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Mr. Chairman,
We wish to express our thanks to the Chairman of the Working Group on the
Scope of Legal Protection for the United Nations and Associated Personnel and to
the Mission of Liechtenstein for their efforts to expand the scope of legal
protection under the Convention on the Safety and Protection of United Nations
and Associated Personnel.
2. We have noted the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Scope of Legal
Protection contained in document A/60/52 on its meeting from 11-15 April 2005.
We have also taken note of the report of the Working Group on its proceedings in
the past weeks contained in document A/C.6/60/L.4.
3. The safety and protection of UN and associated personnel has assumed added
significance in recent years. The number and intensity of attacks against such
personnel has raised concerns about their safety and security which is closely
interlinked with their ability to discharge their duties.
Mr. Chairman,
4. Pakistan has been at the forefront of peacekeeping operations of the Untied
Nations. We remain an important troop contributing country. Our troops have
served more than 30 United Nations peacekeeping missions including some of the
most difficult and dangerous ones. The role of our peacekeepers has often been
pivotal. Our peacekeepers have often worked in dangerous and life threatening
situations: they have been involved in the prevention of outbreak of hostilities
between States, preserving and maintaining delicate peace processes, delivering
humanitarian assistance, and protection of threatened populations against the
onslaught of genocidal forces. They have often worked in dangerous and
precarious situations exposing themselves to risks only for the cause of UN
peacekeeping and for stabilizing societies and building peace.
5. Thanks to these efforts of our peacekeepers, they form a part of the “thin
blue lines” that protect the peace, provide security, bolster stability and
protect vulnerable populations in war-torn countries across the globe. To date,
93 Pakistani peacekeepers have paid the ultimate price for the cause of peace.
Pakistan is proud of the performance of its peacekeepers who still continue to
do excellent work, alongside others, under very difficult and trying conditions.
6. Pakistan has remained one of the oldest, largest, and most consistent
participants in UN peacekeeping operations. We, therefore, speak from the
perspective of a major stakeholder with long-standing experience. Indeed, along
with others, we have played a significant part in forging UN peacekeeping as an
instrument to promote international peace and security.
7. We have also recently been a recipient of international assistance in the
wake of earthquake in the northern part of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
More than 40 thousand people, mostly children have lost their lives in this
disaster and more than 60 thousand have been injured. The number of those
displaced or rendered homeless is about 3 million. For us, the adoption of the
optional protocol holds special significance.
Mr. Chairman,
8. We condemn all acts of violence against UN and associated personnel. We share
the view that such personnel should have better protection and that there should
be no impunity for crimes against them.
9. We recognize the difficulties in trying to expand the scope of legal
protection under the UN Convention. The scope of this protection, the
circumstances under which it could be available, the responsibilities it would
entail, and its legal and political ramifications are issues we must address in
order to reach a consensus solution on the draft optional protocol.
10. We believe that the scope of such protection under the additional protocol
should extend to conflict and post conflict situations including transitional
reconstruction phases. However, it should not extend to pre-conflict situations.
11. In cases of natural disasters, operations for emergency humanitarian
assistance should be carried out only with the consent of the host States. In
this context, we find the proposal by United Kingdom a good basis for compromise
which provides a procedure by which a host State could declare the non
applicability of the optional protocol with respect to an operation for
responding to a natural disaster under article II paragraph 1 (b). The host
State could make such a declaration subsequent to the natural disaster and prior
to the deployment of the operation.
12. We are hopeful that the Committee would be able to resolve the outstanding
issues at the earliest and conclude the additional Optional Protocol to the UN
Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel.
Thank you.