Non-Aligned Movement Calls for Reaffirmation of
Fundamental Principles of International Law and an End to Unilateral
Coercive Measures
On April 24-25 the United Nations General Assembly held
a high-level plenary session to mark the first International Day of
Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace. April 24 was chosen to
coincide with the date of the Bandung Conference held in 1955 that laid
the foundations for what would become the Non-Aligned Movement. In her
opening remarks, Fernanda Espinoza, President of the General Assembly,
said the world is increasingly polarized and fragmented and that going
forward, the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for
Peace will be an opportunity to assess the UN's contribution to
humanity.
Jorge Arreaza, Minister of the People's Power for
Foreign
Affairs of Venezuela, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM) of which Venezuela is pro
tempore
president, said
the world faces numerous complex emerging threats to
international peace and security which demand that the
international community address them through the frameworks of
multilateralism and international law. Saying there cannot be
double standards in international relations, he expressed grave
concern over the growing trend of unilateralism and arbitrary
measures that undermine the UN Charter and international law. He
appealed to the international community "in this house of
multilateralism" to achieve peace, sustainable development and
human rights, and to spare future generations from the scourge of
war.
Then speaking on behalf of Venezuela, Arreaza said the
role of
the UN has been highlighted because it is the maximum expression
of multilateralism, because as indicated in the preamble of its
founding Charter, it brings together all "the Peoples of the
United Nations." It is not a club of friends, he said, but a
forum for everyone. "That is why we cannot fail to insist on this
occasion on the need to reaffirm the full validity of the basic
principles of international law, all contained in the Charter of
the UN: equality of rights and self-determination of peoples,
abstaining from the use or threat of the use of force, and
non-intervention in matters that are essentially the internal
jurisdiction of States," stated Arreaza.
He went on to denounce the fact that the President of
the
United States used the UN as a platform last September to
announce unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela and other
countries in violation of the principles and aims of its Charter.
More recently, he said Mike Pence, speaking at the Security
Council, not only presumed the right to unilaterally impose
sieges to make people suffer, but to impose the dictatorship of
the United States on the United Nations, and shamelessly give
orders to member states to ignore the credentials of other
members with full rights like Venezuela. Arreaza said Venezuela
sympathized with countries like Cuba and Iran, who are being subjected
to unilateral, arbitrary measures that seek to make the peoples of
their countries suffer and to bend the will of their governments.
According to reports, a couple of dozen delegates from
Lima Group countries walked out during Arreaza's speech to show their
shameful support for the U.S. attempted coup against Venezuela.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he
came to
make the case that collective diplomatic efforts are no longer
the prudent option, but rather the only solution.
He denounced the fact that despite 14 reports from the
International Atomic Energy Agency validating Iran's commitment
to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action -- a multilateral
accord enshrined in UN Security Council resolution 2231 -- the
U.S. unlawfully withdrew from it. He then mentioned what he said
were just a few of the unlawful unilateral policies of the
current U.S. Administration towards his country or the region:
the extraterritorial imposition of domestic legislation; flouting
of international accords and International Court of Justice
orders; arbitrarily designating Iran's armed forces as 'terrorist';
breeding radicalization through reckless and
pointless never ending wars; shielding terror-sponsoring clients
from their war crimes; and recognition of illegal and racist
annexations.
As if this were not enough, Zarif said, the U.S. also
punishes
those who seek to fulfill their obligations under Security
Council Resolution 2231 -- which calls for normalization of
economic relations with Iran.
To defend multilateralism, he said it was imperative to
deny
the U.S. any perceived benefit from its unlawful actions, and to
forcefully reject any pressure it brings to bear on others to
violate international law and Security Council resolutions. He
said in rejecting unilateralism, all UN member states had a
responsibility to collectively hold any government to account for
the consequences of any lawlessness.
Speaking for Cuba and associating herself with the NAM
statement, Ana Silvia Rodríguez voiced her strong rejection of
the strengthening of the 60-year U.S. blockade against Cuba and
its newly imposed unilateral coercive measures, calling them a
flagrant violation of international law and the United Nations
Charter. She also said that solidarity with Venezuela is a right
of Cuba as a sovereign State and also a duty, and that no threat
of reprisals, ultimatum or blackmail by the United States would
divert Cuba from its internationalist stance.
Rodríguez asked that the newly proclaimed day not
just
be
taken as a simple celebration, but as a reaffirmation of the
collective duty and responsibility to preserve peace.
Wael Al Khalil, speaking for Syria, also associated
himself
with the NAM statement, and said a culture of peace can only come
about through respect for international law and the United
Nations Charter. However he said there were some powerful states
attempting to dominate the organization to exploit it for their
own purposes, creating colossal and tragic challenges for
humanity, similar to those posed to the UN at its founding.
Pointing to the disregard for Security Council resolutions, he
said multilateralism is coming under attack to the greatest
extent ever since the founding of the United Nations due to
pressures being applied in international relations and in the
application of legal resolutions, all to prevent peace being
achieved. He said the Syrian people continue to pay with their
blood because of interference and military aggression, terrorist
wars as well as direct and proxy wars. He also denounced the
imposition of illegal unilateral coercive measures and the
creation of illegitimate coalitions that destroy infrastructure
and assets of many developing countries.
Riyad
Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, associating
himself with the Non-Aligned Movement, said multilateralism has always
been under attack by those who believe might should triumph over right,
who are ready to sacrifice long-term interests for short-term political
gains, who forget the lessons of history and are seeking to erode the
rule of law. International consensus regarding the
question of Palestine remains the only basis for peace, he said, yet,
no measures have been taken to ensure the implementation of relevant
United Nations resolutions or to hold those violating them to account.
Despite the shortcomings of the multilateral system
that they feel in the flesh, the Palestinian people continue to have
faith in multilateralism and their commitment to international law as
they struggle for freedom, dignity and the end of the occupation, he
stated.
More than 70 delegations participated in the debate. The
U.S.
was not among them.
After the two-day session ended, Minister Arreaza
delivered a press conference at the UN to explain in detail the
multi-faceted war the U.S. is waging against the people of Venezuela,
saying it was time to launch a campaign to denounce the devastating
effects of the unilateral, illegal, and arbitrary blockade it has
imposed on Venezuela. Among other things, he said, "Do you know the
cost of paying the salaries of our staff at the United Nations, or in
Canada, or in Europe? We owe them five or six months of salary." He
explained that it is not that the government does not have the money,
but that its funds have been blocked and kept by the correspondent bank
used for such transactions.
Arreaza also announced that a NAM ministerial meeting is planned for
July in Venezuela to further advance their project to uphold
international law and the UN Charter and that discussions were taking
place with another group of countries subject to sanctions on how to
overcome them.
Also on April 25, the over 60 countries that first came together in
February on the initiative of Venezuela and a number of other countries
as the Group of Countries in Defence of the UN Charter, International
Law and Peace held a meeting at the UN.
That evening, Arreaza and Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s Permanent
Ambassador to the UN, addressed a livestreamed meeting organized by
activists in New York City where they discussed how Venezuelans were
coping with the economic war of attrition being waged against them by
the U.S. They emphasized the importance of taking practical measures to
counter the information warfare the U.S. is waging against Venezuela,
diplomacy to ensure it cannot kick Venezuela out of the UN in order to
label it a "rogue" state deserving of being bombed, and continuing the
work to stop the U.S. from launching the actual "hot" war it is
preparing for.
The next day, in an obviously vindictive move, the U.S. Office of
Foreign Assets Control, a financial intelligence and enforcement agency
of the Treasury Department, added Jorge Arreaza and a judge in
Venezuela's judiciary to its sanctions list.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number
15 - April 27, 2019
Article Link:
Non-Aligned
Movement
Calls
for
Reaffirmation
of Fundamental Principles of
International Law and an End to Unilateral Coercive Measures
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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