CEIRPP meeting – Summary record

COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS

OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 151st MEETING

Held at Headquarters, New York,

on Thursday, 7 April 1988, at 11 a.m.

Chairman:  Mr. SARRE (Senegal)

CONTENTS

Adoption of the agenda

Report of the Chairman on his participation in the seventeenth session of the

Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, held in Amman, Hashemite Kingdom of

Jordan, from 21 to 25 March 1988

Report of the Committee delegation to the Preparatory Planning Meeting for the

Fifth International NGO Meeting on the Question of Palestine

European Regional Seminar, Berlin, 25 to 29 April 1988

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  DC2-0750,   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 11.20 a.m.

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

1.   The agenda was adopted.

REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN ON HIS PARTICIPATION AT THE SEVENTEENTH SESSION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE OF FOREIGN MINISTERS, HELD IN AMMAN, HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN, FROM 21 TO 25 MARCH 1988

2.   The CHAIRMAN said that the seventeenth session of the Conference had been held in Amman at a time when uprisings were taking place very nearby, in the occupied territories.  The Conference had therefore devoted particular attention to the situation of the Arab people of Palestine, as was demonstrated by the 14 resolutions on the question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict its solidarity with that people had led it to adopt.

3.   As in the past, the Conference had paid tribute to the courageous resistance of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation, and had invited all States Members of the United Nations to do their utmost to ensure that the relevant United Nations and Security Council resolutions were swiftly implemented in the interests of all peoples and countries of the region.  The Conference had also commended the endeavours of the Secretary-General and invited the parties concerned to work together with the international community and in particular with the Secretary-General and the Security Council in order to enable them to discharge their responsibilities in achieving a peaceful settlement.  The Conference had taken the view that the current uprisings in the occupied territories were caused by the lack of a settlement of the Palestine question and of the Arab-Israeli conflict in general, and that no effort should therefore be spared to restore peace and above all to convene as soon as possible, an international peace conference on the Middle East, with the participation on an equal footing of all the parties concerned, including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).  The Conference had expressed in that connection its regret at the decision of the United States Government to close the office of the PLO Permanent Observer Mission in the United States, in violation of the Headquarters Agreement between the latter and the United Nations.  Concluding, the Chairman commended the realistic and open attitude and political maturity demonstrated by the Conference during its discussions.

4.   Mr. TARZI (Observer, Organization of the Islamic Conference) announced the Conference's decision that its seventeenth session should be known as the "Session of Islamic Solidarity with the Palestinian People", in tribute to the uprising of the Palestinian people in occupied Palestine.  He paid tribute to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for the dynamic and constructive part that it had played in that regard.

5.   The CHAIRMAN requested the representative of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to convey the Committee's thanks to the Government of Jordan, which had hosted the Conference, and to the organization's Secretary-General.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE DELEGATION TO THE PREPARATORY PLANNING MEETING FOR THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL NGO MEETING ON THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE (Working Paper No. 1/Rev.2 and Working Paper No. 5)

6.   Mr. VELAZCO-SAN JOSE (Cuba) said that the Preparatory Planning Meeting for the Fifth International NGO Meeting on the Question of Palestine had been held in Geneva from 21 to 22 March 1988, unfortunately without the presence of Mr. Terzi, the representative of the PLO, who had been obliged to remain in New York because of the impending closure of the PLO Mission by the United States Government and the resumption of the forty-second session of the General Assembly.  Also, one of the three Palestinians from the occupied territories who had been invited by the Committee had been refused permission to travel to Geneva by the Israeli authorities.  The International Co-ordination Committee of NGOs on the Question of Palestine had sent a letter of protest on the subject to the Israeli Government

7.   The members of the International Co-ordinating Committee of NGOs on the Question of Palestine and the European Interim Co-ordinating Committee had met together as co-ordinating committees and adopted two working papers which were before the Committee.  As outlined in Working Paper No. 5, one panel would be held during the European Regional NGO Symposium on the theme of "The Palestinian Uprising and the European Commitment to the International Peace Conference", and four workshops would be held concurrently.  Working Paper No. 1/Rev.2 contained the draft programme of the Fifth International NGO Meeting on the Question of Palestine, which had already received the Committee's preliminary approval.  Two panels would be held to study, on the one hand, the consequences of the uprising in the occupied Palestinian territories and the new urgency of convening the International Peace Conference in accordance with General Assembly resolution 38/58 C and, on the other hand, the consequences of occupation, with testimony by witnesses from the occupied Palestinian territories.  Five eminent persons, whose names had already been approved by the Committee, would make presentations to the first panel.  Three persons from the occupied Palestinian territories, whose names would be submitted as soon as possible, would be invited to participate in the second panel.  Meetings for special interest groups were also planned.

8.   Lastly, in accordance with the mandate given to it by the Committee, the delegation had held informal consultations with the Executive Offices of the International Co-ordinating Committee and the European Co-ordinating Committee in order to discuss ways and means of strengthening co-operating and improving exchange of information between the Committee, the Division for Palestinian Rights and NGOs.  At the conclusion of the consultations it had been decided:  (a) to encourage those NGOs which met the Committee's criteria to contact the Division for Palestinian Rights and to complete the information questionnaire; (b) to ask NGOs to report to the Committee on their activities from time to time; and (c) to improve NGO-screening procedures in order to ensure that those best able to help the Committee realize its objectives were associated with its work.

9.   The CHAIRMAN said that if there was no objection, he would take it that the Committee approved the content of Working Paper No. 1/Rev.2 and Working Paper No. 5.

10.  It was so decided.

EUROPEAN REGIONAL SEMINAR, BERLIN, 25-29 APRIL 1988 (Working Paper No. 6).

11.  The CHAIRMAN said that following the Committee's contacts with the Permanent Missions of 16 countries regarding the possibility of sending qualified experts to the European Regional Seminar to be held in Berlin from 25 to 29 April 1988, the Bureau had received replies from seven Missions, six of which had submitted names. Working Paper No. 6 reported on the current status of the contacts made with those experts.

12.  Mr. HIELSCHER (German Democratic Republic) drew the Committee's attention to the title of Working Paper No. 6 in which, contrary to the established United Nations practice and to the Committee's custom of giving the name of host country immediately after the venue, the words "German Democratic Republic" did not appear after "Berlin".  He asked the Chairman to see that that oversight was remedied.

13.  MR. OUDOVENKO (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) confirmed that the Ukrainian expert listed among the 19 experts invited would indeed be attending the Seminar.  He asked how many experts would be attending, in addition to the 10 who had already accepted the invitation.  He hoped that the Committee would make even greater efforts to ensure the broadest possible participation in the Seminar.  With respect to the question raised by the representative of the German Democratic Republic, he did not see why an exception should be made in the present case, and he therefore supported the request of that country.

14.  The CHAIRMAN said that, with regard to the point raised by the representative of the German Democratic Republic, he would ask the Secretariat to contact the Office of Legal Affairs in order to find an acceptable solution.

15.  Mr. MIRZA (Division for Palestinian Rights) announced, in response to the question raised by the representative of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic that, as was stated in the addendum to Working Paper No. 6, Mr. Strømburg had agreed to take part in the Seminar.  Where the other persons invited were concerned, the Division was expecting final replies in the next few days.

16.  Mr. KARRAN (Guyana), taking up the point raised by the representative of the German Democratic Republic, requested clarification of why the Office of Legal Affairs had to be called in, whereas the Committee's established practice suggested that it would be sufficient merely to amend the title of the Working Paper in question.

17.  The CHAIRMAN said that, in addition to the representative of the German Democratic Republic, another delegation had raised a legal problem concerning Berlin, and that was why the Legal Counsel had been asked for clarification.

18.  Mr. HIELSCHER (German Democratic Republic) stressed that he was not calling for any change in the established practice both in the United Nations as a whole and in seminars organized by the Committee, and that reference had already been made on a number of occasions to Berlin (German Democratic Republic).  He was only asking for an error to be corrected.

19.  Mr. TERZI (Observer for the Palestine Liberation Organization) noted that no General Assembly or Security Council resolution prohibited reference to Berlin (German Democratic Republic).  There were, however, resolutions against dealing with the Israeli Government in Jerusalem, but that did not prevent the Secretary-General himself from sending representatives to hold talks there with that Government, apparently without any legal problems arising.  The Committee had been invited by the German Democratic Republic to organize the Seminar in question in Berlin, and there was thus no reason to consult the Legal Counsel on a point which was a matter of geography.

20.  Mr. VELAZCO-SAN JOSE (Cuba) endorsed the views expressed by the representatives of the German Democratic Republic, the Ukrainian SSR and the Observer for the Palestine Liberation Organization, and noted that in all United Nations documents the name of a capital was always followed by the name of the country.

21.  The CHAIRMAN said that it was the comment made by a delegation which had led him to ask the Secretariat to consult the Legal Counsel.  He proposed that whatever the opinion given, the Committee should abide by its usual practice and indicate in the document that the Seminar would take place in Berlin (German Democratic Republic).

22.  It was so decided.

23.  Mr. OUDOVENKO (Ukrainian SSR) observed that, under the decision just taken, the Committee was only following its usual practice and that it was up to the Legal Counsel, or the representatives of the Secretariat, to inform the Committee of their objections if necessary.

24.  The CHAIRMAN proposed that the delegation representing the Committee in the Berlin Seminar should consist of Mr. Borg Olivier (Malta), Mr. Hielscher (German Democratic Republic), Mr. Velazco-San José (Cuba), Mr. Terzi (Palestine Liberation Organization) and Mr. Sarré (Chairman of the Committee).

25.  It was so decided.

OTHER MATTERS

26.  The CHAIRMAN announced that, subject to the Committee's approval, the Bureau had decided that a delegation consisting of three members, to be joined by the head of the Division for Palestinian Rights, would go to Moscow and Kiev from 17 to 23 April, just before the Regional Seminar for Europe to take place in Berlin, and, at the invitation of the Chairman of the Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee, would engage in an exchange of views concerning the mobilization of world public opinion in support of the convening of an International Peace Conference on the Middle East, as well as other matters concerning the movement of solidarity with the struggle of the Arab people of Palestine.  If he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to approve that decision.

27.  It was so decided.

28.  Mr. EL-SAID (Department of Information) informed the Committee that pursuant to General Assembly resolution 42/66 C, a fact-finding mission consisting of 10 high-level journalists representing all the media had visited the Middle East from 13 March to 2 April 1988.  The mission had visited Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Syria, but had been unable to visit either Israel or the West Bank because no reply to its formal request had been received from the Permanent Mission of Israel.  The members of the mission had met with high-ranking officials in each of the countries visited, as well as Mr. Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization; the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs of the League of Arab States; Mr. Amos Kenan, a prominent Israeli journalist invited to Cairo by the Department of Public Information; the Chairman of the Palestine National Council and the former mayor of the town of El-Bireh, who had been deported from the West Bank.  The mission had also visited various Palestinian refugee camps, where it met with UNRWA officials.

29.  The mission's success had been all the more resounding in that it coincided with the heightened tension in the region owing to the uprising in the occupied Palestinian territories.  The participants had thanked the United Nations for organizing the mission, which had enabled them to learn at first hand and in depth about various aspects of the question of Palestine.  The Government officials of the countries visited had also said how much they appreciated the United Nations public information programme on the question of Palestine.  The local media had widely reported the activities of the mission and a compilation of the articles published and television programmes produced by the participants was being prepared.

30.  Pursuant to General Assembly resolutions 32/40 B, 34/65 D and 40/96 C, the world-wide network of United Nations information centres had, as it did every year, undertaken activities in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.  The centres had widely disseminated, in official and local languages, the statements of the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly and the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.  They had also prepared and distributed press releases, circular letters and notes verbales, and had organized conferences and film screenings on their own premises or in public halls.  In addition to commemorative meetings organized by centres, governmental institutions at the national parliaments had held special sessions attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps, the League of Arab States and the Palestine Liberation Organization.  In a number of countries, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) had directly participated in the observance of the International Day.  Directors of United Nations information centres had spoken at many meetings held to observe the occasion, and had been interviewed on radio and television.  The observance of the Day had come at the time of the Palestinian people's uprising in the occupied territories, and that had helped to give it wider media coverage.  A copy of the report on specific activities of the centres had been sent to the Division for Palestinian Rights.  Lastly, the Department of Public Information was currently in the process of finalizing preparations for the convening of journalists' encounters to take place in several European capitals immediately before and after a regional encounter to be held in Vienna from 17 to 20 May.

31.  Mr. VELAZCO-SAN JOSE (Cuba) asked Mr. Terzi to give a brief account of the situation arising from the measures to close the PLO Observer Mission.

32.  Mr. TERZI (Observer for the Palestine Liberation Organization) recalled that nearly all Member States had stated that the problem posed by that flagrant violation by the United States of its international legal obligations could be resolved only through implementation of the provisions of the Headquarters Agreement, and more specifically, section 21.  The proceedings in that respect had reached the stage at which the United States must name its arbitrator.  Oral proceedings were scheduled to take place at the International Court of Justice on Thursday, 14 April, but the United States Government had already stated that it would impose its law regardless of any international obligation.  In the view of the Mission of the Palestine Liberation Organization, as long as the United States had not abrogated the Headquarters Agreement, it was obliged to abide by it.  In any case, the Mission of the PLO and its staff would not agree to placing itself under the jurisdiction of American courts, since they rejected the latter's competence in a matter which concerned exclusively the United Nations and the United States, and could therefore be settled only within the framework of the Agreement that bound those two bodies.

33.  The measures taken by the United States Government were also aimed at silencing voices favourable to the Palestinian cause, and he was pleased that several bodies or individuals in the United States were disputing the constitutionality of those measures.  He wished to commend the North American Co-ordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine, whose information campaign on the atrocities committed in the occupied territories should be encouraged.

34.  The situation in those territories continued to deteriorate, and acts of provocation were multiplying, as evidenced by the beating of the mufti of Jerusalem just after Friday prayer.  The acts of provocation by Jewish settlers illegally residing in the occupied territories were one of the causes of the deterioration in the situation.  He recalled that the fourth Geneva Convention prohibited an occupying Power from relocating civilians in the territory it occupied.  The primary objective of the occupying Power's policy in that area was to drive out the indigenous population.  The United Nations must make greater efforts to protect the population under occupation and inform the international community of its fate. The Palestine Liberation Organization was duly grateful for the information that the Chairman of the Committee regularly communicated to the Secretary-General, but would like the latter to disseminate more widely the information furnished by his representatives in the field.

35.  Mr. EL-FAWWAZ (Observer for Jordan) assured the Chairman of the Committee that he would inform the competent authorities in his country of the thanks that the Chairman had expressed.

                          The meeting rose at 12.30 p.m.