Statement Delivered by the Delegation of Eritrea
Sixth Committee, 2024 Session of the
Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations
and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization
20 February 2024, New York
Chair,
At the outset, I would like to congratulate you and the other members of the bureau on your elections. You can continue to count on Eritrea’s full support for your activities during this year’s Session of the Committee.
Eritrea aligns itself with the statements delivered by the Islamic Republic of Iran on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement and Venezuela on behalf of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations.
I wish to make the following remarks in my national capacity.
Chair,
Reiterating our longstanding views, my delegation stresses the importance of the work of the Special Committee as a platform to build effective multilateral institutions that are sorely needed for strengthening the UN Charter as well as the role of the Organization. We must renew our commitments to establish a just, equitable, and peaceful global order with international institutions that meet the aspirations for a new epoch of genuine partnership and shared prosperity. This can only come to fruition by ensuring compliance and strict adherence to the purpose and principles of the UN Charter.
Unfortunately, we regret witnessing a trend of a non-uniform approach to general principles of international law by a group of States, manifested in many ways, including the growing expansion of unilateral coercive measures (UCMs). These sanctions are applied unilaterally by States or regional organizations against non-Member States under the pretext of threats to peace and security as well as human rights violations and abuses, calling it an effective tool to respond to those activities. However, with one-third of the world population affected in such a profound way by the actions of only a few, it is those who employ the human rights rhetoric as a pretext who are in essence endangering the peace and security, development, and human rights of the global community – the very fundamental pillars of the United Nations.
Chair,
While unilateral sanctions are imposed outside the legal framework of the UN, they run counter to fundamental principles of international law, such as the sovereign equality of States, peaceful settlement of disputes, the principles of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, as well as several international human rights treaties and International Humanitarian Law. UCMs are constructed to isolate the sanctioned country and its economy, and as a result, target the civilian population of the sanctioned State to induce political changes that would be desired by those who are imposing coercive measures. This leads to a devastating impact on the human rights of the population in targeted countries, such as the right to the highest level of health, freedom from hunger, the right to education, the right to life, and the right to development.
We have heard some delegations call economic sanctions to be prima facie legal, based on the argument that a State has the right to conduct its trade relations freely. However, we would like to stress that a State’s freedom to impose economic coercion is limited by the targeted State’s freedom to govern matters that fall within the scope of its internal affairs. A State that is coercively seeking to change the policies of another State on any matters within its domestic jurisdiction is clearly interfering in the internal affairs of that State. In this context, the unlawful exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction of UCMs constitutes a breach of the principle of non-intervention under international law, including third states affected by sanctions.
Indicative of a call for an emerging prohibition, there are numerous resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, and regional organizations such as the African Union that show an overwhelming number of States condemning these unilateral coercive measures as a means to influence a State’s internal affairs and call for such practice to cease.
Regarding multilateral sanctions imposed by the United Nations (UN) Security Council, my delegation would wish to make our views clear that notwithstanding the careful approach of target sanctions to potential negative humanitarian impact, it should always be employed as a last resort, after peaceful settlement measures have been exhausted and in accordance with the purposes and principles as set forth in the UN Charter as well as the provisions under Chapter VII.
Important to note in this context is the over-compliance and stretching the scope of UN Security Council resolutions in the implementation of UNSC sanctions. Sanctions should not be based on unfounded charges or without solid evidence. The imposition of sanctions should avoid double standards and should ensure fair and clear procedures in ending the sanctions regime.
In the area of peaceful settlement and disputes, Eritrea welcomes the useful exchange of information on State practices under the Special Committee’s annual thematic debate on the means for the settlement of disputes in Article 33 (1) of UN Charter and consistent with the Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes. The latter, being adopted by consensus, has been of paramount importance ever since, in particular for the work of this Committee. It is in this regard, that we regret to see the unconstructive attitude by some delegations through the politicization of the work of the Sixth Committee during previous sessions, which resulted in the Special Committee not being able to adopt its report by consensus.
Eritrea takes note of the working papers and proposals submitted to the Committee, we believe it is important to continue to give serious consideration to the different proposals tabled by several delegations, including new ones. This falls within the scope and mandate of the Committee to discuss substantive legal matters and provides a unique way to strengthen the role of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security.
Chair,
To conclude, Eritrea looks forward to seeing a more effective and constructive exchange of views during this session and the annual thematic debate on “means for peaceful settlement of disputes” with this year’s focus on the “use of good offices”. We also wish to reiterate our sincere appreciation to the UN Codification Division of the Office of Legal Affairs for its substantive services to the Special Committee. We look forward to similar efforts on all outstanding workloads.
I thank you.
