Other Matters

Working group meetings continued to be held on the draft UN Legal Guide to Countertrade Contracts and a UN Model Law for Procurement; the United States continues actively to support both projects, which have a direct relationship to U.S. import-export concerns and trade with developing countries.

The General Assembly, in resolution 46/56 B, recommended the Commission and the Fifth Committee consider ways to increase participation of experts from the least-developed countries and to a lesser extent from developing countries. The primary means used for accomplishing the work of the Commission is preparation of conventions, model laws and rules and their subsequent adoption by states; broad participation by experts from member states is important to achieve widely acceptable international legal texts in technical areas such as those undertaken by UNCITRAL. The Sixth Committee discussed, without conclusions, options for UN support of travel and other costs for attendance at UNCITRAL meetings and options for distributing such assistance between regions and countries at different levels of development.

Decade of International Law

In resolution 44/23 of November 17, 1989, the General Assembly declared the period 1990-1999 the UN Decade of International Law. The main purposes of the Decade are to promote acceptance of and respect for the principles of international law; to promote means and methods for the peaceful settlement of disputes between states, including resort to and full respect for the International Court of Justice; to encourage the progressive development of international law and its codification; and to encourage the teaching, study, dissemination and wider appreciation of international law.

At the 45th General Assembly, a working group of the Sixth Committee prepared a program of activities for the first term (1990-1992) of the Decade. The program, adopted by the General Assembly in resolution 45/40 in 1990, listed a number of activities to further each of the Decade's four goals. At the 46th session, the General Assembly considered the progress report submitted by the Secretary General on the implementation of the first term of the program. In resolution 46/53, adopted by consensus on December 9, the General Assembly invited states and international organizations and institutions to provide information on activities undertaken to implement the first term of the Decade, and to provide views on possible activities for the next

term. Based on these responses, the Secretary General will submit a report to the 47th session.

Host Country Relations

The General Assembly established the Committee on Relations with the Host Country in 1971 to replace the informal Joint Committee on Host Country Relations. The Committee deals with the security of UN missions and safety of personnel, diplomatic privileges and immunities, travel regulations, tax problems, financial indebtedness of UN missions and their personnel, visa matters and other issues relating to the implementation of the Headquarters Agreement between the United Nations and the United States.

The Committee met six times during 1991: March 26, April 30, July 8, October 9, November 15 and November 25. At its 149th meeting, on March 26, the Committee focused on the problem of financial indebtedness. The U.S. Representative spoke to the Committee about the problems facing missions and staff members of missions when funds for expenses and salaries were not received from their governments. She noted that it was expensive to operate in New York City, and that the United Nations should play a greater role in finding solutions to this growing problem. She proposed the establishment of a working group to deal with all aspects of the problem. Subsequently, a working group was formed with Ivan Sotirov (Bulgaria) as its head. An exchange of letters between the Host Country Committee and the Secretary General highlighted the difficulty of the indebtedness issue and the necessity for full cooperation from all quarters in seeking solutions to the problem.

Travel restrictions, an issue of long-standing irritation in the UN community, were discussed at three meetings. The outcome of the discussions was generally more positive than in recent years because of announcements that travel restrictions were lifted for Mongolia, Nicaragua, Bulgaria and Albania. The Committee noted its desire that restrictions on other missions should also be removed as soon as possible.

On December 9 the General Assembly adopted, without a vote, resolution 46/60, which approved the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country. The resolution endorsed the recommendations and conclusions of the Committee contained in its report; urged the host country to continue to bear in mind its obligations, especially in regard to travel; and expressed appreciation to the host country for its efforts.

International Terrorism

The General Assembly considers on a biennial basis an item on international terrorism. In Sixth Committee debate, all speakers agreed terrorism should be unequivocally condemned without exception as unjustifiable criminal activity. States disagreed, however, whether the United Nations should revive the Ad Hoc Committee on Terrorism, or convene an international conference to develop a definition of international terrorism distinguishing it from national liberation struggles. The majority of states, including the United States, believed that neither reviving of the Ad Hoc Committee nor convening an international conference was desirable.

The U.S. Representative said there were compelling reasons why such a conference or working group is neither necessary nor useful. Experience has shown, he said, that the difficulty in reaching consensus on a general definition of terrorism is, as a practical matter, insurmountable. The international community, he added, had wisely abandoned the chimera of such an approach in favor of elaborating concrete measures to combat terrorism, including adoption of international conventions defining particular terrorist acts universally condemned. He further emphasized that there was now international agreement that violence against civil aviation, attacks on diplomats, and hostage-taking were so heinous that groups and individuals. may not engage in them no matter how just their cause.

The General Assembly adopted by consensus resolution 46/ 51. Like the terrorism resolution adopted by the 44th General Assembly, this resolution unequivocally condemned, as criminal and unjustifiable, all acts of terrorism; urged all states to fulfill their obligations under international law, including the apprehension and prosecution or extradition of perpetrators of terrorist acts; and called upon states to use their political influence to secure the safe release of hostages. In addition, the resolution welcomed the adoption of the Convention for the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection.

Protection of the Environment in Time of War

Jordan introduced agenda item "Exploitation of the environment as a weapon in times of armed conflict and the taking of practical measures to prevent such exploitation" because of acts committed by Iraq during the military conflict in the Persian

Gulf, which had an impact of tragic proportions on the environment of the region.

In Sixth Committee debate, all speakers agreed that existing international law prohibited the wanton acts of environmental destruction committed by Iraq. Some states advocated consolidating in one instrument, such as a set of principles, declaration, or international convention, the disparate international provisions relating to protection of the environment during armed conflict. Most took the position that efforts should be focused on implementing existing obligations rather than developing new rules. The U.S. Representative stated:

Iraq's actions did not demonstrate that the coverage of existing international law is inadequate. Rather, Iraq's systematic violations of the law suggest that the problem is compliance with existing law, not the need for new rules or new conventions. . . . what is needed is for countries to spread knowledge of the existing rules as broadly as possible.... As a first step toward this end, countries should ensure that the requirements of existing international law are fully incorporated into our military manuals and that our military authorities are sufficiently instructed in their application.

Representatives pointed out that the issue of protecting the environment in time of war was on the agenda of the 26th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC), scheduled to begin in November, in Budapest. There was consensus that the ICRC was an appropriate venue for an initial substantive consideration of the issue. The General Assembly adopted by consensus decision 46/417, which requested that the Secretary General report on the results of the ICRC's consideration of the issue and included the item in the provisional agenda of its 47th session.