Mideast situation/Palestine question – OAU resolutions – Letter from Sierra Leone(excerpt)

COOPERATION BETWEEN THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE

ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY

Letter dated 12 October 1995 from the Permanent Representative

of Sierra Leone to the United Nations addressed to the

Secretary-General

I have the honour to request that you arrange for the distribution as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 43, of the resolutions adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity at its sixty-second ordinary session, held at Addis Ababa from 21 to 23 June 1995, and the declarations and resolutions adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at its thirty-first ordinary session, held at Addis Ababa from 26 to 28 June 1995

(Signed)  Alimamy Pallo BANGURA

Ambassador Extraordinary

and Plenipotentiary

Permanent Representative of the

Republic of Sierra Leone to the United Nations

and Chairman of the African Group for the month of October

ANNEX I*

Resolutions adopted by the Council of Ministers of the

Organization of African Unity at its sixty-second

ordinary session

/…

CM/Res.1590 (LXII)

RESOLUTION ON THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Sixty-second Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 21 to 23 June, 1995,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity on the Question of Palestine as contained in Document CM/1889 (LXII),

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,

Following attentively 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:

1. REAFFIRMS that the Palestinian question is at the core of the Middle East conflict while the issue of Jerusalem form the core of the Palestinian question and that a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East CALLS FOR:

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

(b) cessation of all acts of violence by all parties;

(c) the release of all prisoners and detainees in accordance with the agreement between Israel and the PLO and the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949;

(d) the cessation of all 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 the Palestinian land in and around Jerusalem and all other occupied Palestinian and Arab territories, and rescind immediately all the confiscation orders and arrangements taken 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 Security Council.

2. REAFFIRMS the need to solve the problem of Palestinian refugees based on the principles of human rights and in accordance with the provisions of the relevant UN resolutions, particularly General Assembly resolutions 194 (1948) and Security Council resolution 237 (1967);

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

4. 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 take measures to implement those agreements without delay and within the time frame pursuant to the Declaration of Principles signed in Washington and all other related agreements;

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

6. REAFFIRMS ITS SUPPORT to the PLO and its National Palestinian Authority and the interim Palestinian government 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 national institutions as well as the infrastructure of the Palestinian national economy completely destroyed by Israeli occupation;

7. INVITES the Member States to continue extending their support to the PLO at the forthcoming negotiations to ensure the transfer to the Palestinian National Authority of all authority and responsibilities in the occupied Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem;

8. REQUESTS the OAU Secretary-General to monitor developments regarding the question of Palestine and report therein to the next session of the OAU Council of Ministers.

CM/Res.1591 (LXII)

  *  RESOLUTION ON THE MIDDLE EAST

The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Sixty-second Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 21 to 23 June, 1995,

Having considered the Report of the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity and the situation in the Middle East as contained in Document CM/1889 (LXII),

Guided by the principles and objectives of the charters of the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity and by the common determination of the African and Arab peoples to pull their resources in order to safeguard their sovereignty and recover their legitimate basic rights,

Bearing in mind all the relevant resolutions on the situation in the Middle East, adopted by the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government and the Council of Ministers,

Recalling that the Palestinian question is at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East while the issue of Jerusalem forms the core of the Palestinian question:

1. NOTES WITH SATISFACTION the on-going positive developments in the Middle East and EXPRESSES ITS FULL SUPPORT to the efforts made on all tracks to bring about a comprehensive and just solution to the question of Palestine and to the Arab-Israeli conflict in accordance with international resolutions, in particular Security Council resolutions 242, 338, 478 and 425 on the basis of the principle "Land for Peace";

2. EXPRESSES SATISFACTION with the present positive developments in the Middle East, particularly the signing of the Peace Accord on 26 October 1994 by Israel and Jordan;

3. EXTENDS ITS FULL SUPPORT to the Palestinian people and the Arab countries in their endeavour to put an end to the Israeli occupation and to the establishment of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East;

4. REAFFIRMS that the issues of Jerusalem and Palestine are at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict and that a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East cannot be established unless Israel withdraws from all the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories, including Jerusalem, the Syrian Golan and South Lebanon and the Palestinian people can exercise their inalienable national rights;

5. CALLS UPON the United Nations and its specialized institutions to exert further efforts in the field of economic development in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem, and INVITES all Member States to sponsor projects inside the city of Jerusalem in support of it and of its steadfast Palestinian citizens;

6. REAFFIRMS ITS SUPPORT for UN Security Council resolution 681 which provides for the applicability of all the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 concerning the protection of civilians in times of war to the Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem;

** 7. STRONGLY URGES the United Nations and the international community to ensure full compliance by Israel with the resolutions of the United Nations and those of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding the application of its nuclear installations for peaceful purposes and to compel Israel to open its atomic installations to international control and present a full report of its stockpile of atomic material to the Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency;

8. ENDORSES ONCE AGAIN the proposal made by His Excellency Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, President of the Republic of Egypt, to proclaim the Middle East a region free from weapons of mass destruction;

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

__________________

 * Côte d'Ivoire has reservation on the full text of the resolution.

** Cape Verde has reservation on operative paragraph 7 of the resolution.