UN Human Rights Treaties

UNITED NATIONS
General Assembly
FORTY-NINTH SESSION
Official Records
THIRD COMMITTEE
17th meeting
held on
Wednesday, 2 November 1994
at 3 p.m.
New York
SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 17th MEETING
Chairman: Mr. CISSÉ (Senegal)
CONTENTS
AGENDA ITEM 93: ELIMINATION OF RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION (continued)
AGENDA ITEM 94: RIGHT OF PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION (continued)
AGENDA ITEM 95: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE WORLD
SOCIAL SITUATION AND TO YOUTH, AGEING, DISABLED PERSONS AND THE FAMILY
(continued)
AGENDA ITEM 98: INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL (continued)
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 the publication to the Chief of the Official Records
Editing Section, room DC2-794, 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.
Distr. GENERAL
A/C.3/49/SR.17
25 November 1994
ENGLISH
ORIGINAL: SPANISH
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The meeting was called to order at 3.40 p.m.
AGENDA ITEM 93: ELIMINATION OF RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION (continued)
(A/C.3/49/L.2, L.3 and L.8)
AGENDA ITEM 94: RIGHT OF PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION (continued)
(A/C.3/49/L.4 and L.7)
1. The CHAIRMAN informed the Committee that the draft resolutions to be
introduced did not have programme budget implications.
Presentation of draft resolutions under agenda item 93
Draft resolution A/C.3/49/L.2
2. Mr. ROLAND (Belgium) introduced draft resolution A/C.3/49/L.2 on the status
of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination. The Convention, together with the Committee on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination were the main instruments available to the
international community to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
other forms of intolerance. As indicated in the report of the Secretary-General
(A/49/403), the Convention had been ratified by 139 States; with the exception
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it had been ratified by more
States than any other important legal instrument for the protection of human
rights. In the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World
Conference on Human Rights held at Vienna in June 1993, the participating States
called for the universal ratification of human rights treaties, and the final
document urged States to accede to such international instruments and to avoid
formulating reservations as much as possible. Paragraph 4 of the draft
resolution reflected the commitments made by all participants in the Vienna
Conference. The draft resolution also recalled that the new provisions for the
financing of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,
temporarily guaranteed for the 1994-1995 biennium, would enter into force once
two thirds of the States parties had notified the Secretary-General of their
acceptance.
3. It was important for the international community to act in a coordinated
and effective manner in order to eradicate all forms of racial discrimination.
The universal ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination together with appropriate measures to permit
the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to carry out its work
under the best possible conditions were geared towards that objective.
4. Armenia, Cyprus, Guatemala, Iceland, Maldives and Senegal had joined the
61 original sponsors of the draft resolution. All those countries hoped that
the draft resolution would be adopted without a vote in accordance with
established practice.
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Draft resolution A/C.3/49/L.3
5. Mrs. TOMIC (Slovenia), speaking on behalf of the sponsors who had been
joined by Cyprus, Egypt and Guatemala, introduced draft resolution A/C.3/49/L.3
on the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and
expressed the hope that it would be adopted without a vote.
Draft resolution A/C.3/49/L.8
6. Mr. JALLOW (Gambia), speaking on behalf of the States Members of the United
Nations that were members of the Group of African States, introduced draft
resolution A/C.3/49/L.8 on the Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial
Discrimination. The draft resolution reflected the work of the Organization
with respect to the universal promotion and protection of human rights. The
sponsors of the draft resolution hoped that it would be adopted by consensus.
Presentation of draft resolutions under agenda item 94
Draft resolution A/C.3/49/L.4
7. Mrs. AITZAZ (Pakistan), speaking on behalf of the sponsors, who had been
joined by Guatemala, introduced draft resolution A/C.3/49/L.4 on the universal
realization of the right of peoples to self-determination. The text of the
draft resolution was identical to that of resolution 48/93, which had been
adopted without a vote by the General Assembly in 1993. Some minor changes had
been made to technically update the draft resolution by referring to the latest
resolutions of the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights. The
sponsors of the draft resolution hoped that it would be approved without a vote.
Draft resolution A/C.3/49/L.7
8. Mr. JALLOW (Gambia), speaking on behalf of the States Members of the United
Nations that were members of the Group of African States, presented draft
resolution A/C.3/49/L.7 on the Importance of the universal realization of the
right of peoples to self-determination and of the speedy granting of
independence to colonial countries and peoples for the effective guarantee and
observance of human rights. He proposed the following amendments to the draft
resolution: in the fourth line of paragraph 2, the word "imperatives" should be
replaced by "a condition"; in paragraph 6, the phrase "after implementation of
the General Peace Agreement for Mozambique and to assist" should be deleted and
the words "financial and material" should be inserted between the words
"generous" and "support" in the second line; in the fifth line of paragraph 14,
the words "and racist" should be deleted and the word "and" should be inserted
between the words "colonial" and "foreign". The group of African States hoped
that the draft resolution would be adopted without a vote.
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AGENDA ITEM 95: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE WORLD
SOCIAL SITUATION AND TO YOUTH, AGEING, DISABLED PERSONS AND THE FAMILY
(continued) (A/C.3/49/L.10)
Draft resolution A/C.3/49/L.10
9. Mrs. LIMJUCO (Philippines), speaking on behalf of the sponsors, introduced
draft resolution A/C.3/49/L.10 entitled "Towards full integration of persons
with disabilities in society: implementation of the Standard Rules on the
Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, and of the
long-term strategy to implement the world programme of action concerning
disabled persons to the year 2000 and beyond". Canada, Chile, Guinea and
Paraguay had joined the 31 sponsors of the draft resolution.
10. She proposed the following amendments: in section I, paragraph 1, in the
first line, the words "and organizations" should be deleted and the phrase "with
the cooperation and assistance of organizations" should be added after "fully";
in paragraph 2, the second line, after "persons with disabilities", the phrase
"or their representatives" should be added; in section II, paragraph 2, the
first line, "programme" should be replaced by "World Programme of Action
concerning disabled persons", and in the fourth line, before "report" the word
"above-mentioned" should be added; in the second line of paragraph 3, "offices"
should be replaced by "programmes"; in paragraph 4, the first line, after
"regional" the phrase "commissions and other regional" should be inserted, and
in the second line, "disability-related" should be inserted before "technology";
in paragraph 5, the first line, "global" should be replaced by "international".
11. The purpose of the draft resolution was to ensure the full implementation
of the Standard Rules, as well as the long-term strategy, which, although they
were not compulsory, could become international customary rules when they were
applied by many States in compliance with an instrument of international law.
They implied a moral and political commitment by States to bring about
equalization of opportunities for all persons with disabilities and provided an
instrument for policy-making and a basis for technical and economic cooperation
among States, the United Nations and other international organizations. With
regard to the long-term strategy, the World Programme of Action emerging from
the International Year for Disabled Persons in 1981, which served to raise the
world’s consciousness of the rights of persons with disabilities to the same
opportunities as others and to the improved living conditions resulting from
economic and social development. In order to continue building on the progress
already achieved in the field of disability, the programme must be extended to
the year 2000 and beyond, as suggested in the Strategy which the draft
resolution sought to implement. The full and effective implementation of the
Standard Rules and the extension of the World Programme of Action would make a
difference in the full integration of persons with disabilities with the rest of
mankind. The sponsors hoped that the draft resolution could be adopted by
consensus.
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AGENDA ITEM 98: INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL (continued) (A/49/89, A/49/39-
E/1994/57, A/49/228-S/1994/827, A/49/287-S/1994/894 and Corr.1, A/49/317,
A/49/345, A/49/369, A/49/422)
12. Mr. JUNEJO (Pakistan) said that the expansion and diversification of
illicit drugs threatened to turn the hopes of the international community for
peace, security and rapid social and economic development in the post-cold war
period into a nightmare. The powerful drug industry was a major source of
instability and underdevelopment in many parts of the world. Its activities
exacerbated and perpetuated conditions of poverty, promoted criminality and
undermined efforts aimed at environmental protection. Efforts must be
intensified at the national and international level to carry out measures in
conformity with the instruments and plans of action with which the international
community was equipped and to allow the United Nations International Drug
Control Programme (UNDCP) to fulfil its mandate. International cooperation
should be strengthened in targeting major drug traffickers by combating money
laundering, terrorism, arms trafficking and corruption. Pakistan fully endorsed
the decision by the General Assembly to reaffirm the leadership role of the
Executive Director of UNDCP, within the United Nations system, which had
provided the basis for a multidisciplinary, balanced and coordinated approach to
international drug control. More resources should be allocated to UNDCP to
enable it to respond more effectively to the requirements of assisting
developing countries in combating drugs. His delegation was pleased that UNDCP
considered demand reduction and supply reduction equally important. The
Commission on Narcotic Drugs should include on its agenda a permanent item on
demand reduction and the elaboration of a convention on demand reduction which
could spell out the obligations to be assumed by States parties.
13. The narcotics problem in Pakistan had its origin, to a large extent, in the
geopolitical developments resulting from the invasion of Afghanistan by the
former Soviet Union in 1979. The Government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
accorded high priority to the eradication of the drug problem, with efforts
especially focused on curbing drug production, supply and illicit trafficking.
The Government had taken measures to treat and rehabilitate addicts and activate
community intervention on drug abuse. An effective legislative and
administrative framework had been created to fight the problem. In 1989, the
Government had created a separate ministry, called the Narcotics Control
Division, supported by the Anti-Narcotics Task Force and the Pakistan Narcotics
Control Board. A Policy Review Board had been set up to monitor the progress
and implementation of anti-narcotics policies, and a Narcotics Interdiction
Committee regularly evaluated the performance of 12 federal and provincial
agencies.
14. In order to adapt national legislation to the 1988 Convention, the
Government had drafted a comprehensive law on narcotics offences, which would
soon come into force. In December 1991, an ordinance was promulgated to provide
for destruction of seized narcotics. In April 1993, a decree was enacted
empowering the Government to destroy the seized narcotics held in warehouses.
In September 1994, the Dangerous Drug Act was amended to authorize the courts to
forfeit the assets of a person sentenced to imprisonment for a term of two years
or more on drug-related charges. The death penalty had been provided for very
/...
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serious offences related to drug trafficking. An ordinance was also promulgated
to remove a legal lacuna regarding the definition of opium as a raw drug which
prevented the courts from ordering proper punishment for the accused. The
production of narcotic drugs had been reduced as a result of the elimination of
processing and trafficking, the destruction of heroin laboratories and the
punishment of traffickers, including some very influential persons. People
suspected of involvement in illicit narcotics trafficking were barred from
political life.
15. The Government had intensified its efforts to curb trafficking in essential
precursor chemicals. Since 1991, acetic anhydride and acetone had been placed
on the restricted list along with many other chemicals not included in the
Convention of 1988. Despite those efforts, however, recent seizures indicated
that there was transborder traffic in acetic anhydride. In addition to the
reduction in trafficking, preventive education programmes had been launched
targeted at addicts, particularly students, women, children and other high-risk
groups, with the help of non-governmental organizations and civic, community and
religious associations.
16. In the regional context, Pakistan was participating in the drug-control
activities of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and had
signed and ratified its Regional Convention on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances in 1990. Also in 1990, narcotic drugs control had been included, at
Pakistan’s initiative, as an area for cooperation among the States members of
the Economic Cooperation Organization. Pakistan fully supported the subregional
approach being pursued by the Executive Director of UNDCP, which was crucial in
countering trans-border trafficking and which had already yielded satisfactory
results in South-East Asia and South America. In accordance with that approach,
a memorandum of understanding had been signed earlier in 1994 between Pakistan,
the Islamic Republic of Iran and UNDCP. Pakistan welcomed UNDCP’s initiative in
sponsoring a dialogue between Pakistan and India for the establishment of a
consultative mechanism on drug-control measures, particularly with a view to
preventing the smuggling of precursor chemicals across the border. The informal
inter-agency group on drug-control activities established in Islamabad was
achieving satisfactory results. In addition, UNDCP, with the help of UNDP, the
World Bank and the European Union, was preparing a report in Pakistan on the
illicit opiate industry, an example of the broadening of cooperation to include
the international financial institutions and regional organizations.
17. Pakistan agreed with the Secretary-General that the United Nations should
take multisectoral initiatives to reinforce progress in reducing illicit crops
and in crop substitution. Economic assistance should be given to farmers in the
poppy-growing areas; industries should be set up to generate alternative income
sources and employment opportunities; cultivators of substitute crops should
have better access to international markets, and law-enforcement agencies in
developing countries involved in drug-control programmes should be provided with
modern equipment, a task in which the developed countries could play an
important role.
18. Mr. ILLUECA (Panama), speaking on behalf of Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, said that at the Tegucigalpa
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International Conference for Peace and Development in Central America the
Presidents of the Central American republics and the Prime Minister of Belize
had issued a declaration reaffirming their commitment to the attainment of high
levels of economic and social well-being for all Central Americans and to
progress in the Alliance for Sustainable Development in Central America.
Emphasis had been laid on the social responsibility of the Governments of
Central America to take decisive steps against drug trafficking and
international crime. The competent national authorities and the Central
American Permanent Commission for the Eradication of the Production,
Trafficking, Consumption and Use of Illicit Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
had been assigned the task of submitting a detailed progress report. It had
been decided to set up a regional anti-drug body that would increase data
collection and exchanges of information to combat drugs and crime. In addition,
the Council of Ministers for Foreign Affairs had been requested at the
Tegucigalpa Conference to promote, at the national and regional levels, the plan
of action "Justice on the March" prepared by the United Nations Latin American
Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. The
measures adopted by the Governments of Central America reflected the region’s
growing awareness of the importance of drug control. The United Nations
Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
of 1988 was in force in all the countries of Central America, which were parties
to the Convention.
19. A number of Central American countries, including El Salvador and Panama,
had benefited from legal assistance provided by UNDCP. In addition to promoting
the implementation of the 1988 Convention, the United Nations should also
promote anti-drug training and educational activities. The Central American
Governments fully supported all the concepts, definitions, aims and ideas
contained in General Assembly resolution 48/12 of 28 October 1993 concerning
measures to counter the illicit production, sale, demand, traffic and
distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, which continued to
jeopardize socio-economic and political systems and the stability, security and
sovereignty of a growing number of States.
20. According to a recent study by the United Nations Association of the United
States of America, the cultivation, trafficking and sale of narcotics was a
$500,000-million industry, an astronomical figure compared with the UNDCP budget
of $187 million for the 1994-1995 biennium. It was to be noted that the
International Law Commission had admitted the possibility, in connection with
the draft statute for an international criminal court, of giving the court
jurisdiction over drug-related crimes, in other words, international crimes
defined in treaties. According to the Commission, terrorist activity was
supported by large-scale drug trafficking. It should be borne in mind that
crimes relating to the illicit production, sale, demand, traffic and
distribution of narcotics and psychotropic substances and related activities
were exceptionally serious.
21. One of the key objectives of the Global Programme of Action launched by the
General Assembly in 1990 was the promotion of economic development activities as
alternatives to the illicit cultivation and refining of narcotics. The
Governments of Central America therefore supported the General Assembly’s appeal
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to the international community to increase economic and technical assistance to
requesting Governments in support of substitute development programmes that were
compatible with peoples’ farming traditions. Latin America in general and
Central America in particular should implement the guidelines laid down by the
General Assembly in resolution 48/112 with a view to promoting international
action to combat drug abuse and illicit production and trafficking. To that
end, the United Nations urgently needed the support of all Member States, given
that results could only be achieved if the concepts of democracy, development,
and drugs and debt were included in the search for solutions. In that context,
the idea of "swapping debt for drugs", a UNDCP initiative, retained its
validity. Such an exchange could be viewed as a new type of funding for drugcontrol
projects, since debt could be converted into substitute development
which, through alternative development projects, would allow Governments to
address such national economic development problems as income generation, rural
infrastructure and agricultural development. Mention had been made in the
document prepared by UNDCP and transmitted to the Administrator of the United
Nations Development Programme of the interrelationship between economic reform
in the developing world and the phenomenon of illicit drugs; the international
community was encouraged by the fact that that document would be submitted to
the World Summit for Social Development.
22. Non-governmental organizations played a key role in action to reduce the
demand for drugs, an aim that was also advanced by the efforts of the academic
community to assist students, teachers, parents and community leaders. In the
field of AIDS prevention, UNDCP had begun executing a national preventive
education programme as part of a larger initiative sponsored jointly by the
Government of Brazil, the World Bank, WHO, UNESCO and UNDCP. The World Forum on
the Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Drug Reduction Demand, to be held
in Bangkok in December 1994 with the assistance of UNDCP, highlighted the role
of those organizations in the implementation of the multidimensional strategy.
23. It was essential to put an end to situations that rendered young people
economically vulnerable and socially insecure. To that end, Member States
should continue to support the Global Programme of Action and the System-Wide
Action Plan with a view to enhancing the capacity of institutions to promote
human well-being.
The meeting rose at 4.50 p.m.