General to submit periodic reports to the Security Council and the General Assembly on developments in the occupied territory of the State of Palestine, including Jerusalem. They requested the Secretary-General to submit immediate reports on the living conditions of Palestinian children in the occupied territories. They expressed alarm that tens of thousands of Palestinian children in the age group of 6-7 years have been denied free access to schools which were ordered closed by the occupying power, Israel. They requested the Secretary-General to provide a report by UNICEF on the current conditions and recommendations for relief, pending the termination of the Israeli occupation and withdrawal of Israeli troops.

169. The Ministers condemned the Israeli policies aimed at encouraging and facilitating Jewish immigration to settle in the occupied Palestinian territory at the expense of the indigenous Arab population and urged all States to stop offering Israel and world zionist organizations such facilities or encouragement under any form whatsoever. Such facilities are in blatant violation of the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

170. The Ministers expressed their deep appreciation for the efforts and hospitality of the Algerian people under the leadership of H.E. President Chedli Bendjedid towards the convening and success of the Intifadah session of the Palestine National Council in November 1988. They welcomed the decision to convene another Summit Meeting of the League of Arab States to decide on concrete means of support of the Intifadah and the just struggle of the Palestinian people.

171. The Ministers welcomed the important efforts of the Committee of Nine Non-Aligned Countries on Palestine (comprising Algeria, Bangladesh, Cuba, India, the PLO, Senegal, Yugoslavia, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to contribute to the resolution of the question of Palestine, which is the core of the Middle East problem. The Ministers took note that the Committee had met on 18 May 1989 and was briefed on the latest developments in the occupied territory of the State of Palestine and the efforts to convene the International Peace Conference on the Middle East in conformity with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations. The Committee also considered the diplomatic breakthrough made by Palestine during the visits of President Arafat to Western Europe recently. The Committee resolved to take up the issue of the International Peace Conference in the Security Council at the appropriate time. Palestine would monitor and assess the political climate to establish if and when to convene such a meeting. The Committee also resolved to meet again if and when it became necessary.

172. The Ministers reaffirmed their full and complete support for the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. They also reaffirmed their satisfaction to the Committee for its ceaseless efforts to inform and alert international public opinion, for its constant follow-up of the situation that prevails in the occupied Palestinian territories and for its determination to fulfil to the utmost the mission the United Nations General Assembly has seen fit to confer upon it.

XX. LEBANON

173. The Ministers expressed deep concern at the grave situation which Lebanon continues to face. They reaffirmed previous resolutions adopted in this respect by the Non-Aligned countries, particularly those adopted by the Seventh Summit Conference. They demanded the full implementation of Security Council resolutions 425 and 426 (1978) and 508 and 509 (1982), calling for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from all Lebanese territory and for the deployment of UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army up to the internationally-recognized borders of Lebanon. They called on the United Nations Secretary-General to intensify his efforts for the implementation of these resolutions and to help Lebanon out of its dilemma. They also declared their solidarity with the Government and people of Lebanon and their support for Lebanon's safety, sovereignty and territorial integrity and for the right of the Lebanese State to exercise its full sovereignty and deploy its legal forces throughout its entire territory.

174. The Ministers also expressed their high appreciation for the role played by the Arab League's good-offices Political Committee on Lebanon and stressed their support for its efforts to bring about a settlement of the Lebanese crisis and put an end to the sufferings of the Lebanese-people. The Ministers called on the international community to exert every possible effort to ensure the success of the task of the Arab committee.

175. The Ministers condemned the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and the continued Israeli occupation of parts of southern Lebanon, as well as the inhuman practices of the occupation forces in those territories, in flagrant violation of the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, of 1949, and they expressed their appreciation and full support for the National Lebanese Resistance, aimed at the liberation of southern Lebanon.

176. The Ministers condemned Israel for the deportation of Palestinian citizens from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to Lebanon, an inhuman act perpetrated against the sovereignty of Lebanon and a new act of aggression against its territorial integrity, in flagrant violation of the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, of 1949. The Ministers requested that Israel abide by the resolution adopted by the United Nations Security Council on that matter and refrain from deporting Palestinians from their land and homes to Lebanon or any other country.

XXI. INDIAN OCEAN AS A ZONE OF PEACE

177. The Ministers reaffirmed the determination of Non-Aligned States to continue their efforts to achieve the goals contained in the Declaration of the Indian ocean as a Zone of Peace and as considered at the Meeting of the Littoral and Hinterland States of the Indian Ocean in July 1979, as well as at the subsequent meetings of the Ad Hoe Committee on the Indian Ocean. They reiterated their conviction that the presence in the Indian Ocean area of any manifestation of great power military presence foreign bases, military installations, logistical supply facilities, nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction conceived in the context of great power rivalries constituted a flagrant violation of the Declaration of the Indian ocean as a Zone of Peace.

178. The Ministers viewed with alarm and great concern the continuous escalation of great power military presence in the Indian Ocean area, including the expansion and upgrading of existing bases and the search for new base facilities, as well as the establishment of the new military command structures of the great powers against the express wishes of the littoral and hinterland States of the Indian Ocean and other Non-Aligned countries. They emphasized that those activities endangered the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and peaceful development of the States in the region.

179. The Ministers urged members of military blocs and other militarily significant States to halt and reverse the naval arms race.

180. The Ministers expressed their full support for the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in resolution 2832 (XXVI), of 16 December 1971, and urged its early implementation. They also noted that, notwithstanding the efforts of the Non-Aligned States, the convening of the Conference on the Indian Ocean at Colombo, Sri Lanka, had been inordinately delayed because of the obstructionist attitude adopted by some States. The Ministers expressed their satisfaction that substantial progress has been made by the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian ocean towards identifying, expanding and facilitating agreement on substantive issues relating to the establishment of a Zone of Peace with a view, inter alia, to recommending elements that might be taken into consideration during the subsequent preparation of the draft Final Document of the Conference on the Indian Ocean. They urged the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee to complete its preparations for the Conference strictly in accordance with its mandate.


Document symbol: A/44/409|S/20743
Download Document Files: https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/s20743.pdf
Document Type: Final document, Letter
Document Sources: General Assembly, Security Council
Country: Zimbabwe
Subject: Agenda Item, Palestine question
Publication Date: 26/07/1986
2019-03-11T22:07:32-04:00

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