CEIRPP meeting – Summary record

                  COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

                       SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 62nd MEETING

                         Held at Headquarters, New York,

                   on Tuesday, 13 January 1981, at 10.30 a.m.

                         Chairman:  Mr. ROA-KOURI (Cuba)

                            later:  Mr. SARRE (Senegal)

                                    CONTENTS

Election of officers

Programme of work

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 A-3550, 866 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 10.55 a.m.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

1.   Mr. MISHRA (India) proposed that the same countries as had been represented on the Bureau before should be represented on the Bureau for 1981, namely Senegal, Cuba, Afghanistan and Malta.

2.   Mr. HADAS (Hungary) and Mr. SCHRÖTER (German Democratic Republic) supported that proposal.

3.   Mr. NAIK (Pakistan) proposed that, since consultations were still under way, the Committee should elect its Chairman and Rapporteur and postpone the election of the two Vice-Chairmen.

4.   Mr. CHEBAANE (Tunisia) and Mr. HALIM (Malaysia) supported that proposal.

5.   The CHAIRMAN said that, if there was no objection, the Committee would

proceed as suggested by the representative of Pakistan.

6.   Mr. RASOLONDRAIBE (Madagascar) said that he was not opposed to the Pakistani proposal but was prepared to support the initial proposal by the representative of India.

7.   Mr. GAUCI (Malta) said that it would be unwise to elect half the Bureau at one time and half at a later stage.  If the Committee did not elect the entire Bureau, its work could suffer.  He suggested that the existing Bureau should continue to function in a temporary capacity while consultations took place, since it was very important that the Committee should begin its work as soon as possible.

8.   Mr. KRAVETS (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) said that his delegation also had difficulties with the Pakistani proposal since it was not clear how the Committee would be able to function normally if it elected only the Chairman and Rapporteur.  His delegation therefore supported the Indian proposal that the full Bureau should be elected.

9.   Mr. MISHRA (India) suggested that, in order to avoid controversy on a matter as important as the election of the Bureau, the Committee should adjourn for further consultations.

10.  Mr. IBRAHIM (Indonesia) said that his delegation attached great importance to the election of the Bureau since the Committee was concerned with a question that lay at the core of the Middle East problem.  He therefore supported the Pakistani proposal that more time should be allowed for consultations.

11.  Mr. TERZI (Observer, Palestine Liberation Organization) appealed to the Committee to elect its Bureau as soon as possible and in its entirety so that the Committee could carry out the task entrusted to it.  There was much to be done and time was very important, particularly as the Committee might wish to be represented at the summit meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to be held in January and at the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Non-Aligned Countries to be held in February.  Furthermore, the Chairman had been invited to participate in a seminar to be held in Brussels on 22 January.

12.  The CHAIRMAN said that everyone agreed about the importance of setting up the Bureau as soon as possible so that the Committee could proceed with its substantive work and take up the invitations it had received.  He suggested that the meeting should be suspended in order to give delegations time to complete their consultations.

13.  The meeting was suspended at 11.20 a.m. and resumed at 12.20 p.m.

14.  The CHAIRMAN said that further consultations on the composition of the Bureau were still required and suggested that, in view of the appeal made by the Observer for the PLO and the importance of continuing the Committee's work and ensuring its representation at forthcoming international meetings, the Committee should authorize the current Bureau to continue its work on an interim basis and elect permanent officers for 1981 at a subsequent meeting.

15.  It was so decided.

16.  Mr. Sarre (Senegal) took the Chair.

PROGRAMME OF WORK

17.  Mr. YOGASUNDRUM (Chief, Special Unit on Palestinian Rights) said that it was the usual practice at the beginning of each year to refer the question of the programme of work to the Working Group.  The Secretariat had prepared a paper setting out the Committee's mandate as laid down in the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly at its most recent session and had distributed it to members.

18.  Mr. NAIK (Pakistan) observed that 1981 would be a decisive year in the Palestinian people's struggle to achieve their basic national rights.  It was essential, therefore, that the Committee's programme of work should be very carefully worked out and should take into account the results of the important meetings and conferences which would be held shortly.  The situation in the Middle East, the national rights of the Palestinian people and the liberation of the holy city of Jerusalem would be major concerns at both the summit meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference later in January and the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Non-Aligned Countries in February. Accordingly, he proposed that the Committee should await the results of those meetings before finalizing its programme of work.

19.  Mr. TERZI (Observer, Palestine Liberation Organization) said that it was his understanding that outstanding matters from the preceding year's programme of work would automatically be carried over to the 1981 programme.

(Mr. Terzi, Observer, PLO)

20.  Members should make every effort to promote the use of the stamps commemorating the "Inalienable rights of the Palestinian people" that would be issued by the United Nations in New York, Geneva and Vienna on 30 January.  It had come to his attention that the enemy was conducting a campaign against the stamps.  Permanent missions, in particular, should be urged to purchase the commemorative stamps and use them during the year.

21.  The CHAIRMAN said that, if there was no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to adopt the suggestion put forward by the representative of Pakistan with regard to the Committee's programme of work.

22.  It was so decided.

OTHER MATTERS

23.  Mr. YOGASUNDRUM (Chief, Special Unit on Palestinian Rights) said that the Committee had received an invitation to attend an international symposium on the situation of the Arab population in the occupied territories, which would be held in Brussels from 22 to 24 January under the auspices of a number of Belgian organizations.  An invitation to the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Non-Aligned Countries was also expected.  The Committee should take a decision with regard to those invitations and should designate its representatives as soon as possible so that the necessary arrangements could be made.  

24.  The CHAIRMAN observed that there was also the matter of attendance at the summit meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.  The Bureau would consider all the invitations in consultation with the Working Group and inform the Special Unit of its decision at the earliest possible date.

                           The meeting rose at 12.45 p.m.