United Nations
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
THIRTY-SIXTH SESSION
Official Records*

THIRD COMMITTEE
27th meeting
held on
Thursday, 22 October 1981
at 3 p.m.
New York

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 27TH MEETING

Chairman: Mr. O’DONOVAN (Ireland)

CONTENTS

AGENDA ITEM 75: ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE

AGENDA ITEM 85: HUMAN RIGHTS AND SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

AGENDA ITEM 86: QUESTION OF A CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

AGENDA ITEM 87: INTERNATIONAL COVENANTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

	(a) REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

	(b) STATUS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS AND THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

	(c) ELABORATION OF A SECOND OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, AIMING AT THE ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

AGENDA ITEM 91: TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT

	(a) UNILATERAL DECLARATIONS BY MEMBER STATES AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

	(b) DRAFT CODE OF MEDICAL ETHICS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

AGENDA ITEM 76: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH YEAR: PARTICIPATION, DEVELOPMENT, PEACE: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (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 publication in the Chief of the Official Records Editing Section, room A-2150, 866 United Nations Place (Alcon Building), and [ ] in a copy of the record.

Corrections will be [ ] after the end of the session, in a [ ] [ ] for each Committee.

Distr. GENERAL
A/C.3/36/SR.27
9 November 1981

ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

81-57312

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AGENDA ITEM 77: POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES RELATING TO YOUTH (continued)

	(a) PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORTS EXCHANGES AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

	(b) CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE UNITED NATIONS AND YOUTH AND YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

	(c) CO-ORDINATION AND INFORMATION IN THE FIELD OF YOUTH: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

AGENDA ITEM 78: NATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN ACHIEVING FAR-REACHING SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGES FOR THE PURPOSE OF SOCIAL PROGRESS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued)

AGENDA ITEM 80: QUESTION OF THE ELDERLY AND THE AGED: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued)

AGENDA ITEM 84: WORLD ASSEMBLY ON AGING: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued)

AGENDA ITEM 90: CRIME PREVENTION AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued)

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The meeting was called to order at 3.10 p.m.

AGENDA ITEM 75: ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE (A/36/3/Add.23 (Part I), A/36/137, A/36/158, A/C.3/36/L.4)

AGENDA ITEM 85: HUMAN RIGHTS AND SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL (A/36/429 and Add.1).

AGENDA ITEM 86: QUESTIONS OF A CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (A/36/3/Add.23 (Part I, A/C.3/36/6, A/C.3/36/L.4)

AGENDA ITEM 87: INTERNATIONAL COVENANTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS (A/36/3/Add.23, 24 and 26, A/36/63, A/36/417, A/36/434, A/36/584)

(a) REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE (A/36/40)

(b) STATUS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS AND THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/36/455)

(c) ELABORATION OF A SECOND OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, AIMING AT THE ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY : REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/36/441 and Add.1)

AGENDA ITEM 91: TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT (A/36/3/Add.19 and 23)

(a) UNILATERAL DECLARATIONS BY MEMBER STATES AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/36/426 and Add.1)

(b) DRAFT CODE OF MEDICAL ETHICS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL (A/36/140 and Add. 1-4)

1. Mr. NYAMEKYE (Deputy Director, Division of Human Rights), introducing agenda items 75, 87, 85, 96 and 86, said that the draft Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Blief (A/C.3/36/L.4), the product of nearly 20 years work on the subject, had been adopted by the Commission on Human Rights at its thirty-seventh session in 1981 and had been annexed to its resolution 20 (XXXVII). By its resolution E/RES/1981/36, adopted on the recommendation of the Commission, the Economic and Social Council had recommended to the General Assembly that it should consider the draft at its thirty-sixth session with a view to adopting and solemnly proclaiming it as a United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion and Belief.

2. In connexion with agenda item 87, “INTERNATIONAL COVENANTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS”, the Committee had before it the report of the Human Rights Committee on

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(Mr. Nyamekye)

its eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth sessions (A/36/40). He referred the Committee to the annexes to the report which dealt with such important questions as the duties of the Human Rights Committee under article 40 of the Covenant, the follow-up to be given by the Human Rights Committee to its consideration of the reports of States parties, the periodicity of reports, guidelines for the submission of reports, and the formulation of general comments by the Human Rights Committee. He also drew attention to paragraphs 19-27 of the report of the Human Rights Committee, which dealt with the question of publicity for its work.

3. The Third Committee also had before it the relevant chapter of the report of the Economic and Social Council dealing with the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (A/36/3/Add.25). At its first regular session of 1981, the Economic and Social Council, having considered the report of the Sessional Working Group (E/1981/64), had approved the recommendations concerning the review of its composition, organization and administrative arrangements of the Group and had decided to incorporate them into the Group’s methods of work at the Group. The Council had further decided (decision 1981/162) to review at its first regular session of 1982, the composition, organization and administrative arrangements of the Working Group.

4. Document A/36/455 contained a report on the status of signatures of and ratifications of or accessions to the two Covenants and to the Optional Protocol. There were currently 70 States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 66 States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and 26 States parties to the Optional Protocol to the latter Covenant. Fourteen States had made the declaration under article 41 of the Covenant.

5. The General Assembly, by its decision 35/437, had decided to consider at its thirty-sixth session, the idea of elaborating a draft of a report of a second Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. By the same decision, the Secretary-General had been requested to transmit the text of the draft resolution entitled “Measures aiming at the ultimate abolition of capital punishment” (draft Second Optional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) to Governments for their comments and observations and to submit a report to the General Assembly at its thirty-sixth session. That report was now before the Third Committee in document A/36/441.

6. Turning to agenda item 85 “Human rights and scientific and technological developments”, he recalled that the Secretary-General had issued reports on a variety of relevant issues, including problems for human rights caused by advances in biology, medicine and biochemistry, and those relating to human experimentation and to genetic manipulation of microbes. Studies relating to national and international machinery on technological assessments needed to ensure that the short-term and long-term effects of new developments were not

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(Mr. Nyamekye)

detrimental to human rights had also been undertaken. Document A/36/429, prepared in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 35/130A, contained a report of the Secretary-General prepared on the basis of information received from Member States regarding the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on the Use of Scientific and Technological Development in the Interests of Peace for the Benefit of Mankind, which had been adopted on 10 November 1975.

7. By its resolution [11], (XXXIII), the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities had entrusted a special rapporteur with the task of elaborating guidelines and principles for the protection of the mentally ill. At the thirty-fourth session of the Sub-Commission a preliminary report had been submitted by the Special Rapporteur, who had then been requested by resolution 20 (XXXIV) to submit her final report to the Sub-Commission at its thirty-fifth session. A report, requested under Sub-Commission resolution 12 (XXXIII) on guidelines relating to the use of computerized personal files, particularly as they affected the privacy of the individual, was also expected to be submitted to the Sub-Commission at its thirty-fifth session.

8. With respect to agenda item 91 “Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, he said that the Commission on Human Rights, at its thirty-seventh session, had continued work on the drafting of a Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and had decided to accord high priority to the consideration of the question at its thirty-eight session. on the recommendation of the Commission, the Economic and Social Council, at its first regular session of 1981, had authorized an open-ended working group to meet prior to the thirty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights to complete work on the draft convention.

9. At its first regular session in 1981, the Economic and Social Council had taken note of the revised report of the Secretary-General, prepared in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 35/178, and, convinced that the adoption of a code of medical ethics constituted an important step in the progressive setting of international standards within the field of human rights, had recommended that the General Assembly should take measures to finalize the draft Code at its thirty-sixth session.

10. In connexion with agenda item 86, he reviewed United Nations activities in drafting a Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since 1979, open-minded working groups had been established annually by the Commission on Human Rights to draft the proposed convention. The get of the parts of the Convention on the Rights of the Child so far adopted by the Commission’s Working Group could be found in Chapter XII of the Commission’s report on its thirty-seventh session. The Group had adopted nine preambular paragraphs and eight articles which dealt, inter alia, with the child’s right, from birth, to a name and to acquire a nationality, the need to provide a child with such protection and care as was necessary for its well-being, the child’s protection against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of

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(Mr. Nyamekye)

the child’s parents, legal guardians, or other family members, the need to assure the child who was capable of forming his own views the right to express his opinion freely in all matters, and the adoption of all appropriate measures to ensure that the children of working parents had the right to benefit from child-care services and facilities for which they were eligible.

11. Mr. WELL (Federal Republic of Germany), speaking on agenda item 87 (c), expressed his delegation’s regrets at the fact that when the Committee had discussed its programme of work, the title of the item under consideration had created difficulties for some delegations. His delegation had considered it more appropriate to make the title reflect the exact wording of General Assembly resolution 35/437, which referred to the idea of elaborating a draft of a second optional protocol to the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. On the other hand, it felt that any possible misunderstanding could easily be cleared up, since the annotated agenda correctly described the present state of discussion.

12. His Government had, at the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly, presented a draft second optional protocol which had been distributed as document A/C.3/35/L.75 and annexed to decision 35/437. He stressed that, in furthering that initiative, his Government was pursuing a long-term objective, since it was not realistic to expect the General Assembly at its present session to arrive at definite conclusions on the form and substance of measures to abolish capital punishment universally and preventing its reintroduction. Different legal traditions, religious convictions and historical experience had led many nations to adopt a view of capital punishment which differed from that of his own country, in which that type of penalty had been abolished by the Constitution of 1949 in the wake of its excessive use and abuse in the 1930s and 1940s. However, in view of the frequent use of the death penalty and the growing frequency of summary executions, his delegation was gratified by the encouraging response from many countries, not only those who had already abolished capital punishment.

13. His Government believed that mankind had reached a stage in its evolution at which States should be able to envisage dispensing with legislation prescribing the death penalty. There was a growing conviction that by a process of information and education and by applying penal laws which provided not only for means of punishment but also for means of betterment and correction, States could protect citizens and society in a more acceptable manner than by destroying human life. Crime statistics proved that the abolition of the death penalty had not increased the crime rate, whereas the harm caused by miscarriages of justice and the abuse of capital punishment was irreparable. The doubts concerning the deterrent effect of capital punishment were confirmed by the knowledge that the would-be offender was concerned not so much about the punishment as about the chances of being caught. A person who committed a crime in the heat of the moment did not stop to consider the consequences at all, while the prospect of punishment was, in many cases, no deterrent to those who committed crimes out of conviction.

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(Mr. WELL, Federal Republic of Germany)

14. The United States had always considered the death penalty not only from the criminological point of view but also in terms of protecting human rights. General Assembly resolution 32/61, for example, reaffirmed that the main objective to be pursued in the field of capital punishment was that of progressively restricting the number of offences for which the death penalty might be imposed, with a view to the desirability of abolishing it. Article 6, paragraphs 1 and 6, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, not only guaranteed the right to life but ruled out an interpretation which would delay or prevent the abolition of capital punishment by a State party to the Covenant. Any agreements dealing more extensively with the subject should not be considered in isolation from the Covenant. His Government had therefore presented its draft instrument on the abolition of capital punishment as an additional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It realized that universal validity would be possible only in the long term, and it had therefore submitted its draft in the form of an optional protocol. That ensured that if a country, on the basis of national law, was not yet in a position to sign the protocol, it would not be legally or morally obliged to do so. The aim of the initiative was to give those countries that had abolished capital punishment an opportunity to accede to a United Nations convention which pledged signatories to abolish or not to introduce capital punishment. Such an obligation could be assumed only by countries which had already abolished the death penalty or which did so upon accession to protocol.

15. His Government had noted with satisfaction that several Governments, including that of Netherlands, in their comments on the draft, had suggested improvements in the text in order to place stronger emphasis on the protocol’s objective of universal validity. It had been suggested that not only countries that had abolished capital punishment might accede to the additional protocol but also those whose Governments were willing to take all necessary steps to abolish the death penalty in their territory. However, his Government was not convinced that the protocol should require States to seek abolish the death penalty. Their decision whether or not to do so should be based solely on their domestic situation under national law. In the long term, the protocol could become universally valid, but its optional character would ensure that the decision-making freedom of the countries that had not ratified it would bet ugly maintained even after it had entered into force.

16. His Government wished to stimulate discussion on the abolition of capital punishment in view of the need to establish a counterweight at an international level to the increasing use and abuse of the death penalty. Accession to an international instrument by those States in a position to take such a step could, in the long term, encourage others to do the same. The optional character of the protocol was intended to facilitate a constructive and eventually successful discussion. His delegation hoped that such a discussion would take place in the Committee but did not feel that it would have to be concluded during the General Assembly thirty-sixth session.

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(Mr. Well, Federal Republic of Germany)

17. He noted that by no means all countries had so far responded to the Secretary-General’s request for comments on the draft. Furthermore, two different trends on the subject had recently been emerging. There were countries which in earlier years had attached greater importance to capital punishment but recently had passed laws abolishing it, while there were other countries in which the death penalty had recently become an instrument of regimes exercising their power by summary punishment and mass execution. His Government would therefore welcome any step taken by the General Assembly towards the goal aimed at in the initiative launched by his country and its co-sponsors. If that was not yet possible, it would be important to agree that discussion of the idea of a protocol aiming at the abolition of capital punishment should be continued at the thirty-seventh session in the light of further comments by States and Untied Nations bodies and of intervening developments.

18. Mr. SOKALSKI (Poland), speaking on agenda item 86, drew attention to the fact that in the space of two hours 4,000 small children would die throughout the world from causes that were readily avoidable and that the majority of the half billion people currently suffering from severe malnutrition and deprivation were children, according to the definition contained in the agreed text of article I of the draft Convention on the Rights of the Child. The idea for such a Convention, which was consistent with Poland’s traditional concern for children’s rights had resulted from mounting concern over the fact that children were the first to suffer from the current poverty in the world, as had been clearly indicated in the report prepared by the Executive Director of UNICEF and entitled “The state of the world’s children, 1980-1981”. According to that report, almost all of the 12 million infant deaths during the International year of the Child had resulted from dire poverty, which was, however, entirely unnecessary. Moreover, the latest date suggested that more than 90 per cent of the deaths of young children in the developing countries could be prevented by measures such as immunization, prenatal and child care, clean water supply, environmental sanitation, and the like.

19. In addition, 20 per cent of the world’s young children suffered from malnutrition, nearly 130 million between the ages of 6 and 11 did not attend school, 300 million are living in absolute poverty and, of an estimated 140 million disabled children, 120 million were in the developing countries. A growing number of children were refugees, and millions were in the world’s labour forces.

20. The only effective way to reduce those horrifying figures was to ensure the national and international efforts represented all-embracing, vitalizing action which incorporated the programmes benefiting children and the observance of their rights into the broader framework of over-all economic and social development in conditions of peace.

21. The International year of the Child had also shown that the problems of children in the developing countries were not essentially different from those of 

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(Mr. Sokalski, Poland)

children in the industrialized countries ; that qualitative similarity should be borne in mind when international strategies for aid to children, including UNICEF activities, were formulated and put into effect.

22. Initiating the idea of a draft convention on the rights of the child, his delegation had no illusion of providing a panacea for all the miseries of the world’s children, but it felt certain that an international instrument of that kind could help to promote human rights and enhance the complementarity of efforts at the national and international level. Although no international action, however important, could replace the efforts that must be made at the national level, the proposed convention could serve as a catalyst for positive change everywhere. Moreover, it would make an important contribution to the current International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade.

23. In that connexion, his delegation welcomed the progress that had been made in reaching agreement on the successive articles of the draft Convention prior to and during the thirty-seventh session of the Commission on Human Rights. In fact, with further good will and a constructive spirit, the draft could perhaps be completed during the Commission’s thirty-eight session. A number of constructive suggestions, which seemed to represent compromise solutions, had already been put forward by several delegations.

24. After studying the proceedings in the Commission on Human Rights, his delegation had wished to proposed a number of amendments to the original text of the draft Convention and had therefore submitted document A/C.3/36/6. Part I of that document contained the articles on which agreement had been reached, while part II contained the revised text of the remaining draft articles, which was being submitted to facilitate the drafting process and could be amended, where appropriate, according to specific proposals made in the Commission.

25. With a view to completing the work on the convention, his delegation, together with a very representative group of countries, was sponsoring draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.14, which fully took into account the advanced stage of the work and offered the General Assembly encouragement to the Commission on Human Rights to complete the drafting process. Accordingly, speaking on behalf of the sponsors which had been joined by Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia and Yemen, he presented the draft resolution for consideration and adoption by the Committee. He hoped that, as a demonstration of their support for efforts to ensure a happier current and future world for all children, many other delegations would join in sponsoring the draft resolution.

26. Mr. WALKATE (Netherlands), speaking on agenda items 87 (c), thanked the delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany for having submitted to the Committee, at its thirty-fifth session, a draft second optional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. He also expressed appreciation to those countries that had

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(Mr. WALKATE, Netherlands)

submitted comments, which were contained in document A/36/441, in response to the Secretary-General’s request.

27. His Government would never seek to force any Governments which maintained capital punishment for various reasons to change their position in that respect; what it did hope was that Member States would gradually agree that article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which dealt with the inherent right to life, needed further elaboration. His delegation felt that, because of its tradition, experience and expertise, the Commission on Human Rights was the most appropriate body to prepare the relevant texts to be submitted to the General Assembly. That proposal was essentially procedural in nature, and he therefore appealed to all delegations to give it the necessary support.

28. Without dwelling on the substance of the draft second optional protocol, he pointed out that the death penalty was irreversible and that, since judicial errors did occur, it should not be utilized by any judicial system. moreover, it was of doubtful value as a means of crime prevention. Since, the death penalty might contain elements of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, it might also violate article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

29. In addition, everyone abhorred the use of capital punishment to enforce the repugnant apartheid system in South Africa and had welcome the swift action taken by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in sending a telegram urgently appealing to the Government of South Africa to spare the lives of three black South Africans recently condemned to death.

30. He also pointed out that the other draft conventions and declarations being elaborated but he Commission on Human rights, in accordance with the relevant articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, offered the necessary precedent for the preparation of a draft second optional protocol on the abolition of the death penalty.

31. All his Government asked was that those countries which did not yet support the abolition of capital punishment should allow other countries to move forward in that direction and that, during the current session, the General Assembly should merely adopt a procedural decision, entrusting the Commission on Human Rights with the task of elaborating a draft optional protocol.

32. The CHAIRMAN suggested, on the basis of consultations with the Bureau, that the deadline for the submission of draft resolution, on agenda items 75, 85, 86, 87, and 91, should be Wednesday, 28 October, at 3 p.m.

33. It was so decided.

AGENDA ITEM 76: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH YEAR: PARTICIPATION, DEVELOPMENT, PEACE:

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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued)

AGENDA ITEM 77: POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES RELATING TO YOUTH (continued)
	(a) PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORTS EXCHANGES AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

	(b) CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE UNITED NATIONS AND YOUTH AND YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

	(c) CO-ORDINATION AND INFORMATION IN THE FIELD OF YOUTH: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
AGENDA ITEM 78: NATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN ACHIEVING FAR-REACHING SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGES FOR THE PURPOSE OF SOCIAL PROGRESS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (Continued)

AGENDA ITEM 80: QUESTION OF THE ELDERLY AND THE AGED: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (Continued)

AGENDA ITEM 84: WORLD ASSEMBLY ON AGING: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (Continued)

AGENDA ITEM 90: CRIME PREVENTION AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (Continued)

Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.15

34. Mr. VOICU (Romania) introduced draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.15 on behalf of the sponsors, which now also included Chile, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, the Netherlands, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Uganda, United Republic of Cameroon, Viet Nam, Yemen and Democratic Yemen.

35. The preambular part of the draft resolution reflected the profound importance of direct participation by young people in the shaping of the future and of their role in solving the major problems of the world. Referring to the penultimate preambular paragraph in particular, he explained that the sponsors recognized that UNESCO was especially concerned with the problems of young people and, because of its thorough experience and knowledge, could make an essential contribution to the preparation and celebration of the International Youth Year. The resolution adopted on the subject by the twenty-first UNESCO General Conference was the first such resolution to be adopted by a specialized agency.

36. Operative paragraphs 1 to 12 reflected the provisions of General Assembly resolution 35/126, updated on the basis of the relevant recommendations of the Advisory Committee. In connexion with paragraph 3, he stressed that while all the specialized agencies were invited to exert the necessary efforts, UNESCO should be particularly active in helping to prepare and celebrate International Youth 

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(Mr. Voicu, Romania)

Year by expanding research and information activities it conduced with other bodies in the United Nations system and by strengthening its co-operation with Member States and youth organizations. He specifically asked the Rapporteur to ensure that the Committee’s report to the General Assembly contained an appropriate reference to the specialized agencies under agenda item 76.

37. He pointed out that the financial aspects of the preparations for International Youth Year, which were dealt with in paragraph 7, were described in detail in document A/36/215/Add.1. The financial implications relating directly to the implementation of the draft resolution would be contained in a document to be issued subsequently. The sponsored wished to stress the need to make the best possible use of existing financial and material resources ago cover the expenditures relating to the Programme of Measures and Activities for the International Youth Year. However, since United Nations resources for that purpose were so limited, the sponsors wished again to appeal to all States, international governmental and non-governmental organizations and to the public, to make the necessary voluntary contributions, as was indicated in paragraph 11.

38. In conclusion, he expressed the hope that, since draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.15 was an extension of General Assembly resolution 35/126 and was based on the recommendations of the Advisory Committee, it would be adopted by consensus.

Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.20

39. Miss BROSNAKOVA (Czechoslovakia), introducing draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.20, explained that the original sponsors had included Nicaragua and that Benin, German Democratic Republic, Guinea, Madagascar, Mozambique, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe had subsequently become sponsors.

40. The International Youth year provided an opportunity for Governments, international organizations and youth organizations to improve the conditions of young people throughout the world. The most critical problem afflicting young people was unemployment, and economic prospects for that age group were, in general, discouraging. Many representatives in the Committee had drawn attention to the urgent need to solve the youth unemployment problem and had stressed the importance of disarmament and the restructure of international economic relations on a just, equal and democratic basis as means of improving the situation of young people.

41. In accordance with the generally recognized international legal instruments proclaiming the right to work and with other United Nations documents, the sponsors of draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.20 wished to encourage Governments and international organizations to focus their efforts on improving the legal and material status of young people and safeguarding their right to work. Unemployment had vast social, economic, humanitarian, and, ultimately, political

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(Miss Brosnakova, Czechoslovakia)

implications for every country where it occurred. However, the ways of solving that problem necessarily varied from country to country, and that fact had been taken into account in paragraph 1 of the draft, to which her delegation attached the utmost importance.

42. Moreover, the draft resolution was a natural extension of General Assembly resolution 35/191 concerning the right to education and an expansion of some of the ideas contained in the report of the Advisory Committee for the International Youth Year.

43. She assured the members of the Committee that the unofficial recommendations her delegation had received the previous day in connexion with the draft resolution would be considered in the spirit of constructive co-operation.

Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.23

44. Mr. CORTI (Argentina), introducing draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.23, said that the Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Mozambique and the Philippines had become sponsors.

45. Only 23 Member States had replied to the request by the Secretary-General in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 33/8 to submit reports on the activities undertaken in the field of physical education and sports, particularly among young people. The purpose of the draft resolution was therefore to continue those activities and to foster indigenous forms of sports with a view to preserving the cultural identity of countries. The sponsors wished to thank all delegations that had contributed to the draft and believed that the present version should pose no problems for delegation.

Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.21

46. Miss NAGA (Egypt), introducing draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.21, announced that Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Lebanon, Nepal, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Uganda and the United Republic of Cameroon had become sponsors.

47. The sponsors had agreed to insert the following preambular paragraph after the seventh preambular paragraph:

	“Also taking note of the valuable contribution which the United nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization can make in the improvement of channels of communication between the United Nations, youth and youth organizations”. Moreover the words “and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization” should be inserted after “the United Nations Development Programme” in the fourth line of operative paragraph 4.

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(Miss Naga, Egypt)

48. The sponsors had attempted to take into account the views expressed by other delegations and, accordingly, hoped that the draft resolution would be adopted by consensus.

49. Mr. GILMAN (United States of America) asked whether there were any financial implications of the draft resolution contained in document A/C.3/36/L.21.

50. Mrs. DOWNING (Secretary of the Committee) said that she had been informed by the Secretariat services which would implement the draft resolution if it was adopted and by the Budget Division that there were no financial implications.

Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.26

51. Mr. OLSVOI (Mongolia), introducing draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.26, said that the Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mali, Poland and Yemen had become sponsors.

52. As the report of the Secretary-General (A/36/115 stressed,) the establishment and growth of co-operatives would be instrumental in promoting the implementation of the International Development Strategy for the 1980s.
Furthermore, the discussion in the Committee had demonstrated the keen interest of delegations in developing co-operatives and his delegation was pleased to note that at its thirty-seventh session, ESCAF had adopted a resolution on the role of the co-operative movement in the economic and social development of Asia and the Pacific. In the circumstances, the sponsors hoped that the draft resolution would be adopted by the Committee.

Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.27

53. Mr. OLSVOI (Mongolia), introducing draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.27, announced that Madagascar had become a sponsor.

54. Since 1976, the General Assembly had been discussing national experience in achieving far-reaching social and economic changes for the purpose of social progress with a view to enabling States to exchange experiences. The sponsors felt that while all States had the right to choose their own economic and social system, a comparison of different systems and exchanges of experience could help to promote the implementation of the International Development Strategy. Accordingly, they hoped that the draft resolution would be supported by the members of the Committee.

Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.28

55. Mr. VELLA (Malta), introducing draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.28, said that Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, New Zeland and Romania had become sponsors. The draft resolution was related to the regular programme for the elderly and the aged carried out by the United Nations Centre for Social Development and 

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(Mr. Vella, Malta)

Humanitarian Affairs. That programme had been very useful to Governments and was instrumental in the preparation of the World Assembly on Aging. The draft resolution, which had no financial implications, sought to consolidate that programme and to carry forward the preparatory work already done. While operative paragraph 5 seemed to create difficulties for some delegations, the sponsors wished to point out that not all of the money in the Trust Fund was expected to be spent on the World Assembly. The funds that were left after the Assembly could be used to assist developing countries, in particular the least developed among them, since the World Assembly was not an end in itself. The present wording was the best that the sponsors had found and they hoped that the draft resolution would be taken in the right spirit and adopted by consensus.

Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.18/Rev.1

56. Mr. GILMAN (United States of America), introducing draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.18/Rev.1, said that the Dominican Republic had become a sponsor.

57. Since 1951, when the first White House Conference on Aging had been held, the United States had recognized the need to cope with the problems of that age group. His delegation was aware that the problem was not confined to the United States and that international co-operation was needed in the search for solutions. Accordingly, the United States had contributed generously to the Trust Fund and hoped that other countries would do the same. Since the draft resolution would benefit all nations, the sponsors hoped that it would receive broad support in the Committee.

58. The sponsors had agreed that the words “subject to the conditions of paragraph 8 below” should be inserted in operative paragraph 3 after the words “Further agrees”. Furthermore, operative paragraph 8 should begin with the words “Notes that paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 above…”.

Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.22

59. Miss STREDEL (Venezuela), introducing draft resolution A/C.3/36/XXL.22, said that Colombia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Lesotho, Nepal, Pakistan, Panama, the Philippines, Romania, the Sudan, Sweden and Zaire had become sponsors.

60. The following editorial changes should be made in the draft resolution: (a) the seven operative paragraphs should be numbered; (b) the second resolution referred to in the fifth preambular paragraph should be 3202 (S-VI); (c) in the fifth preambular paragraph and operative paragraph 2, the words “a New International Economic Order” should be replaced by “the New International Economic Order”.

61. The purpose of the draft resolution was to highlight the need for the international community to take steps to implement the principles contained in

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(Miss Stredel, Venezuela)

the Caracas Declaration adopted at the Sixth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. The sponsors believed that in view of the increase in crime throughout the world, crime prevention and control should be included in the programmes for the Third United Nations Development Decade and the New International Economic Order.

62. Mr. TANDIA (Mali) said that in the French version of the draft resolution, operative paragraph 5 conferred upon the Secretary-General functions which were not within the purview of his office. He had consulted with the representative of Venezuela and it had been agreed that in operative paragraph 5, the words “en ce qui la concerne” should be added after the words “dispositions necessaires”. 

Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.24

63. Mr. VERKERCKE (Belgium), introducing draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.24, said that Austria, Denmark, Ghana and Morocco had become sponsors.

64. The final phrase in operative paragraph 7 should be amended to read “with a view to making recommendations”.

65. The sponsors believed that while attitudes might differ in various countries regarding summary executions, all States should respect the minimum standard of legal safeguards referred to in paragraph 1 (a) of resolution 35/172. They hoped that the draft, which had no financial implications, would be adopted without a vote.

66. The CHAIRMAN suggested that the deadline for the submission of draft resolutions on items 75, 85, 86, 87 and 91 should be Wednesday, 28 October at 3 p.m.

67. It was so decided

The meeting rose at 5.40 p.m.