GA/L/3153

LEGAL COMMITTEE IS TOLD OF LINK BETWEEN OBSERVANCE OF GENEVA CONVENTIONS AND CREATION OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Representatives of Humanitarian Agencies Urge Respect For Civilian Populations Caught in Situations of Conflict

The connection between compliance with the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and its Protocols on protection of civilian populations and the establishment of the International Criminal Court was drawn by several speakers this afternoon as the Sixth Committee (Legal) concluded its debate on both those items.

In illustrating the importance of compliance, the speaker for the World Food Programme said that as the Committee was meeting, hundreds of thousands of innocent people were being forced from their homes, getting caught in crossfire, and willfully being denied access to life-saving food and medicine. There was increased recognition that the failure to protect vulnerable populations in armed conflict was more often a shortage of political will, rather than a shortage of conventions and protocols, she said.

The representative of Italy said grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and the Protocols fell within the competence of the future International Criminal Court, which he described as a major achievement in the development of international criminal justice and in the fight against impunity.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was commended by several speakers for its efforts to raise awareness of the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and the Protocols and to promote compliance with them. Many also expressed support for fact-finding commissions as an effective monitoring tool of compliance.

The International Criminal Court, which is to be a permanent judicial body with jurisdiction over genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by individuals, will become operational once the treaty establishing it -- commonly referred to as the Rome Statute �- receives 60 ratifications. So far, 114 countries have signed the treaty and 21 have deposited their instrument of ratification with the Secretary-General.

Statements on the International Criminal Court were made by the representatives of Croatia, Mongolia, Uganda, Thailand, Egypt, Bangladesh,

Sixth Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/L/3153 13th Meeting (AM) 20 October 2000

Sudan, Pakistan, New Zealand, Liechtenstein, Ukraine and Bolivia. The representative of Uganda also spoke in exercise of right of reply.

Speaking on the status of the Geneva Conventions and its Protocols were the representatives of Slovakia, Italy, Romania, Egypt, Guinea, Iraq, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Germany, Chile, United Arab Emirates and Greece. The Observer for Switzerland also made a statement, as did representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Food Programme.

It was announced that the Netherlands would coordinate a draft resolution on the International Criminal Court and Sweden would coordinate a draft on the Geneva Conventions.

The Committee will meet again on Monday, 23 October, at 10 a.m. to begin its consideration of the report of the International Law Commission.

Sixth Committee - 2 - Press Release GA/L/3153 13th Meeting (AM) 20 October 2000

Committee Work Programme

The Sixth Committee (Legal) met this morning to conclude its debate on the agenda item relating to the establishment of the International Criminal Court. [For background information, see Press Release GA/L/3149 of 18 October.]

The Committee will also take up the agenda item on the Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflict (document A/55/173).

Last year the General Assembly, in a resolution recommended by the Sixth Committee, appealed to all States parties to the Geneva Conventions to consider becoming parties to the additional protocols at the earliest possible date. The resolution requested a report from the Secretary-General on the status of the protocols and measures taken to strengthen the existing body of international humanitarian law, based on information received from Member States and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The resulting report lists replies from Austria, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Hungary, Italy, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and Venezuela, as well as from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Statements on International Court

JOSKO KLISOVIC (Croatia) said the International Criminal Court represented a significant contribution to the creation of a new world order, global security structure and reform of the United Nations. While States had primary responsibility for enforcing international human rights and humanitarian law, when they failed to do so, there was now a mechanism for lawful international intervention. The principle of sovereignty was no longer a shield behind which the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity could hide. The role of the Court in the healing process between communities previously in conflict should be emphasized as well.

Croatia was particularly pleased that the Rome Statute (on creation of the Court) had not repeated some of the deficiencies of the Statute of the Yugoslav Tribunal, he said. He cited in particular the fact that compensation to victims and persons who had been wrongly detained or convicted had not been ignored. Preparatory work for ratifying the treaty was under way in Croatia, he said. In calling for other States to sign and ratify the treaty, he said the substantial modifications sometimes required to national legislation should not be seen as an insurmountable obstacle.

JARGALSAIKHANY ENKHSAIKHAN (Mongolia) said the agreed texts did not undermine the integrity of the Statute, nor the future effectiveness of the Court. On the contrary, they ensured that the Court would be independent, effective and credible, and not used as a tool for political purposes. Besides the definition of a crime of aggression, other documents needed to be elaborated. He believed that the spirit of goodwill, mutual understanding and cooperation, which allowed the adoption of the first two documents, would again enable the Preparatory Commission to fulfil its mandate in the near future.

Mongolia, he said, had always been in support of the earliest possible establishment of the Court and was in the process of translating the Rome Statute and other relevant documents into Mongolian and studying ways of legislating. Citing the time and financial resources needed to translate the volume of material, he said he favoured the proposal to establish a trust fund to assist States in adopting implementing legislation.

EUNICE KIGENYI (Uganda) said her delegation would like to see a strong and independent court emerge from the work of the Preparatory Commission at its next session. The issues included the relationship agreement between the Court and the United Nations; financial regulations and rules of the Court and a budget for its first financial year; and the agreement on privileges and immunities of the Court. What was desired was a court that would deter the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. The Court should be complementary to national courts, and acting where those courts were either unable or unwilling to act.

On the issue of aggression, she said the Security Council must first determine whether such an offence had been committed. Then it should be the sole responsibility of the International Criminal Court to adjudicate on the individual criminal responsibility, free from any political influence. Furthermore, she said, the Security Council should not be allowed exclusive power to prevent prosecution and trial by the Court in specific instances.

She noted that Uganda had participated in the East African Conference on the International Criminal Court ratification, which was organized by the Parliamentarians for Global Action in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, last June. The conference facilitated the formulation of an East African Regional Plan for Ratification that also took into account national implementing legislation.

MANOP MEKPRAYOONTHONG (Thailand) said his delegation supported the work of the Preparatory Commission in elaborating the elements of crimes and the Rules of Procedure and Evidence for the Court. The finalized draft texts of the elements of crimes would help to enshrine current developments in international criminal jurisprudence.

He said, Thailand had signed the Rome Statute on 2 October this year to become the 114th signatory State. The signing bore testimony to the country�s strong political will with respect to the international protection of human rights and humanitarian law. The International Criminal Court would put an end to impunity. The processes for the ratification of the Statute had been set in motion.

LAMIA MEKHEMAR (Egypt) said that by winding up its work on the two key documents, the Preparatory Commission had successfully discharged its mandate. The consensus adoption was brilliant proof of the seriousness of the delegations who had striven to achieve agreement. The texts would be a precious aid for judges of the Court. However, in a case of conflict between the rules or the elements, the Statute should prevail.

Egypt had always supported the creation of an international criminal court, she said. She referred to recent incidents in the occupied territories and said the desecration of holy places and the killing of innocent children were scandalous and revealed the need for the Court. It was important to have a strong, independent and fair Court, legally independent and protected from political pressures. Egypt would resist any attempt in the next session to politicize the International Criminal Court or to shackle its independence or limit its scope.

She said a definition for the crime of aggression should be negotiated on the principles enshrined in international law and should include the relevant General Assembly resolution of 1974 in which Egypt participated. Her country was currently in the process of reviewing documents to allow the decision makers to determine whether Egypt could join the list of signatories of the treaty by the end of this year.

ABUL HASAN CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) supported the proposal for holding two more sessions of two weeks each during 2001 to enable the Commission to complete its mandate. His country attached great importance to the early establishment of the International Criminal Court, since it had been a direct victim of genocide during its liberation struggle in 1971. The people of Bangladesh still remembered with deep pain and sorrow the huge number of enforced disappearances at that time. The international community should allow the Court to retain jurisdiction in respect of enforced disappearances as per the Rome Statute.

He said he welcomed the offer of the Secretariat to provide technical assistance in understanding the core multilateral instruments, of which the Rome Statute was a major one. Bangladesh had already embarked upon the process of ratification and was ready to share its expertise. He called upon a few delegations to reconsider their position regarding the jurisdiction of the Court.

ELFATIH ERWA (Sudan) said his country would like to see a strong international judicial system, with rules respecting the principles of justice and fairness. His delegation had made every sincere effort to help the completion of work on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It had participated in the work of the Preparatory Commission, most recently on the elaboration of draft texts adopted by the Commission last June. The President of the Sudan signed the Statute on 8 September during the United Nations Millennium Summit.

Sudan, he said, was committed to flexibility with respect to efforts on a definition of the crime of aggression. The Court must exercise jurisdiction over that crime. On the Court�s relations with the Security Council, he said the two bodies were entirely different and would take up different issues. They should agree on their relationship. That difference should be basis for an agreement in order to ensure an end to impunity. Flexibility was needed so that the Court did not become a powerless body.

MOIN-UL-HAQUE (Pakistan) said it was the duty of every State to see that perpetrators of heinous crimes committed within its jurisdiction should not go unpunished. In a situation where the State lacked effective legal mechanisms to deal with such offences, the International Criminal Court should have jurisdiction to bring the offenders to justice. The principle of complementarity constituted the basic edifice on which the exercise of jurisdiction by the Court was based.

He expressed the hope that the two texts adopted would increase the independence and efficiency of the Court but not impinge upon the sovereignty of States in any way. During the negotiations on the remaining documents, the concerns of all delegations should be taken into account, so that universal participation in the affairs of the Court could be assured.

MICHAEL POWLES (New Zealand), speaking also for members of the Pacific Forum with Missions in New York (Australia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu), said that six of its members had already signed the treaty and two had ratified it. Those who had not yet signed and/or ratified were in the process of studying their internal domestic procedures to facilitate such action. It was good to see that the completion of the two documents had helped to spur the increase in signatures and ratifications, which indicated a growing acceptance and comfort level with the Court that boded well for its universally recognized legitimacy.

He said the only matter standing between the international community and the Court�s long-awaited establishment was the completion next year of the Preparatory Commission�s remaining work and 39 more ratifications of the Statute. Those important goals should be pursued with determination so as not to disappoint the expectations of the international community and, most important, the many thousands who were victims of heinous crimes.

CLAUDIA FRITSCHE (Liechtenstein) said her country had been an early and strong supporter of efforts to establish an independent international criminal court, because of its commitment to fight impunity and to uphold the rule of law, and its conviction that international law must play an enhanced role. She hoped consensus would continue to guide the work of the Preparatory Commission in its forthcoming tasks, as it had in the negotiations last June on the adoption of texts on elements of crimes and the rules of procedure and evidence. The remaining tasks included definition of the crime of aggression, relationship agreement between the Court and the United Nations, and financial regulations.

She said there must be a clear sense that the international community as a whole stood ready to make the Court operational and that no attempts were made to change the Rome Statute. A large number of States which had reservations about the Statute at the Rome Diplomatic Conference -- and in some cases for some time after -� had undergone a political process resulting in their active support for the Court. The question was thus no longer whether the Court would become operational, but rather when that would be the case. Liechtenstein was among those nations which signed the Statute right after its adoption and had set in motion the ratification process.

VOLODYMYR KROKHMAL (Ukraine) said progress achieved by the Preparatory Commission in the past two years, including the adoption last June of the Court�s rules of procedure and evidence and the elements of crime would contribute to the acceleration of ratification of the Rome Statute, and to the subsequent incorporation of its provisions in national legislation.

As a strong advocate of a strong Court, Ukraine had consistently supported the safeguarding of the integrity of the Rome Statute, he said. It emphasized the need for continuation of the efforts to avoid conflict between the Statute and additional texts being elaborated. Equally important for his country was the elaboration of the definition of the crime of aggression, including elements of crimes, as well as the conditions under which the Court would exercise its jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. Ukraine had set in motion steps towards ratification of the Rome Statute. He reiterated his Government�s commitment to the establishment of the International Criminal Court.

JORGE OSVALDO ROCHA ARAMBURO (Bolivia) said the establishment of the Court was a valuable instrument in guaranteeing and promoting respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. The principles of universality, complementarity and autonomy must continue to be preserved by the Commission in its elaboration of the remaining documents in order to protect the independence and credibility of the Court. Concerning a definition of the crime of aggression, it was necessary to distinguish between the act and the crime in determining individual criminal responsibility.

Preliminary approval for ratification of the Rome Statute had been granted by the Bolivian Power chamber, he said, and it would now be sent for consideration by the Senate. He added that the integrity of the Statute must be preserved to guarantee the autonomy, credibility and authority of the Court.

Right of Reply

Speaking in right of reply, Ms. KIGENYI (Uganda) said allegations made by the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo about her country were not new. The issue was being dealt with in another forum. Uganda was committed to the implementation of the Lusaka Agreement. Her delegation was prepared to provide to any interested delegation information on steps Uganda had taken to implement that agreement.

Statements on Geneva Conventions

The Committee turned to the Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and relation to the protection of victims of aimed conflicts.

DRAHOSLAV STEFANEK (Slovakia) said the main challenges for international humanitarian law and its implementation were in the areas of strengthening protection for civilian populations in conflict and emergency situations, and protecting the most vulnerable groups, such as children, women and the elderly. Implementation of the Conventions and the Protocols was closely related to dissemination of the norms of international humanitarian law. In that context, he expressed appreciation to the International Committee of the Red Cross for their valuable work in that area. He praised, in particular, the high quality of the ICRC web page.

He said Slovakia considered the Conventions and the Protocols to be a part of international customary law and did not restrict the binding nature of the rules to the parties to the Conventions. Slovakia was a party to all four Geneva Conventions and had withdrawn all its reservations. It had also signed the International Criminal Court treaty and was undertaking preparatory work necessary for ratification. The government was also in the process, in cooperation with the Slovak Committee of the Red Cross, of studying implementation of international humanitarian law in its domestic legislation.

ATTILA TANZI (Italy) said the commitment of his country to the implementation of international instruments had been enhanced by its ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Italy valued the Statute as a crucial advancement of international humanitarian law, including the provisions contained in the two Additional Protocols to the Geneva Convention. He said grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and the Protocols fell within the competence of the future International Criminal Court. That was a major achievement in the development of international criminal justice and in the fight against impunity, he said.

His delegation was fully aware of the importance of achieving universal ratification of treaties on international humanitarian law. It strongly supported action undertaken by the General Assembly since 1977 to promote ratification of the Additional Protocols. He commended the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the same direction. He welcomed the Plan of Action adopted by the 27th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent last November on the importance of the ICRC Advisory Service to promote the ratification of treaties on humanitarian law and in advising and assisting States Parties in their implementation.

IOANA GABRIELA STANCU (Romania) said his country had ratified the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977, and had accepted provisions of the Additional Protocol I concerning International Fact-Finding Missions. He said a Legal Affairs and International Humanitarian Law Office had been established in 1990 within the framework of the country�s General Staff, to coordinate dissemination and enforcement of international humanitarian law. A course on international humanitarian law had been included in the curriculum of military institutes. In addition, a Legal and Humanitarian Law Office had been established within staff services in the country�s army, air force and navy.

He said Romania signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child concerning the involvement of children in armed conflicts.

MOHAMMED MAHMOUD GOMAA (Egypt) said he attached great importance to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and its two additional Protocols, especially the first one concerning armed conflicts. The Protocol contained the essential principles governing the relationship between a population and the occupying country. As for the treatment of victims of war, the two Protocols governed the conduct of behaviour of the combatants, including in occupied territories. He reminded the Committee of the international recognition of those provisions that had also been accorded to occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem. The manoeuvres of Israelis last week against unarmed civilians in their own territory constituted flagrant violations of international humanitarian law. The international community must ensure that the Protocols were fully implemented. He called for full respect for the Geneva Conventions and its two Protocols, expressing satisfaction at the increase in the signatories to the Protocols.

DIAO BALDE (Guinea) said his country, which had borders of more than 800 kilometres, had been home to thousands of refugees -� about ten per cent of its population. He expressed regret that among those refugees were demobilized combatants from neighbouring countries carrying small arms. Guinea had, since last September, been victim of armed attacks resulting in the loss of life and material damage. Despite those painful situations, his country would continue to provide sanctuary to refugees in the spirit of African solidarity, he said.

ABDUL M. AL-KADHE (Iraq) said his country had, for the last ten years, been the target of unfair economic blockade and military attacks. The blockade and an economic embargo were the continuation of military operations, but without the use of traditional military means. Those acts were violations of the relevant international law. The United States had used a policy of starvation to attain its political goals. He said the action constituted a flagrant violation of the Additional Protocol 1 of 1977 to the Geneva Convention, which prohibited use of starvation for attainment of political objectives. It was also contrary to international humanitarian law and international law in general.

There was no need for the elaboration of new laws, he said, adding that respect for peoples and the Geneva Conventions was what should be undertaken. He also said that the last few days had seen violations by an occupying power. Israel�s actions, he said, constituted flagrant violations of the Geneva Conventions and the relevant international law. The international community must find the legal and practical mechanism to guarantee respect for international humanitarian law.

VLADIMIR TARABRIN (Russian Federation) said the Geneva Conventions were a major landmark in the development of international humanitarian law. They had laid out universal standards and helped the development of norms of humanitarian law, both internationally and domestically. Conflicts continued to result in the loss of the lives of thousands of people, most of whom were civilians. The gap between the norms articulated in the Conventions and the Protocols and the current reality was large. For that reason, it was important to periodically review the status of the Protocols.

Russia was currently undertaking measures to implement certain standards of international humanitarian law, he said. Some of those measures included the strict prohibiting of the recruitment or training of mercenaries, mass destruction of flora and fauna and the poisoning of water or other essential resources. It was important to ensure strict compliance with the Conventions and the Protocols, and to strengthen monitoring of the compliance. While the basic responsibility lay with States, the international community could mobilize other efforts to see that civilians were protected.

He said he supported efforts, for example, by the Security Council, to provide protection in armed conflicts to children and other groups, such as international humanitarian personnel. The Council�s active participation in the subject should serve as a warning to those States that were not complying with the provisions of the Conventions and the Protocols. He highlighted the active role of the International Committee of the Red Cross in promoting awareness and compliance with the Geneva Conventions and the Protocols. He called for those countries which had not yet done so to ratify or accede to the Conventions and the Protocols, as a means of further strengthening international law.

Mr. KROKHMAL (Ukraine) said the mechanism for monitoring the application of international treaties was an important component of the international legal regime. His country recognized the competence of the fact-finding commission. Ukraine had recently created an interdepartmental commission to review its implementation of international humanitarian law. It was established to ensure Ukraine�s full compliance with the provisions of the relevant treaties and, in particular, with obligations under the Conventions and Protocols.

Most present-day wars were a result of civil or inter-ethnic conflict, he said, and many involved gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Sometimes, the goal was not to subdue the rival but to banish or exterminate it. In those cases, civilians were not simply collateral victims of atrocities, but became a distinct target. He underscored the importance of compliance with the Conventions and the Protocols, and said grave breaches should be regarded as war crimes.

AHMED MOHAMED AL-DAILMI (Yemen) said his country had adhered to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and its Protocols and was aware of their value. The Protocols mandated a responsibility to protect civilians, as well as their rights and cultural heritage. He appreciated the efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross to mitigate the suffering of civilians from foreign occupation or armed conflict. A day did not go by without the world witnessing a new conflict that violated the norms of international humanitarian law. Perhaps the severest and cruelest violations were those that were being seen now in the occupied Palestinian territory, as well as in other parts of the world. As a result of Israeli forces being in the occupied Golan and other territories, civilians were being harassed, homes destroyed, and people deported against their will. Moreover, Israel was continuing with its policy of settlement.

It was necessary to bring those responsible for those crimes to justice. The international community must prevent countries from resorting to the use of force and, instead, encourage the resolution of differences through peaceful means. In questioning why all the United Nations resolutions on the issue had not been implemented and why Israeli occupation had not ceased, he said it was obvious that Israel had yet to meet its obligation to respect the rules of international human law. He expressed support for the fact-finding committees established under the first Additional Protocol.

GHASSAN OBEID (Syria) said there had been an increase in massacres of civilians by Israelis, in flagrant violation of the relevant Geneva Conventions, international law and the United Nations. There was need for scrupulous adherence to international humanitarian law. In view of those flagrant violations of those instruments, he said work on the establishment of the International Criminal Court must be speeded up. He said crime being perpetuated by Israel against the Palestinians should be among crimes to be placed under the jurisdiction of the future court.

Syria was grateful to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of the Red Cross for their work in providing protection, he said. He commended them in particular for their work in the occupied Syrian Golan, the Palestinian territories and Jerusalem. The international community must pool their efforts to ensure the protection of the populations there.

He said the international community, now more than ever, must ensure the implementation of international humanitarian law by States, particularly Israel. Israel, he said, had violated that law constantly and for that it should be declared an outcast.

GEORG WITSCHEL (Germany) said his country was party to the four Geneva Conventions and their two Additional Protocols. In 1991, it agreed to accept the competence of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission. Germany welcomed the initiative taken by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement for the adoption of a Third Additional protocol to the Geneva Conventions concerning the use of emblems, an important issue for the two organizations.

Germany believed that a Third Additional Protocol should contain a comprehensive and lasting solution to the emblem problem, which represented a permanent challenge to the universality of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement.

He said Germany had signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and hoped the Court would greatly contribute to deterring future breaches of international humanitarian law.

CLAUDIO TRONCOSO (Chile), addressing what he described as an issue of immense legal importance, said there was a need for cooperation among countries in identifying the link between the various violations of the Geneva Conventions and its Protocols and domestic penal codes. In securing effective implementation of the Geneva Conventions and the Protocols, it was essential to understand the severe violations, as well as all actions that shaped and defined those violations.

He stressed the need to undertake more thorough cooperation among the international community to report on relevant legislative developments. Although it was a complex legal and technical sphere, it was extremely important in light of the development of international humanitarian law and of penal law. There was not an automatic correlation of certain crimes in domestic law.

He said it was important for the Sixth Committee to highlight the benefits of exchange of information on the different ways the crimes were being defined in the various legal systems around the world. Moreover, the issue had significant implications for the International Criminal Court.

OBALD HAMOUD AL-SUWAIDI (United Arab Emirates) said application of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols had been imperfect and incomplete. Statistics showed that millions of innocent civilians, including the young, women, the elderly and the weak, without the means to protect themselves, were targets of torture, massacres and the pillaging of their homes and cultural properties. Civilians had been forced to leave their homes. Those acts were prohibited under the Geneva Conventions and customary international law. Attempts to provide food and medicines to victims of conflicts had also been impeded.

He said government attached major importance to compliance with the four Geneva Conventions to prevent barbarous practices, such as those perpetrated by Israel against unarmed Palestinian children. Despite the relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions reiterating the applicability of the Geneva conventions, Israel continued to violate those instruments. It had intentionally continued its settlement of Palestinian lands and acts against religious properties.

What had been seen on television screens and read in the mass media in the past three weeks constituted acts of genocide of unarmed Palestinian children who had no means of to defend themselves. He called upon the Security Council to compel Israel to comply with its resolutions and with the Geneva Conventions. Israel must also be compelled to abide by its obligations under international law.

MARIA VONDIKAKI-TELALIAN (Greece) said the Geneva Conventions and the Protocols were extremely important, since strict compliance with them might help to alleviate the human suffering that occurred during conflicts. She welcomed all measures aimed at strengthening such compliance. The Conventions and the Protocols should be strictly implemented immediately upon the outbreak of conflict. Steps should also be taken to promote awareness of the provisions of the Conventions and the Protocols at the national level, in particular among the members of the armed forces. She said that to achieve effective implementation of the Conventions and Protocols, as well as respect for their rules, it was important that there be an appropriate functioning of the instruments for monitoring compliance. She supported the fact-finding missions, whose competence was recognized by Greece.

VALENTIN ZELLWEGER, Observer for Switzerland, said that on 14 August, Eritrea had acceded to the 1949 Geneva Convention, bringing the total number of States parties to 189. The number of parties to the Convention�s Additional Protocol I (on protection of victims of armed international conflict) was now 157, while signatories to Additional Protocol II (concerning victims of non- international conflict) stood at 150. He noted that the international instruments which limited the use of armed conflicts were not being respected, and the High Contracting Parties would continue to demand adherence to the protocols.

The additional protocols must have universal application and respect. There was need for protection of medical and aid workers in conflict zones. The protection provided by the Red Cross was being abused at the international and local levels.

Switzerland, as depository of the Geneva Convention and its protocols, had decided to convene a diplomatic conference to ensure respect of the Red Cross emblem. The aim was adoption of a third additional protocol for that purpose. There had been no consensus because of the recent developments in the Middle East. The conference was now being planned for early next year. For the first time, a global and lasting solution to the problem of the emblem had been recognized. Switzerland would continue to do its utmost to ensure that the issue was resolved to benefit primarily aid providers and recipients.

DANIEL HELLE, Observer for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was essential that the 1977 Protocols additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions attained universality for improvement of legal protection of civilian populations against the effects of hostilities. Since the last debate on the topic last year, he said, five States had become bound by Protocol I, bringing the total of States parties to 157. As far as Protocol II was concerned, he said six new instruments of ratification had been deposited, bringing to 150 the number of States parties. The ICRC supported those efforts and called upon States that had not yet done so to ratify those instruments as soon as possible. It also urged States to ratify the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

He said the ICRC proposed to extend the agenda item under discussion to include instruments of humanitarian law other than the 1977 Additional Protocols, namely the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two additional Protocols of 1954 and 1999, and the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The other humanitarian law treaties concerning the conduct of hostilities were already dealt with by the First Committee, he said.

The second proposal was that the item should be placed on the Sixth Committee�s agenda every year. To protect victims of war, he said, it was necessary in times of peace for measures to be taken at the national level to ensure implementation of humanitarian law. The creation of national commissions to advise governments in implementing humanitarian law constituted an important step towards ensuring effective implementation of humanitarian law.

MONA HAMMAM, the representative for the World Food Programme, said that as the Committee was meeting, hundreds of thousands of innocent people were being forced from their homes, getting caught in crossfire, and were willfully being denied access to life-saving food and medicine.

The World Food Programme and other humanitarian staff seeking to protect those people had themselves become the victims of violent and sometimes fatal attacks, she said. Moreover, there had been a resurgence in the use of hunger as a weapon of war. People were willfully starved because of their ethnicity, religion or politics. Food stocks were stolen or destroyed. Hunger was an integral part of the tactics of violence in Somalia, southern Sudan and Afghanistan.

She said the World Food Programme welcomed the intensified efforts by the Security Council and the General Assembly to raise awareness and examine the protection of civilians in armed conflict, as well as the safety of United Nations personnel. There was increased recognition that the failure to protect vulnerable populations in armed conflict was more often a shortage of political will, rather than a shortage of conventions and protocols.

The Programme was particularly committed to protecting women and children, securing humanitarian access, and to the protection of humanitarian workers. She added that a strong message needed to be sent to government and groups under whose jurisdiction murders, kidnappings and harassment of aid workers took place. They should know they would be held accountable and punished if they failed to respect the United Nations flag.

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